He has told you, O man, what is good,

Above:  A Timeless Principle Applicable Both Individually and Collectively

Image Source = Google Earth

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 126

Philemon

Luke 22:66-23:25

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And what does the LORD require of you:

Only to do justice,

And to love goodness,

And to walk modestly with your God.

Then your name will achieve wisdom.

–Micah 6:8-9a, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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The Letter to Philemon has long been a misunderstood book of the Bible.  The text is not, as St. John Chrysostom (349-407) insisted, a mandate to reunite masters and their fugitive slaves.  Furthermore, the epistle does not indicate that Onesimus was either a thief or a fugitive.  And verse 16 should read, in part,

as if a slave,

not the usual English-language translation,

as a slave.

Whether one thinks Onesimus was a slave may depend on how one interprets a Greek tense in one verse.

The Letter to Philemon and a portion of the Gospel reading pertain to individual responsibility.  Act compassionately.  Treat the other person, who may or may not have stolen from you, as a sibling in Christ.  Do not knowingly send an innocent man to die, and to do so horribly.  (The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the innocence of Christ in its Passion narrative.)

The other readings pertain to collective responsibility.  How should we-not I, not you–we respond to grace?  We should be grateful?  We should do justice.  We should love goodness.  We should walk modestly with our God.  Then our name will achieve wisdom.

My Western culture tends to fixate on individual responsibility and p;lace too little emphasis on collective responsibility.  This is an error.  We need to strike and maintain that balance, for the glory of God and the benefit of all members of our culture, as well as the rest of the world.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608

THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA

THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/03/27/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent-year-c-humes/

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Advertisement

…as if a slave,

Above:  Onesimus

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray,

and art wont to give more than wither we desire or deserve:

pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy;

forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid,

and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,

but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 125-126

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Hosea 14:1-9

Philemon 4-20

Luke 18:9-14

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Repentance–national in Hosea 14, individual in Luke 18 and Philemon–is the essence of these readings.

The Letter to Philemon has long been a misunderstood text.  Since antiquity many have cited it to justify reuniting runaway slaves with their masters–obviously a misinterpretation, given verse 16.  Onesimus may even not have been a slave, for the correct translation of verse 16 is

not the usual

…as a slave.

And Onesimus may not have been a thief either, according to a close reading of the text.

According to tradition, by the way, Philemon heeded the letter’s advice; he freed Onesimus.  Both men became bishops and martyrs, furthermore.

Tax farming was an inherently exploitative system.  Not only did the collected taxes support the Roman occupiers, but tax collectors were not salaried bureaucrats.  No, they lived off what they collected in excess of Roman taxes.  They were literal tax thieves.  The tax collector in the parable knew what he was.  He was honest before God as he pleaded for mercy.  The Pharisee in the parable was proud, though.

As Henry Irving Louttit, Jr., the retired Episcopal Bishop of Georgia, said, the Pharisees were the good churchgoing people of their day.

If we churchy people are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we have more in common with the Pharisee than the tax collector of the parable.  We make our handiwork–spiritual, more than physical, probably–our idol.  Perhaps we imagine ourselves as being better than we are.

What would a sequel to the parable have been?  Would the tax collector have found a new profession?  Would the Pharisee have continued to be insufferably smug and self-righteous?

Repentance is active. Grace, although free, is far from cheap.  Perhaps it requires one to become a bishop and martyr, or to change one’s career.  Certainly it requires one to be humble before God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 12, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION

THE FEAST OF ALICIA DOMON AND HER COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN ARGENTINA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BARTHOLOMEW BUONPEDONI AND VIVALDUS, MINISTERS AMONG LEPERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDWIK BARTOSIK, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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…as if a slave,

Above:  The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Leonello Spada

Image in the Public Domain

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FOR THE NINTH SUNDAY OF KINGDOMTIDE, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)

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O God, you have joined together diverse nations in the confession of your name:

Grant us both to will and to do what you command, that your people,

being called to an eternal inheritance, may hold the same faith in their hearts

and show the same godliness in their lives;

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 154

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Isaiah 55:1-7

Psalm 45

Philemon 1-3, 10-16

Luke 15:11-32

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God extends us second, third, fourth, fifth, et cetera chances.  Do we welcome these?

Consider the Letter to Philemon, O reader.  It is a text a long line of exegetes reaching back into antiquity has misinterpreted.  It is not, as St. John Chrysostom, a man fearful of the possibility that people in the Roman Empire would associate Christianity with the emancipation of slaves, thought, an argument for returning fugitive slaves to their masters.  Neither is the text a defense of slavery, as many defenders of chattel slavery in the antebellum United States argued.  Furthermore, nowhere does the letter indicate that Onesimus was a thief; the conditional tense makes a difference.  And, as certain scholars of the New Testament note, the correct translation of verse 16 is actually

not the usual

…as a slave.

The conditional tense makes a difference.  Tradition of which I have no reason to doubt the veracity holds that the rest of the story was a second chance for both Onesimus and Philemon, both of whom became bishops.  That point aside, I enjoy the pun, for Onesimus means “useful,” and he will be useful again, we read.  Also, the manipulation of Philemon is at its positive full force:  I could tell you to do the right thing, but I know that I do not have to do that because of the kind of man you are, the letter says.  One might conclude that Philemon did not have much of a choice in this scenario.

The story traditionally labeled the Parable of the Prodigal Son offers three compelling characters:  a father and two sons.  An observant student of the Bible might think of the motif of a father having two sons; something bad will happen.  Consider, O reader, the brothers Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 16, 18, 21), and Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-28, 32, 33, 35, 36), for example.  In this case we have a loving father and two sons–an ungrateful, disrespectful wastrel and his dutiful older brother.  The father knows and loves both of his sons.  He does not force them to do the right thing.  The father lets his younger son go in the expectation that he will return.  The father is jubilant when the younger son returns.  The older brother should also rejoice, but he wonders why he receives so little attention.  He is actually in a much better state than the returned younger brother, who will have to live with the concrete consequences of his folly for the rest of his life.  The older brother will still inherit the estate, however.

Each of us, throughout his or her life, might fill all three roles in the parable.  Many of us might identify most easily with the resentful and dutiful older brother, who does as her father tells him to do.  This resentful, holier-than-thou attitude is a gateway to Donatism, however.  We should actually rejoice when the penitent return.  We ought to welcome divine grace showered upon those we do not like.  When we do not do this, we commit a particular sin.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 11, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARY SLESSOR, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN WEST AFRICA

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

THE FEAST OF MIEP GIES, RIGHTEOUS GENTILE

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF AQUILEIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCH

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Above:  The Gleaners, by Jean-Francois Millet

(Image in the Public Domain)

Mutual Responsibility and Faithful Actions

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The Collect:

Holy God, you confound the world’s wisdom in giving your kingdom to the lowly and the pure in heart.

Give us such a hunger and thirst for justice, and perseverance in striving for peace,

that in our words and deeds we may see the life of your Son, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 23

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The Assigned Readings:

Ruth 1:1-18 (Monday)

Ruth 2:1-16 (Tuesday)

Ruth 3:1-13; 4:13-22 (Wednesday)

Psalm 37:1-17 (all days)

Philemon 1-25 (Monday)

James 5:1-6 (Tuesday)

Luke 6:17-26 (Wednesday)

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Some Related Posts:

Ruth 1:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-the-third-sunday-of-advent-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/week-of-proper-15-friday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/proper-26-year-b/

Ruth 2:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/week-of-proper-15-saturday-year-1/

Ruth 3:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/proper-27-year-b/

Ruth 4:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-the-third-sunday-of-advent-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/week-of-proper-15-saturday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/proper-27-year-b/

Philemon:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/week-of-proper-27-thursday-year-2/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/proper-18-year-c/

James 5:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/week-of-7-epiphany-thursday-year-2/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/week-of-proper-2-thursday-year-2/

Luke 6:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/sixth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/devotion-for-the-twelfth-and-thirteenth-days-of-easter-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/week-of-proper-18-tuesday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/week-of-proper-18-wednesday-year-1/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/week-of-proper-18-tuesday-year-2-and-week-of-proper-18-wednesday-year-2/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/proper-1-year-c/

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Be still before the Lord and wait for him;

do not fret over those that prosper as they follow their evil schemes.

Refrain from anger and abandon wrath;

do not fret let you be moved to do evil.

–Psalm 37:7-8, Common Worship (2000)

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And sometimes one ought to act faithfully, not just be still faithfully.  In the case of the Book of Ruth, for example, people were active, not passive.  There was more going on than children’s Sunday School lessons (and even many, if not most, adult Sunday School lessons) admit, for that activity entailed seduction before love became a reality.  As Jennifer Wright Knust writes in Unprotected Texts:

To the writer of Ruth, family can consist of an older woman and her beloved immigrant daughter-in-law, women can easily raise children on their own, and men can be seduced if it serves the interests of women.

–page 33

And, as Krust writes on page 35, the emotional bond and subsequent covenant between Ruth and Naomi helped both of them and Israel as a whole.  I add that it has helped many subsequent generations all over the world due its role in the genealogy of Jesus.

Family–not in the sense of marriage or ancestry–unites the readings for these three days.  The ethic of mutual responsibility (part of the Law of Moses) runs through the New Testament also.  The more fortunate, who ought not to depend on their wealth in lieu of God, have responsibilities to the less fortunate.  Philemon had responsibilities to Onesimus, who was not necessarily a slave or even a fugitive.  (A very close reading of the text–one passage in particular–in the Greek raises serious questions about the traditional understanding).

This notion of mutual responsibility and the opinion of wealth one finds in Luke and James are profoundly counter-cultural in my North American setting, where rugged individualism and the quest for wealth are accepted values.  Yet with mutual responsibility comes inderdependence.  And the quest for enough wealth for one’s present and future needs, although laudable, becomes insatiable greed for some people.  Such greed is socially destructive, denying others enough.  There is always enough for everyone in God’s economy; scarcity is a feature of human, sinful economic systems.

May we, by grace, act faithfully and effectively to reduce such sinfulness where we are.  And, if we have not fallen into greed, may we not do so.  If we have, may we confess and repent of it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 8, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILFRED THOMASON GRENFELL, MEDICAL MISSIONARY TO NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF ERIK ROUTLEY, HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM DWIGHT PORTER BLISS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST; AND RICHARD THEODORE ELY, ECONOMIST

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-the-fourth-sunday-after-epiphany-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  A Prospector and His Dog in Alaska, 1900-1930

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-01605

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/99614330/)

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The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Psalm 139:105, 12-17

or 

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Psalm 1

then 

Philemon 1-21

Luke 14:25-33

The Collect:

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Proper 18, Year A:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/proper-18-year-a/

Proper 18, Year B:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/proper-18-year-b/

Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

Prayer of Confession:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-confession-for-the-sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

Prayer of Dedication:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

Jeremiah 18:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/thirteenth-day-of-lent/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/week-of-proper-12-thursday-year-2/

Deuteronomy 30:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/sixth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-a/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/second-day-of-lent/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/proper-1-year-a/

Philemon:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/week-of-proper-27-thursday-year-2/

Luke 14:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/devotion-for-the-thirty-sixth-and-thirty-seventh-days-of-easter-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/week-of-proper-26-wednesday-year-1/

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I used to think that Onesimus was a runaway slave.  Authority figures in church told me that he was.  Commentaries and notes in study Bibles told me that he was.  Then, one day, I read another perspective, which prompted me to reread the short epistle again.  And it turns out that nowhere does Paul indicate why Onesimus and Philemon were in separate cities.  And the Greek text of verse 16 translates as

as if a slave,

not

as though a slave.

So the text itself does not indicate that Onesimus was a slave, much less a fugitive.  These close readings of the actual text–not the imagined one–prove to be useful reminders of the importance of reading what the Bible says, not what one thinks it says.

The definition of Christian discipleship is following Jesus.  One must pack lightly for that journey, leaving much behind.  (A partial list follows.)  One must leave behind misunderstandings and false preconceptions.  One must leave behind hatred, violence, grudges, and unfounded fears, which bring out the worst in human behavior.  One must leave behind the desire to scapegoat.  Jesus became a scapegoat and a victim of violence, but the Romans still destroyed Jerusalem in time.  And God reversed death, the major consequence of the violence which killed our Lord.  We must leave behind willful disobedience to God.  I refer you, O reader, to the rest of Jeremiah 18; that text speaks of willful disobedience, not ignorant sinning.  We must also leave behind ignorant sinning, which is also destructive.

Instead, may we pack, among other things, love and respect for God and each other.  Recently I reread Ephesians, a fine epistle which makes clear that how we treat others matters very much to God.  That letter encourages putting up with each other’s weaknesses and  not grieving the Holy Spirit, not committing violence against each other.  (See Chapters 4 and 5.)  May we pack the Golden Rule.  May we pack kindness.  May we pack the willingness to sacrifice self for another.  May we pack the awareness that what we do and do not do affects others.  May we pack compassion.  Our task demands no less of us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 4, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF MIEP GIES, RIGHTEOUS GENTILE

THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID I, KING OF SCOTLAND

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, QUAKER FOUNDER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF AQUILEIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCH

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Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/proper-18-year-c/

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Above:  Onesimus

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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Philemon 1-25 (Revised English Bible):

From Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and our colleague Timothy, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow-worker, together with Apphia our sister, and Achippus our comrade-in-arms, and the church that meets at your house.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God always when I mention you in my prayers, for I hear of your love and faith towards the Lord Jesus and for all God’s people.  My prayer is that the faith you hold in common with us may deepen your understanding of all the blessings which belong to us as we are brought closer to Christ.  Your love has brought me much joy and encouragement; through you God’s people have been much refreshed.

Accordingly, although in Christ I might feel free to dictate  where your duty lies, yet, because of that same love, I would rather appeal to you.  Ambassador as I am of Christ Jesus, and now his prisoner, I, Paul, appeal to you about my child, whose father I have become in this prison.  I mean Onesimus, once so useless to you, but now useful indeed, both to you and to me.  In sending him back to you I am sending my heart.  I should have liked to keep him with me, to look after me on your behalf, here in prison for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your kindness might be a matter not of compulsion, but of your own free will.  Perhaps this is why you lost him for a time to receive him back for good–no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave:  as a dear brother, very dear to me, and still dearer to you, both as a man and as a Christian.

If, then, you think of me as your partner in the faith, welcome him as you would welcome me.  If he did you any wrong and owes you anything, put it down to my account.  Here is my signature:  Paul.  I will repay you–not to mention that you owe me your very self.  Yes, brother, I am asking this favour of you as a fellow-Christian; set my mind at rest.

I write to you confident that you will meet my wishes; I know that you will in fact do more than I ask.  And one last thing:  have a room ready for me, for I hope through the prayers of you all to be restored to you.

Epaphras, a captive of Christ Jesus like myself, sends you greetings.  So do my fellow-workers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit!

Psalm 146 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!

I will praise the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

2 Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,

for there is not help in them.

3 When they breathe their last, they return to earth,

and in that day their thoughts perish.

4 Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!

whose hope is in the LORD their God;

5 Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;

who keeps his promise for ever.

6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed,

and food to those who hunger.

7 The LORD sets the prisoner free;

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind;

the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.

8 The LORD loves the righteous;

the LORD cares for the stranger;

he sustains the orphan and the widow,

but frustrates the way of the wicked!

9 The LORD shall reign for ever,

your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.

Hallelujah!

Luke 17:20-25 (Revised English Bible):

The Pharisees asked Jesus,

When will the kingdom of God come?

He answered,

You cannot tell by observation when the kingdom of God comes.  You cannot say, “Look, here it is,” or “There it is!”  For the kingdom of God is among you!

He said to the disciples,

The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it.  They will say to you, “Look! There!” and “Look! Here!”  Do not go running off in pursuit.  For like a lightning-flash, that lights up the earth from end to end, will the Son of Man be in his day.  But first he must endure suffering and be rejected by this generation.

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The Collect:

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Week of Proper 27:  Thursday, Year 1:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/week-of-proper-27-thursday-year-1/

The Feast of Saint Onesimus, Bishop and Martyr (February 11):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/feast-of-st-onesimus-bishop-and-martyr-february-11/

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May we, in our consideration of the Letter to Philemon, turn off the proverbial tapes running inside our heads.  Rather, may we take our cues from the text itself; it is our primary source.  As a person trained in historical methods, reading one’s primary sources closely and accurately matters to me greatly.  And, as we engage in this close (and hopefully accurate) reading, may we recall that we are reading just one side of an ancient correspondence.  Paul did not mention certain details because Philemon already knew what they were.  I suspect that the Apostle did not imagine that people would read this letter in translation nearly two thousand years later.  If he had thought otherwise, he might have added more details.

So, what can we know, according to the text?  We can know the following:

1. Paul wrote from prison, distant from where Philemon lived.
2. Philemon, Paul’s friend, hosted a congregation in his home.
3. Onesimus, who owed Philemon a debt, had spent an undefined period of time with Paul, to the Apostle’s delight.
4. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter, in which he (Paul) offered to pay the debt and asked Philemon to take Onesimus back “as a brother.”

Widely accepted assumptions include that Onesimus was a slave–and a fugitive who had stolen from Philemon.  I thought that until earlier today, when I poured over commentaries, most of which reflected the received wisdom.  But what if the received wisdom is wrong?  Professor Allan Callahan, writing in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville, TN:  Abingdon Press, 2003), argues that the text does not support the received wisdom.  He points to verse 16, which, in English translation, asks Philemon to received Onesimus

…no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother….

Callahan points out the following:

Just as Paul says that the Galatians are no longer slaves but sons in the family of God (Gal. 4:7), so also Paul insists here that Onesimus be received as though he were no longer as a slave but a brother in Philemon’s family of faith; as has the force of “as if” or “as though.”

So Onesimus might not have been a slave.  If this is true, almost two thousand years of Christian interpretation of this epistle has been mostly wrong.  If so, so be it.  Tradition can be mistaken.

Tradition can also be correct.  We read in the hagiographies that both Philemon and Onesimus became bishops and martyrs.  The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople lists Onesimus as Bishop of Byzantium from 54 to 68 C.E., and therefore a predecessor of the current Ecumenical Patriarch.

This is a story about redemption and the good for many that flows from it.  Paul redeemed Onesimus, through whom many people found faith in Jesus.  Paul, in turn, was able to do this because of a direct action by God.  So, when God acts in our lives, may we embrace the responsibility, to help others directly, to pay it forward, and so to aid still others indirectly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 11, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, SR., NATIONAL BAPTIST PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SOREN AABYE KIERKEGAARD, DANISH LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/week-of-proper-27-thursday-year-2/

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