Philemon: A Love Letter from Heaven

Introduction

"Do you like true stories?" That is the question that opens this message, given at a Discovering the Gospel (Découverte de l'Évangile) evening at the Assemblée de Dieu de Montpellier Richter (EMR). The preacher admits to a reflex: when he watches a documentary or a film, he always wants to know whether the story is based on real events. Those stories speak to him more, because they really happened. And the Bible, he reminds us, is made of passages that really took place.

Before opening the Word, then, he tells a true story: that of a runaway slave, of a prisoner who tells him about Jesus, and of a letter written "with all the love" possible. He found that letter again, and you have it too: it is in your Bible. It is Paul's letter to Philemon, a book of a single chapter, near the end of the New Testament, that people sometimes skip.

The preacher begins with a prayer: that God would use a word, a sentence, to touch a heart. For it is not a man's voice that converts, it is the Holy Spirit who uses a servant to pierce a heart. That evening he speaks to someone in particular: the person who runs everywhere looking for a solution and does not think God can sort out their situation. He believes it is possible.

Outline of the message

1. A true story: the slave, the prisoner and the letter

A man is a slave. We do not know exactly why he left his master's house: did he run away, was he sent away? In his "escapade," he finds himself face to face with a prisoner.
This prisoner tells him about Jesus. It may seem strange to talk about Jesus in prison, but the slave opens his heart and receives the truth of the Gospel.
The prisoner then encourages him to go back to his master to make things right. This is around the year 60: a slave who came back was not welcomed "with balloons as for a birthday." The consequences could go as far as death.
But the prisoner knows the master. He writes a letter asking him to show grace. He vouches for everything the slave may have done wrong: "Put that to my account." And he asks him to treat him no longer as a slave, but as a brother in Christ.
The story stops there. We do not know whether the slave delivered the letter, whether he trusted, or whether he preferred to avoid trouble. The prisoner is the apostle Paul; the slave is Onesimus; the master is Philemon. Timothy is with Paul.

2. Speaking with freedom, but with love

In verse 8, Paul reminds Philemon that in Christ he would have full freedom to command him what is fitting. But in verse 9, he prefers to appeal to him "for love's sake," that is, with love.
The preacher seeks the same balance: to say what the Gospel must say and what the Lord has put on his heart, but with sincerity and without judgment. Each of us has situations between ourselves and God.
"Sometimes we come to church with a big smile, everything is fine, but deep in our hearts, it is not." God sees it, God knows it, and he is a Father who loves us so much.
Here is the image he offers: God sent a letter from heaven, a message of love. That message is Jesus Christ. God placed his love in a human envelope and delivered it to us, just as Paul did for Philemon.

3. Onesimus, born again: you can start over

In verse 10, Paul speaks of Onesimus as his son, whom he fathered in his chains. Paul probably did not force him, but he told him about Jesus Christ. "I am not here to do business or to sell something," the preacher clarifies: our role is to proclaim that with Jesus, a life can change.
Being born again is not something we understand the first time we read the expression. But Jesus tells us that we can leave our past behind and start over. "Yes, I was someone, but I can become someone else."
We no longer live the slavery of old, but when we say "it was stronger than me," it means that something has authority over us. We are then slaves to whatever dominates us.
The preacher testifies to this: for many years he was a slave to many things, and God set him free. People need to hear that there are solutions beyond doctors: God is able to set us free from any addiction.

4. From useless to useful

In verse 11, Paul makes a play on words: Onesimus was once useless to Philemon, but is now useful. And the name Onesimus means exactly that: "useful," "profitable."
Maybe you tell yourself: "I failed at this, I failed at that, I am good for nothing. I hold on, I go to work, but my life has no meaning." The preacher does not merely say that he believes everything can change with Christ: he knows it.
He was born into a Christian family, but he makes a distinction: he was not a Christian, he was "a child of Christians." The day he gave his whole life to the Lord, with his problems and his burdens, everything changed. When he got up in the morning, he had a reason to live, and it has never left him.
He was not the best student, and he was made to understand that he would never amount to anything. Given his behavior, that may well have been the path ahead of him. "But God made me useful," and he never would have imagined preaching the Gospel one day.
The ultimate goal of the Christian is to be useful to God. The sentence he hopes to hear one day from the mouth of Jesus: "My child, yes, you were useful to me."

5. No longer a slave, but a son: a free choice

In verse 12, Paul sends Onesimus back as "my very heart." The preacher sees a powerful truth in this: we can become children of God. God created us, but at the start we are not yet his children.
Galatians 4:7: "So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." This verse touched him deeply as he prepared the message: he who thought he was the freest person in the world was in fact so bound.
Galatians 3:26: "For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus." It is by faith, simply by faith, and it is open to everyone. Whether you are hearing the Gospel for the first time or for the umpteenth time, the opportunity is still there.
In verse 14, Paul sets aside his own interest: he does not want to do anything without Philemon's consent, so that the good deed would not be forced but voluntary. In the same way, God forces no one. He respects everyone's choice. "If God forces us, there is no longer any notion of a love letter. It is not love if it is out of obligation."

6. The time of separation

Verse 15 says that Onesimus was separated from Philemon for a time, so that Philemon might have him back forever. The preacher admits he stumbled on this verse, and the Lord led him to Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:3-5: we were by nature children of wrath, "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."
As long as he had not truly accepted Christ, he himself was separated from him, despite his Christian family. That time of separation pushed him to seek and to find the one of whom everyone told him: "He changed my life."
To be separated from Christ is spiritual death, and God desires that we all pass from death to eternal life. But no one knows how long that time will last. Some tell themselves: "We will see later, on my hospital bed." No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Make this choice as soon as possible.
Separated from God, we react in one way; in Christ, we no longer walk according to our own will, we seek God's will down to the smallest details.

7. "Put that to my account": Jesus took our place

In verse 16, Paul asks Philemon to receive Onesimus no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother. When we follow Jesus, we are seen at our true worth, and we too, like Onesimus, can become servants of Christ and ambassadors of the Gospel.
In verses 17 and 18, Paul takes Onesimus' place in all his troubles. That is what Jesus did: he took our place, and all our debts have been paid. God no longer looks at our old nature, but at the new one.
People often say that Jesus took the first step toward us. The preacher finds that expression "a little light": Jesus emptied himself, he left the glory of heaven to come to earth, and that is far more than a step. Before we ever gave him our hearts, he had decided to give himself, even for those who will refuse him.
In verse 20, Paul writes: "Refresh my heart in Christ." The preacher takes the sentence as his own, because that evening he carries a burden for a soul who might be lost: refresh my heart by turning to the one who created you and who died for you.
Before God, we are guilty. But if Jesus is in our hearts, he is our advocate, and we are justified, not by our merits, but by faith. On that day, he says, "I will be able to pull out this letter": I accepted Christ, his blood shed on the cross covers my sin.
"Is your name written in the book of life?" Jesus says in Luke 10:20: "rejoice that your names are written in heaven." If you have that conviction, "you have won everything."

8. What will you do with this letter?

The Gospel has been proclaimed, and now each person is responsible for it. You have received this love letter, you carry it in your heart, and no one can see what is deep inside. You are the one who decides.
Will you hide this letter, hide Jesus Christ, or rejoice in it? Keep it deep in your soul, or leave it lying around somewhere?
You can walk into a room without being converted and walk out having given your life to Christ. That is where one becomes a Christian. Perhaps, like Onesimus, you have gone far away. Yes, we are sinners, but God forgives.
Romans 10:9: "that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Everything has been done. God has already accomplished the most beautiful act of all: sending Jesus, his beloved Son, to earth, to humble himself and save us.

Key takeaways

Jesus is the love letter that God sent from heaven: his love placed in a human envelope.
Like Onesimus, you can be born again, leave your past behind, and go from useless to useful in God's hands.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, you are no longer a slave but a son, and an heir by God's grace. God forces no one: love cannot be imposed.
Jesus did what Paul did for Onesimus: he took your place, and all your debts were paid at the cross.
No one knows how long the time of separation will last. The moment to respond is today.

Personal application

Is there something in your life about which you say "it is stronger than me"? Are you ready to hand it over to God, who can set you free from any addiction?
Are you a Christian, or only the child of Christians? Have you yourself opened your heart to Jesus?
Is your name written in the book of life? What does your conviction rest on: your merits or what Jesus did for you?
Is your life entirely Christ's? Are you useful in your walk with the Lord?
What do you need to put in place to draw closer to the Lord, and what will you do with this love letter you have received?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does Paul's letter to Philemon tell us?

Onesimus, a slave who had left the house of his master Philemon, meets the apostle Paul in prison and accepts Jesus Christ. Paul sends him back to his master with a letter written in love: he asks Philemon to receive him no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother, and to put on his own account anything Onesimus might owe.

Why speak of Jesus as a love letter from heaven?

The preacher offers a spiritual image: just as Paul sent a love letter to Philemon, God sent a message of love from heaven. That message is Jesus Christ, the love of God placed in a human envelope. Like Paul for Onesimus, Jesus took our place, and all our debts have been paid.

What does the name Onesimus mean?

Onesimus means "useful" or "profitable." Paul plays on this meaning in verse 11: once useless to Philemon, Onesimus is now useful to Philemon and to Paul. For the preacher, anyone who feels useless can, in Christ, find meaning in life and become useful to the Lord.