Thursday after the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 2, 2021 by under
Scripture: Philemon 1-25 (NKJV)
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, 2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, 11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. 20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Devotion
St. Paul was careful in his use of his status and vocation, whether in the Church or in the world. With the authority that a deacon could call upon, that a pastor could, that a bishop could, certainly as an apostle, he could simply say, “This is what God’s Word says!” Or he could say, “This is what is necessary for the work I am doing!” or, “This is most sanctified and reverent, so do it!” Instead, he says, “Since you are a faithful Christian, I appeal to you out of your love for Christ that reflects His love for you: help me!”
Paul maximizes this wisdom in his report of Onesimus being brought to Christ. Philemon suffered the financial loss of his legal slave fleeing and, worse, the knowledge that, even if found and returned, both slave and master would live in fear of ongoing strife between them, of future fleeing, and so on. Now, Onesimus who had been useless and lost to Philemon would, if Philemon insisted, return as a new man in Christ and serve him, not considering it any more as slavery, but serving a brother in Christ.
Paul invites Philemon to do the same: as one who would be willing to come to Paul and serve in the spread of the Gospel that saved him, Philemon could do this, instead, costing him nothing at all. He could give up the slave who had departed anyway, and commend him as a brother who will serve the Lord. What an amazing example of Christian intercession and reconciliation in this letter!
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
