A Postcard to Philemon


06/10/2003 - The Great Exchange



The wagons clattered over the cobble-stoned streets of Paris, France, during the French Revolution hauling hundreds of innocent victims of the Reign of Terror into overcrowded prisons to await execution.  And during one July night in 1794 an old man roamed throughout one of those dark prisons stepping over the bodies of his confined comrades.

And as he walked through that dimly lit dungeon he couldn't help but notice a sleeping figure that caught his eye.  He stopped, bent down, and thought to himself, "No, it can't be?  Can it?  Yes, it was.  It was his very own son!"  Unknown to the father, his son had recently been arrested and brought to this horrible place to await death by guillotine.

Overcome with anguish the dad sank to his knees, his heart breaking inside his chest and wondered, "What can I do?  What can I do to save my son?  Ah!  I've got an idea!  We have the same name.  Tomorrow when they call his name, I'll answer for him and go to the guillotine in his place."

All that night the father watched over his son praying that he wouldn't wake up.  In the early morning hours three soldiers stomped into the dungeon and one called out, "Jean Simon de Loiserolle."

The father quickly jumped to his feet and said, "Here I am!"  Immediately he was seized, thrown in a wagon and taken to the bureau where his name would be struck from the record.

"Jean Simon de Loiserolle, age 37?" asked the official.

"That's my name, but my age is 73."

"Stupid mistake!" muttered the soldier, "73, not 37!"  Grabbing the pen he made the correction and the father was dragged to the guillotine where his life was ended with the whoosh of a blade.

Later that morning the son awoke in the dungeon expecting any moment to be summoned to his death.  But no one called his name.  Finally, a fellow inmate who had observed the events of the night before told him that an old man had watched over him all night and when the guard called his name that morning he answered for him and went to his death.

"But, I'm Jean Simon de Loiserolle!" he cried.  But no one listened.  With bitter anguish it hit him that the man who watched over him that night was his father and his dad had died in his place.  He waited to see what would happen next, but three days went by and with the execution of Robespierre, the leader of the revolution, the Reign of Terror was over and all the prisoners were set free!

And on that day, Jean Simon de Loiserolle, the son, took a vow that every moment of his life would be worthy of his father's supreme sacrifice.  His dad had died in his place.  That's a great exchange.

A runaway slave, a criminal on the loose in Rome, had been overcome with the same emotion when he realized that someone had died in his place.  That someone was not his father, but his God.  The slave's name was Onesimus and the one who died for him was Jesus Christ.  And like Jean Simon de Loiserolle, Onesimus make a similar vow to live every moment of his life in a way that would be worthy of his Savior's supreme sacrifice.

This morning we conclude our three part series on the book of Philemon that we've called A Postcard to Philemon.   There are three characters in this little letter and we arranged the series around them.  The first week we looked at Philemon.  Then last week we looked at Onesimus.  And this week we look at the apostle Paul in a teaching I've called "The Great Exchange."  If you have a Bible turn with me to Philemon 18-25.

As you recall, Onesimus had been a useless slave, a waste, worthy to be separated from his head by his master's sword.  He had committed the ultimate crime of a slave in the Roman culture, theft and desertion.  But after the apostle Paul led him to Christ his life had been changed.  He was now a new creation and vowed to live up to his name, "useful," useful to both his heavenly master and his earthly master.

So Paul is sending him back home from Rome to Colosse, a 1,000 mile journey, to make it right with his owner Philemon.  And by his side is Tychicus who's carrying with him the letter to the Colossian church and this postcard to Philemon.

Over the last two weeks we've already seen that this letter has some powerful principles and some timeless truth for all of us.  We were challenged in week one by Philemon's active faith and refreshing love, two marks of maturity.  Then last week we were stirred by Paul's appeal to forgive, to give up our rights and extend radical forgiveness to one another, the kind of forgiveness that God has extended to us.

But there are still other lessons to be learned from this postcard so let's take a look at them in verses 18-25.  In verses 18-19, we have Paul's credit to Philemon.  In verses 20-21, we see his confidence in Philemon.  And in verses 22-25, he writes of his coming to Philemon.  Paul's credit, confidence and coming.

Look at Philemon 18-19, If he (Onesimus) has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.  I will pay it back-not to mention that you owe me your very self.

All the while, as Paul's writing this postcard, in the back of his mind he's thinking about the one obstacle that might prevent reconciliation from happening ... money!  For Onesimus to make it all the way to Rome he must have stolen a significant amount of money, because slaves didn't have any money of their own.  Onesimus had unexplained cash and lots of it and that money had to be repaid.

So gracious, big-hearted Paul says, "If Onesimus owes you anything, and I'm sure he does, I'll pay it.  Charge it to my account.  Put it on my tab.  Send me the bill.  This is my I.O.U., but remember Philemon U.O. Me big time.  You owe me your very self because I led you to Christ."

So how's Paul going to come up with the money?  He was in prison, under house arrest in Rome, stuck in a rented apartment.  He didn't have much cash.  Or did he?  Some have suggested that Paul was a wealthy man.  We know that he had an Ivy League education and that cost his family some big bucks.  We also know that he was a member of the religious elite, the Sanhedrin, and that was a pretty prestigious bunch.  In Acts 24, we read that a governor named Felix was hoping Paul would bribe him to release him from prison in Caesarea.  We also know that the Philippian church had sent him a substantial financial gift while he was in Rome.

Paul could come up with the money.  This was a legitimate offer. "Here's my promissory note, Philemon, signed with my own hand.  I will make good on what Onesimus owes you.  Let's not let money ruin this reconciliation."

Nothing ruins more relationships than money.  Even more than sex, money can cause deep hurt.  How many times have you seen money tank marriages, divide families, come between friends?  Which is why I tell people never lend money to friends.  Give it to them if you want, but don't lend it or your asking for trouble.  Sometimes radical forgiveness means completely writing off a debt that is owed to us.  But if we're the ones who have taken the money, it means making every effort to repay it.

Paul had a brilliant, legal mind and he was aware of a clause in Roman law, which provided for advocacy.  That clause stated that a runaway slave had one means and one means only of protection and that was if he first went to a friend or partner of his master.  The friend, Paul in this case, could then become an advocate for the slave and appeal to the slave's owner for understanding and grace.  And sometimes owners would not only take their slaves back, but actually adopt forgiven runaways into their families.  So Paul is stepping up to the plate to become the advocate for Onesimus.

And the reason I explained all that is because there is something much deeper going on here.  This is not only a story about Paul, Onesimus and Philemon.  This is a story about Jesus and you and me and the heavenly Father.  You see when Paul says "charge it to me," in verse 18, the term literally is "charge it to my account." It's an accounting term that reminds him of what Jesus Christ has done for us.  Our sin, our debt, was charged to his account when he died in our place on the cross.  Jesus stepped up to the plate for us and took the full brunt of the punishment that we deserved.  He made good on our I.O.U.

Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And that's the great exchange.  He took our sin and gave us his righteousness.  Like the chorus we sing says, "He paid the debt he did not owe.  I owed a debt I could not pay.  I needed someone to wash my sins away.  And now I sing a brand new song, amazing grace all day long.  Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay."

Just as Onesimus' debt was charged to Paul's account, so our debt of sin was charged to Christ's account.  One of the moral laws of God's universe is that someone has to pay the price for sin.  God will forgive our sin and all the ways we fall short of his perfection, but even God can't free a person from the consequences of what he or she has done.  To do that would violate his perfect justice.  So a price must be paid.

And just as Onesimus was a runaway, in debt to his master, so we were all runaways and in debt to our Master.  We are like Onesimus in this story.  And Paul is like Christ.  He does for Onesimus what Jesus Christ did for us.  He pays the bill for our debt.  He wasn't involved in anyway in Onesimus' crime, just like Christ was sinless and separate from our sin.  But, like Paul, he assumed our debt and took the sins of the world on himself so that we could be welcomed into fellowship with the Father, even brought into his family, like Onesimus could be welcomed into fellowship with Philemon and perhaps even brought into his family.  It's a beautiful, God designed analogy and I'm sure that Paul smiled as he thought of it.

Remember Paul has two letters going at the same time.  He's writing the Colossians while he's writing Philemon.  And in Colossians 2:13-14 he says, When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Jesus removed our debt, our obstacle in approaching the Father.  And now Paul wants to remove Onesimus' debt, his obstacle in approaching Philemon.

Do you comprehend was Jesus did for you?  He died in your place.  Like our opening story, imagine your own father dying in your place as Jean Simon did for his son?  Would you ever forget it?  Would it ever cease to motivate you to live for your dad?  Now imagine the sinless Son of God dying the most excruciating death for you.  That's love!  Have you ever vowed to live every moment of your life worthy of Jesus' supreme sacrifice for you?

So Paul extends his credit to Philemon in verses 18-19.  Now in verses 20-21, he expresses his confidence that Philemon will accept his payment.

Look at verses 20-21, I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord.  Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

In verse 20, Paul uses another clever play on words.  The word "benefit" comes from the same root word as Onesimus' name, which means "useful or beneficial."  Essentially, Paul is saying, "I'm sending Onesimus to you my friend with all his debts paid.  Now let me, in return, receive a touch of Onesimus from you.  Refresh my heart in Christ.  Bring me into the circle of those that you have refreshed."  And in our minds we go back to Paul's description of Philemon in verse 7 as a man who refreshed the hearts of saints.

I love the way Paul builds up Philemon.  He's such an encourager.  He says, "I know you're going to do even more than I ask."  We don't know exactly what he means by that.  Maybe he expected Philemon to adopt Onesimus into his own family, or release him completely and send him back to Paul.  We don't know.  But, we do know that Paul expected the best out of him and that's just the way Paul handled people.

It doesn't take long to see, as you read the letters of Paul in the New Testament, that he always expected the best from other people.  Someone has said that to expect the best from others is often to be more than ½ way to getting the best.

This isn't the first time in the letter that Paul's built up Philemon.  The whole postcard is filled with encouragement.  I know you'll come through.  I have confidence in you.  You're a man of faith and love, a joy to be around.  I thank God for you.  It's filled with those heavenly words that Tim talked about a few weeks ago.

William Hendriksen in his excellent commentary on Philemon calls this letter Paul's masterpiece of tactful pleading and lists ten ways that Paul uses tact to motivate Philemon to respond to his request.

  1. I am a man who has grown old in the Lord's service.

  2. I am now a prisoner of Christ asking only a small favor.

  3. I am your friend who loves you and admires you.

  4. We are in debt to God for his goodness to us.

  5. You are in debt to me for your salvation.

  6. Onesimus is my child, my very heart.

  7. It is to your advantage to grant this request because Onesimus is useful now.

  8. The fellowship of all believers demands this.

  9. I have confidence in your obedience.

  10. I am coming, don't disappoint me.

Abraham Lincoln defined tact as the ability to describe others as they see themselves.  One courageous soul said this about tact, "A foolish man tells a woman to stop talking so much, but a tactful man tells her that her mouth is extremely beautiful when her lips are closed!"

However you describe it, Paul had it, and he uses tact to build up his friend Philemon and it's a good reminder for all of us in how we communicate with one another.  So Paul extends his credit to Philemon, his confidence in Philemon, and finally his coming to Philemon.

Look at verses 22-25, And one thing more.  Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

No doubt this would be the final motive for Philemon's obedience.  Paul says, "I'm confident that I'll be released because people are praying for me and when I do get out of here I'm coming your direction.  Prepare a room for me.  I want to see you and Onesimus reconciled."

If we look closely we can see another spiritual analogy here and that is the motivation of Christ's return.  "Jesus is coming again so be ready, be found obedient.  He could come at anytime and so could I Philemon.  And when I show up I hope to be greeted by you with your arm around Onesimus."

Paul closes by referring to his co-workers, whose portraits we looked at in our Colossians series and then ends with a benediction of grace.  Philemon, may God give you the grace to accept and act on my appeal.  So, Paul gives his credit, confidence and coming.

And that's the end of the letter.  But that's not the end of the story.

Whatever happened to Onesimus and Philemon and Paul?  How did the story end?  Was Paul ever released from Rome?  Did Philemon ever see Paul again?  Was Onesimus welcomed back?

History tells us that Paul was indeed released from his house arrest in Rome and made more missionary journeys.  No doubt he did go to Colosse and made use of that guest room that Philemon had prepared.

And Philemon?  As far as we know he accepted Paul's appeal and graciously forgave the runaway slave.

And Onesimus?  Interesting you should ask.  Fifty years after this letter was written, another letter was written by one of the great Christian martyrs, Ignatius.  Ignatius was being taken to Rome from Antioch to be executed.  And on his way he wrote letters, some still survive today.  They were letters to the churches in Turkey.  When he stopped in Smyrna he wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus and in the first chapter of that letter he has much to say about their wonderful pastor whose name was Onesimus.

And in that letter Ignatius makes exactly the same pun as Paul when he writes, "He is Onesimus by name and Onesimus by nature."  The runaway slave, may have become with the passing years none other than Onesimus, the great pastor of Ephesus.

And that, my friends, is the power of radical forgiveness, forgiveness from God and forgiveness from others.  Have you received that forgiveness yet?  Have you benefited from the great exchange?  If you have, then you are welcome to the Lord's Table that we're going to celebrate today.