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Let’s pretend I had an employee (let’s call him Barney) at Tejas Veterinary Clinic who embezzled money then ran away to a different state. We pressed legal charges and the law was on the look out for this former employee. At some point later I get a call from a Christian I know (Fred) who tells me that he taught the Gospel to Barney and baptized him. Fred tells me that Barney is penitent and committed to living a Christian life and Fred wants to personally pay back the money that Barney has stolen from me. Fred asks if I would consider dropping the charges against Barney.
That’s kind of like the story of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus.
Onesimus was a slave. A slave in the Roman world had no rights. Many slaves in the Roman world were soldiers from other countries who had been conquered in battles with the Roman armies. Onesimus may have been one of those. We can’t know for sure.
Onesimus ran away from his owner Philemon (who by the way was a Christian) and had traveled approximately 1,200 miles from Colossae to Rome where somehow he came in contact with the Apostle Paul.
From Paul, Onesminus heard about Jesus Christ and the implanted word grew in his heart. Onesimus confessed to Paul that he was a runaway slave. Onesimus was compelled to confess this because he knew that it was a sin and was inconsistent with the life of a Christian.
Amazingly when Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he also found out that he knew Onesimus’ owner and knew him quite well… Philemon was a Christian well known to the Apostle Paul!
Who knows why Onesimus escaped… maybe he was trying to get back to his home country and to his wife and children. Who knows? What Onesimus did know was that as a Christian he was obligated to go back to his owner and face whatever punishment he deserved.
When Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he had several things to consider. First, harboring an escaped slave was a crime that Paul could be punished for. Secondly, Paul had an obligation to Philemon. Onesimus had sinned against Philemon and Onesimus had to make that right.
Runaway slaves could be punished severely. They could be whipped, they could be killed and they could be branded on their faces to identify them as runaways. Obviously, Paul was going to restore Onesimus to Philemon but didn’t want Philemon to use his legal right to brutalize and brand Onesimus.
Paul implored Philemon in a written letter to receive Onesimus back and treat him as a fellow brother in Christ, i.e. to forgive him. Paul even offered to make restitution for whatever Onesimus might have owed Philemon.
Barney made some serious mistakes but I guess everyone does. My buddy Fred obviously loved his new convert and brother in Christ Barney very much.
Of course I would drop the charges and of course I can’t take Fred’s money. I just hope that I can one day step up like Fred did and love a soul more than I love my own money and be a true peace maker between two brothers in Christ.
When the two sister’s brother Lazarus died and Martha and Mary went to Jesus separately one sister cried and caused Jesus to cry and the other sister didn’t. Martha and Mary were different and different is okay.
Which brings us to the story of Jesus eating a meal in their home, the text says that “Martha opened her home”. Martha demonstrated hospitality to Jesus and his companions.
I’m guessing that Martha’s home was immaculate… everything in its place, clean and well swept. Not even a cob web in the corner.
Jesus, of course, starts teaching and everyone there listens to him except… Martha. Why? Because Martha has invited the Master into her home and she is worried and anxious about the details of being hospitable.
In fact the text said, “She was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made”. Things like setting the table, checking the food, making sure there weren’t any flies in the house, things to wash feet with, etc.
Later in the text Jesus tells her… “You are worried and upset about many things…”
Martha couldn’t listen to Jesus because she was “worried”, “upset” and “distracted” and none of those things were sin-related. They were hospitality-related.
Here’s another thing about Martha, not only was she not listening to Jesus but she wasn’t looking at him either… she was looking at her sister Mary.
Sometimes when we are worried, upset and distracted we take our eyes off of the better things of God and focus on what we think other people should be doing.
I’m sure Martha was surprised that Jesus was not more sympathetic towards her. She had presented her case to Jesus and asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her but Jesus didn’t. He told Martha in a gentle way that Martha was too worked up over relatively unimportant things and that Mary had chosen the more important thing.
I’m guessing that Martha sighed, took off her apron and sat down next to Mary and listened to what Jesus had to say and then afterwards they all got up and prepared the supper and enjoyed a meal together.
Its human nature to get worried, upset and distracted but an awful lot of it is caused by pressures we place upon ourselves and which we then vent upon others. Be careful about that and maybe take a long look at how we got there in the first place and just relax and listen to the Lord.
