Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 4, 2022 “How Do You Change Things You Don’t Control” Philemon – Common English Bible From Paul, who is a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy. To Philemon our dearly loved coworker, 2 Apphia our sister, Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church that meets in your house. 3 May the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 4 Philemon, I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers 5 because I’ve heard of your love and faithfulness, which you have both for the Lord Jesus and for all God’s people. 6 I pray that your partnership in the faith might become effective by an understanding of all that is good among us in Christ. 7 I have great joy and encouragement because of your love, since the hearts of God’s people are refreshed by your actions, my brother. 8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to command you to do the right thing, 9 I would rather appeal to you through love. I, Paul—an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus— 10 appeal to you for my child Onesimus. I became his father in the faith during my time in prison. 11 He was useless to you before, but now he is useful to both of us. 12 I’m sending him back to you, which is like sending you my own heart. 13 I considered keeping him with me so that he might serve me in your place during my time in prison because of the gospel. 14 However, I didn’t want to do anything without your consent so that your act of kindness would occur willingly and not under pressure. 15 Maybe this is the reason that Onesimus was separated from you for a while so that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—that is, as a dearly loved brother. He is especially a dearly loved brother to me. How much more can he become a brother to you, personally and spiritually in the Lord! 17 So, if you really consider me a partner, welcome Onesimus as if you were welcoming me. 18 If he has harmed you in any way or owes you money, charge it to my account. 19 I, Paul, will pay it back to you (I’m writing this with my own hand). Of course, I won’t mention that you owe me your life. 20 Yes, brother, I want this favor from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 I’m writing to you, confident of your obedience and knowing that you will do more than what I ask. 22 Also, one more thing—prepare a guest room for me. I hope that I will be released from prison to be with you because of your prayers. 23 Epaphras, who is in prison with me for the cause of Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as well as my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke. 25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. You just heard an entire book of the Bible, the shortest – just 25 verses. It’s a letter written by Paul to Philemon (phy LEE mon) about Onesimus (o NESS ih muss), a human being who is the property of Philemon. It’s unique among all the New Testament letters because it is written to one person instead of to a community, such as the Ephesians or the church in Philippi. Though this letter was written to one person to address one issue, it was intended for the whole church that met in Philemon’s house to hear it. It may seem quite obscure about an issue that was unique to its time, but it’s actually a rather beautiful description of what it means to be “In Christ,” as a person and as a church. Paul is fond of the phrase “In Christ” and uses it a number of times – such as when he told the Galatians, “In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, In Christ there is no male or female, In Christ there is no slave or free.” In this letter, Paul offers a very concrete way for Philemon and Onesimus to live “In Christ.” But it depended on Philemon. Therefore, Paul used his masterful rhetorical skills, attempting to persuade Philemon to accept Paul’s request. 1)He began by calling Philemon “dear friend” and praising him about all the wonderful things he’s heard about what Philemon is doing. Flattery is a good place to start. 2)And while he praises Philemon, Paul calls himself “just an old man” despite his exalted stature in the Church. 3)Then Paul gets down to business by telling Philemon he could simply command him to do what he’s about to ask, but instead he wants to appeal to him on the basis of love. With a voluntary good deed, you can be a hero! 4)And the issue? Onesimus, a slave who ran away from Philemon, whom Paul calls “my child,” “my own heart.” He “rightfully” belonged back. 5)But first, Paul praises Onesimus for being so “useful” to him in prison. It goes without saying, though he kind of does, Onesimus has been more useful than Philemon. Like, hint, hint, where have you been? 6)And then the big ask: I could have kept him here, but “take Onesimus back, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a dearly loved brother. Welcome him as you would welcome me.” Remarkably, Paul makes himself equal with Onesimus. 7)Paul promises, “I’ll happily pay you if Onesimus has caused you economic hardship.” A nice promise, followed by, “I won’t say anything about how much you owe your life to me.” Subtle, right!? 8)Paul concludes by praising Philemon again. “I’m confident you will do as I ask.” Remember, you can be a hero. 9)And finally, prepare a guest room for me, which means, I’ll be back to check on how you’ve done with my request. 10)And one more thing. He adds greetings from people who know Paul sent this letter. Message: others are watching you too. There’s often a fine line between masterful persuasion and master manipulation, but behind it is the bottom line for Paul: this is what it means to be “In Christ.” We have to remember that Paul and this community were not in positions of power except among themselves. They were a distinct minority in the Roman system of power and values, which included that some people were free and others were unfree. Domination was practiced by force, by violence… Or simply by the inertia of “this is how it’s always been done” – sometimes more powerful than any other influence. While Jesus often provoked authorities intentionally, decades later, this minority didn’t want to draw attention to itself or rock the boat and catch the eye of the Roman authorities. It was understandable self-protection. Preservation. And yet, to be “In Christ” is to be different. They couldn’t help but live in direct contradiction to some values. In a culture that valued power over, the early church practiced equality. Not only that no one is better than another but that no one shall exercise domination over another. Notably, of men and women, until they unfortunately began to mimic the culture around them. But Paul’s message to early Christians: Those who are In Christ are not to practice power over each other, whether free or unfree. From my place in history, I wish Paul had gone further and made a clear case that slavery is evil. It might have been “legal” in the Roman Empire, but among Christians I wish he had said it must be absolutely forbidden. One cannot be “In Christ” and own another. It is the greatest betrayal of being “In Christ” that the church ever had anything to do with slaveholding or the justification of slavery – the remnants of which we still see today in movements for white supremacy. But my wishing that Paul had not accommodated the slavery of his day is like what will be said of me 100 years from now. I wish David would have said, I wish he would have done… For example, most of my ministry has involved some form of food outreach – collecting food or funds for hunger centers and food pantries, working at or hosting shelters for unhoused people in our church, and here, the food distribution in the parking lot, Uptown… If I can criticize Paul for accommodating slavery in his time instead of condemning it, in a hundred years I might well deserve criticism for accommodating the unequal world we live in. It may be asked of the church 100 years from now, how could you prop up such a system? The church should have been upending inequality, not helping to perpetuate it. Just like I ask of our forebears 150 years ago, how could you help the government run Indian boarding schools. 150 years from now people will be asking of the church, why didn’t you do more about climate change? But how can we change things we don’t control? Here’s what Paul did. With one personal letter treasured by the church, Paul abolished hierarchical relationships. Well, one relationship. But he modeled the radical abolition of unequal relationships. And not just that Onesimus would be equal spiritually but, as Paul was fond of saying, “in the flesh.” How can we change things we don’t control? We start one relationship at a time. How can we change things we don’t control? Not by forcing ideas upon people but, like Paul, by masterful persuasion. Paul could have told Philemon what to do but instead loved him into changing his thinking. People won’t agree with what we think are great ideas unless they first know there is a great love. Practice love until love is received. And then work for change. How can we change things we don’t control? By joining forces. Not every movement for equality succeeds, but no movement began without someone daring to say, “why don’t we…” One dream shared becomes a vision and we know that a people without vision will perish. We start change by speaking up among the people with whom we are “In Christ.” That’s something we can do. We can choose the power of good even while mired in systems of domination. In 1985 Riverside Church in New York City became the first Open and Affirming congregation in the UCC. My church in Denver was #71, six years later. It took years, one at a time. One relationship at a time. Not by shame but by the persuasion of love. Today, by declaring our vision of equality In Christ, there are over 1,700 Open and Affirming churches - about 40% of the UCC and growing faster than ever. Antoinette Brown was ordained by the Congregational church in South Butler, New York, in 1853. The UCC claims her as the first ordained woman in modern history. She quit 10 months later and became a Unitarian. She was not shown a lot of love. It took many more years, but slowly, one courageous woman at a time, now more than 50% of pastors in UCC churches are women. And a small, slowly growing, number who are transgender. One relationship at a time, not by shame but by the persuasion of love, a movement of people In Christ are changing the world. During Paul’s time, the Christian minority walked a fine line between two worlds. Christians are not a minority today and increasingly it feels like some of them want to practice a form of dominance over everyone else. Feels like it and some downright say it out loud. It’s not biblical, it’s an ideological power grab. Within this environment, our voice as progressive Christians can feel pretty small at times, but we have Paul’s clear call. As I read the letter to Philemon, to be In Christ means:
To deconstruct is not to destroy people, consider them enemies, or shame anyone into change. It is to love people. How do we change things we can’t control? In Christ, one relationship at a time. How do we change things we can’t control? In Christ, by the persuasion of love. How do we change things we can’t control? In Christ, by joining together. And as we change ourselves, the love of Christ will speak louder than any words. (we sing the following:) So, sing a new world into being, sound a loud and hopeful theme, find a tune for silent yearnings, lend your voice and dare to dream. Sing a new world into being.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI love being a Archives
March 2024
|