“From Useless To Useful”
Text: Philemon 1-21
9-4-2022
In the name of Him who intercedes with our heavenly Father on our behalf, dear friends in Christ. When I was in grade school, I had a good friend named Scott Arnold. I loved going over to his house because of his Dad’s sense of humor. Mind you, my folks had a good sense of humor too. They were always joking and teasing. But Scott’s Dad had a weird sense of humor, which I kind of liked. For example, one of the first times I went over to his house I was introduced to their dog. It was a huge Collie. “So what’s his name?”, I asked. My buddy Scott got a funny smirk on his face and says, “My Dad named him ‘Useless’!” “How come?” “Cuz that’s what he is... useless!” See, I told you his Dad had a weird sense of humor! I’m surprised he didn’t name his boy, “Sue.” Well, I personally didn’t think that dog was useless. I thought the dog was pretty cool. Actually, usefulness is in the eye of the beholder.
That’s certainly true of one of the men named in our Epistle Lesson for today. He was the center of a controversy that Paul was writing about. His name was Onesimus, which in Greek means “useful.” But according to verse 11, he had become “useless.” And yet Paul says, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” What caused this shift in how Onesimus was viewed? That’s the crux of the lesson we find in this one-chapter book called Philemon. It’s a personal letter that Paul wrote to this Christian who lived in city of Colossae. And because it’s a personal letter, some critics have said it shouldn’t be part of the Bible. To them, Paul is just appealing to Philemon’s Christian decency to act kindly towards Onesimus and to overlook the wrong things he did. If that’s all there is, then this would be a spiritually shallow book of the Bible. But there’s a much deeper spiritual truth in it for us to learn. And it all has to do with the shift of Onesimus from being useless to being useful.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Onesimus was a slave who had run away from his master, Philemon. Onesimus somehow found his way to St. Paul, who was a prisoner in Rome. That was no small feat. From Colossae to Rome is a jaunt of over 1,000 miles as the crow flies, with 2 seas in between. Logistically, it was no easy journey, not to mention the cost. An escaped slave wouldn’t have a large wallet full of money to pay for the necessities of life. How or why Onesimus went there is anybody’s guess but I have a theory. Paul had been instrumental in leading Philemon to Christ. And in this letter, he refers to a group of Christians who were meeting in Philemon’s home. Could it be that this slave listened to that saving message while it was being preached to his master? So when he decided to run away, it made sense for him to flee to the loving, persuasive preacher who had taught him about his freedom from sin through Jesus.
Whatever the case may be, Onesimus had become a believer in Christ. His faith had drawn him into a close relationship with St. Paul who now loved him like a son. It wasn’t just because Onesimus was his willing errand boy. I suspect it was his zeal and devotion for the Lord that endeared him to Paul. That’s great! But there was a problem. Now that Onesimus was a Christian he needed to face the truth that he had wronged a fellow believer. He ran away from his master and deprived Philemon of his services. It was time for him to go back and make things right.
Let me make it clear—Paul was not condoning slavery. He simply recognized that Philemon had a legal right to this man’s services when he bought Onesimus as a slave. In fact, in many of his letters Paul encourages Christian slaves to be obedient to their masters because by doing so they’re displaying their love for Christ. Paul knew what it was like to be held against his will. As he wrote this, he himself was a prisoner. Even though he didn’t like the restrictions to his freedom, he still saw it as an opportunity to take the Gospel into places he might never have had access to. He taught the same thing to everyone, regardless of their circumstances in life, including slaves.
Paul also tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”(KJV) That dovetails nicely with what he tells Philemon in verses 15-16. He says, “For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” That explains the shift of Onesimus from being useless to useful. He had become useless to Philemon because he ran away. He left as an unbelieving slave. Now, Paul was sending back a changed man. And now, Onesimus was even more useful because he had become a brother in Christ. Philemon had lost his property, and Paul was returning it in a condition that was more valuable than money could buy.
What had made Onesimus useful instead of useless? It was the love of Jesus. When the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart, he became a child of God and a brother in Christ. That’s what made Onesimus so useful. Not his service as a reliable slave. But he was now a saved follower of Christ, which made him useful to the Lord, useful to the Body of Christ here on earth, and especially useful to Philemon.
But watch closely now, because here’s where the main point of this text comes in. Paul says to Philemon in verses 17-18, “So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” Do you see what Paul did there? He was doing for Onesimus what Christ had done for him, and for all of us. He was acting as an intercessor between this runaway slave and his master. He said to Philemon, the master, “I’ll take his punishment. I’ll pay his debt. Lay that burden on me because I love him!” Paul didn’t make excuses for the wrong thing that Onesimus had done. Instead, he made himself a substitute for Onesimus and accepted full responsibility for the debt this slave owed. All because he loved this young man.
If you haven’t seen the connection yet, this story of Onesimus is our story. Martin Luther once said, “We are Christ’s Onesimuses... restored by {Him}, who, by giving up his rights, compelled the Father to lay aside His wrath.” Like Onesimus, we were runaway slaves who had rebelled against our heavenly master. The earthly punishment for what Onesimus had done could have been a beating or even death. The punishment we deserved for our rebellion against our master was eternal torment in hell. Due to our sinful condition, we had become totally useless to our Lord and master. But praise God, Jesus Christ stepped in as our intercessor. Just as Paul said to Philemon, Jesus has said to God the Father, “I’ll take their punishment. I’ll pay their debt. Lay that burden on me... because I love them!” Jesus didn’t make excuses for our sinfulness. But because He loves us, He willingly went to the cross and paid the debt of our sin. Paul’s words to Philemon in verse 17 are a reflection of what Jesus says to God, our master, about us. He says, “Father... receive them as you would receive me.” And God the Father honors His Son by welcoming us runaway slaves back.
But that’s not all! Like Onesimus, we have been transformed from useless to useful. In your Baptism you were given the gift of saving faith in Jesus Christ. Now, you are no longer just a slave returning to your heavenly master. No, because of what Jesus has done for you, God is receiving back His “property” in a condition that’s much more useful to Him. Onesimus had runaway as a useless slave and returned as a useful, precious, child of God. And so, it is with us. Listen to what St. Paul says in Galatians 4:7 “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” And St. John tells us in 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” You see, you are now Onesimus, that is, useful, to God our Father. Because of the love of Christ, you have been transformed. Praise God for our freedom from the bondage of sin through faith in Jesus! Now, go and live a new life in that freedom. Not as a miserable slave, but as a useful and beloved child of our heavenly Father. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!