Andrew Kinoti Lairenge Vermilion/Mannville United Church September 8, 2019

Appeal on the Basis of Love! Philemon 1-21

Apostle Paul wrote many letters to the churches he founded. However, the letter to Philemon is different from the others- it is basically written to an individual on behalf of another. Paul wrote this letter to one of his friends and a benefactor called Philemon. Philemon was a man of means who had a big house enough to host a church. He even had a slave named Onesimus. Philemon had become a Christian under the guidance of his friend Paul. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had escaped and found his way to a city where Paul was imprisoned.

We don’t know what brought Onesimus to prison. Probably he knew Paul was there and thought it good to convey his grievances to his master through his friend. One thing we know from history though is that runway slaves were always in danger. They were in danger of being caught and brought back to their masters. If they were brought back to their masters the master could do anything to them. If not done already, the master could brand their faces with hot iron, to put a sign called stigmata, (that is where the English word stigma is derived from). This was to make sure that next time they run away they could be easily identified. In some instances, if the masters were cruel, they would kill their runaway slaves to deter other slaves from running away.

I can imagine the fear Onesimus had as he found his way to Paul in prison. But you know what, God was with him. God had good plans for him and surprisingly his master Philemon. I guess Psalm 139 that we read puts his reality of God’s presence clearer. O God, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You discern my paths and the places I rest; you are familiar with all my ways

The God who created all of us and knows us from our beginnings was guiding Onesimus. God led him to Paul who in turn did something that was not common in his time. Paul asked Philemon to set Onesimus free and without strings attached. Only on the basis of love! This is how Paul’s request reads:

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment (NRSV)

Paul chose an unusual path for somebody who had the authority of an apostle. He chose to appeal to love instead of power and authority. Appealing to love differentiates

1 dictators from good and responsible leaders. Leaders who appeal to love respects those they lead as equals.

Appeal to love has been one of the foundations on which Christianity is built. In appealing to the love of God we are all called into change. This change leads us to see things differently from the rest of the world. That is how Paul has been changed. In a society where everybody sees no problem with owning slaves, Paul realizes that the love of God has brought freedom to everyone. It is a lesson that he is practically teaching Philemon when he appeals for the freedom of Onesimus. It may come at a cost such as paying for the labor that he has been getting freely from his slave, but out of love, he must set his slave free and see him as a brother.

In a world where those with power often want to lord it over those that they lead, I think, we are all called to appeal more and more to love. Appealing to love is an act of faith. It puts us in a vulnerable state because we must be willing to give up somethings in order to appeal to the softer side of human nature.

In appealing to love Paul had to let go the pride that came with the power of an apostle. As a man who brought Philemon to the knowledge of Christ Paul could have just commanded Philemon to do what he wanted. Instead he writes, “I appeal to you on the basis of love.” How about Philemon? As a man of means, who sponsored Christians in his neighborhood and even Paul himself financially, Philemon had to let go the pride of status and more so of a slave master. For the sake of love Philemon had to believe that his slave was an equal or more precisely “a brother” as Paul tells him. Onesimus the slave himself had to have faith that Paul’s appeal on the basis of love will work. Otherwise he was risking so much including his own life by accepting to go back to his master. Onesimus believed that love will prevail over anger, revenge, and pride.

We too can learn to appeal to the best of human heart. By appealing to love we begin to change the way we treat those that we interact with. Actually, by letting love become our guide we ourselves are changed to be softer and better people. This calls us to be a people of faith who believes that God has put in each one of us a little light of love.

May we be a people who not only experience the love of God but also a people who lights up that little fire of love in our friends and neighbors. Appeal on the basis of love can change the world, one heart at a time. Let us go change the world!

In the Name of God, the Creator, the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit. AMEN

2