Philemon

The topic of slavery and freedom is an interesting one in the New Testament. It is a common theme throughout many of Paul’s letters, and he relies on it heavily to get many various points across.

One of the books that I am particularly fond of in the New Testament is the book of Philemon. This seemingly personal letter has long held a position in the canon of the New Testament, yet it is often asked “why”.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is a unique one, it is his shortest letter and it is often overlooked, but I think that, even though it doesn’t have any expressly theological statements, it is still a valuable resource and speaks to the Christian wondering how Christ should change his or her life.

Philemon, a slave-owner and recent convert to Christianity by Paul, has had a slave run away from him for some unidentified reason. The slave’s name is Onesimus, which means useful. Onesimus has come to Paul for protection from his master, as running away from one’s master could be punished by death if the master so chose. In the meantime, Onesimus has also become a Christian.

It is into this delicate socio-political atmosphere that Paul writes to Philemon concerning his slave.

Philemon has in the past been used inappropriately to support slavery, because Paul does not choose to fight the systemic slavery which is in place in the Roman Empire. This reading, however, misses the more important point of Paul’s letter.

While it is true that Paul does not try to fight the cultural situation of Slavery outright, he does something much more subversive and powerful and makes sure that this personal letter, with this message is read to the entire congregation of which Philemon is a part.

Paul tells Philemon to receive Onesimus no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother (16). This statement sums up Paul’s message in his letter to Philemon. To expand on this idea, and to put it in different terms, Paul is telling Philemon that the message of Christ, and being a Christian profoundly changes your life. Your relationships are no longer defined by culture. Your society and it’s norms can no longer hamper your relationships with other people. One must see other people through different eyes when one becomes part of the body of Christ, and this necessitates change with or without political action. This applies to us as well as to Philemon. No longer can we allow social strictures confine our relationships, when we have been called by Christ to be brother and sister to the outcast.

Run Christian Run!

I’ve known a few runners in my life. It’s not something that I am particularly fond of. Running is so much work, and not just during the race, but there is so much training and working before hand. Running, or perhaps more accurately, racing sort of takes over your life.

Despite my avoidance of the track, I think there are a couple of good lessons that we, as Christians can learn from runners. Paul used the language of running a race in his first letter to the Corinthians, so if you think I am copying from someone; I am.

In 1 Corinthians 9:25 Paul says “Athletes exercise self-control in all things…” (NRSV). And it’s true! The athlete changes the way in which he or she lives his or her life for the purpose of training his or her body to be good at the sport in which they participate. Everything that the athlete does is taken into consideration: sleep, diet, exercise, extra-curricular activities. In other words, the athlete’s life is centered on the sport. It defines who he is and what he does in all situations.

This is what Christianity should look like for us as well, Paul continues: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.” (NRSV) Paul connects something that the Corinthians were familiar with to the Christian walk. Athletes train all the time, and in all things. In the same way, the Christian’s life is centered around Christ, and every action is part of the game. Every action is important to the Christian and every action that one makes should bring him or her closer to the center, closer to Christ.

A second lesson we can learn from the runner is this: to run a race requires training. We may understand this, but I don’t think that we often internalize it. I think that we have become very good at trying but not so good at training. In reality, if I were told to run the marathon in the Olympics tomorrow, I could TRY with all my heart, and I would not be able to cross the finish line, let alone win the race. It would require TRAINING. In the same way, I do not think that we can be faithful to our mission, which is to show other people Christ’s love, by trying really hard. To be able to show others love, we need to train ourselves.

And like with runners, training can be difficult, but it also brings about its own set of joys.

Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?

Great philosophers have been saying it for years: Alexander the Great, Jesus, Paul, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Zane Williams, TONS of different bands and vocal groups. Yet, it is possibly the most ignored piece of advice ever given. Perhaps that is why so many people have said it, hoping that maybe with enough repetition maybe someone will understand it. Well, let me add my voice to the throng, though I too need to heed this advice.

You may be wondering what that piece of advice is, what is so important that so many important philosophers would all say the same thing? Well, they say it in different ways, Alexander the Great said “Carpe Diem” (or so the history books tell us), Jesus said “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34).

In his letters Paul changes the terminology and adds the concept of change to the idea when he tells his readers that they are a new creation, freed from the bondage of Sin, and thus they should not act as if they were still enslaved to sin.

A quick google search of “Live for today” lyrics shows many different bands have expressed this, or a similar message. With this message everywhere (admittedly, not all of them with the proper worldview in place) why is it that I still can’t seem to figure out how to accomplish this? Why is it so important anyway?

How often do we worry about what the future may bring, unable to live now, for fear of the future, or live in the past, unable to move on from “that one mistake”? It is important to be able to live in the now, for one thing, it is WAY more relaxing than trying to live either in the future or in the past. For another thing, we will be able to show our families the love and attention that they deserve, when we put away our troubles of the future. It is hard to listen to someone and really be present with them, when our minds are wandering away into the future or the past, worrying about that which has been, or that which is not yet.

It’s true that when Paul writes his letters to his readers, he asks them to look backwards, towards the cross to act in response to the sacrifice that was given there. He also asks them to look toward the future, and act in anticipation of the future. He calls them to be what they have been called to be, to live out their baptism and act in accordance to God’s will. But he tells them to live in the now, in the in-between time. It really is the only time that we can do anything about, our actions now cannot change the past, nor can they reveal the future. But if we focus on doing the right thing now, those actions can redeem the past, and bring us to a better future.

Hurry Home

It doesn't matter what you've done, I still love you
It doesn't matter where you've been, you can still come home
And honey if it's you
We've got a lot of makin' up to do
And I can't hug you on the phone
So hurry home

The above text is from a song by a musician named Zane Williams, and talks about a father’s love for his daughter and his desire for her to return to him after she had run away. Leaving the Chorus of the song (the above text) as his answering machine welcome, he hopes that his daughter will hear his love for her and realize that she can still come home.

The song has inspiration in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), though it has been updated to have a more contemporary feel, the message and idea behind the song were lifted directly from the parable by the author.

This story about the young man who defies his father and is still welcomed back, even longed for still amazes me. This is a radical statement about the love of God and the redemptive power of Jesus’ blood.

It is so difficult to understand that a perfect and Holy God, who cannot enter into the presence of evil because of how clean and holy he is. And yet he looks for and anticipates our return to him, seeing us from a long way off, running to us to take care of us and reinstating us as his son or daughter, even after we have failed to act as his son or daughter by dishonoring him.

How Great and mysterious is our God!

Eucharistic Emulation

I went to a church service this weekend, and like all good Church of Christ services, the contribution was preceded by a short speech that outlined why we should put our money in the plate.
There is a phrase that is common to the pre-contribution speech; You've all heard it, maybe you've said it, maybe I have, but this week, I just couldn't stand it.

"It's God's money anyway, so why shouldn't we give? We are just giving that which isn't ours in the first place."

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I mean come on, that's ridiculous! Okay, so technically it is good theology. Yes, everything belongs to God, so we really are just giving what doesn't really belong to us anyway. But tell this to a father with 4 kids and is struggling to make ends meet, tell him that it is God's money so he should just give it up, but be prepared for a fist fight.

I often wondered why we had a fascination with the phrase "seperate and apart". I mean, I understand that collection was not a part of the Eucharist, so we use those words to save our butts, but why didn't we just put the collection at a completely different part of the church service? I was often told the rote answer: "It's convenient to do it all at once." But that argument doesn't hold water for me, perhaps there is something more.

After thinking about it for the past 20 years or so, I finally have an answer that I find to be satisfactory; According to Church of Christ tradition, the Lord's Supper is a time to remember the life-saving actions of Jesus on Gethsemane. But it is not simply a mental assent to the fact that those actions took place, but something much deeper.

The Lord's Supper is a time to step into the world of Jesus, to experience again the sacrifice of the cross. We do not step into this world to simply remember with our heads, but to remember with our hearts. This type of remembrance is not simply to know what happened, to encourage us to emulate that spirit of Christ which was self-sacrificial. Emulation is the point of the Lord's Supper, not simply knowing.

So then, if the Lord's Supper is meant to draw a response out of us, in response to, and emulation of the sacrifice of Christ, maybe, the collection has been placed in the correct place after all.

"We are just giving to God what is already his", how trite and small that makes the offering, how devoid of theological and personal significance! The offering is not, should not, and can not be an easy thing, it is precisely the opposite, it is a sacrifice!

In the past we have, in attempts to make it easier for people to give, reduced the sacrifice required of us to "It's God's anyway, right? So we might as well give it to him, cause it's not ours."

Following the Lord's Supper with the collection is a beautiful, appropriate, theological progression. We move the Church from remembering what Christ did, to experience and emulate the concept of sacrifice. The collection is not a time for us give to God what is already his, it is a time to practice and begin entering into a Christ-shaped life: a life of sacrifice.