Set Free By Grace

"SET FREE BY GRACE"

a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens

Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.

September 7, 2025

Philemon 1:1-22

Salutation

¹ Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To our beloved coworker Philemon, ² to our sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church in your house: ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁴ I thank my God always when I mention you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. ⁶ I pray that the partnership of your faith may become effective as you comprehend all the good that we share in Christ. ⁷ I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

⁸ For this reason, though I am more than bold enough in Christ to command you to do the right thing, ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. ¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. ¹² I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. ¹³ I wanted to keep him with me so that he might minister to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. ¹⁵ Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for the long term, ¹⁶ no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to me. ¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹ Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

²² One thing more: prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.

This morning I am going to share our Scripture reading differently.  I am going to give you an “annotated” version.  Paul’s letter to Philemon may be one you never read.  If you did, you may not have understood what was going on.  Back when I was in seminary, a professor characterized it as a perfect example of rhetorical jiu-jitsu.  He said, Paul was always persuasive in his writing, but this letter stands out as an amazing example of gently wrestling the reader into surrendering to the writer’s request.  Let me try to break that down as we read through this.

Paul wrote this letter from prison in Rome, where he has met a slave named Onesimus.  He writes to Philemon, who evidently hosts a Christian congregation in his home.  He is sending Onesimus back to Philemon, but asking Philemon to welcome him not as a returning slave, but as a sibling in Christ, a “brother,” rather than someone of lower social value.

Notice that Paul begins by calling himself a “prisoner of Christ Jesus.” He may have been held by Roman authority, but Paul suggests that his real captivity is to the purposes of Christ.  He also calls several other people by name and recognizes them for special connections.  He calls Philemon his “beloved coworker.”  So here we go:

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To our beloved coworker Philemon, 2 to our sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Paul’s powerfully persuasive rhetoric begins.  And by the way, “Paul switches to second person singular pronouns” from this point forward. So, Paul expects this letter to be heard by the whole community even as he turns to Philemon directly in his request. Paul is using the witness of the whole church in Philemon’s house to ensure that Paul’s hopes are fulfilled.” 

4 I thank my God always when I mention you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the partnership of your faith may become effective as you comprehend all the good that we share in Christ. 7 I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

Now Paul turns to his ask.  But he begins by pointing out that he could “command” Philemon to grant his request.  Still, Paul says he prefers a different approach:

8 For this reason, though I am more than bold enough in Christ to command you to do the right thing, 9 yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—

Then Paul describes his relationship with Onesimus, and his value to Paul compared to that of his value as a slave to Philemon:

“and I, Paul, do this as an old man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10 I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I wanted to keep him with me so that he might minister to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.

Next, Paul speaks to the change in relationship between Master/Owner and Slave/servant through their mutual relationship with Christ.

 15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for the long term, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Then Paul turns up the heat a bit and doubles down on who owes whom more!

17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. 

Wow, yet then Paul adds a bit more pressure! 

 20 Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

And finally, what one might almost call a “veiled threat!”

22 One thing more: prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.

A masterpiece in persuasive rhetoric, but what does it mean for us today, and especially as we talk about mental wellness?

It is true that this Epistle has been used in ways that are just wrong.  In the 1800’s many “Christians” argued that this letter was proof of support or justification of continued enslavement of African Americans in the South, and even for the return of escaped slaves.  This clearly is not the message of this passage!

Eric Barreto writes, “In the end, I’m convinced that Paul here is calling for a radical reorientation of the community’s understanding of Onesimus’ identity…. Onesimus is now a beloved brother. He is kin. And this transformation is a vivid embodiment of the gospel. He is a walking reminder of the power of the good news.

“For Paul, what happens in these Christian communities is a matter of life and death. His letters are not just doctrinal. He’s not just concerned with ideas, with the right [theology]. Paul is a pastor, remember. He cares for these communities because these communities are seeds of the resurrection, sites where the resurrected life can already flourish, places of resistance to an empire that would place us in rank according to social status.

In relation to mental wellness, this letter invites us to “imagine what such transformations of relationships and status might look like in our own church and in the various spaces through which we move every week. How does the gospel change not just our minds but how we relate to one another?”  How do we begin to deal with mental wellness – and one might add, health in every aspect, even as a nation, not as something one must earn to pay for or to unfund to balance local, state, or national budgets, but as a GOD – GIVEN RIGHT?

When will we – as a nation - take God’s command, given us by Jesus, to love one another seriously, completely, and utterly?  And that needs to include not just feeling that way but acting on it. So for us who may be relatively mentally healthy, it means advocating for those who do struggle, doesn’t it?

William Loader, puts it this way: “love means going out on a limb and advocating for people who are powerless in systems which inherently resist and resent their values being subverted.”

And although I never want to forget that issues almost always go beyond just the individual, and that God almost always speaks to us from Scripture as a community, let me talk about mental wellness a little more on the individual level. I do believe God sets us free from every chain by grace.  Grace, which we translate as love, is the power of God at work in our lives, as well as our world. 

In another letter Paul reminds us that God says to us, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”  Paul then said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9–10 NIV)

Of course, probably all of us have found comfort in the words of the 23rd Psalm:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”

And Matthew’s Gospel tells us Jesus gives us this invitation, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” [ Matthew 11:28 ].

The promise of the meal at this table is that God feeds us with grace - our souls, our minds, as well as our bodies.  All are welcome because we all need God’s grace to find true and real wellness. We don’t have to qualify by our perfection.  Our weaknesses, our failures, our struggles, and our need for greater wellness in every way are what qualify us for this holy meal.

Let everyone who has ever struggled come.  If you are perfect and have never struggled, if you have no need for greater wellness in your life, you can come too. The rest of us are certainly welcomed. And that is why the sacrament always ends with a prayer of thanksgiving.  Many of us say a prayer of thanksgiving at the beginning of our meals, perhaps.  The liturgy for the sacrament ends with one.  But this morning we are going to begin and end with an expression of thanks.  So join us as we sing our thanks before we begin this holy, healing, grace-filled meal.  Let us all feel able to say, “I will give you thanks, I will praise your name, O God,” for truly God’s grace sets us free and brings us wellness and wholeness.  AMEN.