Month: November 2022

I recently revisited the New Testament book of Philemon. It is a brief letter from Paul about a slave named Onesimus to his owner, Philemon. When I first read it in 1967, I didn’t understand why it was in scripture, but the Holy Spirit showed me the significance of that short letter about redemption, mercy and grace. I even preached a sermon based on it that same year.

Imagine that in the middle of the night the figure of a man was quietly moving through the dark home and putting valuables in a bag. Then he slipped quietly out the door. The home belonged to Philemon and his wife, Apphia. The thief was Onesimus, their household slave who was escaping. Onesimus thought if he could make it to Rome and blend into the crowds, he would be home free, but he couldn’t outrun God, who had other plans for him. Once in Rome, he ran smack into the Apostle Paul, who recognized him from his frequent visits to the church that met in Philemon’s home. He immediately began to confess to Paul what he had done and Paul led him to faith in Jesus Christ. He then attended to Paul’s needs and served the church in Rome. He and Paul both knew that he would eventually have to return and make things right with Philemon. Paul wrote the letter to take with him to give Philemon.

Imagine now, Philemon seeing the figure of a man approaching his home and recognizing him. Anger and hurt welled up in Philemon as Onesimus dropped to his knees in front of him and reached out with the letter from Paul.He took the letter from him and immediately recognized Paul’s handwriting. He called Apphia to come quick, there is a letter from Paul. She came running out but stopped short when she saw Onesimus. Philemon read the letter to Apphia, then after a brief pause, he reached out his hand to Onesimus, helped him to his feet and embraced him.

These background accounts are not described in scripture and I certainly did not witness them, but Onesimus is still regarded as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church today, so it is obvious that he was accepted by Philemon and became an influential part of the churches in that region. I encourage you to read that short letter with all of this information in mind. You will find, as I have, a similarity with our rebellion, confrontation and redemption. We won’t have to carry a letter to hand over at judgement, because our name is found in the Lamb’s Book of Life written in Jesus’ handwriting and with His blood and God’s Holy Spirit will affirm we are God’s son or daughter. By the grace of God, we have been converted from sinners to saints in the eyes of God.

In the mid to late 1960’s, I preached the Gospel as a lay evangelist. One of my favorite illustrations was about a farmer, named Jed, who was attending to his roadside farm stand. A neighbor, George, walked by with a gunny sack and Jed asked where he was headed. George said he had a male pig in the sack to sell to another neighbor of theirs. After a brief conversation, George started to walk on and Jed said, “See you at church Sunday, Lord willing.” George turned and said, “Why are you always saying that. Do you think God cares about every little detail of your life? I will see you Sunday – period.” Then he stomped off. A while later, George came back staggering, with his hair standing up and his clothes torn and muddy, dragging the empty sack. Jed asked him what happened and he said in a shaky voice, “It started raining so I took shelter under a tree until it slacked up. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the tree and I thought I was a goner for sure. I dropped the sack and the frightened pig ran away.” Jed said, “Wow! I’m glad you survived. What are you going to do now?” George replied, “I’m going home, Lord willing.” I hope it doesn’t take a bolt of lightning to make us realize the importance of God’s will in everything we do.

I have written before that what we call the Lord’s Prayer is a template Jesus gives His followers to teach us how to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The real Lord’s Prayer is the prayer He prayed in the garden the night He was betrayed. He was sweating blood at the very thought of the torture and painful death that was lying ahead of Him, and yet He prayed, “Nevertheless, your will be done.” As a young Christian, I was taught to always pray, “If it be your will.” Since then, I have met Christians who say that is a sign of weak faith. They feel we should boldly pray for our needs with complete confidence that it is God’s will for us. We speak of being “Christlike” in our Christian life. There is nothing more Christlike than seeking and obeying the will of our heavenly Father, regardless of the consequences.

I have had Christians pray for my arthritic knees to be healed. When it didn’t happen they claimed that I must be blocking the healing somehow. When I prayed about my knees, I was told by the Holy Spirit the same thing God told Paul about his thorn in the flesh. “My grace is sufficient for you.” On the other hand, prayers for my sciatic nerve pain and my recovery from Covid-19 were answered. They were definitely praying in accordance with God’s will.

The closer we draw to God, His will becomes our will, but that process will not be completed until we are in the eternal presence of God. Until then, I will continue to seek God’s will in everything in my life and humbly obey.

Jesus looked intently at His disciples and said, “Humanly speaking it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Early in my Christian life, I stopped asking God in my prayers, “Can I?” Like Paul, I found that “I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) The real question then has become, “Should I?” I ask that question almost every prayer I pray.

Earlier in the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul writes, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” But there are times when even those positive thoughts should not be acted upon. Have you ever known someone who loves to beat people over the head with the truth? There is nothing good, encouraging or uplifting about what they are doing because of the way they present the truth. They SHOULD remain silent rather than make the person feel even worse. I have mentioned before that Job’s friends were right when they sat with him silently in his grief for days. But when they opened their mouths, they began to accuse him of doing something to cause God to be angry, making things worse for Job instead of comforting him.

I scroll through my time line on Face Book every day. I react positively to posts that are encouraging, uplifting or simply make me laugh. When I come across a lie or half truth in a post I know I can comment with the truth, but I ask God through His Holy Spirit if I should comment. Sometimes He tells me to scroll on past it without reacting and other times He instructs me to respectfully state my personal knowledge of the truth, without argument or attack. I don’t always get a response to my comment, but since I have been asking, “Should I?” I have not been unfriended a single time and I have 270 friends many of them with different religious beliefs and political opinions from mine. I keep them as friends because there are always some things we have in common and I want to keep the line of communication open with them when the Holy Spirit lets me know they might be ready to receive the truth.

My brother or sister, you can help others through Christ who gives you the strength, but always ask Him, “Should I?” As with every prayer, He will answer with yes, no or not now.