Philemon 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
As someone who used to be viewed as somewhat useless, not as gifted as my three older brothers, and living with uncontrolled and unknown ADHD, I know what it feels to be discounted. I am still lovingly referred to as “number 4 son” by 95 year old mother. Since I have turned out OK, I know it is spoken lovingly.
But for some people, they stay in the category of “useless” for far too long, perhaps their whole lives wasted on meaningless pursuits. Their lack of positive contribution to the world, to other people, to their family, stands out like a teenage eruption on the end of their nose. Everyone seems to see it, but few will call it out.
Paul and Philemon had a mutual friend, a runaway slave named Onesimus. As you can imagine, Philemon had lost this valuable asset when he ran away. The loss of productivity must have hurt Philemon’s bottom line. You don’t employ someone without expecting a return on your investment. And now, since he ran away, he doesn’t even show up for work.
But something happened. There was an itinerary that Onesimus followed without even knowing he was following it. He left his owner and ran away, probably to the place where he thought he would never be found. He wanted that to be the end of the story.
But the LORD had a purpose even in the defection. Onesimus ends up in contact with Paul. We don’t know if there was any previous contact or not. We do know that this contact resulted in a change in Onesimus.
Onesimus went from useless to useful. This is exactly what is supposed to happen when we encounter Jesus. We begin life anew, with changed priorities and motivations. Onesimus was a new man!
I have a screwdriver that just won’t work. The working end has been slightly rounded. There is no sharpness to help grip the inside of the screw head. So instead of gripping the screw and turning it, it instead simply rounds out the screw itself, making it impossible for any screwdriver to remove the screw.
But with the help of a grinder, a file and a few minutes work, even this useless screwdriver can be remade and become a useful member of the screwdriver community again. It is this external influence and pressure, applied by skilled hands, that makes this transformation possible.
I had several very important relationships that applied influence and pressure on my life, molding and filing off my useless outcroppings. Now, I want you to know that this process in still ongoing. It seems I have the ability to create new superfluous elements in my life, as do you.
Onesimus had changed. Paul was orchestrating a reconciliation between Philemon and his slave turned Jesus-follower. What was needed for this to be a successful reconciliation?
Philemon had to believe that Onesimus had changed, that he wasn’t just conning his next victim, using his charm to wiggle his way out of a tough situation. We all know people like this. Philemon had to allow Onesimus back into his life without imposing the penalty of his running away.
And Onesimus had to trust that Philemon wouldn’t call the authorities and have him arrested and killed, the penalty for being a runaway slave. There was a lot more riding on Onesimus’ side of this reconciliation. His life hung in the balance, a balance controlled by Philemon.
But Paul tells Philemon about the change from useless to useful in an effort to persuade him to receive Onesimus back into service with a renewed passion. The rebellious slave no longer, Onesimus could become a trusted member of staff, and even of his family. He was after all his brother in Christ.