DEVOTIONAL

Take a detour with me into the book of Philemon. Last summer I studied this beautiful letter for a couple of weeks and cannot shake the story. This short letter is before the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. Paul wrote this letter to a man named Philemon. My suggestion is to read the letter each time, all twenty-five verses, from the perspective of the key player for the day. Today, my lens is angled from the point of view of Paul, the author of the letter. Why did Paul write the letter? What is his intention?

The first place to start is how does Paul know Philemon? About five years before the letter, God crossed their paths in Ephesus while Paul was preaching the gospel. Philemon became a believer because of the gospel he heard through Paul. This detail tells me Philemon respects Paul. Paul is someone Philemon will remember forever. Whenever Philemon tells the story of how Jesus saved him, Paul is part of the story. Paul did not know Philemon ten or twenty years ago, but Paul knows how Jesus changed Philemon in a radical way. Maybe Paul sees a little of himself in Philemon.

My next question is where are Paul and Philemon when the letter is written? Paul sits in a prison cell in Rome about 1300 miles from Colossae where Philemon lives. Imagine the journey this letter traveled from Rome to Colossae. How long did it take until Philemon cracked the seal? Regardless, the message inside of mercy and forgiveness is always timely.

With the groundwork laid, the big question is what is Paul’s purpose for writing to Philemon? Why is this short letter in the Bible? I thought of several reasons. See if any of mine align with your thoughts.

I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Philemon 6-7

Paul writes to Philemon as someone further along, more mature in his faith in Jesus. One reason to write is simply to encourage Philemon in the gospel work he is doing as a new believer. By the grace of Jesus, the gospel is spreading to many people in Colossae because of Philemon’s zeal. As a new believer, Paul desires for continuous growth in Philemon’s faith in Jesus. I love how Paul phrases verses 6-7. One translation says, “put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.” Paul wants the way that Philemon thinks and acts to overflow from a place of knowing all that Jesus has done for him. In my life, I see this playing out in different ways during different seasons of life. 

I used to volunteer as a Young Life leader where I invested consistent time with high school students each week. Less consistent “spurts” of living out the generosity of the gospel are pretty fun, too. Most days, I ask God for eyes to see a surprise from Him. Sometimes the surprise is a great conversation with a coworker or talking sports in the driveway with my neighbor. In those conversations my ears perk up for ways to pray for, encourage, or help them. It boils down to love others like Jesus showed us. This is the thing Paul wants for Philemon more than anything else.

And with loving others comes one of the hardest acts of love, forgiveness. Paul asks Philemon to forgive his runaway bondservant Onesimus. Look at verse 14 that says, “not by compulsion but of your own accord.” We only get here by the love of Jesus. What Paul is asking of Philemon sounds difficult or impossible when you have not experienced the love of Jesus for yourself. This is the point. As Philemon grows in his faith in Jesus, the more he starts to live like Jesus by a strength much greater than his own.

Paul cares about Philemon too much to let his fractured relationship with Onesimus to stand in the way from a deeper faith. The way Philemon has transformed in the last five years as a believer in Jesus, I think prepared him to receive this letter and act in obedience. Hard things take time. Paul does not say it is easy, but he reminds Philemon that when Jesus saved him, he saved all of Philemon. This includes the parts of Philemon’s past he is not proud of. This includes the ability to forgive and to extend mercy to a runaway bondservant like Onesimus. Paul wants Philemon to celebrate the good news of Onesimus believing in Jesus and see how Onesimus is made new just like Philemon experienced for himself.

Praise God for older people in the faith like Paul with the boldness to write a letter to his new believer friend, in love, to nudge him into deeper faith. We need a few Pauls in our lives to keep us on the narrow path worth taking.  

Q: Do you have an older person in the faith like Paul that you listen to? How would you receive the words of Paul to forgive and extend mercy to someone who has deeply wounded you?