Westtown Church
Westtown Church
The Prisoner, The Wealthy, and The Slave
By the grace of Jesus, we are empowered to do what is right even when it is difficult.
It is a pleasure to be with you this morning to worship the one true and living God together. My name is Jacob Phillips and I'm the youth director here at Westtown. If this is truly your first time hearing my name and learning of who I am and what I do, then this will be a little awkward, because while I can currently say that I'm the youth director at Westtown, I will not be able to say that for much longer. My family has been given the opportunity to move back to family. We feel the Lord's leading in this, and as much peace as we have and as excited as we are, we are also very sad, and so I'm going to do my best not to just stand up here and cry for 30 minutes. But when I first thought about what it would look like to move, and as our family contemplated that very early on, way before that was set in stone, I felt God lay in my heart that if I had the opportunity to preach to you one more time that this is the book of the Bible that we would go to, that we would go to Philemon. And so when I met with the elders, this was something I asked for. I asked if they would be gracious enough to grant me the opportunity to preach to you one more time, to get to be an encouragement to you from this stage, one more time, and so I'm excited to go to the book of Philemon together. The title of the message is the Prisoner, the Wealthy and the Slave, and if you're familiar with the book of Philemon, then you should already kind of know these characters. But the prisoner, the wealthy and the slave and the main point, if you will or put it a different way, this is my prayer for you, westtown is that the grace of Jesus would be with your spirit, empowering you to do what is right even when it is difficult. I'm going to say that one more time. My prayer for you, westtown, is that the grace of Jesus would be with your spirit, empowering you to do what is right even when it is difficult. So with that, you're going to get to say that you read an entire book of the Bible. Today we're going to stand and read together the book of Philemon. If you are unfamiliar with Philemon, it is a very short letter, so don't be too scared. Also, I'll do a slightly different call and response than Corey does. At the end of the reading I will say this is the word of the Lord to which you will all respond. Thanks be to God.
Speaker 1:All right, let's read Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and to Apthia, our sister, and Acrypus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us, for the sake of Christ, for I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though, I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet, for love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you. I Paul, an old man and now a prisoner, also for Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1:I appeal to you for my child, onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly, he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel. But I prefer to do nothing without your consent, in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord. For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me, your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it, to say nothing of your owing me, even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I'm hoping that through your prayers, I will be graciously given to you.
Speaker 1:Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, aristarchus, demas and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord, jesus Christ, be with your spirit. This is the word of the Lord. Amen, you may be seated, heavenly Father. You're beautiful and wonderful and your name is the highest name and it is worthy to be praised. Lord, be with us this morning, holy Spirit, give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you would have for us this morning. May we learn more about who you are, that we might love you all the more. May we learn to do what is right, not for the sake of salvation, but because you have been so gracious to save us. Lord, humble us this morning. Help us to give just a correct and sober-mindedness to the thoughts of our lives and how we live them, and that we would be able to give an assessment of our lives that we can only give with your help, to see how we can grow to be better Christians Again, not so that we would even gain any favor, but just so that we can give you all the more glory. Be with me now, lord. May my words be yours. Lord, we love you. We thank you for first loving us and for showing us that love on the cross In Jesus' name, amen us and for showing us that love on the cross In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, a short letter. It's a rather different letter that Paul writes. Paul wrote many letters and he wrote many letters primarily to churches. This isn't the only letter that he wrote to an individual. He also wrote letters to Timothy and Titus, but they were pastors in their local church and so this letter stands out because it is a letter written from one friend to another and it seems very personal and it is very personal. But we'll see how Paul has just as high hopes for this letter and how it will impact the church as any other letter that he has written specifically to the churches. But I want to fill it out a little bit. We can learn a lot from this text but it is short and I want to read between the lines a little bit, not to add to scripture, but just to help us really conceptualize what's going on here.
Speaker 1:So let's go through kind of what we know about the characters involved. For Philemon, we know that he was a wealthy Roman citizen, most likely a Gentile. He has a Greek name and it doesn't say otherwise, so we can assume that he is a Gentile. So it's cool to see Paul treat him so closely as a brother in this early church. We know that he most likely came to faith during Paul's trip to Ephesus, which is really close to Colossae, which is where he is a leader of a local church. So he meets Paul. He subsequently meets Christ Jesus. He gives his life to Christ. Paul and him certainly become good friends, even brothers, and Paul might have even considered him, like he does many that come to faith because of Christ, through him, his son in the faith, and so they were close for a time. Paul continues on in his missionary journey and Philemon goes on to become a leader in the local church in Colossae. Also, as a wealthy Roman citizen, it would have been very natural for him to have many slaves, and by natural even just kind of societally, even for the Christians, even for the church, it wouldn't have been weird for him to own slaves. That was very normative at the time. But we're going to see how Christ, through Paul, begins to stir that pot up a little bit. So that's Philemon.
Speaker 1:We also look at Onesimus. I loved this book the first time I read it and I loved the name Onesimus, so much so that I thought, man, that would be a great name for a kid. My wife said no, but I love Onesimus. He was one of these slaves that was owned by Philemon and we don't know too much. But we do know that he wronged Philemon in some way and I don't think we should read between the lines too much there, but we do know based on what Paul says, where he says if he owes you anything, charge it to me. We can assume that there was some loss of property. Maybe he stole something, maybe he broke something, we don't know but it was severe enough that he felt the need to run away, to flee.
Speaker 1:As you're preparing to do what I'm doing right now, you do a lot of study and sometimes it's just out of curiosity. I looked this up out of curiosity. I didn't think I would share it, but then, when I realized the answer, I this up out of curiosity. I didn't think I would share it, but then, when I realized the answer, I thought, man, I have to share that.
Speaker 1:Philemon didn't just flee from Colossae to, kind of, the next town over and then bumped into Paul. He fled a thousand miles away on foot, on the run right, because he knows he's in trouble. He gets a thousand miles away, all the way to Rome, where he bumps into Paul. Also, you might, like me, be thinking how does one bump into someone in prison? Did Onesimus do something else bad to get thrown into prison? But if we look at Paul's imprisonment, it helps us make a little bit more sense of this. Paul's imprisonment in Rome was a house arrest, so it makes a lot more sense that he would bump into him. In fact, paul, I think, spent most of his days preaching the gospel on the doorstep of his home under house arrest while he was in Rome.
Speaker 1:So also, let's look at the parallel, the similarities between Philemon and Onesimus. They both bump into Paul, meet Christ and become Christians, they become Christ followers and then they both become very close with Paul, so much so that Paul calls them his sons in the faith or his brothers in the faith. And so we've looked at Philemon, we've looked at Onesimus. Now let's look at Paul again.
Speaker 1:Paul's in house arrest in Rome and he has grown to love Onesimus and he wants Onesimus to stay with him because he is such a great helper and we see that he is useful to him. This will matter more in a bit, but the name Onesimus actually means useful. So Paul's wording there is very fascinating, where he says he was once useless to you, but now he will be useful to you and to me. He will live up to the name that he has been given. And so Paul loves Onesimus and he would love to keep him, but he says to Philemon that their reconciliation is necessary. We see this in verse 8, accordingly, though, I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, paul sees the reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus as required, and so I told you the title and my prayer for you this morning. But really, the theme of the book is that reconciliation is worth the cost. I didn't put that as a slide. I probably should have, but reconciliation is worth the cost, and what we see in this story is that this reconciliation costs all parties involved, and we will look more into this. But to Paul, he is losing someone he would rather keep. To Onesimus, he's got to make the thousand-mile trek back to an unknown situation. He doesn't know how Philemon's going to respond, and for Philemon, we will see that this would have likely caused him great social stress and we'll talk more about that. But reconciliation is worth the cost and this costs everyone involved.
Speaker 1:Yesterday my wife and I had the privilege of going to the Indian Christian Day, which is just a celebration of the Indian culture specifically in Tampa and just gathering of Christian Indians to celebrate all that God has done and is doing in their country and with their people. It was very beautiful and in it they kind of looked at several different movements throughout history, one of which was in South Africa. They looked at the human rights activist and South African bishop and theologian, desmond Tutu, which he was not an Indian, but they were kind of referencing this as a movement that God was working through. So, like I said, desmond Tutu was a human rights activist. He was anti-apartheid If you're like me and you didn't pay that much attention in history, class apartheid is the segregation of whites and blacks in South Africa. So very much like the civil rights movement here in America.
Speaker 1:And he had this to say in that very heated and contentious time in South Africa about reconciliation. He says true, reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness, which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgement of what was done wrong and therefore, on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know. I love this quote and I love how it lays over the story that we just read.
Speaker 1:Paul sees that reconciliation is necessary, but it will be costly for all parties involved, and it has to be based on an acknowledgement of what was done wrong. See, onesimus has now come to Christ and he has a beef that he needs to settle with this man, philemon. But he cannot go settle that, he cannot be reconciled to him, he cannot truly repent to him until he goes and acknowledges his wrong and say I have wronged you in this way. And Philemon doesn't even know what's going on right. He needs the disclosure of the truth. He can't forgive what he does not know. Of course, he knows how he was wronged, but he doesn't know all that's happened to Onesimus. He doesn't know that he's become not just his former slave but his brother in Christ. And so this reconciliation is necessary.
Speaker 1:And so now, hopefully with the scene fully set, we're going to look at our three characters and look at the example that they give us today, an example that we can follow. So let's first look at Paul's example. We see that by grace which that'll be kind of in a lot of these by grace, what I mean by that is by the power of Christ and what he has done in their life. So, by grace, paul compliments a brother, charges a brother and advocates for a brother. The first two are for Philemon and the last one is for Onesimus, but he compliments and charges Philemon. Y'all have heard of a compliment sandwich before. Right, if you need to give someone some critique, some constructive criticism, or maybe in this case it's a charge to do something that he needs to do. Paul, of course, sandwiches this between compliments, which is a great tactic.
Speaker 1:But I don't think that this is just a tactic from Paul. He's being very wise in how he writes the letter, but I think he's also just using the opportunity, by the grace of God, to uplift a brother. We see this in verse 7, for I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. And then we see in 10 through 12, we see him continue to compliment Philemon as well as begin to charge him and advocate for Onesimus. He says I appeal to you for my child, onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I'm sending him back to you, sending my very heart, and then, in 17, so, if you consider me, your partner, receive him as you would receive me. Those statements are so powerful and so strong I am sending you my very heart. When you meet him, greet him and treat him as though you would treat me, a man who has never wronged you and a man who has only done you good.
Speaker 1:I love this and we can't miss this, because when we feel the need to call out a brother or a sister, what society has really trained us to do is say, okay, well, if we love someone but we feel the need to call them out, we have to set love aside. And that actually, when we charge someone or call them out, we have to be aggressive or maybe be even harsh to get our point across, to get them to understand the thing that they need to do differently. But that is not at all the approach that Paul takes. He even says I could command you, but I will not. I will appeal to you because of love. See, paul pleads on behalf of a brother whom he loves to a brother whom he loves.
Speaker 1:This entire situation is baked in love, and that is necessary. So, yes, there's a time and a place to stand up against evil, even against the people that are agents of that evil that we may not know very well. But for the most part, as the church, when we call one another out, it should be in love. It should be to someone that we have known and grown to love and then, based on that love, now we can call them out and say here is the way in which you should go to follow Jesus Christ. We should not miss this.
Speaker 1:This is a tricky situation for Paul and I believe that we can follow Paul's example in this, when necessary, in two ways that are very tricky for us. I do think that we can see this as a biblical example to insert ourselves into a situation that actually doesn't have to do with us. And let me explain that, because I am by no means encourage anyone to be nosy and to insert yourself into business that is truly not yours and that you will do no good in other than to stir the pot. But this wasn't Paul's business, but he saw it as the business of the church and so he steps in. And so when you have a brother or a sister whom you love who needs to go through the very difficult process of reconciliation, I do believe that we, like Paul, can jump in and be an encouragement and help bridge that gap. So don't be nosy.
Speaker 1:But lastly, I'll kind of say this in a slightly different way If you have a brother or a sister in Christ and maybe this is you, so let's also be humble enough to ask ourselves is this me? But if you have a brother or sister in Christ who has landed in the position of I will never be reconciled to that person, that is not a Christian way of doing things. Paul would say that it is required for you to reconcile and don't miss what I'm saying or what he is saying Not required for salvation, but required because of salvation. There is no room for a long-held grudge in the church. And then also, again, tricky situation. But I believe that, when appropriate, I really want to encourage you not to consider the stories of reconciliation in your own life as something that is private.
Speaker 1:It's very tempting and I'm sure it was tempting for Philemon to see this as a private matter. This is my business, no one else needs to hear about it. But we know because Paul wrote this letter. Paul wanted a lot of other people to hear about it. Paul was putting this on display not to at all use that as a method to call out Philemon or Onesimus he calls them out in love but as a way to edify and encourage and build up the church. The church, as we will see in a moment, benefits greatly from Philemon and Onesimus' testimony of reconciliation, and so even in moments where you are going through difficult reconciliation that maybe even makes you look bad would you, by God's grace and by his power, be humble enough to appropriately put that on display that the church would be encouraged? So this is a tricky situation.
Speaker 1:Another way in which this letter is very different from any other letter that Paul writes is that it is the only letter where Paul does not explicitly mention Christ's death and resurrection. But I do not believe that this is an oversight on behalf of Paul. I think that he is doing something so beautiful and I think this is one of the greatest presentations of the gospel, because what Paul is doing is what he has said in many other places he is saying follow me as I follow Christ. He himself is the example of the gospel. He is putting himself between two parties and saying I will be the bridge is the example of the gospel. He is putting himself between two parties and saying I will be the bridge between the two of you. Whatever he has done wrong, I will cover it. I will take the punishment so that the two of you can be reconciled. And as much as he can in his finite human body he is saying Onesimus as you go, I go with you. Take this letter as you go. Onesimus as you go, I go with you. Take this letter as you go. And, philemon, even though I am far from you, I am with you, supporting you, praying for you and plan to come back. I plan to come back to you. Do you hear the gospel language baked in this entire book of the Bible? It is beautiful and I think Paul's just saying I'm not going to actually let the explicit get in the way of the implicit, of the beautiful story that we see here of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, and that he is coming back one day to be with us. So that is Paul's example.
Speaker 1:Let's go now to the example of Onesimus. We as Christians do not believe in incarnation if you are confused about that, but I do. If I did, I would say that I met the incarnate Onesimus when I was a mountain guide out in Colorado during college. As we go to these photographs, I led military men and women up mountains, was with an organization called Officers of Christian Fellowship. In one of the weeks that we had, there was actually an invitation to men in many different militaries around the world who were Christians to come and just be encouraged in their faith and get to have a fun weekend in Colorado.
Speaker 1:So you'll see there the man closest to me in the really blurry picture, and then also the big guy in the red jacket up front. His name is Onesimus, as you'll see later. Most people called him Onesim, which is the French translation of that name. But having already loved and known this story and loved the name Onesimus, I asked him if I could call him Onesimus and he said of course. And we became fast friends, and so I can sympathize with Paul in making a friend that you know is going to have to leave you to go far away very soon. But also this Onesimus very much so lived up to his name. He was very helpful. He was very useful. He was the first one to jump in and help out.
Speaker 1:But I also want to acknowledge that Onesimus needed an immense amount of help because he's a big dude who's lived his whole life in Chad, which is a flat desert, and now all of a sudden he's climbing a mountain that's over 14,000 feet. And so me and Onesimus, for the last three miles of that hike, which had a lot of false peaks that's Mount Columbia, if anyone's familiar had a lot of false peaks, which is super discouraging. I mean again, this huge guy, bigger than me he's at least an inch taller than me, weighed at the time I don't know how many more pounds than I did, but with his arm over my shoulder, we would walk and I would say, onesimus, we're going to get right there, and when we get right there you can take a break. And we'd get there up and keep going. If you are Onesimus in this situation, please take help when you need it, allow the church to be useful to you and not only you useful to it. And if you are the church and you see people in this congregation or out of this congregation who are an Onesimus and who need help. Help them, pick them up Again.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I'm reading between the lines here a little bit, but I have a really hard time believing that Onesimus made that thousand mile journey back and did not stay in many houses of Christians that encouraged him and helped him along the way. We see, we know that Paul would have said hey, onesimus, I know you probably don't want to go back, but it's time to go. And there I believe there were Christians along the way that helped him in his need and encouraged him along the way as he made his way back to Philemon. And I think that we can look at Onesimus' example and say how can we humble ourselves to receive help when we need it and to give help to those who need it? So, by grace, by the power, or wait, don't. I almost skipped. I have to give Onesim some more credit. Onesimus' birthday was like four days ago and I looked him up on Facebook and he wrote this prayer out for his birthday.
Speaker 1:And, man, can I just see the Onesimus in the story of Philemon saying this prayer every morning of his journey back to Philemon Heavenly Father, the creator of the universe, I thank you for preserving me throughout my life, knowing that I will benefit more of your grace and mercy. I pray that you guide and protect me. May your light illuminate my steps, your peace fill my heart and your grace accompany me in all my endeavors. In Jesus's name, may every day enable me to be useful to you and to my neighbor. This is a man who understood his name and wanted to live up to it. For the glory of God, can we humbly pray that prayer. Enable me every day that I might be useful to you and to my neighbor. So, by grace, we see Onesimus return to a brother. We see him return to a brother, and that brother was Philemon.
Speaker 1:Again, to recap Philemon's situation he would have had every right to severely punish Onesimus. He could have had him imprisoned, he could have had him beaten, really, regardless of the severity of the crime. He was his possession and he could do with his property what he wanted. And he could have severely punished Onesimus. Also, to recap, what Paul is asking him to do is absurd. It would have made no sense in that community. Let's just think about the implications of this.
Speaker 1:As Onesimus returns and Philemon gives him his freedom, what do the other slaves that Philemon has think to themselves All right, master, so you're telling me, if I wrong you in some way, run away and come back, I get my freedom. Or hey, maybe I'll just save you the whole wronging you part. Can I just have it now? Or what about Philemon's friends, christian and non-Christian, who would have come to him and said hey, buddy, what are you doing? You're making this really hard on us. That whole freeing Onesimus thing now all my slaves want to be freed. What am I supposed to do? This would have made Philemon the talk of the town, and not in a good way, at least not in a good way from a societal perspective. But Christ, through Paul, knows what he's doing. He wanted to make Philemon and Onesimus the talk of the town in the best way, in the way that furthered the gospel.
Speaker 1:Let's look back at Philemon, because, again, we don't know what happened, but we do know what Paul believed would happen. It says this in 15 and 16, for this, perhaps, is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but, more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. And then in 21, he says confident of your obedience, I am writing to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. If Paul was confident, then I have the utmost confidence that this is what Philemon did, and in fact he did more. Again. We don't know what more is, but I think it's a little fun to speculate.
Speaker 1:He comes, onesimus comes back. Philemon receives him as though he is receiving Paul. He gives him the place of honor at his table. He not only frees him, but maybe they become best friends and they lead the church in Colossae together and, yes, they work as a testimony in a society to see many other slaves freed, not only from their slavery to a human master but from their slavery of sin, that they would become brothers and sisters in Christ. I am excited to ask Philemon one day about all that happened in Colossae after Onesimus' return. I said he was our last example, but we cannot in there or sorry, one more. By grace, philemon received his brother. Only by the power of God was Philemon able to receive Onesimus as a brother and no longer a slave. And speaking of the power of God, all three of these examples point us to the example of Christ, of course Paul most clearly, but we see the gospel running through this whole story, christ's example.
Speaker 1:We're actually going to go to Romans, a letter that Paul would have written, probably under house arrest in Rome and also probably only a year to four years before he wrote this letter to Philemon, and he talks about the gospel and reconciliation and adoption into a family. In this way, in Romans, romans 5, 10 through 11 says this for if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life? More than that, we also rejoice in our God through our Lord, jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. And then in Romans 8, 14 through 17,. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Speaker 1:Thank God that he thought reconciliation was worth the cost, Because when you and I were far from him, when we were his enemies, when we despised him and we were very deliberately on our way to the gates of hell, in that moment he said reconciliation is worth me giving up my divinity, becoming a baby, experiencing pain and trials and temptations on their behalf and ultimately going to the cross to die for their sins and raising from the grave that they might be raised to new life. Thank God that he saw reconciliation as worth the high cost and also, as we understand this verse, it helps us understand how Paul was challenging the church in Colossae about its slaves. If we are reconciled to Christ and we have been made children of God, then who are we to treat a child of God as anything less than that? Who are we to treat a king or a queen under the king of kings, as we are heirs with him in Christ? Who are we to treat them as anything less than royalty? You never have an excuse to treat a child of God as anything less than that and in fact, it is the great privilege of the church that we love each other in that way, not by grace, because it is his grace freely given, but by his blood, christ sets free many captives and receives many brothers and sisters, of which I am one. Christ has set this captive free and I now call him my brother.
Speaker 1:In Christ, we see the prisoner become the Christian, the wealthy become the brother and the slave become free. Let me explain this one a little bit, because if you're tracking, you're thinking to yourself okay, well, paul was the prisoner and he was definitely already saved. So what does he mean by that? What does he mean? Paul became the Christian. Here's what I mean. I'm actually using Christian in its most literal sense of the word, which means little Christ, means little Christ. We see Paul in the place of Christ. He is playing for us, a mini Jesus, and what the gospel does is it takes people that are prisoners that society said would be nothing and allows them to act out the gospel, to put themselves in Jesus's place Again, not fully, of course. Only Jesus is the one who can save, but we can follow in his footsteps and do many great things for the kingdom because of his power in us.
Speaker 1:We see the wealthy become the brother, and here's what I mean by that. We see the earthly wealthy become vastly more rich. Please do not let earthly wealth distract you from the actual riches that God desires to give you in this life and the next. We are told that we are building up treasures in heaven, and I really believe a part of what that means is that we will have a treasure, that it is a family of brothers and sisters that make us rich, and that's not something we have to wait for heaven to have. We can be rich with family here and now, with brothers and sisters that we love and are loved by on this earth. So we become. We see the earthly wealthy become vastly more rich than he was before. And then the last one we see the slave become free, which I think that one's pretty self-explanatory. If you're a slave today to something, to someone, please experience the freedom that Christ gives and that he can break whatever chain you're in, no matter how stuck you feel.
Speaker 1:Paul said that he could have commanded, but chose to rather appeal. I have no authority to command any of you to do anything, and so I will just appeal to you, westtown, be reconciled to one another. Serve one another as unto the Lord, be useful to Christ and his church. Do not let this world distract you from the wonderful gifts that God has given you, and let me set before you that this church, this part of God's bride, is a wonderful gift. Me and my family have been here for the past five years and you do not know the pleasure that it has been to consider myself a slave to Christ and a slave to Westtown. You have been an immense encouragement to our family. There's been more sanctification that has happened in our lives and in our home in this past five years than certainly the years before it.
Speaker 1:This church is not perfect and again, the point of the message is that reconciliation is worth it, even when it is difficult. This church has been through many difficulties in my five years of being here and the years before that, and guess what? It's going to go through many more, but it's worth it. The difficulty is worth it First and foremost because we've been reconciled to Christ, but secondarily because we can be reconciled to one another and grow rich in this life with brothers and sisters who we walk alongside. I implore you, westtown, I beg of you.
Speaker 1:I also have one more question to ask you. We just got back from Zion and we can go to that picture. A couple days ago, our high school camp. A couple of days ago, our high school camp. And I want to appeal to you, westtown, that you will be faithful not only to this church, but you will be faithful to its youth. I, like Paul, am leaving my sons and my daughters and I'm encouraged to know that there are many others who consider them the same. But this youth need you. They need fathers and mothers in Christ, they need brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside them. And man will it be an encouragement to you? You will get to see, as I have seen in this very photo. I have seen prisoners become the Christian, I have seen the wealthy become the brother, the wealthy become the sister, and I've seen the slave become free.
Speaker 1:This past week we spoke about Psalm 23, and there's many sermons in that alone, and I'm wrapping up here but we talked about the four places that Psalm 23 presents us with the green pastures by still waters, the valley of the shadow of death, the table set before us in the presence of our enemies in the house of the Lord, and the takeaway that I hope they gathered is that, no matter what space God has you in that, you would follow the good shepherd, because the best place for the sheep to be is with the good shepherd.
Speaker 1:It does not matter where we are at. It is better for us to be with Christ in the valley of the shadow of death than it is for us to be in the green pastures by still waters alone. And so, like Onesimus, as I follow his example, my shepherd is calling me somewhere away from where, honestly, I would really rather stay. But he is calling me and I must go. I must follow my good shepherd. And so I give you that encouragement that you would consider reconciliation worth it, because your good shepherd laid down his life for you, the sheep. Let's pray.