Hey Bridgetown family, Tyler here with some very exciting news. Registration is officially live for this year's Holy Spirit Conference at bridgetown.church.hsc. This year's conference is going to be hosted on February 7th and 8th right here in the heart of downtown Portland at the Keller Auditorium and we are so excited to welcome as our teachers theologian N.T. Wright from Oxford.
Pastor and spiritual director Gemma Ryan, who will be coming over from Ireland, and one of our very own Tim Mackey of The Bible Project. The theme that they'll be teaching on is the now and the not yet. What are the miraculous supernatural expressions of the Holy Spirit that I can experience right now? And how does the Holy Spirit companion me in my suffering and all the renewal that I still await? Finally, Rich and Lydia Dikas from our sister church KXC will be leading us into musical worship again alongside a lot of our Bridgetown worship team.
We cannot wait. It is sure to be a very fun and very formative time for our church community and all who choose to come and join us. We hope to see you there.
I want to invite you to turn to Philemon, the letter of Philemon, which if you're getting one of the Bibles we're offering you is on page 967. I say that because it's a one-page letter, very near the back, kind of hard to find. And then when you're ready, will you stand with me for the reading of the Word of God? And even as you stand, you can just keep your hand up and the Bibles will come.
Our teaching text today comes from Philemon, beginning in verse 15 and extending to the end of the letter. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.
So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back, not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have 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 ask. And one thing more.
Prepare a guest room for me because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, 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. Thanks be to God.
And Christian's teaching today, so you're gonna need to stay on your feet for another second. You know how this guy rolls. I feel very seen. So may we be good hearers and better doers. May we love Jesus deeply.
May we trust what Jesus says. And may we follow Jesus well. You may be seated.
In Christ's new people, we find our place. A city of love bound by grace, like ships now at harbor, we're welcomed home, no longer wandering, no longer alone. Laughter echoes, hearts surf. full.
We're joined together, spirit and soul. The bond is easy when we first meet, but strangers as family, no simple feat. See, wounds, they fester. Hearts withdraw.
This is family. I see the flow. Our love and patience start to fray. What once was close feels far away.
Estranged but siblings, trust betrayed. Ties unwind and hearts dismayed, the weight of distance sinks deep within. To love Christ is easy, but not so is Kim.
Non-rhetorical question. Who can relate to this experience? So you think we all have, or let me tell you, So y'all, breaking news, you will be there at some point. A friendship, a family bond, or even a close relationship within the church, that just starts to fray. It might start small, maybe a misunderstanding or an off-putting comment.
But before you know it, it's grown into something much bigger, something kind of painful. The trust is shattered. And suddenly, you're kind of keeping your distance.
You feel the weight of what's been lost, and it hurts. If you know that pain, then you can probably... relate to some of what's happening in the letter to Philemon.
A quick recap, Onesimus, a slave, has wronged his master Philemon and then ran away. And for Philemon, that's not just about losing a servant or a worker. It's a deep betrayal that would have been both personal and a public embarrassment in his community. And now Paul, who's a pastor, is close to both of these people.
He steps in, but he doesn't just offer like a quick fix. Instead, he gives them a radical Christian. practice mutual submission. In the celebration of discipline, Richard Foster defines mutual submission as the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others. See, it's the practice of voluntarily placing oneself in service to others, prioritizing their needs, and recognizing the inherent value and dignity of each person.
It's the art of yielding to one another in love, placing the needs and dignities of other before each other. your own. It's also the choice to just put others first, seeing their dignity and responding with love.
Ultimately, I think it's just the choice to image God, to be, like we said, like Jesus. See, Genesis chapter 1 introduces us to God. God is Trinity, relational, constantly giving and receiving, or as John sums it up, if you know it, say it with me, God is love.
See, and from that love, life flows. God creates humans in his image to mirror that relational love as partners and co-rulers on the earth. We call that the Imago Dei. Now, on the third page of scripture, Genesis 3, humans, they choose to not live by God's voice, and things begin to unravel. They start to fray.
Humans cover themselves, and then they hide from one another in shame. They begin to point fingers and dominate one another instead of living out of their design for loving partnership. You've experienced that before.
We get to Genesis chapter 4. These are their children, the second generation of humans, two brothers. And the scripture says, while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother Abel? I don't know, he replied.
Am I my brother's keeper? See, within the first pages of the Bible, not trusting God's voice tragically results in severed relationships marked by subservience and domination. From the very beginning, God's design was mutual submissions, humans reflecting the love and unity of the Trinity in our relationships, but it's not easy to which everyone could probably say amen.
Or is it just me? You can give it with me. Amen.
See, it's deeply counter-cultural. Like many societies, today, the Eastern Mediterranean world Paul lived in held maintaining honor while avoiding shame as central to social life. Now, that might feel distant to you. So if that's distant from your experience, just imagine a culture where reputation, standing, and influence is one of the highest values.
See, now when reputation, standing, and influence are everything, mutual submission, choosing humility and service is easily seen as weakness and even shameful. At that time, that to family structures where the male head of the household is responsible for maintaining the family's honor. And you can see how Paul's call to mutual submission challenged the social order like that.
See, mutual submission is to live in a whole new world order where there is neither Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. See y'all, that call not only challenges individual behavior, it can actually transform the societal order, which is radical, difficult, and counter-cultural then, and still challenging now. See, our Western world prioritizes the self-directed individual.
Since the Enlightenment, Western thought has emphasized autonomy, where personal freedom, self-expression, and the pursuit of individual goals are paramount. Alex de Tocqueville in Democracy in America names that individualism is a mute and calm feeling which disposes each member of the community to sever himself from the mass of his fellow creatures. To draw apart with his family and his friends so that after he has thus formed a little circle of his own, he willingly leaves society at large to itself.
See, in a culture that prioritizes individual desires and autonomy, the idea that another's needs might take precedent of our own is jarring. Mutual submission, it stands in direct contrast, asking us to relinquish control and consider others first, which is challenging in a world that constantly reinforces self-direction. See, the Western world prioritizes self-direction, and it aims power at success and convenience.
I am preaching to myself. See, mutual submission, it flips the script on power dynamics and even redefining success. As Jesus taught it, the greatest among you should be like the youngest. And the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater?
The one who. is at the table or the one who serves. Imagine Jesus during a meal cleaning someone else's feet. The king of the universe saying, is it not the one who is at the table? But I'm among you, the one who serves.
but let's be honest, like choosing service over personal gain or even just comfort, it's hard when our culture subtly forms us to use our power, energy, time, and resources as a way of getting my way. So in other words, go serve in kids or join the worship team. Just kidding. Actually, no, you can, please. We need help.
The Western world, see, prioritizes self-direction, aims power at success and convenience, and it deifies choice. See, in a America, freedom is synonymous with choice. And that shapes us into consumers in all of life, including, unfortunately, our relationships, the thing we're actually made for. See, when choice is king, relationships can become consumable and just dropped when they no longer serve our immediate needs. get a little costly or uncomfortable.
Mutual submission often demands actually seeing relationships as covenants, though, instead of contracts. And it needs the soil of commitment. But our city forms consumers.
I often ask, like, what... what can I get instead of what can I give? Have you ever been on the receiving end of that?
A relationship that all of a sudden is really there for what it can take rather than what it can give. See, the Western world prioritizes self-direction, aims power at success and convenience, and deifies choice. And not just the world out there, it's often with each of us.
Without special attention, these cultural values will form us into people who prioritize self over others, power over others. over service and autonomy over commitment. Take a deep breath, let it out, and even smile because you look angry. I'm stepping on your toes.
Get a pedicure. You'll be fine. See, most weeks after the gathering, Sarah, James, Mark, and Emily grab coffee, right? They go down to Hart, and it was their routine, catching up and talking about the sermon.
They became a little family. Now, this particular Sunday afternoon, Mark was gone, and James seemed a little bit off. See, I've got to be honest. Something's been bugging me. Mark said something last week that really stung.
It's been eating at me. Sarah nodded. Yeah, he can kind of be like that sometimes.
Then Emily jumped in sharing her own frustration. with Mark. See, as they talked, it was easy to see Mark in simpler terms, two-dimensional, the friend who hurt them, without considering his own journey, his own story, where he was in his own life. See, James felt a little bit better afterwards, realizing he wasn't alone, and everyone else seemed to resonate with his experience.
So they spent the rest of their afternoon talking, right? Just having a conversation, enjoying some good coffee, but something seemed to linger under the surface. The next week, Mark was back. They went They went back into the routine, their ritual.
The conversation flowed, but there was an unspoken tension in the air. You felt that? See, the easy laughter was a bit more strained and the openness they had always shared felt just a little more guarded.
And every once in a while, eyes met and they knew what they had talked about. No one said anything about it, but they all noticed that something had changed. Do you know what that's like? See, culture's norms can creep into our hearts often without us realizing it. And when the values of our world take root, they often don't sprout an obvious problem.
It can look like avoidance. I just don't feel comfortable addressing this. Or gossip. I'm just processing out loud.
Or defamation. I'm only being honest about my experience. See, these are subtle weeds, and they choke out the life of our community. These practices, these habits, they quietly erode the mutual submission meant to characterize our life together. as Christians.
Whether it's Paul's world or our world or our church or our hearts, the call to mutual submission is tough. But it's also what Christian community needs to thrive. So where do we begin?
Well, Paul doesn't start with what Philemon do, for all you pragmatists out there. Instead, he starts with how Philemon should see. Verse 16. No longer as slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother. See, the first invitation of Philemon is to see Onesimus differently. differently, not beneath him, but as brother?
To not, when Onesimus shows back up, put him in his place. Remember your name, Onesimus. You need to be useful to me. See, Onesimus'identity is no longer usefulness in Christ.
See, this is about seeing this man in the image of God. It's, as Tyler beautifully put it, it's about viewing earth from heaven's perspective. Dr. King said it this way, The whole concept of the Imago Dei is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected.
Not that they have substantial unity with God, but that every man has a capacity to have fellowship with God. And that gives him a uniqueness. It gives him worth.
It gives him dignity. And we must never forget that as a nation. There are no gradations in the image of God. See, those who've wronged us, y'all, hear this.
this because it's hard to trust, those who wronged us are still the Imago Dei. Even a marred version of it, they're still the Imago Dei. And seeing others as God's image should impact how we relate to them. Remember now, Philemon isn't just about orthodoxy, it's about orthopraxy, how we actually live and relate to one another.
That's why Paul is going after husbands, wives, parents, children, slaves, and masters. Verse 18, if he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. In other words, everyone's favorite, forgive.
See, to forgive someone is to release them of the debt that they owe you for the wrong. The late Tim Keller said it this way, forgiveness is a form of voluntary suffering. In forgiving rather than retaliating, you make a choice to bear the cost yourself.
You absorb the debt of the sin against you. It's a form of costly suffering. Y'all, I do not need to elaborate on forgiveness or tell you about how it's a prison, but you have the key for you to understand it. Those are beautiful images, but we don't need to do all that.
The real difficulty is just living it, ain't it? So think about this. Who in your life do you need to forgive?
If it helps you to close your eyes, you don't have to look at me, but like... Think about it. Who in your life do you need to forgive?
Let's say the name. I'm kidding. But who in your life, who in your life do you need to forgive what might be holding you back?
Did a community member take advantage of you? A colleague mistreat you? A friend gossip about you? An in-law do that thing again?
A question that I keep in my journal is, where do I feel wounded, disappointed, or wronged? That might be a place I need to forgive. Maybe you need to go a step backward before forgiveness.
Maybe we just need to ask, how do I see that person and how does Jesus see them? I love the mm's and the amen's, but think about it. Let's be good doers, not good hearers. Now Philemon's call to forgive Onesimus means releasing any anger and seeing him as Jesus does. Onesimus's call might mean forgiving Philemon if he treated him poorly, or it might mean actually receiving the forgiveness that Philemon extended.
and moving forward in their relationship in light of that. Then from there, the work to reconcile. Verse 16, if you have your Bible open, let's read it together.
No longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, but even dear to you both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. I used to spend most of my summers from like the time I was 18 to probably like 28 actually, 27, 28, I spent most of my summers traveling the country with like my closest friends. And we would go out on the road for like eight to 10 weeks to churches and youth camps, which, how many of y'all been to youth camp before? Eight to ten weeks of youth camp.
Okay, so we would like go to, yeah, in the bunks, in the, I was like, if I only had a chiropractor then, you know, I'm still undoing the damage. But we would go and eat the camp food. And we'd go lead worship at these youth camps for like eight to ten weeks straight. So we'd be in like Montana for like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
And we like brought all the sound system, all of it. So we were doing all that and then we'd pack up on Thursday night or Friday night and then drive down to Utah and do the same thing over and over again. and over, week after week.
And one of the habits or practices are just like, maybe that's too extreme. One of the things we wanted to be were people who loved and served one another and preferred one another above ourselves. One year we chose like Romans 12 as like a verse to like hold us and anchor us down. So I was like, I'm going to do this thing.
think, I'm going to like grip my teeth and do it. So I would be like, when we'd finished dinner, I would try really hard to go like eat with that, eat for like not finish eating first. And then like go put everyone else's dishes away or like go check on every person. If like it was early and we had to have someone drive the trailer and the van, like at 7am to get to the next city, I'd be like, okay, I'll go first.
Sometimes, not always, sometimes. And I was like trying to live out these teachings and practices of doing it. And I remember getting to the end of one of these tours, we were in Oregon on the coast.
probably my early 20s, and I've been doing these same things, trying, and I was just done. Like, fed up, annoyed, especially because it wasn't feeling mutual. Felt really taken advantage of, to be honest. And I remember, like, we were being on the beach, we had to lead worship in an hour, and I just, like, you know, you don't know when that straw's going to break.
It broke. And I remember saying un-Jesus-y words to my friends, and just, like, like yelled at them. I was so hurt.
Someone once said we yell when our hearts feel far away. I just remember being like, I do all this stuff and like no one cares for me. I feel so taken advantage of.
Like, ah. And so I'm like, I did what I knew I had to do. I had to go lead worship in an hour.
So I was like, okay, I'm going to go pray and meet with Jesus and try to get myself together before we go lead people and tell them God is good. Through melody, you know? So I went to our cabin. I'm like, I just need some space. So I go in there.
I remember turning on the shower like getting in the shower. And it was like one of those early 2000 music videos where I'm just like, the water is falling. The whole situation, you know, it's just a hot mess.
And I'm doing that whole thing. And I'm just like, Jesus, ah, Jesus, how do I keep doing this? Jesus is like, how do I stay in close relationship with people when it keeps costing so much?
It really hurts. It was one of those moments I felt like the Lord spoke to me like so clearly and clearly. He's just like, you can't. You can't.
You can't be in loving proximity without the threat of pain and wounding and hurting. You can't. Okay, well, Jesus, but I know you don't want me to hurt.
I know you don't want me in this sort of pain. What do I do then? Well, Christian. You need to forgive. Yeah, of course you need to forgive.
Christian, what did I die to do for you? You forgave me. Anyone else talk to Jesus like this? Just me? You forgave me the cross.
Thank you. Christian, I didn't die to just forgive you. Yes, I've released you of the wrongs that you've done, but Christian, I died to do so much more.
Christian, I died to reconcile with you, to bring you back close, and I did it at my own expense. came in close. See, y'all, I learned that week, that reconciliation, it goes beyond forgiveness.
It's not just releasing the wrong. It's about restoring the relationship based on the image of Jesus in that person. It's not just seeing earth.
from heaven's perspective, it's actually living on earth from heaven's life. See, now it's important to name that reconciliation. It's complex, so like, please don't hear me oversimplifying it.
In Matthew 18, Jesus teaches to reconcile by addressing an issue privately first, then with others, and then finally involving the church. And if the person refuses to repent, Jesus acknowledges that reconciliation may not be possible, and the relationship must be redefined. Paul, he counsels Timothy, Titus, and and the Corinthians in situations where distancing from an unrepentant person was the only option. But do you remember who he often addressed those letters to? Do you remember who he addressed this letter to?
To Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker, but also to Epipha, our sister, Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home. See, we have to do reconciliation in community. Why?
Because the work of reconciliation, it's messy. It's a hot mess. It needs help. Others must show up, help us work it out, and then even do the hard thing of holding one another accountable to living in the way of Jesus through mutual submission.
See, healthy relationships, they require both people to learn the art of mutual submission, and that is a group effort. Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, argues that word is such a awful. A key in ethics.
It's this thing I was learning about through this app called Imprint this summer, and he talks about virtue. I always viewed virtue as like there's a virtue on one side and a vice on the other, but Aristotle proposed that actually virtue is in the middle and there's two vices on each side. What he was arguing is that to be virtuous, to live into a virtue, is to not just avoid one trap, it's actually to avoid two, and it's to do the thing at the right time in the right amount.
So when it comes to the virtue of mutual submission, there are two temptations to avoid. On one end, there's subservience, where there's too much submission, and that leads to the loss of identity, becoming more of a doormat than a partner. And if that is your experience, I'm really sorry about that. On the other end of subservience, is dominance, where there is not enough submission, and it leads to manipulation or control.
Now, dominance can sound loud or big, or it can be as subtle as the unwillingness to see another perspective, or even just always get in your way. See, subservience and dominance, they diminish relationships and the inerrant dignity of both parties, but true forgiveness, reconciliation, and mutual submission is the narrow way, and it pulls us out of either extreme. It dignifies both.
people fostering a relationship where each person is treated as they deserve, the image of God. But y'all, that path is not easy. And everyone who's married could say, amen.
Just look at me, not just that, look at me. See, that needs support and accountability. of others who are committed to that same journey.
So for Philemon, reconciliation meant actually accepting Onesimus back as brother, not just as slave. But for Onesimus, it meant living in his new identity, rebuilding trust, and hear me, seeing Philemon as brother as well. So let's just take a moment to pause and reflect. Take a deep breath in. Let it out.
Smile again. See, when we leave today, we don't want to be talking about how was that sermon or what did you like. We should be talking, how will I live?
Who am I aiming my life to become like? So what I'd like you to do is actually pull something out to write with. For real, do it. Pull something out to write with. If you want, no one's forcing you.
I'm not going to go row to row, but pull something out to write with. If you're willing. Even if you're not, maybe do it still.
And just for yourself, answer the question. Jesus, would you bring to mind someone who I'm distant from that I need to reconcile with? Jesus, would you bring it to mind? Would you bring to mind someone I need to forgive?
Would you bring to mind someone I need to see as the image of God? Jesus, what might my next step be? Again, I encourage you to not just look at me, if it helps you even to close your eyes, if you don't want to write it down, but just whatever you need to do. You want to be different, live different, be good doers. Jesus, where am I Philemon?
Where am I Onesimus? And then I think an invitation for a number of us is this, where am I supposed to be the church? Some of you are not Philemon or Onesimus, but you're supposed to be the rest of the church that also heard this letter and was invited into the process of reconciliation. Jesus, where am I Philemon?
Where am I Onesimus? Where am I the church? Would you show me who could partner with me in that journey? Let's take like 10 more seconds.
Three, two, one. See y'all, we need to see, we need to forgive, we need to reconcile, and then ultimately we need to, and I hope we want to, transform. See verse 21, confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
Someone say even more. Say it like you're not afraid. Even more.
One more time because it's fun. Even more. See, transformation is the ultimate goal where individuals and communities reject the world's norms, embody the kingdom's values, and become a new kind of humanity. See, Paul challenges the Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. with living mutual submission out in their very relationships.
Here are his words. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you the interests of others. That's Philippians chapter 2. He also said to the church in Colossae, slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, and then, masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair. By the way, Colossians was likely the letter that was taken possibly by Philemon afterwards.
See, true Christian community is fostered by this sort of mutual submission. It's the way that we embody God's kingdom on earth, challenging cultural norms that prioritize self-determination. self-direction, power, and convenience.
Y'all, Paul is a G. I mean, he's just like, he's kind of G about this. The best part, have y'all read that end of the letter where he goes, by the way, so like, see him, forgive, reconcile, and by the way, make a bed because I'm coming over.
Like, could you imagine if like after Bethany was done teaching, she's like, by the way, I'm swinging by your house. to see how this is going. He'd be like, I'm shaping up right now.
See, Paul, he lays out for Philemon to live out the gospel in terms of seeing, forgiving, and reconciling, but then he expects that the gospel will do even more. more now i'll save us some time by not talking through exodus 21 and deuteronomy 15 and how they overlap and what's in paul's mind instead i'll just mention that when paul says even more theologians like scott mcknight ff bruce ben witherington douglas mu alan thompson david garland and the bishop himself and t wright all think he's hinting at man you mission which is fancy talk for freeing this life so you know can i be honest about that see as i've gone through philemon over these weeks i've had an emotion come up in me when we talk about these things. It surprised me, but it's superiority. See, it seemed obvious to me what Philemon should do.
It honestly kind of seemed obvious what Paul should do. But then that, like, quiet voice started to whisper in my soul, Christian, where are you, Philemon? Christian, where are you called, not commanded, but called and invited to do even more? Where in your relationships or society are you living more out of the norms of the world rather than the kingdom's ethics, more out of the world's way rather than Jesus'way? Is God calling you to take a next step in a relationship within your community or how you engage with the city social order?
What is your even more? It was really easy for me to look down at Paul and Philemon for the even more that seems obvious, but what's the even more for you? See, now I would have preferred for Paul to just outright say, Yo Philemon, free Onesimus, yours Paul. Short letter, would have been great. One week of teaching, we'd be done with it.
And that be the whole letter, right? But as I thought about it more, I'm just coming to realize that that really wouldn't solve the real problem. At the risk of being overly simplistic, haven't we seen dehumanizing laws change only for dehumanizing systems to take place? America?
See, in the Emancipation Proclamation was followed by the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan. By the way, after the Emancipation Proclamation, the KKK was formed, terrorizing black communities with violence and intimidation. But after that, it only followed up by, you know, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, redlining, school zoning, unequal voting rights, and the list goes on and on. Yes, Paul could have ordered Philemon to free Onesimus, but that would not have changed Philemon's heart.
But what if the gospel started with Philemon's eyes, seeing someone else as the image of God, then moved to to his heart through the simple practices of forgiveness and reconciliation and mutual submission. Imagine what could happen. See, we've seen it before. Changing a law without changing the heart does not solve the real problem, but when the heart changes, actions and even laws might follow.
And isn't that what our world longs for? Non-rhetorical question? I mean, I think so. I think our world longs for human hearts to be different, for there actually to be a fellowship, a brotherhood of all people.
In 1971, war, civil rights, Struggles and environmental and material consciousness they were at the forefront sound familiar See with liberations rising up all over the world and spreading and politics were deeply polarized also sound familiar It was in this time that John Lennon of the Beatles captured the world's ache with the song called Imagine. Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the worlds.
You may say that I'm a dreamer. but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.
Y'all, this song, it resonated globally, sinking and striking like a deep chord within the human logging for the Imago Dei. So much so that 53 years later at the Paris Olympics this year, that song was sung again. Imagine there is no heaven. Imagine all the people living for it.
for it today? See, imagine no religion. Imagine all the people living in peace. Lenin concludes, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and then the world will live as one. See, though well-intentioned, I think Lenin misses the point. See, the true problem is what he missed, and therefore he missed the true solution. Lenin's path to human flourishing was a world without religion, but consider the 20th century, y'all, and see what irreligious worldviews did for humanity.
See, we don't need no religion, and hear me. We don't need no religion. We need true religion, a religion that forms the right kind of people.
We need the way of Jesus, to which everyone, I hope, in this room would say amen. See, in contrast to Lenin, I find the words of James, Weldon Johnson's Negro National Anthem, or lift every voice and sing to be way more aligned with reality. The third verse of the song sings, God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way, Thou who has by Thy might led us into the light. Keep us forever in the past We pray, lest our feet stray from the places our God where we met Thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee, shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand true to our God.
True to our native land. See, this is a song penned by the son of slaves, and you saw that the path forward was not in straying from or forgetting God, but staying true to him and following his path. It's not the new road, but the ancient one and the true one.
Dr. King, understood this. He actually had this commitment card for those who joined the civil rights movement. And nine out of the 10 commitments were all about this.
Listen to them. He said to meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory. Walk and talk in the manner of love. Why?
For God is love. Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free. Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy. Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.
Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, or heart. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health. And lastly, follow the directions of the movement and the way.
and the captain on a demonstration. In other words, follow the people's example who are living into these commitments. See, Dr. King, he knew that the true path to flourishing and brotherhood for everyone was ancient. It's following Jesus and the teachings of scripture.
King let the story of God, who is love, in. He let it so deep in. The story of this God who is love and the story of this God who created humans in his image to sink so deeply into his heart that it reshakes. how he saw the world and lived, and society changed as a byproduct. Y'all, he grasped what Paul was praying for in Philemon 6, that Philemon's faith would manifest in how he sees and then treats others.
The letter to Philemon, it's really just this profound call to do this simple thing. Let the gospel story go deeper. Let it get a little bit deeper.
Let it sink a little bit lower. Let it take a little more root. Live out the story of Jesus and then just see what might happen. The gospel story is one that tells us that Jesus is our true brother.
driven by anger, killed his brother, and felt no responsibility to keep his brother, Jesus is better than Cain. See, Jesus is driven by compassion, dies to rescue humanity, and in doing so shows us that he is humanity's keeper. Jesus is also our true shepherd to which we should also say amen see even more than Paul Jesus never stops interceding and advocating for us in the middle of our weaknesses even reckons even when we're needing to reconcile but not only that Jesus is the suffering servant where Onesimus fled from service Jesus ran to it Paul put it this way do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit rather in humility value others above yourselves not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. See, Jesus is our true brother.
He is our true shepherd. He is the suffering servant, and he is the true master. See, unlike Philemon, who waited for his servant's return, Jesus does not wait for our return. See, but instead, he goes after us while while we're still distant from him, while we're far off.
Jesus, he's our true master, and he spares no expense to forgive us, to reconcile us, and to transform us. Have you experienced that from Jesus? Have you?
Remember. Remember the gospel. Let it sink deeper. Because then from there, Jesus welcomes us in, not as servants, but as brothers and sisters in his family and y'all with a new family.
See, this is God. This is love. Don't forget it.
Because that, it's good news. Like, it's really good news. I don't know each of your story, but the forgiveness and the mercy and the reconciliation, the pursuit of God is such good news. And I hope it never gets old for me.
I hope it never gets old for you. See, it's good news. for every Onesimus who's a long way off, who's far from God, and if that is you, man, Jesus comes running for you.
But y'all, this is also good news for every Philemon, too. Do you know what his name means? We've talked a lot about Onesimus.
But Philemon's name, it means loving or affectionate. It's derived from the Greek word phileo, which means brotherly love. So now do you start to see what's happening? Are you seeing what's happening in the letter of Philemon?
Every time Paul would write Philemon's name, He's basically inviting him back to be who he's always been. He's inviting him back into his truest identity. Philemon, you're more than this. Philemon, you're a person of love for your brother. Philemon, don't forget who you really are.
Let the gospel sink in deep. See, by embracing mutual submission, by choosing to put others first, seeing their dignity, and responding with love, Philemon is actually becoming who he was always meant to be. I think who he really longs to be, and I think, y'all, who he longed to be as well.
14 years ago, I had my first day of Bible college. I think we have a photo. Yeah. Oh, that's a nice, aw, that was nice, thank you.
Yeah, I think so too. You can put that away. I remember I was in the first day of my first class in Bible college.
The professor's name was Ron Herms. It was New Testament survey. I remember it, and because I was sitting in the front row, because I knew that I probably just needed to be up close to pay attention. So interested in it.
And I remember being up front, in the last minute of this whole class, we're about to take the whole semester to go through the New Testament. He says this interesting thing, and it's so interesting that I remembered it. I was writing this sermon, because I think what he said actually got into my heart so much so so that it spurred a love for the scripture. It began to be more complex.
I was like, oh, this isn't just things to do. This is a real story to live. So I texted my prof this past week to see if I, and I had his number, and this is what he said.
If I could only keep one of Paul's letters, it would be Philemon, a document where Paul models and urges the kind of authentic relationships he believes should characterize Jesus'people. Further proof that the gospel works and bringing people together after broken relationship is found in that we even have Philemon in the New Testament at all. See, if Philemon had not received the letter with a willingness to reconcile, with Onesimus, we would never know about it. The letter would simply have been ignored, destroyed, or just lost with Philemon. The fact that we have the letter to Philemon might tell us something.
Maybe they actually did it. See, Philemon, at the end of the day, it's not really a letter to study, not ultimately. If you just learn about Philemon, you are kind of wasting your time. It is not about orthodoxy.
It's about orthopraxy. It's a story to live into and live out of. reminder and hear me that the gospel really works if we let it sink deep enough.
The gospel really works if we let it sink deep enough. One more time for the people in the back. The gospel really works if we let it sink deep enough.
In Christ's new people, we find our place. A city of love bound by grace, like ships now at harbor, we're welcomed home, no longer wandering, no longer alone. Laughter echoes, hearts are full, we're joined together, spirit and soul.
The bond is easy when we first meet, but strangers as family, no simple feat. Wounds they fester and hearts withdraw. This is family, we see the flaw.
Our love and patience start to fray. What once was close feels far away. A strange... but siblings, trust betrayed, ties unwind and hearts dismayed, the way of distancing steep within, to love Christ is easy, but not so his kin. But Jesus calls through pain and strife to bind the wounds, restore the ties, to heal the rifts with steadfast will, to trust his words are harbor still.
So live on earth from heaven's view in this age as creation's new love. Love as Christ has loved our race. See his image in each face.