Scripture: Philemon
Are you a man? Then you should have a human heart. But have you indeed? What is your heart made of? Is there no such principle as compassion there? Do you never feel another’s pain? Have you no sympathy? No sense of human woe? No pity for the miserable? When you saw the flowing eyes, the heaving breast, or the bleeding sides and tortured limbs of your fellow-creatures. Was you a stone or a brute? . . . Then will the great God deal with you, as you have dealt with them, and require all their blood at your hands. —Anthony Benezet
Questions: If Paul was writing a letter to you about a relationship in which you have power, what do you think he might say? When have you been asked by God to act like Philemon in this chapter, giving up social power to make sure others are treated fairly? When have you felt like Onesimus, powerless due to social circumstance, and hopeful that others’ faith in Christ will win out over their assumptions about what is socially proper? When have you felt like Paul, appealing to the radical love of God to sway people’s consciences toward care for another? Have you experienced God’s love breaking through social barriers?
All Paul is saying is, “Give peace a chance”
Peace and Quakers: let’s face it, they go together like chips and hummus, peanut butter and chocolate, donuts and coffee, or whatever your favorite combination may be! The point being, the way of peace is a long-standing spiritual tradition among Friends.
So what does the letter to Philemon have to do with the topic of peace? Much, in every way. The rhetorical dynamics promoting relational peace within the letter are clear. The goal is for a slave named Onesimus to be accepted and embraced as a “beloved brother” by Philemon, his master (v. 16). While the institution of slavery in the ancient world is grievous to our present worldview, we must be mindful of the letter’s historical setting. The answer being sought is not the problem of the social sin of slavery, but the matter of mutual, agape love between two persons within the household of God.
Can you relate to this? It’s not a stretch for us to know first-hand such circumstances at home, at our work spaces, and yes, even in our own churches and meetinghouses. When conflict is not addressed, love grows cold, unity breaks down, and what was once a shared journey now drifts apart. We might be asking ourselves, “How do we stop or prevent this from happening?” These are fair and helpful questions with which to engage.
What we witness in our Scripture study is Paul’s tactful and gracious exhortation for Philemon to resist the subtle powers of strife from seeping into his life and the local house-church community. For this particular occasion, Paul wasn’t going to be passively silent, enabling the situation to continue. Remember, he cared deeply for both of them, and upon this love he based his appeal (v. 9). In a similar spirit, George Fox wrote to early friends about the dynamic role of peace within our life and witness: “The peace-maker hath the Kingdom, and is in it; and hath the dominion over the peace-breaker, to calm him in the power of God” (George Fox, “The Peace-maker hath the Kingdom,” Epistle 9, 1652).
Are you anxiously at odds with another? Act in faith; seek peace. Is there a quenched spirit from a slight or offense? If possible, make amends. Let us go forward, seek peace, and pursue it. This is the example set by the apostle Paul and George Fox; it should be the standard for peace-loving Quakers, today, and in every generation.
–Mark Condo in “Friendly Perspective” from 1, 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon; 1, 2, 3 John: The Jesus Movement