From the Epistle for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18) - Philemon 1-21
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and co-worker…and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother-- especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Reflection:
Paul's letter to Philemon is the cover letter he sent with Onesimus when he sent the slave back to his owner. He appeals to Philemon to receive Onesimus "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother."
Scholars do not agree on whether or not Paul was beseeching Philemon to free Onesimus from his bondage, but they all agree that Paul was asking the master to revolutionize his relationship with his slave.
Paul understood that the distinction between master and slave was a human invention designed to enforce and legitimize the oppression of one person by another. He believed that such distinctions should not dictate the relationships between people. What mattered was not that one was a master and one was a slave but that both were brothers of Christ, and therefore, brothers of one another.
The political, economic, and social structures of the world have changed since there were masters and slaves, but those structures have not changed in their essentials. In modern economies we have employers and employees—bosses and bossed.
We tend to regard the connection between the bosses and the bossed as purely financial. That understanding often makes the relationship between employer and employee antagonistic. The powerful employers oppress and exploit their employees; the employees use the power of collective bargaining to fight back.
Jesus would have us treat the financial connection as minimally important compared to our relationship to him and to each other. We are Jesus' brothers and sisters; therefore, we are brothers and sisters of one another. When our relationship to Jesus dictates our connection with one another, our obligations to one another are characterized by mutual regard and caring, empathy and compassion, cooperation and community.
Because bosses have the power to change how employers and employees relate to one another, it is up to them to make the brotherhood connection more important that the financial connection. Where ever employers do that we see another outcropping of God's kingdom on earth.
The author of these reflections is always interested in hearing from his readers. You can contact him atrevgood@chartermi.net.
A new reflection is posted every Thursday.