Philemon, the "beloved fellow worker" of Paul amazes me. I had been blithely seeing the fact that he used his house for the church that would meet in his house but forgot about his caring personality.
While writing for a devotional for children about walking in the fear of the Lord with a sub-theme about the fearing the Lord as a family, there was a question I asked myself. Where are there such examples in the Bible?
Of course, Romans 16 has a few mentions of households that were greeted and those whose homes or households, were used for the church to meet . Paul commended them.
In the book of Acts, Peter knew where he could find praying saints, that is at Mary's house. They must have met there regularly, so that was the first place Peter visited after the angels got him out of jail (see Acts 12:12-16).
Then I found Philemon. After reading what Paul commended him for, I found that Philemon really lived up to his name. One of the meanings is "affectionate" and another, "loving".
Have a read of Philemon. It's only one chapter but once you spot the ancecdotes about him, you'll see his loving and caring character.
First off, he uses his home, presumably along with his wife Apphia and son Archippus. Then Paul mentions Philemon's love and faith towards 'all the saints', those followers of Jesus Christ. He thanks God for this and remembers Philemon in his prayers.
Paul, who was writing from prison as a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
"derived much joy and comfort from the love Philemon showed to the saints".The results of Philemon's care was that
"the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through [him]" (see vs 7 of Philemon).
Many times we may feel discouraged by life but we can thank the Lord for those who refresh us. It does lift up our spirits. Since the saints met in Philemon's home, he had much opportunity to refresh the saints.
Mostly, when I've read the letter to Philemon, I focused on the exciting story part of his runaway slave that obviously was by God's appointment and good sense of humor, that slave Onesimus bumped into Paul somehow or other, in prison, I'm guessing.
Through Paul, Onesimus comes to Christ. Paul sends Onesimus back to his master Philemon to bear the further consequences of the error of his ways. However, Paul appeals to Philemon's heart and the brotherhood of being in the family of God.
Paul beseeches Philemon to forgive Onesimus and to see him now as a brother-in-Christ. Actual punishment for caught runaways slaves was whipping. If that didn't kill them, they would likely be manacled in chains to discourage running away again.
We don't really know if Philemon took Paul up on his offer to repay any of Onesimus' debts but we do learn that he must have forgiven him. Look in Colossians 4:9. It reads,
"... and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you."
Amazing grace. I find this very endearing. Of course Paul had some strong points laid out in his appeal. He wanted Philemon to "refresh [his] heart in Christ" by actions of forgiving (see vs20).
Normally, if a person wants to stay at their friend's house, they will ask if it is ok first. Here in the letter to Philemon, Paul doesn't ask, he just states, as if it's a foregone conclusion that he'd be accepted. It's almost like an order. He tells Philemon to
"prepare a guest room for me ..."
Talk about inviting yourself! Ha, ha!
But Paul's friendship and partnership as a fellow worker in Christ, allowed him to count on Philemon for all of this. Philemon's character allowed for great hospitality, not just for refreshing the regular saints who met in his home, but also for longer-stay guests.
This gift of hospitality of Philemon's encompassed not just letting his home be used for church, but he reached out to and spotted those who needed extra care, thus refreshing them.
No doubt this created extra work for his wife, son and as he seems to have been a man of means, his servants and slaves; indeed for his whole household, in general.
To me, this shows his commitment to it. I like to believe that his motivation was that he feared the Lord and walked in His ways. What's more, that his wife and son were with him in this so that they feared the Lord, together, as a family.
And a family who fears the Lord creates a household that serves the Lord. I further believe that God loves to see this and uses households to help and refresh the believers and to bring many more sons and daughters into God's household.
Ask yourself, what do you, as a believer in Christ, use your home for? Let's learn to refresh the saints as much as we can.
Father God, thank You for bringing me into Your household through faith in Jesus Christ. May all Your children learn to practice hospitality as a family, using their possessions as Philemon once did because they fear the Lord. Those possessions, which actually come from You in the first place, be used to refresah the saints. In Jesus' name I ask, Amen.
~ ERC January 2025 ~
Based on Philemon 1:2, 7, 20, 22 and Colossians 4:9.
Sing, Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone), along with Michael W. Smith.
