Volunteer To Be Full of Cheer

From today’s reading…

Paul is writing about Onesimus, a former slave who escaped his master then converted to Christianity. Paul is in prison and writing to the master of Onesimus in today’s reading, which comes from the one and only chapter of Philemon, which is only 25 verses.

Why would one little ol’ letter make it into the New Testament?

To understand the power of the message in this letter you must understand society at the time. Slavery was accepted and had been accepted for all of recorded history. Additionally, Onesimus may have even been guilty of theft, which he had to do in order to secure the provisions he needed to escape.

So under the law, Onesimus could’ve been beaten, imprisoned, and maybe even executed…then along comes Paul who is actually imprisoned for spreading the Good News and he asks the owner of Onesimus to not only give him his freedom but to accept his as an equal brother in Christ.

As the leader of the church where Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus were members, Paul could’ve ordered them to free Onesimus and accept him as their equal, but he doesn’t do that.

Instead, he leads by example. He appeals to their common decency as new Christians and recommends that they do what he suggests, but he does not force this decision upon them.

Leading out of love and patience is the only way to…

Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure.

Now go sell something.