Useful Slave and Lesson

A USEFUL SLAVE AND LESSON

Out of the many personal letters, which St Paul must have written, only one has survived. It is the personal letter to Philemon.

It is unique, because, unlike all his other letters, it does not contain any explicit theological or ethical teaching and neither does it deal with any current church problem. It is strictly a personal letter,

The subject of this personal letter is Onesimus, a runaway slave. He appears not just to have run away from his master Philemon, but also to have been probably a thief as well, for Paul says “If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything charge that to my account".

The nearest large city to where Onesimus lived, in which he could easily have got lost in the crowd, was Ephesus. It is therefore appropriate to conclude that this letter was written during Paul's earlier imprisonment in that city, rather than his later imprisonment in Rome.

Since Onesimus appears to be free to come and go as he pleases, and to be of use to Paul in his imprisonment, we may also conclude that Paul was under house arrest, rather than shut away in a prison cell.

Just how Paul and Onesimus met we do not know. He obviously came under Paul's influence to such an extent that he eventually became a Christian.

However, the 'father and son' relationship could not continue indefinitely. It was not appropriate that Paul should encourage a fugitive to remain with him on a permanent basis no matter how useful he had become to him.

The situation appears to have come to a head with the arrival of Epaphras. Maybe Epaphras recognised him as a former slave who had lived in Colossae or maybe the arrival of Epaphras encouraged Onesimus to make a clean breast concerning his past.

We do not know what prompted Paul to decide to send Onesimus back to his master, Philemon. After all, Paul would have preferred him to stay with him. He writes, "I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel: but I preferred to do nothing without your consent."

Since Paul is not free to accompany Onesimus back home, he writes this charming personal letter to Philemon, for Onesimus to take with him instead.

We who live in the 21st century probably find it hard to appreciate just what a courageous decision this must have been. It is important to recall that there were something like 60,000,000 slaves in the Roman Empire. With such a number, there was always the constant fear of revolt. Therefore it was essential that slaves should be kept in their place. In fact, they were regarded as chattels - or living tools rather than fellow human beings. The master had the right of life or death over his slaves.

For instance, Pliny tells us how Vedius Pallio treated a slave. The slave was carrying a tray of crystal goblets into the courtyard; he dropped and broke one: immediately Pallio ordered the slave to be thrown into the fishpond in the middle of the courtyard where savage man-eating fish tore him to pieces!!

Furthermore, a runaway slave was branded by a red-hot iron on the forehead with the letter 'F' which meant that he had been a fugitive. Worse, the owner of a runaway slave could have him crucified.

It was into such a lion's den that Paul decided to send Onesimus. Now that takes courage. Courage on the part of Paul; courage on the part of Onesimus. Neither had any idea how Philemon would react to the letter.

Paul based his appeal , on behalf of Onesimus – the name itself being a pun on the word useful - on the basis of Philemon's Christian faith and practice.

He asks Philemon to welcome him back, not just as a slave "but more than a slave. a beloved brother in Christ”. So he implores Philemon to "welcome him as you would welcome me, as a fellow Christian”.

Although, as Lightfoot observes, "the words of emancipation seem to tremble on his lips, (Paul) never utters (them)". He actually says nothing about slavery. He does not condemn it nor does he tell Philemon to set him free. Onesimus is sent back as a slave in order to remain a slave.

Now this may strike us as being rather odd. It may seem as if Paul has missed a wonderful opportunity to fight for the abolition of slavery.

However, it is important to note that, in New Testament times, there was little free labour in the world. Therefore, the gift of freedom itself without some provision for employment, would have been a doubtful kindness. Whilst some exceptional freemen attained positions of high office, they were also hated, The vast majority of freemen became hangers-on of some wealthy house, as a dependent on its patron's bounty as any slave, or else sank into the mass of urban society, eking out a precarious existence on the public dole of grain. In other words, the bestowal of freedom was simply not feasible in the social conditions of the time.

Furthermore, it would have done the young fragile Christian church no good to be branded as a revolutionary subversive organisation. Emancipation was bound to come, but not yet.

However, Paul did strike a blow at the roots of the institution of slavery when he introduced a new relationship between master and slave by suggesting that all external differences were abolished because all Christians are one in Christ through baptism.

This theme he developed in his later letter to the Corinthians when he said: "For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – Jews, Greeks, slaves or free", an observation later extended to include "male and female" in his letter to the Galatians, and to include also the 'circumcised and uncircumcised' in his letter to the Church at Colossae.

Thus the early Christians, all drank from the same Eucharistic cup and shared the same fellowship with each other.

I don't know about you, but, if I am honest, I find it very easy to be friendly towards those who share the same interest as myself. However, I do not find it easy or natural to be friendly towards those who bore me, those who criticise me, and those who are disloyal and those who are dull and uninteresting. Whilst they may not be 'slaves', the letter to Philemon nevertheless challenges me to show the same respect and dignity to all alike, irrespective of their status or my personal inclinations.

This can be particularly hard within the life of a church where some people always want to be the centre of attention, and have their own way, and whose presence often overshadows the equally valuable contribution of others. That is how cliques develop within the life of the church, which are often, quite unintentionally, aided and abetted by those in positions of leadership.

All men and women and even children and youngsters are equal in the sight of God and all should be afforded the same dignity and respect.

Of this we are reminded, every time the President breaks the bread at the Eucharist and says:

"We break this bread

to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many. we are one body

because we all share in one bread".

The Eucharist is the sacrament of the unity of all, irrespective of rank or status.

Some years ago, I had the privilege of working alongside Keith Thomas, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Companion of the Order of the Bath, Fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, Fellow of the British Institute of Management, and member of the Royal Corps of Naval Architects. He was then General Manager of Devonport Dockyard, responsible for the employment of over 18,000 people. He later went on to become the Chief Executive Officer of the then four Royal Dockyards.

Keith, who has subsequently become a personal friend, taught me one great lesson, namely, to show the same respect and dignity to everyone irrespective of their status or rank. Keith demonstrated this through his work, whether he was talking with the Port Admiral or the young apprentice; whether he was talking with a departmental manager or a trade union representative; whether he was talking with the manager in charge of the nuclear refit complex or the labourer sweeping up the factory floor.

At the centre of Keith's life was his Christian faith and the worship of God in the Eucharist. This was particularly evident when he would kneel, every Wednesday lunchtime in St Lo's Church and receive the same bread and wine at the Eucharist as everyone else and later share fellowship over a Cornish pasty and a cup of coffee.

Well, did the Letter to Philemon have the desired result? Did he receive back his runaway slave Onesimus, as a “beloved brother" in Christ? Or was he branded with an 'F' on his forehead and crucified?

We do not know.

But what we do know from Bishop Ignatius, at the turn of the second century, is that there was a Bishop at Ephesus called Onesimus, and that it was at Ephesus that Paul's letters were originally collected, which could account for the preservation and inclusion of this one personal letter within the pages of the New Testament.