Devotions

20230529

trusting after treachery

Philemon 1:8-16 (JDV)

Philemon 1:8 For this reason,1 although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right,
Philemon 1:9 I appeal to you, instead, on the basis of care. I, Paul, as an elderly man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus,
Philemon 1:10 appeal to you for my son, Onesimus. I became his father while I was in chains.
Philemon 1:11 Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.
Philemon 1:12 I am sending him back to you – I am sending my very own heart.
Philemon 1:13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place.
Philemon 1:14 But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will
Philemon 1:15 because perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time so that you might get him back permanently,
Philemon 1:16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave – like a cared-for brother. He is especially so to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Onesimus had not been kidnapped and sold as a slave to Philemon. He was a bondservant. He had found himself in a poor state financially, probably having incurred a debt he could not repay. He needed the help of Philemon to get out of that debt. So he had appealed to Philemon to take him on as a bondservant. If I read verse 16 correctly, there was some familial relationship between the two men. They were brothers “in the flesh” – perhaps distant relations. So, Philemon did the right thing. He took Onesimus into his household as a servant.

The reward Philemon got for his benevolence was treachery. Onesimus stole money and ran away. While living as a fugitive, he met Paul and came to faith in Christ. Paul could have told Onesimus to just forget about his past, but he envisioned a different solution. He wanted to return Onesimus to reconcile with Philemon and thought that Philemon could then use Onesimus as a partner in his ministry to Paul. His appeal was a gamble because Philemon could have had Onesimus arrested as well. Then he would have gone to prison as well.

The challenge that Philemon faced is a difficult one. Once you have been betrayed, how can you trust again? Paul is asking Philemon to take the prodigal back and make him a trusted partner in ministry. For Philemon to do this, he had to have faith in the transforming power of the gospel. He had to believe that the Holy Spirit is the God of the second chance.

LORD, heal our hurts. Help us to trust people again because we trust in your power to make a difference in their lives.