Forgiveness

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Forgiveness

Philemon was a prominent member of the Colossian church. The church met in his house, so he was probably wealthy. This letter was for him, his family and the church. Paul writes about forgiveness even though the word is never actually used.

So what is the story here. Well, we don’t know all of the details for sure, but we can piece some things together. First, we know that Philemon received Christ through Paul’s ministry. We know that Philemon was wealthy enough to have the church meet in his house, meaning it was probably a larger house than most people had.

We also know that Philemon had a least one slave named Onesimus. Onesimus was apparently not a believer because he stole from Philemon, probably money, and ran away to hide out in Rome.

At the time, there were many slaves in the Roman Empire. Some estimates claim maybe about 1/3 of the population were slaves. Slaves in Rome were an accepted part of daily life. There were so many slaves around that nobody really knew who the slaves were because they all blended into society.

These slaves could be doctors, musicians, teachers, artists, librarians, accountants or pretty much any job they could do. Slaves were not considered people, but were tools of their masters. They could still be bought, sold, or whatever. Of course, their masters had control and power over the slaves and no doubt there were severe abuses that took place.

However, the Romans began to realize that a contented slave worked harder and was more productive, so many masters treated their slaves decently. When accused of a crime, slaves were even given the right to a trial. Being a slave in Rome could in some ways be better than a freeman living in poverty.

Anyways, back to our story of Onesimus, Philemon’s slave. He fled to Rome to blend in with the population. While in Rome though, he somehow ran in to Paul and also received Christ into his life.

Paul grew to love Onesimus and wanted to keep him for use in the ministry, but he knew the right thing to do was to send the slave back to his master. Remember, James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” That’s a tough portion of scripture for me and it was tough for Paul too.

Even though Onesimus was of great use to Paul in his ministry he knew what he had to do. By stealing and running away from Philemon, Onesimus had broken the law and defrauded his master. Paul knew those issues had to be dealt with, so he sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter.

As a side note, the New Testament never directly attacks slavery. Rather it simply recognizes it as a fact of life. Christianity does, however, undermine the evils that can occur with slavery by changing the hearts of both slave and master.

Had Paul or any other writer of the New Testament attacked slavery then the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the idea of repentance and a changed heart, would be hopelessly lost and confused with a message of social reform. Unfortunately, that is what many people are trying to do today.

So Paul writes this letter to his friend, his brother in Christ, Philemon, to accept his slave back and to treat him as a brother in Christ. Paul starts by appealing to the strong love and faith that Philemon has.

Paul knows that Philemon loves God, loves others, and loves himself. So if that is true, then here is your slave back. Yes, he did wrong and he realizes it but he has come to Christ and repented of his sin. Please accept him back not just as your slave, but as your brother.

Paul also says, hey you know I am an authority figure over you, I can simply command you to take back your slave, but I know I don’t need to do that because of who you are. I know that you too will do the right thing.

Paul also realizes that there was a physical or probably a monetary loss for Philemon, so Paul says send me the bill. I will repay it. Of course, Paul throws that little reminder in there that Philemon literally owes Paul his life because Paul is the one who brought him to Christ.

That is a debt that none of us can repay. The person that brings us to Christ should have a special place in our lives and Paul knew that. How can we repay that? We cannot. All we can do is to do the same for someone else and introduce them to Christ.

How this story ends we don’t know. But I like to believe that Onesimus returned to Philemon and was welcomed with open arms, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Someone who received the full forgiveness of their sins.

Today we live in a world where people are so focused on themselves and are not concerned with others or forgiveness. For a Christian, unwillingness to forgive is unthinkable. We are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. Failure to forgive others has its consequences.

It keeps that pain alive. It robs us of the joy of living, the joy of our salvation. It also produces bitterness. The longer you dwell on that pain the more bitter you become. Bitterness is sin and it can infect your entire body. Your speech becomes negative, your thoughts are turned toward revenge and you shut out any type of kindness or love toward others.

When this happens, of course, the door is open for Satan to jump into the situation. Once this happens, look out. Our fellowship with other Christians and even God will be hindered.

Forgiveness restores the believer to the place of maximum blessing from God. It restores the purity and joy of fellowship with God. Forgiveness is an important theme throughout Scripture, but here we see it in action in the lives of a slave and his master. What a wonderful lesson for us all to learn.

Is this a lesson that you need to implement in your life. If so, why not today? Is there someone that you need to forgive? Do you still hold a grudge about something?

Let the pain go. Bring back the joy of living and the joy of your salvation. Forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Closing Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for this lesson in your word this morning. We thank you for the forgiveness that you have given to us. Help us to forgive others so that the pain will be healed and our bitterness is replaced with love, joy, and peace.

We ask this in your son’s name, AMEN

Happiness

Happiness - Mark 12:28-34

All of us have some needs in life beyond the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and security. We see this in our Scripture this morning. All people need some type of self-worth, intimacy with others, and of course intimacy with God. All other laws of Scripture really hang on this great commandment.

In other words, if we are loving God and loving others, everything else falls into place and life works out for us and not only for us but for the glory of God. If we obey the great commandment, then we are really obeying all other commandments. Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.

So how do we do this? How does this give us a happy, fulfilling, meaningful life. This morning I would like to look at several key ideas that should make your life better.

First of all, commit your daily life to be a walk with Christ. Use every day and every opportunity that comes your way to glorifying God. Start each day with a prayer of thanksgiving. Ask God for the opportunity to bring Him glory today. Pray for self-control and the strength to get through whatever situations arise throughout the day.

Spend time each day not only talking to God, but reading and meditating on His Word to us and of course apply what you have discovered.

It seems as though our brains are programmed from childhood to be selfish and sinful. It seems as though we automatically lean toward doing the wrong thing. The more we do the wrong thing, the easier it is to deny that we are doing anything wrong in the first place.

The prophet Jeremiah saw this. He said, (Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it.” We need to reprogram our brains with God’s Word, with godly things. If we are going to live a happy, content life then we need to align our thoughts with God’s Word, not the ways of the world.

We need to get rid of the garbage that is bouncing around in our brain and replace it with the faithful Word of God. Some of that garbage comes from others. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to get rid of our grudges daily. We all get angry sometimes, but we need to deal with our anger in appropriate ways.

I am convinced that another key of a happy, meaningful life is taking time and building your relationship with your spouse and children. Sure other close relatives, like parents, siblings, and so on have a high priority, but your spouse and children should always be at the top.

Sometimes conflicts arise when we are with family. It is important to address the issue and do whatever you can to resolve the conflict. Don’t ever seek vengeance on family members. Instead, create an atmosphere of healing love and leave the rest up to God.

No doubt family relationships are important, but so are friends. Fellowshipping with other Christians is important to your overall well being and spiritual growth. In Proverbs 13:20 Solomon writes, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

You can’t usually choose your family, but you can select your friends. Choose wisely. You will find that your friends will have an influence on you. If they are fellow Christians progressing on their spiritual journey then you feel that effect on your life as well. If on the other hand, they are Christians in name only, then you too will feel that effect on your life.

Now, that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be friends with non-Christians because we should. In fact, our life should be a witness to those nonbelievers. We just need to make sure their worldliness doesn’t rub off on us. In fact, we need to rub off our Christ-likeness on them.

The idea is to obviously love others and be friendly and peaceful with all, but try to cultivate those deep relationships with other Christians that are also maturing in their faith. We all need friends. You know how you get friends? You go out and be friendly! We have to earn our friends.

Today, I think it is tough to have time for family and friends because our lives are so cluttered with stuff. They’re filled with activities and other things that just suck up our time. I find this especially true with families. It is like Mom and Dad are simply chauffeurs for their children taking them from one event to another, but never actually spending any time with them.

Many people’s lives seem to be very haphazard today. I think we all need a daily routine. One that includes a nice balance of the topics I have mentioned here this morning, but one that is also personally satisfying to you. It is the idea of being convinced that this is what God wants for your life and you find joy, peace, and satisfaction serving your Lord through your daily routine activities of life.

Your daily routine should include time for God, time for yourself, time for your family, time for your job, and of course time to glorify God through your life.

Finally, you want to be happy, you want to feel like you have a meaningful life, then each week do something nice for someone. It doesn’t matter who and it doesn’t matter what, just do something nice.

It can be a physical activity like raking leaves or cutting the grass. It can simply be a visit to someone who doesn’t get out much or maybe a phone call or card. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, just do something nice for someone.

Ask God at the beginning of the week to show you someone who needs something this week and see it through. Do something nice for someone else. Not to get a pat on the back, but because this is what God wants from us.

I truly believe that if you love God, love others, and love yourself you will find doing all of the ideas mentioned here to give you that happy, meaningful, fulfilled life. Of course, for anyone who truly knows Jesus Christ and receives Him as Lord and Savior of their lives will indeed have a happy, eternal life with Him.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us this week to focus our life on living out your will. Help us to love you, to love others, and to love ourselves. Make your desires our desires so that you will be honored and glorified through us.

AMEN