Duty and Love

 Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

The letter of St. Paul to Philemon can easily be glossed over in the writings of the New Testament. Tucked between Titus and the letter to the Hebrews, Philemon is only one page and 25 verses long. Would be that my sermons could be so short!

The late Phillips Brooks was an Episcopal bishop, noted preacher, and author, who once served as the Rector of Trinity Church here in Boston. Known for his writing of the lyrics of the hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem" Bishop Brooks once said, “Duty makes us do things well. Love makes us do things beautifully.” On this Labor Day weekend, I often think not only about the duties of our human labors but also about the labors of our Christian love.

Duty and love are the twin forces of appeal that St. Paul uses in his letter to Philemon. For those of you who are not familiar with this letter, or need some refreshment, here it is. St. Paul, not to be confused with my husband Paul, has been imprisoned once again, not for his bad behavior but presumably for his enthusiasm for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. His message was not welcome in many circles and so he was often accused of breaking both the religious and civil laws wherever he went. 

Obedient to his duty as an apostle, and his labor of love for telling others about Jesus, St. Paul often found himself in difficult positions. In a pickle, my husband is fond of saying. Or, because St. Paul finds himself in prison once again, he is labeled as a repeat offender, a term we use in our criminal justice system.

At this particular time in his life, some religious leaders were understandably suspicious of the sudden changes in St. Paul’s behavior. Known for persecuting Christians, he felt that it was his duty to respond with violence to protect the integrity of his religious beliefs. But then suddenly, on the road to Damascus, St. Paul was blinded by the light of Christ. He heard the voice of Jesus speaking directly to him; and subsequently, in a reversal of fortune so to speak, St. Paul became a man who could not stop talking about Jesus.

St. Paul was a dutiful and loving Jewish leader who became a dutiful and loving follower of Jesus. In his letters, St. Paul felt that it was his duty to proclaim that in Christ, and through Christ, and with Christ, we are all God’s beloved children, and therefore we are united by grace rather than by our affiliation with a political or religious party. We are united, then, now, and forever in an unbreakable chain of faith in God’s redeeming love revealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, in his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul wrote that in Christ, “there is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

St. Paul soon became known as an evangelist and missionary, a preacher and pastor, establishing new communities of faith wherever he traveled, and often writing letters to them for their discipline and encouragement. He is known for his way with words, sometimes too verbose, sometimes too direct, occasionally manipulative, and other times he masterfully persuades people with delicacy, diplomacy, and nuance. Not my strong suit!

In his letter to the Galations, perhaps the earliest letter recorded in our New Testament writings, St. Paul chastises them. “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” he wrote. “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly crucified! Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” 

Somehow, and somewhere, St. Paul apparently converted to Christianity, both a slave named Onesimus, and his master named Philemon. St. Paul reminds Philemon that he has a duty to listen to him as an apostle of Christ and reminds him about the labor of love that was once offered to all people by Jesus. He calls Philemon his brother, his partner, his friend and co-worker, while professing confidence in his obedience to do even more than St. Paul is requesting of him.

Now St. Paul does not address the general question of slavery as a social institution directly, nor does he discuss whether or not Onesimus should be set free. In fact, it is believed that Onesimus had actually set himself free, that is that he had run away, amidst speculation that he may have even stolen some money from his master, Philemon. 

A slave, who had deserted his master, could be severely punished and even put to death based upon Roman laws at that time; Jewish law, on the other hand, encouraged forgiveness and freedom since the Jews had been set free from slavery in Egypt, and all who entered the promised land were therefore assured of their freedom. (HCSB, p314) It is unclear, however, whether Philemon or Onesimus are Roman, Jewish, or pagan citizens who had become Christians.

In St. Paul’s letter to Philemon, which Onesimus was given to carry back to his master personally, St. Paul asks Philemon to accept Onesimus as a free man and a beloved brother in Christ. St. Paul wants Onesimus to be welcomed into Philemons’s house church, not as a slave, but rather as another beloved child of God, and an equally free family member in Christ.   

Clearly Onesimus’s duty to carry out the delivery of this letter was fraught with danger. Knowing that there may have been some financial losses for Philemon, either because of stolen money or because of lost property, for slaves were considered to be the chattel of their masters, St. Paul tells Philemon that if Onesimus “has wronged him in any way, or owes him anything, then charge that to his account.” 

St. Paul’s appeal is different in his letter to Philemon than the one that he sent to the Galatians. He affirms Philemon’s “love for all the saints and his faith toward the Lord Jesus.” He refers to duty but allows for Philemon to make his own free choice “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,” he wrote to Philemon. He wants “that Philemon’s good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.”

At a church fair long ago, I saw a man wearing a T-shirt that had only two words on its front. In bold, dark, black letters, it said,

“Yes dear.” So I said to him, “I wish my husband would wear one of those.” And yet, truth be told, my husband would say the very same thing about me. In all our relationships that are truly free, there are both “yes dears” and “no dears” involved. There are both duties to be done and labors of love to be offered. So it is for us as citizens of our country, members of our families, co-workers, and as followers of Jesus Christ.

How then do I understand what Jesus said in today’s gospel passage from Luke, when it seems to me that Jesus exaggerates the dutiful aspects of following Him. He declares that we must hate members of our own families and even life itself, if we want to be his disciples, and claims that we must give up all of our possessions. According to my HarperCollins Study Bible, “these verses use prophetic hyperbole for the uncompromising loyalty required toward Jesus and the need for his disciples to maintain their firm loyalty to him.” (p 1989) But as you and I both know, they failed, St. Paul failed; and indeed we all fail.

Only Jesus was perfectly loyal and faithful to God throughout his life. He was dutiful in his own labor of sacrificial love, offering us freedom from the fear of death, and the forgiveness of our sins. Indeed he gave it his all in perfect obedience and loyalty to God. If anything is owed, He said to His Father in heaven, charge that debt to me. And set them free.

“Duty makes us do things well. Love makes us do things beautifully,” Bishop Brooks once wrote. As disciples of Jesus, it is our duty and our labor of love to treat all God’s beloved children as equal members of the Body of Christ. Do it well. Do it beautifully. Do it with love.

Philemon 1-21

Luke 14:25-33