Today, I have the pleasure of having Sonny Lemmons guest post for The Usual Suspects series. Sonny is a stay-at-home dad, a writer of stuff (follow him on his blog at lookthrough and @sonnylemmons on Twitter), a receiver of grace, and a drinker of coffee. His wife Ashley loves him, but doesn’t get his sense of humor, either.
The Usual Suspects: Philemon II
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onesimus
This is a narrative account and should never replace the facts written in scripture. This was radically adapted from the actual book of Philemon.
This letter is from Onesimus. Yeah. It’s me. I know you’ve already gotten a letter from Paul, but I wanted to follow up on his, and take a moment to touch base before I returned to you.
I am writing to you, Philemon, because like Paul, I kept hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. And I had to wonder: was this the same Philemon I knew and served? Because I have to be honest, there were times when I did not feel that love shown to me. That respect shown to me. And as a servant to you, that hurt. It cut deeply.
See, I know. I know from Paul whom I have been serving with – not under, and let me tell you there is a MARKED distinction between the two – that you have said I wasn’t of much use to you in the past. Now, I’ll give you credit for the coy play on my name. That was actually kind of funny. But it was the spirit in which you said it, Philemon. You may have just coined the phrase “dead to me.”
And if I am indeed useless to you, do you thank God when you pray for me? Do you, in fact, pray for me?
While we have been apart, I’ve been serving Paul. And I’ve seen what that relationship can and should look and feel like. Paul has through word and deed demonstrated to me what a true servant’s heart should be. And it’s due in part to this season we have been apart, Philemon, that I feel like I can come back. For good. Out of respect for you, out of respect TO you, I am returning. I know Paul has asked you to take me back and take on whatever debt I may still have as to you as a personal favor. But I would ask that you take me on as an equal. I’m not going to lie and say that I am not afraid to come back to you, but there was a reason we were to be apart from one another for this time, Philemon. I think it was so that I could return and no longer be like a slave to you. Paul considers me his brother. I would ask that you think of me in this same way. It’s your choice; Paul has told me he does not want to send me back and force you into anything you’re unwilling to do.
He also said that I should record in this letter for posterity an analogy. For future church leaders to think of me not as a slave but in the role of volunteer in a church. And what it must feel like for a volunteer to be treated more like a slave than an equal partner in ministry. Something about them getting burnt out, fleeing their church (like I did with you), and someone else receiving the benefit their usefulness. I’m not sure what that means, but Paul seems to think some might “get it.”
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
If you can write a letter to someone, who would it be?
