Missions Paul

I’ve got some simple questions today:

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.” (Philippians 1: 27-30)

Whatever happens…

Whether you are persecuted or sick, successful or failure, if things are for you or against you, happy or hurt, whatever happens ….

BEHAVE: How are you going to respond and react today? “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

BELONG: Who are the people you stand with today? “I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel”

BRAVE: What will you not give up on today? “without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.”

BELIEVE: Will you trust Jesus enough to suffer? “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him”

BENEFIT: Who will you look to in the struggle of today to learn and gain the positives of your experience? “since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have”

17^th September 2018 was a highlight for me as I led a service at the Elim International Centre for the families of our 12 Elim missionaries who were killed on the 23^rd June 1978 and a further died from the brutalities the day after their funeral. This traumatic event 40 years previously was at the Elim Mission station in the Vumba Mountains, Northern Zimbabwe. The sheer brutality of this massacre shocked the world. It was a privilege to be at the service alongside the families and in particular, the sister of one of the missionaries named Mary Fisher.

I cannot read these next verses of Philippians anymore without thinking of this missionary who had escaped from the macabre scene and was found unconscious. The severe head trauma had caused her heart and lungs to fail and she was buried in a simple quiet ceremony next to her friend Wendy.

(Philippians 1: 18-26)

Paul is in a quandary. What does God want for his life? If he survives the prison then he can see the good for others but if he dies it would be even better for him. That in itself is a challenge for us today.

To live is Christ:

• To make Him known, this is the most important thing

v18. “The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice”

• To see the purposes of God in the difficult things I go through

v19. “for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”

• To display Christ in my life for others to see

v20. “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

• To be an influence of others for the better,

v25-26 “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.”

To die is gain:

• For people will see Christ in me as this life fades

v20. ““I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

• I will depart the struggles of this earth, I will be free

v23. “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far”

• I will be with Christ,

v23. “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far”

• The next life is far better than this life

v23. “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far”

This whole passage hangs on these words, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” v21.

Alistair Begg, a Scot, who now Pastors in Ohio and a well-known Christian author preached a message in January 2011 and during that sermon was describing his evangelistic endeavours in London as a student and a special friend he knew:

“1974 , I went in the evening with one of my friends and this girl to the Thames Embankment Mission in London. All the street people were more interested in the physical food than they were in the spiritual food that was on offer from my buddy and myself. I won’t take time now to give you the details—many of them humorous—which made perfectly clear to us that there was very little interest on the part of these men and some women that were there. Our preaching was no good, as far as they were concerned. The only time that they listened was when Mary sang. And Mary was a little girl from Wales. She looked a little bit like Mary Hopkin[s], actually—the girl of “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end.” And she had a lovely, lilting Welsh voice, and when she sang, the people put down their newspapers and began to listen. And it was a very humbling thing for myself and my colleague: this little slip of a girl—fairly plain, friendly eyes, long blonde hair, crystal clear voice. Wasn’t really a performance that she did; it was more of a sacrifice.”

Who was he speaking of? It was Mary Fisher.

An inquest into the deaths of the missionaries and their children was held in Umtali by the Rhodesian authorities on 21 August 1978.

On playing one of the cassette tapes retrieved from the kitbag of a dead guerrilla, Mary Fisher’s fine voice soared hauntingly from the machine, her song of worship momentarily filling the room. She was teaching young children to sing the words of the Apostle Paul:

For me to live is Christ, to die is gain,
To hold his hand and to walk his narrow way.
And there is no peace, no joy, no thrill
Like walking in his will;
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain

Mary Fisher and the other 12 missionaries and every missionary around the world today, the church in Northern Nigeria and the many terrible places in the world to live as a Christian, they all do the same thing: they put their whole life in the ring—and sometimes they pay the ultimate price. 

For everyone who has died in Christ whether in the persecuted fields or a struggling hospital bed, they gain.

They gain!

As I’ve got older cynicism has become a friend. I didn’t ask it to be. It kind of just latched on to me. I know the dangers of this friend and have seen people ruined by it but even though I try and shake it off it seems glued to me. I heard recently someone was prayed for “that the spirit of cynicism would leave them” but the person prayed for just rolled their eyes when they told me. It seems some friends are for life.

Are you cynical?

If you have a “tendency” to put “inverted commas” “around” “everything” then you “just may be”.

If you believe that mankind has failed to achieve anything of interest or note since the moon landings were faked, then it is possible you are.

If your answer to the question, “are you one of those conspiracy theorists?” is “why, who are you working for?” then you might be cynical.

What I didn’t realise in this journey of cynicism is that Cynicism is a school of philosophy dating back to the time of Socrates. I don’t know much about him but he was intelligent so that makes me ….?!

The Cynics believed that only the bare necessities were needed to live. So what we needed to do was strip back and reject everything including possessions and property. One of the disciples of the founder of the Cynics (Antisthenes) was a man named Diogenes. He lived in a tub on the streets of Athens and was well known for his wit, which I guess he needed a lot of when living in a tub.

After about 800 years the Cynics finally disappeared but their traits were definitely seen in early Christianity and though cynicism in 2020 is not the same, we can train this awkward friend to work for us and not against us.

Let’s read some more verses from the Apostle, ^“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” (Philippians 1: 12-18)

Paul says this:

Some are using my situation to defend the gospel and some use this to preach with hidden agendas, but I am just happy that Christ is preached.

I see something here that is wonderful and helpful in making cynicism my helper and not an enemy.

As I have got older then the things I just accepted naively as being true takes longer to digest. That isn’t necessarily wrong. I am not an advocate for sitting in a tub and eating raw meat on the streets of Athens but I do believe we need to see the difference between what really matters and to do that we need to let go of those things that would just get in the way of our thinking. Cynicism pushes me to the truth, to what is important, past the crowds and the accolades to the absolute.

The Apostle got there. He sharpened his gaze and said, ‘what does it matter? Christ is preached, so let’s be happy.’

So today I will allow my friend to speak up and show me the indulgences, the selfish ambitions and the hidden agendas but I will control this friend and push forward into discovering the truth. My goal is to find Christ. If I do then cynic has helped me. If Christ is not there then cynic has still helped me.

Does it really matter? No is the answer to many things when the one thing is Christ and the gospel.

Oh one more thing, some of you may be thinking I am only writing like this because it is World Philosophy Day. But that would be cynical eh?

I have spent much of this morning thinking about 1 year of my life as an 18 year old. I had just joined a US based theatre company and I was in Stuttgart, Germany at the training school and something happened which is hard to explain. For those who have been in this organisation or something similar they understand ‘love-bombing’. As new recruits we were placed in the centre of the room and suddenly in came running a whole crowd of people singing a song:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord/ We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored/ And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.

As they circled us I knew I had never experienced anything like it in any church I had been in my entire life. This was life-changing.

One year later on a brief visit back home I decided to break the 2 year commitment I made and leave. I received a letter which titled me as ‘persona non grata’ and that the friends still in the organisation would never be in contact with me again. Those who left after the 2 years or had made the next level commitment of 5 years and even a ‘life-time’ commitment, if they broke it, they too would receive the same letter.

I have found myself caught up in reading pages of threads on the internet from people who had left that organisation and the trauma they faced.

An organisation which created an incredible culture of love but left scars that people are still trying to find solace from. I got out early.

What happened to me isn’t unique in that someone always has a similar story from some ministry or church. Love is powerful because it can be very manipulative and abusive.

I have never written about my experiences and I find the above quite cathartic.

It has come because of this amazing letter to the Philippians. Paul has incredible love for them and praises them for their love. In the last couple of hours I have been praying and thinking about Christian love. The people I have loved and love. Those who have died and have loved me and those still alive who tell me in many ways that they love me. Paul writes, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1: 9-11)

And I understand something new. This is not love-bombing. This is not some gushy, sentimental, feel-good love. It is this and this is his prayer:

Love that grows in a personal experience and the ability to apply that into practical living.

Paul doesn’t say where that love should be directed or who the personal experience should be of. But it is obvious that he is thinking of Jesus Christ and God.

Our love for God flows into our love for others. Not the other way round.

Jesus is always first.

Love that has a sense of what is vital

I use the Moffatt translation for that heading.

In a plethora of opinions, views, campaigns, theories, attitudes and behaviours, love tests them all and then knows not what is good from the bad but also the best from the better.

Love is intelligent.

Love is real

The Message translates Paul saying he prays that their love will be sincere.

The word sincere means without wax. When merchants were wanting to hide the defects and cracks in their pottery they would use wax to sell at a better price. The buyer could only see the wax if they held it against the light. Reputable merchants would advertise their products as ‘without wax’, sincere, real.

Paul also says our love should be blameless. The word is skandalon. It is used for a snare that causes others to fall.

Real love is only seen if it is held against the light of Jesus Christ.

That’s our prayer for the Church.

A love that does not manipulate, that does not use guilt or fear, mind-controlling techniques and spiritual abuse. A love that puts Jesus first, that gets to the best for that moment and which is real and can stand the test of the light of Christ.

These next 2 verses have got to be the most loving in the whole of the New Testament between an individual and the Church. These are words from a Pastor to their church, it is the church that the Apostle planted and it reveals how after probably 10 years since he last saw them that he loved them with an aching love. In the tomorrow he loved them. They are incredible words..

“It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1: 7-8)

Love gives the right to deserve the best for one another.

In the verses before this we saw how Paul would pray with joy and thanksgiving for them and how he believed God would finish the work that He had started in them. Now we know why he said those things? Paul carried the Philippians in his heart. He didn’t have them on a prayer list. They were etched into his heart. Break him open and Philippi was written there. This love gave the permission to want the best for them. It is not rooted in some light affection. It is die-hard love. To stress the point he would say “it is God Himself who will agree to what I am saying.”

Can you imagine loving your Church like this?

Love which is not dependent on the circumstance.

Sixty years ago a group called the Shirelles sang:

Tonight you’re mine completely/ You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes/ But will you love me tomorrow?

It’s a beautiful song written by an extraordinary song-writer, Carole King. The love today is exquisite but will it last? When tomorrow is a different day will it still be there?

The Apostle says that the love they have for one another is not based on whether he is doing well, preaching the gospel, itinerating on his missionary journeys, planting churches, being successful. Here he is in prison, not going anywhere and the love is still there.

Love gets tested. Circumstances test it. In the moment you can kiss anything. But tomorrow when it rains will you still love?

Can you imagine loving your Church like this?

Love which aches from every part

My heart aches for you. We love those words don’t we? Maybe you have used them recently. One thing I don’t think you will have said is this: My bowels ache for you!

The NIV has Paul expressing that he longs for them with the affection of Christ Jesus. That’s a nicer way of saying it but it is too soft. The KJV has it much better, “For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” (KJV)

The word is splagchnon and it means the intestines, the inward parts. Paul aches for them in such a way and he knows it comes from Jesus Christ, it flows from him. But he could also have been meaning how the Message translates it beautifully, “Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!”

Can you imagine loving your Church like this?

What would the Church look like if they loved in such a way as Paul did Philippi?

There isn’t many Brits, certainly of my generation who don’t know the catchphrase, ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish.’ Magnus Magnusson (1929-2007) was Icelandic but lived the majority of his life in Scotland. He became a BBC journalist and came to fame for the television quiz programme Mastermind. Whenever time ran out during him asking a contestant a question he would say the phrase, ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’.

As we commence this prison letter of the Apostle Paul we are reminded to finish what we have started.

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1: 1-6)

When Paul prays for them he is always thankful and happy.

We will discover in this letter that the Philippian church had problems and Paul does not turn a blind eye. He describes those who insist on circumcision for the faith as ‘dogs’ and ‘mutilators’ (3:2). Apart from Timothy who is co-sending this letter and Epaphras who Paul promises to send to them, the only two people that are mentioned are Euodia and Syntyche who have caused a war in the church through their arguing.

You may wake to your day and you know the problems that are in your life and in your work. You may even know problems in your church. However, what will you spend time thinking about? Do you want to be discouraged? Not that we bury our head in the sand but our first call is that of thanksgiving not complaint. “Count your blessings name them one by one” is a hymn we probably all know and helps us to focus on what the Lord has done.

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” Paul doesn’t say he prays joyfully in the majority of his prayers for some of them, the nice ones. But all for all. Which person or situation is a challenge to pray joyfully for? Have you stopped praying like this? Then start and continue again.

We are going to see joy and rejoicing as a major theme in this letter.

Paul prays thankfully, joyfully, all the time for all of them, continually because ….

They have partnered with him continually from the first day

Paul is encouraged to write a letter to them as a response to being the only recorded church that had raised a financial gift to help him in prison which he received as a fragrant offering to God (4:18). They have proven to be true partners. But he remembers the first day being with them and planting the church there (in Acts 16). Paul and his missionary team had stayed in Philippi for several days because of a) the people they met, including Lydia, a demon possessed slave girl and a prison guard. They are amazing stories and they kept the team in the city because of what they encountered; b) the influential city which Luke had described as a leading city (Acts 16:12); c) God’s Divine purpose orchestrating them being there because of the vision of the man from Macedonia calling to them. This partnership was birthed on those 3 important aspects of stories, influence and purpose and it continued throughout the years. We must make sure it is true for our lives also.

Paul, the Philippian believers and also God.

God started a work in them and will finish it.

Paul didn’t start the Church, God did. Paul hasn’t furthered the work of that first fledgling church, God did.

God will continue until the return of Christ. God hasn’t finished with us yet.

If today looks bleak it’s not over yet. It isn’t finished until He says it is finished. Paul is confident, he has become convinced that there is more of God to come. He will continue to speak, move and lead us to be who we have been created to be.

Paul started praying with thanks and joy and continues.

Philippian believers started partnering with Paul in the work and continue.

God started a work in us and will continue.

I’ve started so I’ll finish.

So Paul’s letter to Philemon comes to an end. He hasn’t mentioned the cross and the resurrection of Christ. It is the only letter where he doesn’t. Yet it is a letter regarding the outworking of what Jesus Christ did. This is the application of the gospel message. Will Philemon forgive and be reconciled to Onesimus not as master and slave but as a brother in the Lord?

“And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” (Philemon 22-25)

(The letter was written in Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome around AD59-62. He would be released and there are substantial reasons that Paul continued to travel for a few more years as far as Spain. He would then be captured around AD68 and be held in prison until his death where he writes 2 Timothy)

As he closes this letter to Philemon we find the following:

• He believes he will be released.

He is telling Philemon to make his decision about Onesimus and be ready because he could turn up tomorrow! He has hope to be restored to Philemon just as he hopes Onesimus will be restored also.

• He knows his release will be in answer to prayer.

Paul knows that his release would come not because the rulers of Rome showed clemency but in direct answer to the prayers of many people, including Philemon.

• He knows it will come as a grace from God

He is in prison waiting for justice from Rome and yet trusting in the grace of God to set him free. His letter to Philemon is appealing for grace where justice is expected.

What was the decision? Did Philemon set his slave free?

We don’t know. But let me share one ‘probably’. The reason why Philemon has made it into our Bibles could have been because of Onesimus. The bishop of Ephesus in AD 110 was a man named Onesimus. If he was in his teens or early twenties then that would have made him aged 70yrs which was a good age to be a bishop at that time. It’s a probably, but a nice one.

However, one final thought:

• Jesus has told us to get ready for His coming.
• He will come in response to our prayers, “Come Lord Jesus Come”
• Our lives are set in the community of believers (Philemon’s household of faith and Paul’s friends Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke.)
• We are to live in the light of that working out the grace of Christ in our forgiveness and reconciliation of one another.

Today will be another day of decisions. Even if you decide there will be no decisions today.

This letter challenges Paul’s friend to make a decision quite rare. Paul is not asking him to campaign against slavery but what will he do with this one slave, Onesimus. Perhaps before we begin to tackle the world we clear up our own backyard?

“So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.” (Philemon 17-21)

Imagine with me a house full of people gathering together and listening to this personal letter addressed to Philemon being read aloud.

Looking intently at Philemon’s face, watching for any reactions, ’what will he do?’

Someone is always watching the decisions we make. Here are seven questions that come out of what we have read. Chose one or all seven to answer.

1. Who will be impacted by the decision you make? Is the impact worth it?
2. Is the decision in line with the culture you are trying to develop in your own life and home even if it runs counter cultural to your upbringing or society?
3. When was the last time you chose grace over justice? Do you have to do this again?
4. Who owes you and who do you owe to?
5. What have you simply tried to ignore instead of working towards reconciliation?
6. Who do you need to trust to gain confidence that someone has changed?
7. Are you willing to lose in order to forgive? Will you risk your reputation? The argument? Finance?

These are the seven questions within these 4 verses that Philemon was having to face. One of these questions will no doubt be what someone has to answer today. People are waiting and watching what you decide.

We now get to the heart of the letter and the reason why Paul wrote to Philemon. This letter is the proof that Paul did not condone slavery. In the first century slavery was quite different to the wicked history of the enslavement of the Africans to western nations and to what is estimated an alarming figure of 40.3 million people who are in slavery today. However, it was still wrong and it was steeped in their culture. Paul in his prison letters taught slaves how to survive by focusing on Jesus and taught masters to treat their slaves with humanity. That is why some wrongfully criticise Paul for what appears to be an accepting of the situation. But this letter to Philemon reveals where Paul’s mind and heart are on the subject of slavery.

The slave is Onesimus and the master is Philemon: “I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.” (Philemon 12-16)

1. Treat him the way I treat him and the way you would treat me.

Paul is giving up his own comfort but his ‘very heart’. He has become emotionally linked to this slave. He wants Philemon to receive him as if he was Paul. That surely would have involved the washing of his feet. It would have been given honour at his table. It is a huge thing to say for Paul. Do you have a friend who if they left you they would take your very heart with them? How powerful!

2. I want you to really want to do this.

Paul could have leaned on the Jewish law that stated their slaves be set free after 6 years unless they wanted to stay (an indicator perhaps that being a slave may have been better than not being one, unlike today). He chose not to quote the law (Exodus 21) but appeal to what is inside Philemon’s heart. I believe he is causing Philemon to do the right thing, to look to being guided by the Spirit and motivated by the love of Christ, he doesn’t use those words but the next thing he says shows he has that in mind.

3. This man is more than what his circumstance or anyone including you say.

Paul doesn’t mention the bad deed that Onesimus had done. We have to guess. Philemon obviously knows. That’s not important to Paul. For Love covers over the sin. In fact perhaps Paul is saying the wrong turned out for good regarding help for Paul. The important words are ‘no longer.’ May these 2 words be the message of the Church that remain part of our gospel message!  No longer. Racism, elitism, judgments, marginalisation, economic privileges. No longer! When the Church gets back together post pandemic: gossip, back-biting, political nonsense, envy, jealousy, apathy … No longer!

We are steadily inching nearer to the verses that reveal why the letter from Paul to Philemon was written. It shocks us in 2020. Especially during this year when slavery has rightly been at the forefront of our conversations and actions. Here it is in the Bible.

Philemon was a good man and he was a slave-owner!

We will get to this but for today let’s read some more things Paul says.

“Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” (Philemon 8-11)

The purpose of this letter is to convince Philemon to forgive one of his slaves and to reconcile with him.

Love above the Law

• As an Apostle he had the authority to command Philemon to set Onesimus free. But he chooses the path of love. The law will get the result but love will go above and beyond, it will go the extra mile. The law doesn’t involve the motivation and the attitude, the heart and the spirit. Love involves all those.

• Paul uses the power of persuasion rather than the push of power. He uses emotion, he is pulling on Philemon’s heart strings. “I’m an old man, a prisoner.” He is asking Philemon to look on an old friend. It is a ‘do this for me even if you really should do it anyway.” It is a masterclass.

• More than that, Paul models to Philemon what he wants him to do. He is coming to him, appealing to him with love, on the basis of love and for love. Isn’t that so refreshingly challenging? Don’t we need more of that? It is like the Son of God washing feet. If you want to see change then model change. Let it start now, today, with you. Demonstrate it.

Trapped yet involved in freedom

Your circumstance do not have to be perfect for you to be used of God to help someone else even in similar circumstances.

Paul is in chains. Onesimus is chained to Philemon figuratively so.

We don’t know how Onesimus became his son whilst Paul was in chains. There are many theories which can be summarised into either Onesimus ran away or Philemon sent him to look after Paul in prison. Let your imagination run wild! But Paul calls him “my son” which is a clear indicator in line with his other writings that he led Onesimus to Christ. Onesimus, the slave, found freedom in Christ because of an old man trapped in chains. Isn’t that a beautiful picture? That tells us that no matter what is going on behind the scenes of your life, to model something doesn’t mean it has to come from a place of perfection, you can be a huge help to those who have their own ‘chains’ for freedom is not circumstantial it is all of the heart. You may be stuck and be free and you can be free and stuck.  Chains don’t define you. In fact chains can be your servant. You can use them for the glory of God. The whole word may judge you and think God has left you to rot in a prison and yet your chains can help an ordinary soul who needs to find his own freedom. It may look like you are trapped and yet you have never been so free and daily you are involved in the work of freedom.

This leads us to the final thought ….

Your destiny is in who you are

The meaning of the name Onesimus means ‘useful’ or ‘beneficial’.

How amazing then is this? “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me”

Prior to Paul knowing him he was a useless slave to Philemon. Can you imagine being called something which no one believes you are?

My best story to illustrate this point is this:

In October, 2011, a deeply moving story was circulating in the press about a name-changing ceremony for girls in Mumbai, India. At birth the 285 girls had been named Nakusa or Nakushi, which means Unwanted in the primary Indian language of Hindi. The name Unwanted is widely given to girls across India where families often value sons much more than daughters. As a result, female babies have been aborted or neglected at an alarming rate.
But the renaming ceremony was an attempt to give the girls a new identity. The article reported, “The 285 girls—wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair—lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets.” Some of the girls chose new names that mean prosperous, beautiful, good, or even “very tough.” One girl who had been named Nakusa by her grandfather who was disappointed in her birth said, “Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me by this new name, and that makes me very happy.”

Useful you have not lived up to that name or been recognised for many years but today I call that name into being and declare that you are indeed useful!

Again the theories roll out based on the question on how Onesimus became useful to Paul. But we don’t need to know though the imagination is fun.

This powerful and delightful Indian story pales into insignificance with the identity change that Jesus Christ brings to people who put their trust in Him. We have a new beginning! Today, you are more than what others may not even recognise. You are useful! He is using you in more ways than perhaps you appreciate!