PPLP Pentecost + 13 Proper / Lectionary 23
4 September 2022
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Philemon 1-20
Luke 14:25-33
Jealous God, you call us to hate the life that is an echo of death and a whisper of fear: give us the courage to pass through shadows and count the cost of a love beyond measure; through Jesus Christ, the one who is fully alive. Amen.
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Let me tell you a story, a story of confession, and of forgiveness; a story of redemption, but at the same time, it’s a story that extends beyond its human participants to show us the role confession plays in each of our lives so that God’s forgiveness is all encompassing.
Onesimus is walking home. Slowly. In his sweaty and dusty hand, he’s clutching the letter from Paul to Philemon. He doesn’t know what it says, but he knows that Paul has sent him back to Philemon, and he trusts that under Paul’s guidance all will work itself out.
As he continues along his way, the sun is hot on his head, and shoulders. There’s not a cloud in the clear blue sky, and he recognizes, now, that he’s not far, now from his master’s property, from Philemon’s home.
He’s been many miles, many days on the dusty road, all the while striving to stay away from Roman soldiers, as well as fellow travellers. After all, Onesimus is a slave who has stolen from his master and has run away.
But now, he’s returning home and unsure of the welcome he will get when he arrives there.
His stomach knots, and the sweat on his brow increases. Onesimus knows he was wrong to leave as he did, and if it weren’t for Paul’s words, for Paul’s encouragement and assurances that all will be alright, he’d still be running.
But even with Paul’s encouragement, with Paul’s letter clutched in his hand, as he approaches Philemon’s house, his anxiety increases, his mouth goes dry, and his hand trembles as he reaches out to ring the bell. He waits, willing his knees not to give out.
The door opens – but it’s not a fellow slave of the household, instead it’s Philemon!!
He draws Onesimus in through the door, and Onesimus can’t even meet Philemon’s gaze. With his eyes downcast it takes everything in him to hand Paul’s letter to Philemon, crumpled and stained with his sweat from the long journey home.
Onesimus waits on the threshold as Philemon reads Paul’s words.
Then silently Philemon shuts the door behind Onesimus and embraces him like a long-lost brother.
—
This story is something that gives us somewhat of a background to the letter to Philemon that we’ve heard read this morning.
A letter written by Paul, urging Philemon to do the right thing, to forgive Onesimus, to free him and to welcome him as a fellow Christian.
Philemon is a Christian, but one who struggles with the beliefs of Christianity, their effectiveness and their application to a Roman citizen who owns property, and that property is worked and maintained by slaves, whose whole destiny is in Philemon’s hands. It is a balancing act for Philemon to embrace Christian values of charity and forgiveness, yet to remain visibly strong for his neighbours and for his household.
At the same time, Onesimus is a man, a slave of the house, who has accepted Christianity but because of his circumstances, he is considered property who has also erred, he’s sinned through his absence and through his theft from his master.
And so, Paul tells us and Philemon “I am sending him – who is my very heart – back to you.” (vs. 12)
Paul is sending the one who needs to receive forgiveness to the one who needs to receive a confession, so that both may be made whole. So that both men may be justified by faith through the power that only God’s grace is able to wield in our lives.
And although Paul gives plenty of justification, the ultimate role of confessing of asking for forgiveness lies with Onesimus, and the role of giving absolution, of granting redemption is with Philemon.
But we need to remember that even in each of our lives, the act of forgiveness is only able to follow the act of confession for each one of us; for everyone who confesses, asks for forgiveness and for everyone who receives this precious gift of God’s.
And we do this each week in the Brief Order of Confession and Forgiveness.
Each week, we participate in the singular rite that encourages us to confess our faults before God yet in each others company, and to ask God for and to receive forgiveness of what we’ve done, not done, or even failed to do, since we last gathered together, from God.
The words of confession are very important. They are words that reach to the heart of us, to ask us to examine our actions, our intentions, our hearts and our very souls.
And so, we confess.
We confess that we have sinned, not only in our thoughts, words, and deeds, but also in what we’ve done, and at the same time what we’ve not done.
And we can see this in the history given to us in the bible, as well.
We see this in the actions of Eve as she samples the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. We see this in the actions of Job as he faces the challenge of losing absolutely everything in his life, including his temper before God.
We see this in the history of the Israelite people as they continually turn away from the ways of worshipping God, in search of greener pastures, time and again.
And we are able to see this in our own lives, in the details and depths of our actions, our decisions and in our inactions, every day as well.
Jesus, in Matthew’s gospel, reminds us of the weight of the law when he says: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:22-24)
And we are offered this same divinely inspired advice. As in this we are equal to the Israelite people as in their history, they have neglected to follow the law that God has given us, from time to time.
And at the same time, we are equal to every other citizen who neglects to bring their errors, their sins, their faults before each other and before God to be forgiven for what is keeping us only on the threshold of God’s love, not standing deep in God’s embrace.
But at the same time, we are told to love our neighbour as we love our self (Mk 12:31)
And we hear Jesus words from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) as from the cross, we see Jesus bears the sin of the whole world: ours, theirs, everyone’s from the dawn of time to the end of the world. We see him stretched on the cross, dying between two thieves.
Dying, not for his own sins, but so that ours can be forgiven, so that the sins and errors and lack of humility that is able to divide us from the love of God are removed.
This is the second portion. Not only do we standing before God and each other confess, but we confess our faults, our sins, our errors, our mistakes. We confess what we’ve done, and what we failed to do.
So, we stand before God and we say, with the psalmist: “Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us.” (Ps 79:8)
As Joel reminds us: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents from sending calamity.” (Joel 2:13b)
And so, here is the good news. Here is the message of the gospel. When we repent, when we confess, when we return to the Lord, we are welcomed, we are forgiven, and we are embraced with God’s love and compassion for all time.
After all, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. … For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. (Jn 3:14-16)
Confession isn’t a one-time thing, but rather its an ongoing spiritual practice for our lives that continues to strengthen our relationship with God, and so that we are able to continue to receive God’s strengthening support and forgiveness every day in our lives.
And we know that these are uncomfortable words. They are words that remind us that we are not the rulers of our own existence; that God is greater than we will ever aspire to be. We have trouble admitting that we’re sorry that we’ve sinned, that we need to humbly repent.
And we can turn to Job who tells us “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust. My face is red with weeping, deep shadows ring my eyes yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.” (Job 16:15-17)
We lay it all before God, because God knows it anyway. We bare all expecting God’s forgiveness, knowing that the order of Confession and Forgiveness, declares “In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins.” (WOV pg. 11)
When the Hebrew people celebrate Rosh Hashanah, their New Year celebration, it’s not a big party with fireworks, streamers, and singing Auld Lang Syne with a favourite beverage in hand.
Rather they celebrate with The Days of Awe, also known as 10 Days of Repentance, which concludes with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
As a nation of faith, they take time to begin the New Year with a clean plate and move forward together with God’s blessing surrounding them and upholding them in the words of the absolution, words of blessing.
They have learned from the errors of King David who tried to conceal his indiscretion with Bathsheba, and was confronted by Nathan, the prophet, with the truth. (2 Sa 12:13)
And so, in that spirit, we return to the letter to Philemon, to Paul’s urging that Onesimus be forgiven, that the debt be wiped clean. That Onesimus be freed to follow the life of a Christian, and able to be of use to Philemon in the house church that he runs, as well as to Paul who is “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” (Phl 1)
We return to the brotherly embrace that Philemon bestows upon Onesimus, knowing that such an embrace only comes through the love and forgiveness of God not just for Onesimus and Philemon, but for each one of us, as well, when we wholeheartedly confess, lay our faults and errors at God’s feet and receive his loving embrace of forgiveness in return.
Amen.
anglolutheranpastor 