1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Calling out the called. Have you ever been in a space 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:12,760 where the call out was so abrupt that it stopped an entire room? 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,040 When my one of my sons was a toddler, he we went to the 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,480 Vancouver Art Gallery downtown because there was this huge 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,680 Rodan exhibit that was travelling and we wanted the 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,440 kids to learn a little bit. This is the dude that did the 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,440 famous Thinker. That's what everybody knows. 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,960 And then there's the kiss thing. Not that one's I can't really 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,400 show at church. And there are all these other 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,200 things that are happening. The preschooler, as preschoolers 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,680 do, had to go to the washroom. And so I'm on washroom duty, 12 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,080 Craig's with the other kids, and he comes running into this 13 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:52,400 gallery and goes, look, yeah, we were in an art gallery. 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,240 Everybody was looking at something. 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,880 The whole room stopped and looked at us. 16 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:06,400 It was very awkward. And this is what captured the 17 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,680 almost 3 year old's attention. He was fascinated. 18 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:19,680 I was embarrassed. And everyone looked differently 19 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,440 at that sculpture that frankly no one was standing in front of 20 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,800 and looking at a minute before. Y'all. 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,920 It was just a practice piece of art for a bigger thing called 22 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,080 the Gates of Hell. But it captured him. 23 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:43,000 And today we are going to read the book of Philemon and we are 24 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:52,400 going to have several look moments where we know what God 25 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:57,000 thinks about this already. And so we might miss the call to 26 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,440 our very own lives. So as we go, I want you to 27 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,600 think, what is it that's happening? 28 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,720 But I want us to remember this is a real letter. 29 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,000 Do you see the yellow circle around Colossi? 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,240 Philemon was sent to a church leader in this city. 31 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:15,560 It no longer exists. They kept having earthquakes. 32 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,960 They finally quit rebuilding. But that's where it is. 33 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,280 And I just want us always to remember we're reading this 2000 34 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,720 years later. But it is real people, real 35 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,040 places and real human lives which are about to matter. 36 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:36,280 As we read these this passage, I want you to ask yourself what is 37 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,120 Paul calling Philemon 2? Now it'll be clear probably 38 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,360 right away the action because Paul's very persuasive and has a 39 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,960 lot to say. But Paul is also calling him to 40 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:55,160 much more. So let's read Paul, a prisoner 41 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,360 of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear 42 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,200 friend and fellow worker. Also to Afiya our sister and 43 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,480 Archibus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your 44 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,760 home. Grace and peace to you from God 45 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:13,880 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 46 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,920 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers 47 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:24,080 because I hear about your love for all His holy people and your 48 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:29,400 faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership 49 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,600 with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your 50 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,000 understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of 51 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Christ. Your love has given me great joy 52 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,440 and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the 53 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,840 heart of the Lord's people. Therefore, although in Christ I 54 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:56,360 could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I 55 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,560 prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. 56 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,560 It is as none other than Paul, an old man and now also a 57 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,680 prisoner of Christ Jesus, that I appeal to you for my son 58 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,560 Onessimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 59 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,160 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful 60 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,520 both to you and to me. I am sending him who is my very 61 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:27,160 heart back to you. I would have liked to keep him 62 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,360 with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I 63 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,680 am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do 64 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:41,600 anything without your consent, so that any favour would do 65 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,240 would not seem forced, but be voluntary. 66 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,760 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little 67 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,920 while was that you might have him back forever, no longer as a 68 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,360 slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother. 69 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:02,920 He is very dear to me, but even dearer to you, both as a fellow 70 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,040 man and as a brother in the Lord. 71 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:10,360 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome 72 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,040 me. If he has done you any wrong or 73 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,760 owes you anything, charge it to me. 74 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,280 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. 75 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,040 I will pay it back. Not to mention that you owe me 76 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,360 your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may 77 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:30,560 have some benefit from you and the Lord. 78 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:35,800 Refresh my heart in Christ, Confident of your, confident of 79 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,280 your obedience. I write to you knowing that you 80 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:43,040 will do even more than I ask. And one thing more, prepare a 81 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,600 guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in 82 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,800 answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in 83 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,160 Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, and so do Mark, 84 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:01,560 Aristarchus, Dimas, and Luke, my fellow workers, the grace of our 85 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,240 Lord Jesus Christ, be with your spirit. 86 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,120 Now. Paul answered a lot of letters, 87 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,000 and he often called for grace, sometimes grace and peace. 88 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:22,240 But this one needed special grace because Oneessimus's very 89 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,960 life hung in the balance. So what, pragmatically, had Paul 90 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:36,240 called Philemon 2? Freedom to free his slave 91 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:39,760 Oneessimus. Now, I'm just going to go ahead 92 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:48,440 and nod to the fact that with two 21st century mindsets, we 93 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:53,000 want Paul to slam the judge's hammer down on slavery. 94 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,480 And we want him just to say, well, I was about to say a bad 95 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:03,080 word, just don't do it. But what Paul does in living in 96 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:10,400 his context is he is confronting the slavery of his time. 97 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:16,240 That is perfectly legal and still calling Philemon 2 Kingdom 98 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:22,000 values. 1/3 of the people in the Roman world were enslaved. 99 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,280 It is not race based slavery. It was an economic based 100 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,840 slavery. Many of the people chose it. 101 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,720 They would self sell for a certain amount of time so they 102 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,120 could get out of debt. Or if they were hungry or if 103 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,680 they had more children than they could feed, they would enslave 104 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,760 their children to make sure there was nourishment. 105 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,720 So this is a different system than our mindset. 106 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,680 It isn't still not a good system and Paul is calling it into 107 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,600 Kingdom values, but Paul is doing it within the his culture. 108 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,400 And we're going to talk about how revolutionary this is. 109 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:08,040 But I am aware that with 21st century eyes, it doesn't feel 110 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,640 that way. So the first thing that Philemon 111 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,800 does, I mean Paul does is calls out Philemon's love. 112 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:23,360 Did you see and verse 4 I hear about your love for all his holy 113 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:29,080 people and your faith in Jesus. So there is no division between 114 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,159 Philemon's works and actions. His faith is borne out in loving 115 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,960 actions. He's already known for being 116 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:42,320 someone who is loving, and in calling out this love, Paul goes 117 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,039 through several different relationships. 118 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,480 He calls him his friend. He calls him his brother. 119 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:52,360 He says we are in partnership. He acknowledges that Philemon's 120 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,280 a person who refreshes other people's hearts. 121 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,640 Y'all, I think we would like Philemon if we met him. 122 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,240 He is calling him into reconciliation. 123 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:07,480 He calls Onessimus. Paul does his own heart and he 124 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,040 also acknowledges that he can assume upon Philemon's 125 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,280 hospitality. So he knows this man's 126 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,600 character. Now, when he calls him out in 127 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,880 love, he is not calling out something that Philemon doesn't 128 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:29,960 already exhibit, but he is calling it at a new level and at 129 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,560 a level that would confront his society. 130 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:43,360 Because you see, when Oneessimus brought this letter, Oneessimus 131 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,840 doesn't know what Philemon's going to do. 132 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,680 And within the bounds of the law, anything could have 133 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:54,040 happened. Oneessimus could have even been 134 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:59,000 killed as a way to, say, deter other slaves from running away. 135 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:09,200 But what Paul does is calls out his love and he says in verse 9, 136 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:13,640 I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. 137 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:22,480 Now I want you to think about things that are wrong in our 138 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:32,320 world today. And when you hear news posts, 139 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:41,640 comments are the appeals to peace on the basis of love, you 140 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:43,480 are right. Wisdom they are not. 141 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:52,000 They are not by and large. And yet we are the ones that 142 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,520 know the one who loves the most. And how do we make appeals? 143 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,880 I'm not saying don't ever speak prophetically, but it Paul is 144 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,520 speaking prophetically and calling out the love in the 145 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,520 midst of what's really a rough situation. 146 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,320 And then Paul calls to the relationship. 147 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:19,160 And so he says in verse 6. I pray that your partnership 148 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:25,200 with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your 149 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:30,080 understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of 150 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,120 Christ. All right, Philemon's a church 151 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,440 leader. He's got some understanding. 152 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,880 And Paul's saying, and now it's time to go deeper. 153 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:44,720 And so when we get called out in love by others, we have the 154 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:50,960 opportunity to grow and deepen in our understanding of God, of 155 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:55,000 the way the Kingdom works, and of how our relationships can 156 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,160 work. Now I want to talk about this 157 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,480 word partnership, and I want to talk about the Greek word 158 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,920 Koinonia with it. So partnership, we think 159 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,920 partnership is like a business. And if I don't want to work with 160 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,120 you, we just change our contracts. 161 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:11,600 Somebody buys the other person out. 162 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,160 We use partner now in our spousal language. 163 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,240 I remember the first time somebody called Craig, my 164 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,960 partner, I looked her and said we have 4. 165 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,560 She well, she got embarrassed and I was trying to make it OK 166 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:28,800 for her. I probably wouldn't have said 167 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,600 this, but she she said your husband, oh, I mean your partner 168 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,920 because she was trying to correctify her language. 169 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,200 And I looked and I said we have four children. 170 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,800 He is my husband. He is stuck with me. 171 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,600 I am not getting stuck with these children alone. 172 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,560 Partnership language you can dissolve, but husband, he is 173 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,320 stuck. And So what I want to say is our 174 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:55,760 Koinonia is fellowship. Now we have trouble too, because 175 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,200 we churchified fellowship and when I was growing up with the 176 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,280 fellowship hall is where you got ice cream and you'd had 177 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,240 Christmas parties, my wedding reception and it was fun, but 178 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,880 there wasn't necessarily a thought of commitment. 179 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:15,680 And so I'm just going to read to you very quickly from first John 180 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:20,040 chapter 1 because I want you to think about what fellowship is. 181 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:25,960 John was writing and he says, we proclaim to you what we have 182 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:31,400 seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us, and 183 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,480 our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus 184 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,600 Christ. We write this to make our joy 185 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,280 complete. So when we are called into 186 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:47,000 fellowship and partnership, we are being called into the 187 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,440 relationship with the Heavenly Father, with the Spirit of 188 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:57,160 Jesus, and with Jesus. And So what Paul was calling 189 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:03,960 Philemon to was to know community with the Father, Son 190 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,280 and Spirit and to know more deeply to know Jesus. 191 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:16,720 He also deals in this Koinonia. And back in Philemon he says in 192 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,360 verse 17, if you consider me a partner, welcome him being 193 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,400 oneessimus as you would welcome me. 194 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:32,200 OK y'all, Paul has been walking with Jesus long enough that he's 195 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:37,920 starting to talk like Jesus in the very next verses 18. 196 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,360 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to 197 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:42,920 me, OK? He did. 198 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,920 He owed based on their legal system. 199 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,280 He owed Philemon money for his liberty. 200 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,200 Paul is taking the charges now. Y'all, he's in jail and we're 201 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,280 like, how's he? He's not tent making right now. 202 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,760 How's he going to pay it? But I believe Paul was 203 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:03,680 resourceful. These are not empty words. 204 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,800 Because in the next 1 he says, I Paul, I'm writing this with my 205 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,280 own hand, riding it with his own hand obligated him contractually 206 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:16,400 to pay for this man's liberty. So Paul is not calling Philemon 207 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,880 to something without being able to sacrifice for himself. 208 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:27,760 He's saying I'll pay. But you know, Paul is courageous 209 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,720 and is demanding courage from Oneessimus because when this 210 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,760 letter gets delivered, what if Paul had just sent the money? 211 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,520 But he wants the reconciliation of the relationship. 212 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:49,200 And that's what Koinonia Fellowship Partnership does is 213 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,560 I'm not just going to make amends, I am going to be 214 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:59,040 reconciled. When Paul refers to himself in 215 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,920 verse 9 as an old man and he's in jail. 216 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,360 This old man term is also the term for an ambassador. 217 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,560 What does an ambassador do? Well in our best moments, 218 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:17,480 ambassadors bring 2 warring sides and wakes a new way 219 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:22,360 towards peace. And that is what Paul is calling 220 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:28,200 for is he is saying I will take the charges. 221 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,520 But I want you to have in verse 17 that partnership welcoming 222 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,600 Koinonia fellowship with Oneessimus, who is now your 223 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:46,040 brother, who is my son. Reconciliation cost Jesus his 224 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,760 life on the cross. Reconciliation here is about to 225 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,720 cost Paul Simula. What has reconciliation cost 226 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:01,120 you? Or do you do the Canadian way of 227 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,960 moving on? That is uncomfortable, so I'm 228 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:11,000 just going to go somewhere else. I'm going to say I forgive, but 229 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,680 I'm moving on. That is not Koinonia, 230 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,400 fellowship, restoration, reconciliation. 231 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,920 And so I call us to be courageous as Paul and call out 232 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:26,160 reconciliation. And I call us to be Paul as 233 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,920 ambassadors and I call us to be Philemon who have to learn a new 234 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,280 way. We are called into fellowship. 235 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:38,080 And So what else is happening? Well, the rest. 236 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,760 Did you notice all the names in this church? 237 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,640 See, this is OK. This is a house from Ephesus. 238 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,080 It's still standing for you to go be a tourist at because 239 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,960 Ephesus is about 100 miles towards the coast and it's going 240 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,520 to become important later. But it's something like it's 241 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,960 from the same time period as Philemon's house. 242 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:04,000 Philemon was influential. Paul is not calling Philemon to 243 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,880 this in a vacuum. He had wealthy professional 244 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,480 neighbors who did not want this slave forgiven. 245 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,040 Why? Because then their slaves would 246 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:21,800 think they could run away too. So Philemon is in the context of 247 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:26,520 other people who felt all this was all right, and he is being 248 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:33,960 called to act and the ways of Jesus into the Kingdom in a way 249 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:39,400 that was countercultural. How are you at times 250 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:45,200 countercultural? We've got the book. 251 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:50,240 And as Gordon Fee says, well, we probably wouldn't have the book 252 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:55,000 of Philemon unless he had freed Onesimus, because who'd want to 253 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,160 get this letter and have it saved for 2000 years if you 254 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:04,720 hadn't freed the man? But I want us if you were 255 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:09,000 filming this. There's a lot of anxiety on the 256 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:13,680 trip, travelling from being with Paul in prison all the way home 257 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:19,520 to Colossi. Imagine giving the letter you 258 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,360 didn't get to see Philemon probably first, but to the head 259 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:25,200 servant and thinking, oh, I'm going to get beaten before the 260 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:33,640 letter gets read. And then he gets the letter and 261 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,600 Philemon's got Oneessimus. He's got the head servant, he's 262 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,640 got his house that's greeted in it. 263 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:43,200 And he knows because Paul listed all these people. 264 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,960 All these people are waiting and watching. 265 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,240 Y'all? When you are making ethical 266 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,280 choices, there are people watching that you don't even 267 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,840 know. There are people impacted that 268 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,800 you don't even know. Through work, I've been in 269 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,400 conversations where a poor decision was being made and they 270 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,200 said, well, nobody will know. And I'm thinking everybody will 271 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,320 know. They may not know who called it, 272 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:19,000 but everybody knows the results. And Philemon has this. 273 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:24,520 Now I highlighted Mark because I want you to notice that Paul is 274 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,680 not calling Philemon to something that he hasn't in his 275 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,400 own way, had to do. As far as we know, Paul had not 276 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,960 had any slaves, but he had been done with Mark. 277 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,960 If you remember in Acts, Barnabas and Paul separated ways 278 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:46,160 because John Mark got homesick and Paul is like I got Kingdom 279 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,040 work to do. I cannot be putting up with his 280 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,440 silliness. OK, that's Ellen's paraphrase. 281 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,200 It doesn't sound quite that way in Acts, but he did. 282 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:59,160 They literally broke a ministry partnership over Mark. 283 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:03,400 And now who is with Paul while he is in jail. 284 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,440 Paul had learned how to be gracious. 285 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,480 He had learned how to receive back someone who had 286 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,640 disappointed him, someone who had not lived up to their 287 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:20,280 responsibilities in God's work. And so another example of where, 288 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,120 yeah, Paul is calling out to Philemon, but not something he 289 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:28,520 had not done. And here is oneessimus waiting 290 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:36,040 to find out his future. Sometimes when the Spirit of 291 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:41,280 Jesus is calling out in love and is calling for reconciliation, 292 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,400 in the Koinonia, in the fellowship, in the 293 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,200 relationships, in the partnerships, in a Christian 294 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:52,240 community, there's a lot of people waiting and watching and 295 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:59,280 praying. Because just as Paul appealed on 296 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:04,560 the basis of love, our heavenly a Father appeals to you on the 297 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,960 basis of love to do what is right, to do what is right. 298 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:14,280 When someone in your class somehow got a copy of the exam 299 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,840 and you know it's going to be skewed in everybody's favor. 300 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:25,200 And if you don't get it, you're going to not just be skewed, but 301 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:32,840 you're going to be messed up watching and waiting and praying 302 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:38,600 to see if someone else will have the courage to trust Jesus more 303 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,320 than to live within. What is their right? 304 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:48,400 Watching and waiting to see. So what is Paul calling for? 305 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,240 Lehmann too. He is calling him to emancipate 306 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,400 an SMS. But that's not the biggest call. 307 00:22:54,640 --> 00:23:00,640 He is calling for him to be a brother to his slave. 308 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,880 He is calling for a redefining of human relationships. 309 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,760 Do you know the person that cleans your Community Center? 310 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,360 If you're in residence, do you know the name of the person who 311 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:26,040 is cleaning the washrooms in residence? 312 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,040 Might be you, might be your roommate. 313 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,360 Do you know the person who cleans the building where your 314 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:38,400 faculty lies? If we're going to redefine 315 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:44,160 relationships, it means that we acknowledge the dignity and 316 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,880 worth of every human, and it changes the transactional 317 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,520 relationships into something of a partnership. 318 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:07,040 And so the call out of look, as you look in your relationships, 319 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,280 is there a space where the Spirit of Jesus is calling you 320 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:20,440 to appeal for someone else, to act with grace and to reconcile, 321 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:27,600 to do what is just and right, but may not be what the society 322 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,200 thinks they have to do? Because the Spirit of Jesus and 323 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:37,040 what the Bible teaches us about conflict is very different than 324 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:42,920 what is the prevailing notion. And frankly, I have been in 325 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,080 Sunday school classes where my teacher said, well, Jesus 326 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:55,160 wouldn't want you to be in danger. 15 year old Ellen raised 327 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,440 her hand, said, well, he did die on the cross. 328 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:07,440 That doesn't seem very safe. And yet have you been told, oh, 329 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,400 don't talk to that person, they might be mentally ill. 330 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,680 Oh, don't go to that part of town. 331 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:20,160 Oh, don't go to that country. And yet Jesus calls us where it 332 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,520 is dangerous and it is countercultural. 333 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:28,320 And so you may be like Paul and you're in the awkward space of 334 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,080 feeling called to call someone else out. 335 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:37,960 Or look, you might be Philemon and someone else has called you 336 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:45,040 into more love, into more grace, into more of the power of Jesus 337 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,760 to call you into true partnership. 338 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:57,280 And you've got it aside because no one in the broader society 339 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,240 will think less of you if you don't. 340 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,800 In fact, in the broader society, they might be offended if you 341 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:11,760 forgive something so horrible. Or are you an SMS and in trying 342 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:19,480 to be healthy and free, you have hurt someone else and you owe in 343 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,840 some way, physical or metaphorical, some kind of debt 344 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,800 to someone that needs to be made right. 345 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:32,360 And so for you to grow in your walk with Jesus, you're going to 346 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:35,280 have to make right the broken relationship. 347 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,000 And you don't know how they're going to respond. 348 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:48,800 So you and I are all called to radical living. 349 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,720 We are called to love. We are called to a different 350 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,480 kind of economic policy. We are called to a different way 351 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:02,360 of conversing. And so on the basis of love or 352 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:06,400 Koinonia, or in the season of waiting and watching, are you 353 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,000 doing this with your heavenly Father? 354 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,400 Jesus said that a new command I give you love one another is I 355 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,880 love loved you, so you must love one another. 356 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:22,240 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love 357 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,880 one another. Now most of you don't know my 358 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,440 father, but if you knew him, you would know I'm his daughter. 359 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,920 Now I look more like my mum, but I dance like my father. 360 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,400 I play football. Oh, and just so you know, I'm 361 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,240 not meaning soccer for those of you that use it. 362 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,880 I'm meaning like actual tackle football, like my father because 363 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,680 that's what he loved. And it was in high school. 364 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,320 My mom had to call me in and said, Helen, the church ladies 365 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,360 are getting nervous. You've got to stop playing. 366 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,160 And I was like, well, can I at least throw? 367 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,720 But I was I was a running back in my neighborhood. 368 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,080 And so it was very traumatic. So but I'd have this love the 369 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:06,280 way I scream at the screen and call the plays and say, would 370 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,960 you log? That's not what that's my 371 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:17,880 father, but also the way I will show up when you have a problem. 372 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:25,960 Anytime I've done that, that is my daddy and the way that I keep 373 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:30,240 in touch with friends from high school, that's my daddy. 374 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,040 And if you knew my father, you would know I am his child 375 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:41,120 because of how I behave and as our Heavenly Father's children 376 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:46,840 not I can't be a good daughter to Jesus if I don't know how to 377 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:54,240 be a good sister to you all. I am a baby until I learn how to 378 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:59,280 sister well and until we continue to grow. 379 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,520 Philemon was already a church leader and there was more to 380 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:11,960 know in how to love and how to forgive and how to pursue 381 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,920 justice and how not to worry about what the surrounding world 382 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,880 thought. I want to tell you away. 383 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,240 A few originals have done this. They've graduated. 384 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:30,760 UBC could have had a very posh job and chose to go live in 385 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:39,000 community with displaced people. Or another original got the 386 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:44,360 great job with one of the big four and then left it to go with 387 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:49,560 the Tony Blair's association. I don't know the last title to 388 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:54,280 go work in the Ukraine where his block was getting bombed because 389 00:29:54,280 --> 00:30:00,440 he was trying to build peace. Other originals have gone and 390 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:07,560 they're working at hard jobs and they pursue and are choosing to 391 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,720 treat everyone with respect in the environment. 392 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:18,840 There are many ways to live out this command, but through 393 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:24,000 walking with Jesus you will be keep on being called in to 394 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:29,600 deeper and deeper, as Paul said, your understanding of every good 395 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,120 thing we share for the sake of Christ. 396 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,800 So this isn't an arrived kind of thing, but the grace and the 397 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:43,280 love of Jesus will keep calling you into more. 398 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:54,080 And so I would like to ask, what is the Lord calling you to? 399 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:14,680 Let's pray. Jesus, I thank you that you have 400 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:20,600 loved us sacrificially, that your agape unconditional love is 401 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,400 the standard. I thank you for the 402 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,440 encouragement that someone like Philemon could already know you 403 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:33,200 and be serving you, and yet you called for more. 404 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,280 And Lord, what I ask for our congregation is courage. 405 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:50,320 Courage when we are called to speak the truth in love, courage 406 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:55,280 when we are called out to live differently in your name, and 407 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,800 courage when we need reconciliation. 408 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,160 Make us a people that are a beautiful example of your love 409 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,400 and Lord, we cannot do that without learning how to be your 410 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,920 ambassadors and your reconcilers. 411 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:18,760 And so we ask help Lord in Jesus name, Amen. 412 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:28,520 I want to tell you a we quote Ignatius was martyred, but on 413 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,240 his way to Rome to be martyred. And also we have to define terms 414 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:33,680 because they're getting redefined. 415 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:39,160 A martyr is a witness and in the case of Christian martyrs, they 416 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:45,080 are people who have died because they are telling that Jesus is 417 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,760 the way the truth of life that he loves and causes to radical 418 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,320 living as he went. He wrote a letter to the church 419 00:32:54,320 --> 00:33:04,720 in Ephesus, it's about 60 years after this, and he commended the 420 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,840 love that their Bishop Onessimus had. 421 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,800 We're not 100% sure, but they're pretty sure that this is the 422 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:22,000 Onessimus that got freed and he is loving a church as an old man 423 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:30,000 60 years later and Philemon would have been gone by then. 424 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,600 And Philemon did not know all the fruits of his love. 425 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:40,240 And when you choose to forgive and when you forgive 426 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,920 sacrificially, you also will not know all of the fruits. 427 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,440 But I pray that the fruits of your courage to forgive, to live 428 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:55,120 out your faith in Koinonia, and to love deeply and sacrificially 429 00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:00,080 will also bear fruits of those that are loving others into the 430 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:08,800 Kingdom. In 60 years, that's where she'll 431 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,880 be taken there if you're helping him out.