When I was a kid growing up on 333 Lincoln Street in Otsego we had a postman whom my father nicknamed “Lightning.” I think you can guess why! As “Lightning” moved slowly from house to house we could tell he was amusing himself by reading the messages on the penny postcards since he sometimes commented on the messages to the people to whom they were sent.

Of course, sometimes people want other people to know what they have written to someone. This, by the way, is the conclusion of New Testament scholars about Paul’s Letter to Philemon, our scripture lesson this morning. Clearly, it is a highly personal message from Paul to Philemon. But why is it now a part of the New Testament? We believe it is because this wonderful letter was not only Paul’s personal appeal to Philemon but also was intended to be read in public in Philemon’s church, the church which, in fact, met in his own home.

As Paul begins his letter we learn that he is a prisoner, probably in Rome, and probably about A.D. 63. The tone of the letter is very optimistic. Paul hopes he will soon be released and be able to visit his friends – his Christian family – in Colossae, Ephesus, and other cities where he founded churches. Sadly, we know something Paul does not know: within two years he will be executed by Nero.

Part of the reason Paul’s spirits are high is that he is not alone in his imprisonment. A number of those we might call his “missionary team” are with him; in this case, Timothy. But there is someone else in the cell with Paul and he is the reason this letter is being written to Philemon. He is a young man named Onesimus. And Onesimus is a slave.

To understand why Paul felt it was so important to write this letter on Onesimus’ behalf to his master, Philemon, we must know something about the world in which they lived. Society in the Roman Empire was divided into two classes – “slave and free.” (Cf. Colossians 3:11) Slaves made up from one-half to two-thirds of the Empire’s population; in many places, they far outnumbered their masters. We have records of wealthy folk who owned as many as eight thousand slaves each! These slaves had no civil rights; before the law they were not persons but property. Those who owned them had absolute authority over them in all matters of life and death. At court, a slave’s testimony could not be admitted as evidence unless it was extracted under torture. The Emperor Augustus crucified one of his slaves for the simple offense of eating a quail intended for the royal table! It was as common a practice to kill slaves for theft or attempted escape as it was to mutilate or brand them for petty offenses.

Since Paul knew all this, we are not surprised that he is deeply concerned for the fate of the runaway slave, Onesimus. But what on earth is Onesimus doing there in Rome with Paul?

Here we need to read between the lines of the letter. Let us first remember that the earliest Christian churches did not meet in public buildings but in private homes. For good reason! It was never certain when a new outbreak of persecution would make it unsafe to be known as a Christian. Part of the greatness of the beginnings of the Christian Church was that it appealed to all parts of Greco-Roman society – to the wise and wealthy and to the poor and powerless, to men and women, to old and young, to free and slave. All of them heard in the proclamation of the Christian faith that all the old barriers among people had been overcome. For a world then and now rent and torn from top to bottom by all kinds of national, economic, religious, racial, and sexual divisions, that is the best news anyone could ever hear.

It certainly must have been good news in Colossae when people first heard it through the preaching of Epaphras, one of those now in prison with Paul. Epaphras founded the church in the home of a wealthy man named Philemon. Worship services in the early Church were nearly always held after dark when the day’s work was over and when it would be safe to gather together. We can imagine the scene as Epaphras and other evangelists shared their own faith that in Christ “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.” Like most preaching, it was heard by most of those Colossian Christians as fine sentiments and a high hope for the future. But one of those who heard these words took them with absolute seriousness. There in the shadows, one of Philemon’s young slaves names Onesimus, heard these words and dared to believe that Christ did, indeed, intend him to be free.

Acting on that conviction, Onesimus ran away from Philemon and eventually found his way to Paul’s prison cell in Rome. Ironically enough, Paul had never visited Colossae or preached in the home of Philemon. Onesimus only knew of Paul by reputation but he staked his life on the belief that Paul would receive him and protect him.

His faith was justified. Paul kept him there in the Roman cell and Onesimus made himself useful in all kinds of ways to the imprisoned apostle. He became so useful that Paul even makes a pun on his name when he sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter. Onesimus in Greek means “useful.” Like many slave owners, Philemon had given his slaves names he hoped might inspire their labors on his behalf. But Onesimus was clearly not “useful” to Philemon. Like most slaves, he had found ways of doing as little as possible for his master. I recall an African-American comedian once commenting: “Why do you think we shuffled when we were slaves? So the food would get cold while we were bringing it to the table!”

But now Onesimus had a good reason to be “useful.” He loved and respected Paul and wanted to do anything he could to make his imprisonment more comfortable. And Paul appreciated it – deeply. He would have been glad to keep Onesimus with him. Nevertheless, Paul felt he had to send this runaway slave home to his master. Why?

Some would say it was because Paul felt he had to obey the laws of Rome, no matter how unjust, cruel, and unchristian they might be. In spite of the radical new faith he proclaimed with all its clear implications for fundamental changes in human society, Paul never completely freed himself from the cultural expectations of his time. Everyone has heard his words – still misused in parts of the Christian Church today – about the need for women to keep silent in church and to be subordinate to the leadership of men. And Paul’s words to the Roman Church about the duty of all Christians to be subject to “the powers that be” bore terrible and bitter fruit in Nazi Germany.

Perhaps, Paul did send Onesimus back to Philemon because the law said he had to do it. But I believe there was a more profound reason. Though he had never met Philemon, Paul had certainly heard of him by reputation. There in the prison cell, I am sure Epaphras told Paul what kind of man Philemon was. I suspect that what Epaphras told Paul was the same thing my Dad said about certain people he respected: “He’s a real Christian.” Philemon was truly converted to the way of Christ.

In that hope and that faith, Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter – one of the most wonderful letters ever written. He appealed to Philemon to receive Onesimus home not as a returned runaway slave – perhaps grudgingly taken back into service – but as a Christian brother, a member with Paul and Philemon of the Christian family. Before he ran away, Onesimus was a useless and (even) rebellious slave. Now he is part of Christ’s family.

What a tremendous risk Paul was taking! As I told you earlier, Philemon would have been legally justified in having Onesimus tortured or killed. But Paul believes so much in the power of Christ to change human life that he is willing to take this risk. I wish that faith were always justified. I think of the wry comment made by the tent evangelist, Billy Sunday, when he heard that a certain wealthy man had been converted and baptized. Asked Billy: “Was his wallet baptized, too?”

Sad to say, many Christians then and now keep some part of their lives from commitment to Christ. And, oh, the reasons and excuses we give! But the good news is that sometimes - more often than you might suspect – people really do live up to the best of their Christian faith. When the going gets tough, they do get going and follow Christ – no matter what it may cost them.

Let’s take this matter of forgiveness. Who among us hasn’t been hurt by someone deliberately, needlessly, thoughtlessly, cruelly? Why should we forgive them? There is really only one reason: because God in Christ has forgiven us. We have all sinned.  We are all less than perfect. We all need to be forgiven from time to time. The good news – the best news – is that God in Christ does forgive us. God forgives us even before we ask to be forgiven. It has sometimes seemed to me that over the doors of every Christian Church should be written the words of my sermon title today: “Come Home – All is Forgiven!”

Thank God, that Philemon knew and believed that. You do want to hear “the rest of the story,” don’t you?! What happened to Onesimus? Did Philemon forgive him and receive him as a Christian brother? Here we must take the risk of just a bit of speculation. Fifty years after this Letter to Philemon was written Ignatius, one of the greatest Christian martyrs, was being taken to execution from Antioch to Rome. As he goes, he writes farewell letters – which still survive – to the churches of Asia Minor. He stops at Smyrna and writes to the Church at Ephesus, and in the first chapter of that letter, he has much to say about their wonderful bishop. And what is the bishop’s name? It is Onesimus! And Ignatius makes exactly the same pun as Paul had made in his letter – that he is Onesimus (“useful”) by name and Onesimus (“useful”) by nature. Surely, it is too great a coincidence that Ignatius would not know of Paul’s little joke. It may well be that the runaway slave had become with the passing years the great bishop of Ephesus.

Onesimus found his own way home and through his preaching and teaching helped others find their way home. And the same loving invitation still echoes down the centuries: “Come Home – All is Forgiven!” Thank God! Amen.