Saturday, September 13, 2008

Taking relationships for granted

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul--an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus--I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him--who is my very heart--back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good--no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back--not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask (Philemon 1:1-21).

In your life so far, how many people have you gotten to know? I don’t mean strangers on the street or classmates you never talked to. I am referring to people who you know on a first name basis—relatives, friends, neighbors, coworkers. This might even include the UPS driver that you chat with when you sign for packages at work, or the cashier you visit with at the grocery store each week. How many people have you known well enough over the years that saying "hi" to them brought a smile to your face?

Think of what your life would be like if you never saw these people again. What if yesterday was the last time you ever got to look at their faces, hear their voices, read their letters or emails? Imagine life without your mother or father, your husband or wife, your child or grandchild. Imagine life without your friend or neighbor or a pal at work. Imagine how you would feel if one of the smiling faces in your life was suddenly lost to you forever.

It can happen, you know. Even to a Christian. Even though we believe that Jesus has defeated death and will reunite us in heaven when we have left this earth, there are people who have touched our lives that we will never see again.

Who are these people? They might include a member of your family. They might include some of your friends. They might include your neighbor or your doctor or your favorite teacher. These people who you might never see again are those who have no knowledge of who Jesus is. Without such knowledge, we will not see them after death; Jesus said, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:16, 18). Only those who are friends with Jesus will be invited into heaven; to everyone else, the Lord will say these chilling words: I don’t know you (Matthew 25:12).

Again, think of all the people you have known on a first-name basis. How many of them have a relationship with Jesus? And of those who do not, how many have you personally told about the Savior? How many have you tried to introduce to Jesus Christ? How many of these people do you want to see smiling at you someday in heaven?

Telling unbelievers about Jesus is called witnessing. We also call it evangelism or mission work. But no matter what name you hang on it, telling unbelievers about Jesus is what you and I have been ordered to do. Jesus’ words are very clear: go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20). These words apply to each and every one of us.

But it's hard to find the courage and confidence to be a witness for Jesus. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and unprepared. Perhaps you don’t feel that you know the Bible well enough to be able to explain the faith to someone else. Or perhaps you just get so busy with things that you let opportunities to witness slip by unnoticed. Either way, today’s Epistle lesson has something important to say to you.

Paul was in prison because he was a Christian. The non-Christians had told him to keep his religion to himself, but Paul could not—he was greatly concerned over the future of everyone he met. Paul didn’t want anyone to die without knowing Jesus, and thus end up in hell. So Paul was bold—he told anyone and everyone the unpleasant truth about their lives—that they were sinners, and that without Jesus they had no hope whatsoever of entering heaven when they died. Their sins made them foul, unacceptable to the perfect God of the universe. But Jesus Christ had come to earth to suffer and die for them; God’s perfect Son had taken upon Himself the full responsibility for every human sin and had accepted God’s punishment of our evils. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, so that every man, woman and child could be spared God’s anger and eternal punishment. Jesus rose alive from the grave and entered heaven so that He could lift His friends from their graves and draw them to Himself in Paradise. This is the witness that Paul was imprisoned for—because many do not want to admit that they are sinners, or that they need anyone, least of all Jesus, to make their entry into heaven possible.

It was while Paul was in prison that he met an escaped slave named Onesimus. Onesimus had belonged to a Christian man named Philemon, but Philemon had never told his slave about Jesus. Maybe Philemon didn’t think that he knew the faith well enough to teach it to someone else; maybe it just never occurred to him to share the promise of forgiveness and eternal life with a man who was only a slave. Anyway, Onesimus managed to get away from his Christian master; eventually he ended up meeting the imprisoned Paul.

Like he did everyone else, Paul cared for the soul of this runaway slave. He told Onesimus about his sin, his Savior, and the promise of heaven. By the grace of God, the runaway slave became a believer. As a matter of fact, Onesimus dedicated himself to serving Paul, being his arms and legs while Paul was incarcerated. The escaped slave willingly made himself a slave again, this time to Christ and Christ’s servant Paul. The bond between these men became very close.

But Onesimus was still a runaway slave, and subject to arrest and punishment. So Paul wrote a letter to his Christian owner. In this letter, Paul urged Philemon to accept the slave back without punishment, and suggested that he make Onesimus a legally free man. As he wrote this letter, Paul gently pointed out to Philemon that he had failed in his duty as a Christian witness. Paul made two points, which we would do well to learn from.

Paul’s first point is this: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Paul says that we can only grow in our faith if we are in the habit of sharing it. Some people think that you must know the Bible quite well before you can tell others about Jesus. But Paul says that such thinking gets things backwards! To grow in the faith, you must start sharing what you know with others. Consider the woman at the well (John chapter 4); Jesus only spoke with her a short time before she ran off to invite others to come meet the Savior. You don’t have to know a lot about the Bible to get excited about having your sins forgiven; you don’t have to be a great teacher to invite someone to come to church with you so that they can find out more about your religion. Many people start Bible studies in their homes with just a few friends; they quickly discover that in preparing to lead the study, they are learning more than everyone else in the group. Sharing your faith gets you into God’s Word more and more, and deepens your understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Paul went on to make a second point: Philemon had taken Onesimus for granted. He never thought twice about witnessing his faith to a lowly slave, yet Onesimus was hungry for the gospel of salvation; given half a chance, he became an important member of Christ’s ministry through Paul. How many are there in your life who you take for granted? The teller at the bank who knows you by name? The waitress who always gets a big tip from you? Our daily lives are filled with people we know and care about, who need to be introduced to Jesus before death separates us from them forever. We dare not let our lives become so busy that we fail to take the time to reach out in the Savior’s name to those who do not know Him.

By running away, Onesimus caused his master aggravation and lost productivity. To Philemon, his slave was little more than a problem. But when Paul took the time to introduce Onesimus to the Lord, the man became a valued co-worker in the Kingdom of God. Paul wrote, He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

We are often like Philemon. We are reluctant to share our faith because we do not feel as if we are qualified to speak as Jesus’ representatives. We let our lives become so hectic that we forget to look at those we interact with as people who need to hear the Savior’s call to repent and believe. How many people who you knew on a first name basis are dead today? How many of them are you sure knew Jesus before they died? How many smiling faces and friendly voices are a part of your life today, but are heading for a different place than heaven to spend eternity? Do you want them to be lost to you forever? Are you willing to remain silent and take the risk that someone else will introduce them to Jesus before they die? Or will you take Paul’s advice and tell them about how Jesus has changed your life, and wants to change their lives too? Will you take notice of the lost who are with you every day, and grow in your faith as you serve as Christ’s witness to others?

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