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Friday 27 May 2011
REJOICE IN THE LORD
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
Monday 23 May 2011
Prayer
Difficulties in Prayer
Isn’t it amazing the excuses you can find not to do something. I am constantly amazed at my ability to find reasons why I should not do the job I planned to do. Or why it would be better not to go running and just to read a book. But what is not so amazing is how easily reasons not to pray creep into my Christian life. By identifying the difficulties we encounter I hope we can also identify how to overcome them.
You have a desire to pray but it feels like such an effort and a burden that you are ready to give up. You feel guilty for even thinking about giving up and so out of a sense of duty you pray. Your prayers are empty of meaning and life because it is out of duty that you pray. This leads to further guilt. The more effort it takes to pray the more neglected your prayer life becomes and the more guilt ways heavy on your soul. You feel alienated from God because of your lack of prayer, more guilt. Your mind becomes more worldly and the result is that prayer gets pushed further down or even off the agenda. Yet you still believe in prayer. You still talk to people about prayer and about the necessity of prayer as a daily discipline in the life of a Christian believer. With the result that you have two parallel lives – the public Christian face which may even on occasions pray in public and the private (real) life where prayer is virtually extinct = guilt again. The end is a downward spiral of neglect and guilt which culminates in spiritual desolation and you walking in the wilderness. Is that a fair description of the prayer life of many Christian believers? I think it is and the reason I believe it to be so is because it has been my Christian experience on many occasions.
Many of us have a desire in our hearts to pray. We really want to pray each day. We believe prayer is important for our relationship with God, with others and in our own lives. We desperately want to have a good prayer life. We talk about the importance of prayer. We receive prayer letters from missionaries, Christian organisations and prayer requests from others. We believe in prayer and yet the practical outworking of that in our daily lives is sometimes non-existent. We are full of good intentions but that is all they remain – ‘good intentions.’ Why? Why do we fail to put into practice what we believe about prayer?
I want to identify for you some of the key things which create difficulties in our prayer life and feed the scenario I just outlined to you.
Sin and Disobedience.
Listen to these words of Jesus in John 14.21 . Those are familiar words to us but they convey so much concerning prayer. What is actually revealed to us here is the ‘cycle of intimacy’ in a believer’s life. Jesus tells us that our love for Him is expressed in our obedience to Him, to His Word. He then promises that if we obey Him He will reveal Himself to us. This revelation of Himself to us will lead us deeper into a love relationship with Him and so the cycle continues. But the opposite of that is also true. If we do not obey Him then intimacy is lost. If we disobey Him then we lose that revelation of Him in our lives and our love for Him starts to wane and with it our intimacy with Him. Isn’t that what happened with Adam and Eve when they disobeyed in the Garden of Eden? Whilst they obeyed the commands of God they had intimacy with Him. Whilst they obeyed the commands of God He revealed Himself to them. But once they disobeyed intimacy with God was lost. Their disobedience brought sin into the created order and placed a barrier between God and them and the result was a loss of intimacy, loss of revelation and loss of relationship. Sin brought about a loss in their lives and it does the same to us in our prayer life. Listen to these words in Proverbs 28.9. If you disobey (turn a deaf ear to the law) then your very prayers are detestable to Him. Strong words! Listen to how David expressed it in Psalm 66.18. David says if he tolerated sin in his life, in his heart then God would not have listened to his prayers. Friends listen to me now – if you entertain sin in your life then you will have difficulties in your prayer life. If you are walking in the ways of sin you cannot know intimacy with God. If you disobey the Word of God then your prayer life will be a struggle. In fact the Word of God says God finds your prayers ‘detestable’ because your walk reveals you do not love Him and you should not expect Him to listen when you disobey.
2 Chronicles 7.11-22 I want you to notice a few things here. Firstly in verse 12 God tells Solomon he had heard his prayer. This is an answer to Solomon’s two requests in 6.20, 40. But read on to verse 14. God tells Solomon here are the conditions for answered prayer:
(a) Humility of my people.
(b) Seek my face in prayer. Note that – ‘seek God’s face in prayer’ not ‘seek God’s hands in prayer.’ Too often we come looking for what is in God’s hands and not what is in His face – but I will come to that in moment.
(c) Repent – if they turn from their wicked ways – obedience.
(d) Then God promises to hear and to answer. So friends this morning I want you learn from that. Unconfessed Sin will bring difficulties into your prayer life. In fact if it remains unconfessed it will stop your prayer life altogether.
Wrong Relationships.
In the passage from 2 chronicles 7 we read that God said He would answer prayers spoken in the Temple. We know from the teaching of the NT that we are now god’s Temple of the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 3.16. We know that sin can hinder prayer but listen to these words from Matthew 5.23-24 and Matthew 6.15. What do you notice about them? Do you notice the teaching of each of them? Jesus says that if you come to pray and there is a wrong relationship in your life then you must sort it out or the result will be that difficulties will arise in prayer. Listen to what Peter says in a more specific way concerning prayer and the marital relationship – 1 Peter 3.7. Peter warns that if a husband does not respect his wife, fail to love her as Christ loves His church, then a hindrance (barrier) will arise in their prayer life. That is a very sobering warning to us all . Friends wrong relationships are a reason we have difficulties in prayer. It might be a relationship that needs a fence mended, an apology given or forgiveness asked. It might be a relationship that is forbidden in the Word of God and you are persisting in it, or about to enter upon it and you wonder why your prayer life is beginning to be difficult. Examine your life. Examine your relationships and bring them before God and then mend the fences.
Loss of Focus.
2 Chronicles 7.14. Matthew 6.6. I could list many more Bible passages which show that our focus in prayer is to be God. The Psalms, especially, are replete with commands to focus on God in prayer. The Bible teaches us that when we come to pray our focus is on God and not on anything else. Listen to these words from Exodus 20.1-6 – they are familiar to us as the 1st and 2nd commandment. But did you ever stop for a moment and think how they relate to your prayer life? When you come to pray you are to have no other God but God on your heart and mind. When you come to pray God’s glory, the worship of God is to be the focus of your heart and mind – not the ‘prayer list.’ It is easy to allow ‘prayer requests’ to become ‘idols.’ It is easy to forget that prayer is about a relationship with God and communication with God. It is easy to lose the focus of an encounter with the living God, which should always lead us to worship Him before anything else. So wrong focus can create difficulties in prayer because we come not thinking of God but of our requests. The result is that our minds wander, stray on to the list of things we want God to do for us and that leads us to the next difficulty.
Wrong Motives.
READ James 4.2-3. Again these may seem like harsh words but they are so true of our lives. How often our prayer life becomes difficult because we come to God with wrong motives. We come seeking His hands and not His face. We come with a shopping list and then sulk when we do not get what we asked for. John 2.1-11 and Jesus’ first miracle. Jesus was attending a wedding at Cana of Galilee. The wedding party has run out of wine, which would not only be an embarrassment but a social scandal at that time. Mary, His mother, comes to Him makes a request of Him – a prayer to Him. I want you to note the following about her request (prayer):
(a) she came to Jesus – v.3.
(b) she told Him what they lacked –v.4. She did not tell Him what to do or when to do it. She simply told Him what they lacked.
(c) She left it with Jesus and told the servants to do whatever He said – v.5
You might think there is nothing out of the ordinary in that sequence. But allow me to compare that passage with how we generally pray.
We come to Jesus – great start. We not only tell Him what we lack, but how we would like it to be answered and when we would like it to be answered. I know we should be specific in prayer but that is different than telling God what to do and when to do it. We can, and often do, use prayer as a means of giving instructions to God. We use it as a means of commanding God to do our bidding and the result is it becomes a burden to us because we have failed to trust God for the answer. We think we must tell God how to answer our prayers and the result is we spend hours trying to work out the answer to the prayer request and then we proceed to tell God how to answer the prayer and all the time we say ‘we are depending on God to answer.’ While all the time we are in fact being ‘hypocrites’ because we do not trust Him to answer in any other way than the once we have commanded of Him in our prayers. The result is that when God answers according to His perfect will, and not our sinful commands, we either fail to see the answer, have stopped looking for the answer and generally begin to give up on prayer. The difficulty has arisen not because God does not answer but because He did not do our bidding. It was a wrong motive in prayer and it leads to difficulties in prayer.
So when you come to pray come with the right attitude or motive. Come, seeking God’s face, and not His hands. Come not with the answer already worked out but with trust to a Father who wants only what is for our good. When we come with the wrong motive/attitude fear is the driving force. Fear and anxiety will rob us of our faith in prayer and will create the difficulties that will lead us to give up on prayer.
Practice and Perseverance.
Luke 18.1-8 READ. This is a well known parable about the widow who was persistent until she got an answer from her neighbour. Jesus used the parable to teach the disciples about persistence in prayer. One of the reasons we have difficulties in our prayer life is because we are not discipline people. We give up very easily. We do not stick at prayer. Coaches and athletes speak of a thing called ‘muscle memory.’ It is where the athlete, in whatever sport, has practiced time and again an action needed – so much so that the muscle remembers instinctively how it is done – so that under pressure the muscle’s memory will repeat the action despite the stress of the moment. Friends we need to develop a prayer memory so that even when the pressure comes, the storm hits and the stress rises we instinctively know how to pray. That will only be if we persistently practice prayer. That will only be if we make prayer so much part of our daily lives that without faltering our memory knows how it is done even in the midst of the storms of life. Jesus said ‘you do not have because you do not ask.’ The widow was rewarded for her persistence – it was an important lesson for the disciples and it is for us also.
Exodus 14.15. You might wonder ‘what on earth has that got to do with prayer?’ Friends, Moses was still praying when he should have been up on his feet and leading the people across the Red Sea. There are times when difficulties in prayer arise because we are still on our knees when God wants us to be up and walking forward through a Red Sea path He has prepared for us. Don’t you get frustrated with your children when they ask the same question repeatedly – even after you have given the answer? Sometimes we are guilty of asking repeatedly when God has already given the answer. The reason we ask repeatedly is because we have fallen into the trap of telling God what the answer should be or we have failed to have eyes open for the answer. We are like the man sitting on the roof of His house as the flood water rises all around and who refuses several means of rescue because ‘I am praying the Lord will rescue me.’ He eventually drowns and standing before God he asks ‘why did you not rescue me? I prayed hard and long.’ God’s reply ‘who do you think sent all the means of rescue?’ Friends, like Moses, there comes a time when God has answered and we need to get up and walk forward. To remain on our knees in prayer when we should be up and walking is a lack of trust, lack of faith and disobedience and the result will be difficulties in our prayer life. So having identified some of the difficulties in prayer I hope we will now have a more Biblical understanding of how we can overcome them.
Amen
Saturday 21 May 2011
Spiritual maturity
The art of letter writing is really dying today. With all our technology, email, text messaging and twitter receiving a handwritten letter is almost as rare as ‘hen’s teeth. The letter to Philemon is a very personal letter, but it is also an open letter which in all probability was brought back to Colossae along with the letter to the Colossians. Written by the apostle Paul, almost certainly whilst he was in prison in Rome, between AD56‐58 to Philemon in Colossae concerning a runaway slave called Onesimus. We are told that not only had Onesimus runaway but he had, it appears, also stolen from his master – verses 18‐19.
Verses 1‐3 the greeting is different from the other letters Paul has written. This letter follows the ancient form of a letter of commendation. More formal but not unlike how we would set out a CV reference for someone today. Paul‘s opening words are calculated to suggest that his appeal for Onesimus should be looked on favourably. In verse 1 Paul tells us he is a prisoner of Christ and in verse
9 he tells us he is a prisoner for Christ. He was a prisoner of Christ in that Christ had bought him with his blood and now he was in prison Rome for Christ and the sake of the gospel. Paul suffered for the sake of the gospel and this is a mark of his apostleship. This in turn adds weight to his request for clemency for Onesimus. Paul adds Timothy’s name to the appeal. Paul greets Philemon, the owner of Onesimus, and also Apphia who is generally accepted to be his wife and would have been responsible for the day to day running of the household, including responsibility for slaves. The greeting is also extended to Archippus who is the elder of the church, a church which Onesimus would have to join when he goes back to Colossae.
Verses 4‐7 we have a section of thanksgiving and prayer. Verses 4‐5 are very typical of Christian letters of the day. The greeting was followed by thanksgiving and prayer. This is a full thanksgiving – Paul tells them that he always gives thanks for them and he does so in his prayers. He thanks God for them. He tells them why he gives such thanks – verse 5 – because of their faith and love for Christ and his people. In verse 4 we should note that the
‘you’ is singular not plural. The ‘you’ that Paul is giving thanks for is Philemon. Whereas the ‘you’ and ‘yours’ of the greeting and the ending of the letter are plural. So although this is letter is addressed to Philemon it is also to be read in the church.
Verse 6 Paul prays that Philemon’s participation in the faith will be made effective because he has a full understanding of the gospel and of God’s love and goodness in Christ towards them both. Paul throughout his letters makes it clear that knowledge precedes good works – Colossians 1.9‐10.
Verse 7 Paul knows all about the love that Philemon has for Christ expressed through his love for Paul. Paul is alluding to the spiritual maturity that is found in Philemon because his faith is expressed in love towards others. The implication is that the love that he has shown to Paul and others will now be shown to the runaway slave Onesimus. How he treats Onesimus upon his return is Paul’s concern because it will be a reflection of Philemon’s Christian maturity.
Let us linger here for a moment. There is an important lesson for us to learn here concerning Christian maturity.
How we love one another is a sign of our Christian maturity. More importantly how we love someone who has wronged us, repented of the wrong they have done, and sought to be reconciled is a sign of our Christian maturity. We can do nothing about their part – the repentance and desire for reconciliation but are answerable for our expression of love when genuine repentance has occurred and loving reconciliation is desired. I want you to note as well that Paul never told Philemon it would be easy and he never seeks in this letter to justify any of Onesimus’ actions. To our 21st century ears the very thought of slavery is horrific but Paul does not discuss the morality of slavery either. Paul has written on behalf of one brother in Christ to another brother in Christ who has been wronged to bring about reconciliation for the sake of the gospel and the glory of Christ. Remember the context and the purpose of the letter and don’t get sidetracked with other issues.
Verse 8‐22 the Plea for Onesimus. This is the heart of this letter and it is important for us not only to understand Onesimus’ situation but also to understand where Paul is at this moment. Paul’s circumstances are significant. Because Paul is in prison he cannot do the things a free man could do to help a slave. All he can do is write this letter of appeal to Philemon, asking for clemency for this new brother in Christ. If Paul was a free man he could have applied to the officials to have Onesimus assigned into his care for a time. This was not uncommon at that time. Onesimus was in a very vulnerable situation. A runaway slave was protected by no laws and he was open to all manner of abuse. In Rome he could be anonymous but if caught he could be beaten unmercifully and their life expectancy was short. By asking Philemon to show mercy towards Onesimus Paul was asking Philemon to go against all the cultural norms of the day and by this request Paul is in fact giving rights and dignity to a class of people who no one thought worthy of even life.
Verse 8 Paul begins his plea for clemency by reminding Philemon that he (Paul) is an apostle. Paul had authority in the church and he reminds Philemon that he was not afraid to exercise that authority but on this occasion he will not command Philemon to obey but will appeal for
‘love’s sake’ that Philemon agree with his request for clemency.
Verse 9 in the ANE ‘old age’ also conveyed authority on you and Paul mentions this second level of authority in his life. Wisdom and authority were assumed to go with old
age but Paul here emphasises his feeble condition and situation.
Verse 10 now Paul pleads with Philemon for Onesimus. He calls the slave his son – this depicts the relationship of a teacher and a student in the faith.
Verse 11 Paul now uses a play on words in this verse. Onesimus = profitable or useful – Paul uses ‘chrestos’ which meant useless and ‘euchrestos’ which means useful. ‘Chrestos’ in turn sounds like ‘Christos’ – the name of Christ. We miss the humour and the subtlety of such a play on words. It would not have been lost on Philemon. Paul is showing how sensitive this situation is for everyone and he is showing tact in dealing with it. It would seem that Paul introduces some humour into the letter at this point because what he is about to ask of Philemon is so radical that it may just provoke laughter.
Verse 12 – I don’t think Paul can make it any clearer how fond he is of Onesimus. Paul also reminds Philemon that Onesimus had served Paul whilst he was in prison and Paul credits this to Philemon – verse 13. Paul desires to keep Onesimus with him for the comfort and help that he brought him but he shows deference to Philemon, how could Philemon now refuse Paul’s request for clemency?
Verses 15‐120 – Paul shows how he understands that God’s hand was in control of this situation right from the very start. Paul does not refer to Onesimus as a runaway but of their temporary separation which would lead to a permanent reunion. Please don’t take that verse out of
context and use it for relationship counselling – as I heard some people do in the past. Similarly he refers to Onesimus as a ‘slave’ which is a temporary situation and then as a ‘brother’ which is an eternal condition in Christ. Paul goes even further in verse 17, referring to Philemon in business terms as a ‘partner’, an equal with the apostle in the work of the kingdom of God. Philemon was to receive Onesimus as if he was receiving Paul, his partner in the gospel. Paul then commits himself to pay (verses18‐19) any financial loss incurred by the actions of Onesimus. This shows Paul’s love for Onesimus and for Philemon. He does not want Philemon to suffer as a consequence of his request but he also wants to make it clear that repentance and reconciliation also requires restitution. Paul reminds Philemon of the debt that he owes Paul which should more than cover the debt owed by Onesimus but never‐the‐less Paul will pay what is owed. Paul tells Philemon that in obeying this request he will refresh Paul’s heart in Christ – because the act of love in Christ will be seen by all.
Verses 21‐22 – Paul knows that Philemon will obey out of love for the Lord and for Paul. In fact he is so confident of the Christian maturity of Philemon that he knows Philemon will do more than he has asked of him. Paul knows that Philemon, because of the gospel, will treat Onesimus fairly and graciously. He is confident of this because he knows Philemon’s heart and life are rotted in the gospel.
Verses 23‐25 Paul finishes his letter to Philemon with a standard ending, followed in many of his letters. He mentions those with him and commits Philemon to the grace of Christ Jesus.
We might well be appalled at the thought of slavery. It is not something we encounter or would even countenance today. Yet in the first century to suggest doing away with slaves would be akin to suggesting we get rid of all electrical appliances and any transportation that required oil, diesel or petrol to power it. Society of the day never really gave the owning of slaves a second thought. Yet, a careful reading of Philemon shows us that Paul expected a radical change in the relationship between master and slave, slave and master within the Christian church. In Christ relationships are dramatically and radically changed. Paul asked two men, in Christ, to do an amazing and courageous thing. He asked Onesimus to go back to the master he had run away from and he asked Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household without punishment. In fact Paul hints in the letter that Philemon should even consider giving Onesimus his freedom (verse21). We don’t own slaves and so the immediate context of this letter is removed from our everyday lives. Yet, what of the principles taught here.
1. When we come to Christ Jesus our relationships are changed – for the better.
2. When we have wronged someone God asks us to repent, to return and to seek reconciliation with them.
3. If we have been wronged and the person who has offended us repents and comes back we are to forgive and restore the relationship. That may be a painful experience for us but it is what Paul teaches here.
4. Sometimes we are called by God to stand against the way the world deals with broken relationships and in so doing we may place ourselves in a place of ridicule, outside our social circles and be misunderstood but we know we do it because God has called us to obey his word. This is a sign of our Christian maturity – remember that.
5. Authority – finally we need to take seriously the spiritual authorities that God has placed over us in Christ. Those whom God has made overseers of his flock and who through the Word of God, not their own authority or position, but teaching the Word of God point out to us how God has called us to live we are to obey them.
You may have such a broken relationship in your life – you may be an Onesimus who has run away and today God is calling you to repent and go back. Or, you may be a Philemon and God is saying when that person comes back – show Christian maturity for the sake of the gospel of love. Show clemency, the world may not understand and may even balk at what you do – but receive them as you would receive me. Take a moment now and examine your heart and see if you are in the place of Onesimus, or Philemen – or even Paul where you have to exhort someone to do a radically difficult and counter‐cultural act of reconciliation in order that they might be spiritually mature.
Amen.
Verses 1‐3 the greeting is different from the other letters Paul has written. This letter follows the ancient form of a letter of commendation. More formal but not unlike how we would set out a CV reference for someone today. Paul‘s opening words are calculated to suggest that his appeal for Onesimus should be looked on favourably. In verse 1 Paul tells us he is a prisoner of Christ and in verse
9 he tells us he is a prisoner for Christ. He was a prisoner of Christ in that Christ had bought him with his blood and now he was in prison Rome for Christ and the sake of the gospel. Paul suffered for the sake of the gospel and this is a mark of his apostleship. This in turn adds weight to his request for clemency for Onesimus. Paul adds Timothy’s name to the appeal. Paul greets Philemon, the owner of Onesimus, and also Apphia who is generally accepted to be his wife and would have been responsible for the day to day running of the household, including responsibility for slaves. The greeting is also extended to Archippus who is the elder of the church, a church which Onesimus would have to join when he goes back to Colossae.
Verses 4‐7 we have a section of thanksgiving and prayer. Verses 4‐5 are very typical of Christian letters of the day. The greeting was followed by thanksgiving and prayer. This is a full thanksgiving – Paul tells them that he always gives thanks for them and he does so in his prayers. He thanks God for them. He tells them why he gives such thanks – verse 5 – because of their faith and love for Christ and his people. In verse 4 we should note that the
‘you’ is singular not plural. The ‘you’ that Paul is giving thanks for is Philemon. Whereas the ‘you’ and ‘yours’ of the greeting and the ending of the letter are plural. So although this is letter is addressed to Philemon it is also to be read in the church.
Verse 6 Paul prays that Philemon’s participation in the faith will be made effective because he has a full understanding of the gospel and of God’s love and goodness in Christ towards them both. Paul throughout his letters makes it clear that knowledge precedes good works – Colossians 1.9‐10.
Verse 7 Paul knows all about the love that Philemon has for Christ expressed through his love for Paul. Paul is alluding to the spiritual maturity that is found in Philemon because his faith is expressed in love towards others. The implication is that the love that he has shown to Paul and others will now be shown to the runaway slave Onesimus. How he treats Onesimus upon his return is Paul’s concern because it will be a reflection of Philemon’s Christian maturity.
Let us linger here for a moment. There is an important lesson for us to learn here concerning Christian maturity.
How we love one another is a sign of our Christian maturity. More importantly how we love someone who has wronged us, repented of the wrong they have done, and sought to be reconciled is a sign of our Christian maturity. We can do nothing about their part – the repentance and desire for reconciliation but are answerable for our expression of love when genuine repentance has occurred and loving reconciliation is desired. I want you to note as well that Paul never told Philemon it would be easy and he never seeks in this letter to justify any of Onesimus’ actions. To our 21st century ears the very thought of slavery is horrific but Paul does not discuss the morality of slavery either. Paul has written on behalf of one brother in Christ to another brother in Christ who has been wronged to bring about reconciliation for the sake of the gospel and the glory of Christ. Remember the context and the purpose of the letter and don’t get sidetracked with other issues.
Verse 8‐22 the Plea for Onesimus. This is the heart of this letter and it is important for us not only to understand Onesimus’ situation but also to understand where Paul is at this moment. Paul’s circumstances are significant. Because Paul is in prison he cannot do the things a free man could do to help a slave. All he can do is write this letter of appeal to Philemon, asking for clemency for this new brother in Christ. If Paul was a free man he could have applied to the officials to have Onesimus assigned into his care for a time. This was not uncommon at that time. Onesimus was in a very vulnerable situation. A runaway slave was protected by no laws and he was open to all manner of abuse. In Rome he could be anonymous but if caught he could be beaten unmercifully and their life expectancy was short. By asking Philemon to show mercy towards Onesimus Paul was asking Philemon to go against all the cultural norms of the day and by this request Paul is in fact giving rights and dignity to a class of people who no one thought worthy of even life.
Verse 8 Paul begins his plea for clemency by reminding Philemon that he (Paul) is an apostle. Paul had authority in the church and he reminds Philemon that he was not afraid to exercise that authority but on this occasion he will not command Philemon to obey but will appeal for
‘love’s sake’ that Philemon agree with his request for clemency.
Verse 9 in the ANE ‘old age’ also conveyed authority on you and Paul mentions this second level of authority in his life. Wisdom and authority were assumed to go with old
age but Paul here emphasises his feeble condition and situation.
Verse 10 now Paul pleads with Philemon for Onesimus. He calls the slave his son – this depicts the relationship of a teacher and a student in the faith.
Verse 11 Paul now uses a play on words in this verse. Onesimus = profitable or useful – Paul uses ‘chrestos’ which meant useless and ‘euchrestos’ which means useful. ‘Chrestos’ in turn sounds like ‘Christos’ – the name of Christ. We miss the humour and the subtlety of such a play on words. It would not have been lost on Philemon. Paul is showing how sensitive this situation is for everyone and he is showing tact in dealing with it. It would seem that Paul introduces some humour into the letter at this point because what he is about to ask of Philemon is so radical that it may just provoke laughter.
Verse 12 – I don’t think Paul can make it any clearer how fond he is of Onesimus. Paul also reminds Philemon that Onesimus had served Paul whilst he was in prison and Paul credits this to Philemon – verse 13. Paul desires to keep Onesimus with him for the comfort and help that he brought him but he shows deference to Philemon, how could Philemon now refuse Paul’s request for clemency?
Verses 15‐120 – Paul shows how he understands that God’s hand was in control of this situation right from the very start. Paul does not refer to Onesimus as a runaway but of their temporary separation which would lead to a permanent reunion. Please don’t take that verse out of
context and use it for relationship counselling – as I heard some people do in the past. Similarly he refers to Onesimus as a ‘slave’ which is a temporary situation and then as a ‘brother’ which is an eternal condition in Christ. Paul goes even further in verse 17, referring to Philemon in business terms as a ‘partner’, an equal with the apostle in the work of the kingdom of God. Philemon was to receive Onesimus as if he was receiving Paul, his partner in the gospel. Paul then commits himself to pay (verses18‐19) any financial loss incurred by the actions of Onesimus. This shows Paul’s love for Onesimus and for Philemon. He does not want Philemon to suffer as a consequence of his request but he also wants to make it clear that repentance and reconciliation also requires restitution. Paul reminds Philemon of the debt that he owes Paul which should more than cover the debt owed by Onesimus but never‐the‐less Paul will pay what is owed. Paul tells Philemon that in obeying this request he will refresh Paul’s heart in Christ – because the act of love in Christ will be seen by all.
Verses 21‐22 – Paul knows that Philemon will obey out of love for the Lord and for Paul. In fact he is so confident of the Christian maturity of Philemon that he knows Philemon will do more than he has asked of him. Paul knows that Philemon, because of the gospel, will treat Onesimus fairly and graciously. He is confident of this because he knows Philemon’s heart and life are rotted in the gospel.
Verses 23‐25 Paul finishes his letter to Philemon with a standard ending, followed in many of his letters. He mentions those with him and commits Philemon to the grace of Christ Jesus.
We might well be appalled at the thought of slavery. It is not something we encounter or would even countenance today. Yet in the first century to suggest doing away with slaves would be akin to suggesting we get rid of all electrical appliances and any transportation that required oil, diesel or petrol to power it. Society of the day never really gave the owning of slaves a second thought. Yet, a careful reading of Philemon shows us that Paul expected a radical change in the relationship between master and slave, slave and master within the Christian church. In Christ relationships are dramatically and radically changed. Paul asked two men, in Christ, to do an amazing and courageous thing. He asked Onesimus to go back to the master he had run away from and he asked Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household without punishment. In fact Paul hints in the letter that Philemon should even consider giving Onesimus his freedom (verse21). We don’t own slaves and so the immediate context of this letter is removed from our everyday lives. Yet, what of the principles taught here.
1. When we come to Christ Jesus our relationships are changed – for the better.
2. When we have wronged someone God asks us to repent, to return and to seek reconciliation with them.
3. If we have been wronged and the person who has offended us repents and comes back we are to forgive and restore the relationship. That may be a painful experience for us but it is what Paul teaches here.
4. Sometimes we are called by God to stand against the way the world deals with broken relationships and in so doing we may place ourselves in a place of ridicule, outside our social circles and be misunderstood but we know we do it because God has called us to obey his word. This is a sign of our Christian maturity – remember that.
5. Authority – finally we need to take seriously the spiritual authorities that God has placed over us in Christ. Those whom God has made overseers of his flock and who through the Word of God, not their own authority or position, but teaching the Word of God point out to us how God has called us to live we are to obey them.
You may have such a broken relationship in your life – you may be an Onesimus who has run away and today God is calling you to repent and go back. Or, you may be a Philemon and God is saying when that person comes back – show Christian maturity for the sake of the gospel of love. Show clemency, the world may not understand and may even balk at what you do – but receive them as you would receive me. Take a moment now and examine your heart and see if you are in the place of Onesimus, or Philemen – or even Paul where you have to exhort someone to do a radically difficult and counter‐cultural act of reconciliation in order that they might be spiritually mature.
Amen.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Grow up
I am sure many of you have had the experience of feeding a baby. The food does not look that appetising, all pureed down for easy digestion. After a certain period of time a baby moves on to more solid food. If you came into a home and found a 16 year old still being spoon feed baby food you would naturally assume there was something wrong with the child or that the child had never grown up. Sometimes we tell people to grow up and stop behaving like a child. Sometimes we are not brave enough to say it but we think it about the person. We all know people who are immature for their age. People who have never grown to maturity are stunted in all areas of their lives. I want us to look to Hebrews chapter 5.12 to 6.3. We are going to be challenged, I pray, today about growing to maturity in our Christian faith. The important lesson for us all is to be moving on with Christ and no longer remaining babies in the faith.
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians in Rome as an encouragement. The writer is disappointed with his readers for he expected them to be further on in their Christian faith than they are. Can I say to you all, as humbly as I can, I believe this is true of many reading this and also myself.
Context: Prior to where we began reading this the author of the Hebrews has written of the priesthood of Christ and how that priesthood is eternal and therefore the sacrifice which He offered, Himself, is also eternal in its effectiveness.
Verse 11. This is quite an opening statement. The author desires to move on into the teaching and doctrine of the Christian faith but he states, quite plainly, that he cannot do so because they are "slow to learn." This is not because they had educational difficulties but because they were lazy about their faith and therefore slow to learn. Their minds had become dull over time because they had grown lazy in their thinking about the Christian faith. How many Christians today are lazy in their minds about their faith? How many will read the newspaper, magazines, or the latest novel but their bible lies gathering dust on the shelf? Take a moment to think of all the opportunities available to you, to learn more of your faith and how few actually avail of it. Think of how poorly informed, educated and thought through so many Christians are. It is not that there are no resources or opportunities to learn. In fact the very opposite is true but Christians are slow to learn because they have become lazy of heart and mind. The author of the Hebrews wants them to be ashamed of themselves and for this to be a motivator for them to awaken from this slumber and to move on from being babies.
Verse 12. The writer tells them that they had been Christians for so long that they had sufficient time to qualify as teachers of the faith but the reality was far from that. They had actually failed to go on in the faith, instead remaining as babies in understanding and belief. In Romans 2.21 and 1 Peter 3.15 we read that those who had progressed in the faith demonstrated this by an ability to instruct others in the faith. In their case they still needed elementary instruction in the faith. Their knowledge of the faith was minimal when it should have in fact have been advanced. The phrase the writer uses is that they were still in need of learning their 'ABC's.' They were still in the beginner's class when they ought to have been teaching the class.
Verse 13. This is the way the author sees it: 'Anyone' still occupied with the 'ABC' of the faith is still an infant and must be treated as such by the church. They are not 'acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.' He is saying that right living is missing from their lives because they have no understanding or knowledge of how a Christian should think or live. Because they are still feeding on milk they do not conduct themselves in the manner in which God expects.
Verse 14. However, mature people require solid food in order to be healthy and to be able to live a healthy life. Such solid food for the Christian is found in prayer, the Word of God, fellowship and in righteous living before God and man. Physically the results of a healthy diet are clear for all to see, as are the results of an unhealthy diet. The same is true of us spiritually. A spiritually healthy diet will enable the Christian to distinguish between right and wrong, between what is true teaching and false teaching. They will be able to distinguish good from evil and will not be in danger of going astray in their walk with God. You see if they lack perception then their Christian service will always be immature and partial.
6 verse 1 begins with 'Therefore' which moves the readers, and us, on to more solid food. The writer begins with 'Repentance' which may to us seem like 'ABC.' It remains the basic building block of solid food. He speaks of 'repentance from dead works' which relates to the legalistic Jewish ways that so many of his readers had left behind when they came to Christ Jesus. It also refers to genuinely evil acts committed by them before they came to faith in Christ. The writer wants them to understand that they have been forgiven and therefore there is no need to remain at that point but the time has come for them to move on. Now please understand what he is saying to them. He is not saying that repentance is unimportant. He is not saying that there is no need for them to confess their sins to God. He is saying that there is no need for them to go back to be born again. They do not need to lay that foundation again. Think for a moment about the foundations of a building. They are essential to the safety and security of a building. Remember the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Foundations are vital for the structure to remain standing but you build on foundations. You do not dig foundations and then continue to lay them over and over again. No builder keeps laying the foundations. They are laid and the building is built upon them. You cannot do without foundations and you cannot ignore the foundations of a building. A foundation is laid for the sake of the building. The same is true of the spiritual life. You need the right foundations to be laid in your life if you are going to build a solid spiritual life. Friends let me say to you this is where many christians go wrong. Too many people today think that you can take a shortcut with the foundations and then they struggle in their Christian life.
A belief in the bible as the in-errant, inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary and sufficient for someone to be saved and to be mature in the faith. These are the foundations that enable you to move to maturity in your faith.
Verse 2 the author now writes to them about 'instructions' which are different from 'foundations.' He mentions 'baptisms' or 'washings' which were different ceremonial rites and also of 'laying on of hands' both of which were widespread practices in antiquity. He then speaks of the 'resurrection of the dead' and 'eternal judgment.' These two topics go together as they remind the hearer that this life is not everything and one day it will come to an end. They are to be aware that one day they will rise from the dead and stand before the judgment seat of God. This was important in a society where most people thought that death was the end - has anything really changed in society in the intervening millennia.
Verse 3 - so they should be determined to press on with the help of God. They should have a set determination in their lives to move from milk to solid food. Without God's help such progress would be impossible but with God they would grow to maturity in the faith.
The author to the Hebrews wants them to understand that you cannot learn all of the Christian faith in one day. It takes time to teach and an effort to learn. There is the important task of teaching but there is equally the important task of listening. The problem with the Hebrews, and with many within the Christian church, their hearing is dull and their appetite for the Word of God limited. The author actually uses the word 'nothros' to speak of them, which means 'slow of mind.' It is hardly a compliment. It can be translated that they witlessly and senselessly forget what they have been taught. The task of teaching is difficult but so is the task of listening.
You know one of the saddest fairy tales is actually Peter Pan. When you read the story you realise how sad it is for a little boy to never grow up. It may seem magical and wonderful but it is actually a sad story. How many people who claim to follow Christ are in fact a spiritual Peter Pan? They have never having progressed from milk to solid food.
The challenge is very clear, I hope:
Having come to faith in Christ have you progressed in the faith?
Have you laid the right foundations?
Do you have a desire to grow in your faith?
Are you putting an effort in to grow in your faith? There is no substitute for a disciplined regime of bible reading, prayer and Christian fellowship. If those foundations are not in your daily life then you will remain a child and your spiritual house will eventually collapse. To remain Peter Pan in real life is in fact not a fairy story but a tragedy. How many of you are Peter Pan spiritually?
Question is do you actually want to do anything about it? Hebrews says it is time to grow up.
Amen.
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians in Rome as an encouragement. The writer is disappointed with his readers for he expected them to be further on in their Christian faith than they are. Can I say to you all, as humbly as I can, I believe this is true of many reading this and also myself.
Context: Prior to where we began reading this the author of the Hebrews has written of the priesthood of Christ and how that priesthood is eternal and therefore the sacrifice which He offered, Himself, is also eternal in its effectiveness.
Verse 11. This is quite an opening statement. The author desires to move on into the teaching and doctrine of the Christian faith but he states, quite plainly, that he cannot do so because they are "slow to learn." This is not because they had educational difficulties but because they were lazy about their faith and therefore slow to learn. Their minds had become dull over time because they had grown lazy in their thinking about the Christian faith. How many Christians today are lazy in their minds about their faith? How many will read the newspaper, magazines, or the latest novel but their bible lies gathering dust on the shelf? Take a moment to think of all the opportunities available to you, to learn more of your faith and how few actually avail of it. Think of how poorly informed, educated and thought through so many Christians are. It is not that there are no resources or opportunities to learn. In fact the very opposite is true but Christians are slow to learn because they have become lazy of heart and mind. The author of the Hebrews wants them to be ashamed of themselves and for this to be a motivator for them to awaken from this slumber and to move on from being babies.
Verse 12. The writer tells them that they had been Christians for so long that they had sufficient time to qualify as teachers of the faith but the reality was far from that. They had actually failed to go on in the faith, instead remaining as babies in understanding and belief. In Romans 2.21 and 1 Peter 3.15 we read that those who had progressed in the faith demonstrated this by an ability to instruct others in the faith. In their case they still needed elementary instruction in the faith. Their knowledge of the faith was minimal when it should have in fact have been advanced. The phrase the writer uses is that they were still in need of learning their 'ABC's.' They were still in the beginner's class when they ought to have been teaching the class.
Verse 13. This is the way the author sees it: 'Anyone' still occupied with the 'ABC' of the faith is still an infant and must be treated as such by the church. They are not 'acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.' He is saying that right living is missing from their lives because they have no understanding or knowledge of how a Christian should think or live. Because they are still feeding on milk they do not conduct themselves in the manner in which God expects.
Verse 14. However, mature people require solid food in order to be healthy and to be able to live a healthy life. Such solid food for the Christian is found in prayer, the Word of God, fellowship and in righteous living before God and man. Physically the results of a healthy diet are clear for all to see, as are the results of an unhealthy diet. The same is true of us spiritually. A spiritually healthy diet will enable the Christian to distinguish between right and wrong, between what is true teaching and false teaching. They will be able to distinguish good from evil and will not be in danger of going astray in their walk with God. You see if they lack perception then their Christian service will always be immature and partial.
6 verse 1 begins with 'Therefore' which moves the readers, and us, on to more solid food. The writer begins with 'Repentance' which may to us seem like 'ABC.' It remains the basic building block of solid food. He speaks of 'repentance from dead works' which relates to the legalistic Jewish ways that so many of his readers had left behind when they came to Christ Jesus. It also refers to genuinely evil acts committed by them before they came to faith in Christ. The writer wants them to understand that they have been forgiven and therefore there is no need to remain at that point but the time has come for them to move on. Now please understand what he is saying to them. He is not saying that repentance is unimportant. He is not saying that there is no need for them to confess their sins to God. He is saying that there is no need for them to go back to be born again. They do not need to lay that foundation again. Think for a moment about the foundations of a building. They are essential to the safety and security of a building. Remember the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Foundations are vital for the structure to remain standing but you build on foundations. You do not dig foundations and then continue to lay them over and over again. No builder keeps laying the foundations. They are laid and the building is built upon them. You cannot do without foundations and you cannot ignore the foundations of a building. A foundation is laid for the sake of the building. The same is true of the spiritual life. You need the right foundations to be laid in your life if you are going to build a solid spiritual life. Friends let me say to you this is where many christians go wrong. Too many people today think that you can take a shortcut with the foundations and then they struggle in their Christian life.
A belief in the bible as the in-errant, inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary and sufficient for someone to be saved and to be mature in the faith. These are the foundations that enable you to move to maturity in your faith.
Verse 2 the author now writes to them about 'instructions' which are different from 'foundations.' He mentions 'baptisms' or 'washings' which were different ceremonial rites and also of 'laying on of hands' both of which were widespread practices in antiquity. He then speaks of the 'resurrection of the dead' and 'eternal judgment.' These two topics go together as they remind the hearer that this life is not everything and one day it will come to an end. They are to be aware that one day they will rise from the dead and stand before the judgment seat of God. This was important in a society where most people thought that death was the end - has anything really changed in society in the intervening millennia.
Verse 3 - so they should be determined to press on with the help of God. They should have a set determination in their lives to move from milk to solid food. Without God's help such progress would be impossible but with God they would grow to maturity in the faith.
The author to the Hebrews wants them to understand that you cannot learn all of the Christian faith in one day. It takes time to teach and an effort to learn. There is the important task of teaching but there is equally the important task of listening. The problem with the Hebrews, and with many within the Christian church, their hearing is dull and their appetite for the Word of God limited. The author actually uses the word 'nothros' to speak of them, which means 'slow of mind.' It is hardly a compliment. It can be translated that they witlessly and senselessly forget what they have been taught. The task of teaching is difficult but so is the task of listening.
You know one of the saddest fairy tales is actually Peter Pan. When you read the story you realise how sad it is for a little boy to never grow up. It may seem magical and wonderful but it is actually a sad story. How many people who claim to follow Christ are in fact a spiritual Peter Pan? They have never having progressed from milk to solid food.
The challenge is very clear, I hope:
Having come to faith in Christ have you progressed in the faith?
Have you laid the right foundations?
Do you have a desire to grow in your faith?
Are you putting an effort in to grow in your faith? There is no substitute for a disciplined regime of bible reading, prayer and Christian fellowship. If those foundations are not in your daily life then you will remain a child and your spiritual house will eventually collapse. To remain Peter Pan in real life is in fact not a fairy story but a tragedy. How many of you are Peter Pan spiritually?
Question is do you actually want to do anything about it? Hebrews says it is time to grow up.
Amen.
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