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What seems like only a few weeks ago, we were reminded during our announcements about the Juneteenth celebrations, which commemorate the emancipation of slaves during the Civil War. Later this month on the twenty-second will be the day which President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. Thus our reading of Philemon seems particularly appropriate.
In this short letter, Paul speaks to Philemon about his slave, Onesimus. Onesimus was believed to be a runaway slave, which why Paul says he was once useless to Philemon. But as Paul says, Onesimus has become a huge help to Paul in his imprisonment. It is in the mind of Paul's love for both Philemon and Onesimus, and his desire to do the right thing, that Paul asks Philemon to take back Onesimus, not as a slave, but as a fellow brother in Christ. As Jesus takes on the debt of our sin on the cross, so Paul takes on Onesimus' debt, whatever it may be, with Philemon.
We don't hear the end of the story in Scripture, but Tradition places Onesimus as one who would later become a bishop, suggesting that Philemon listened to Paul and, as a fellow Christian, accepted Onesimus back not as a slave but a brother in Christ Jesus.
What Paul says here mirrors what we heard all the way back in the Second Sunday after Pentecost in our reading, then, of Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
The world would have us divided and fit into separate categories. Not so with us. For Christians, we do not make distinctions of station, such as slave or free. We are called, as our Gospel from last week reminds us, to reject station, to be humble, and to accept the low chair at the table unless told otherwise.
Our Gospel today reminds us, as we heard three weeks, that the allegiances we normally find ourselves in, our familial ties even, are not the ones that ultimately matter. If we cannot reject those things, both people and objects, that try to tear us away from the love of God, we will not be able to be disciples, followers, of Jesus. It is the same with our station. We don't lord position over one another. We don't lord station, gender, or anything else over one another. We come together with one another as brothers and sisters, rather siblings, in Christ Jesus.
Let me put it another way: unless we can be one as Christians with each other whether rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or old, male or female, black or white, then we have no business calling ourselves followers of Jesus.
This is not an easy thing for us to do. History can show us that. After Emancipation, and in truth before, former slave owners should have accepted former slaves just as Tradition implies Philemon accepted Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother. Unfortunately not enough was done and so Sunday has now become the most segregated day of the week. Not enough was done in the post-Civil War era and so even now there is much racial disparity in our country. As an Americorps member with City Year, I worked in one of the struggling schools in the Washington, D.C. school district, which is already one of the worst public school systems in the country. The school I served was predominantly African American as many of the schools my fellow City Year members served were as well.
I do have hope that things will get better. In my time in Greensboro, once one seats of plantation power in this state, I saw churches of multiple denominational and racial backgrounds come together at St. Paul's Episcopal Church to celebrate Palm Sunday. There are opportunities we have and will hear of in this church to help ease racial disparity in our area. When you hear about this opportunities, what will your action be?
There are other things that we can let divide us too. We can cling to traditional gender roles or even age roles, failing to recognize that it is not our age or gender but the gifts that God has given us that determine where and in what ministry we should serve.
I recently heard a story from a loved one who visited a church and found that the ushers there, as is traditional in many churches (though not here at Resurrection), were all men. But in moving away from the past, these men took their children with them to help and to show them how and what it means to serve the church. These children were not just sons, but daughters too.
We are called to join together as Christians not only with those people who we like, or even those who we think can benefit the church. We are called to minister to give pastoral care and guidance to everyone, both our members rich and poor, young and old, healthy and sick as well as all those who come to our door for Rice and Beans and all other ministries in between.
Looking past the divisions society puts on us as Christians can be difficult. We all fail from time to time. Don't dwell on past wrongs. Use this as a step forward. Examine the prejudices you may have, known or unknown. If there's a ministry you really want to do, that you've always wanted to do, come talk to one of us about it. If there's someone new who wants to help in your ministry, take them time to help raise that person up to do that work, even as frustrating as at times that can be. If you have a friend or neighbor of any race or creed that you love, invite them to join us on a Sunday, or on a Wednesday for that matter. Most of all, if someone, anyone, comes to as a sibling in Christ, be they slave or free, male or female, for God's sake be like Philemon and except them with open arms.