The Message for Today of Philemon

I want to say thank you very much to our quartet and to Karen on the piano. Lovely pieces of praise to our God above.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all of the king's men could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

A rhyme, one that beckons from our childhood, but something that affects each and every one of us in our lives. There are times when events and activities and situations come our way, whether it be in our relationship with God, whether it be in our relationship with our mates, our adult children, our grandchildren, our children, our workplace, our neighborhood. Do I dare say amongst you, our dear brethren and spiritual family, that there are times when it looks like we not only have egg on our face, and the other person might have egg on their face, but there's no way of putting it back together?

That's what I would speak to you about this afternoon. That's a situation that we have been called to do and to handle, and to handle the way that Jesus Christ Himself would. Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ said that blessed are the peacemakers. But peace doesn't just happen. Peace has got to be made. Peace has, at times, has to be carefully constructed, even amongst spiritual people, even amongst people that are all in the church, much as those that maybe have to make peace with your neighbor, or your employee, or your employee.

It's something that affects us every day, Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays. Join me if you would, and let's turn to Proverbs 25 for a moment. In Proverbs 25, and let's notice the writings. Let's notice the wisdom that comes out of the book of Proverbs. It says in Proverbs 25 and verse 11 that, "...a word, fitly spoken, is like apples of gold, in settings of silver. Like an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear." It talks about a word, fitly spoken, crafted, sculpted.

But it doesn't start with your tongue. It doesn't even start with your thoughts. How often did our parents or grandparents, when we were growing up, say, "...think before you speak?" But it's more than the brain, it's the heart. It's the motive. It's what we're about, and what God has us about in His work of reconciliation, one with another, down here below. That is why now I would like to take you to a story. It is a story of long ago, and yet it's our story today as to whether or not we will apply it.

It is indeed a spiritual GPS, this epistle, this jewel that is lodged in the New Testament. Show me if you would, and let's go to the book of Philemon. The book of Philemon, it's only two-thirds of a page, I think we'll be able to make it by six o'clock tonight. That was to wake you up. But you talk about Humpty Dumpty having a great fall, and all the king's horses, and all the king's men not being able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

We have a real live situation in the church 2000 years ago, which seemed like, how are we ever going to bring these people back together again? It's the story of a slave, and the story of a slave owner. And it's the story of a man who is a bridge, a bridge between the slave and the slave owner, to reconcile them, reconcile them over something that, in a sense, in that culture, in that time, was wrong.

Now, before we go into the book of Philemon, allow me to bring you into the book, understand what the Roman Empire was, approximately 60 AD. Rome was, at that time, the master of the Western world. The Mediterranean was basically a Roman lake. The Roman Empire, at that time, had perhaps a quarter of a billion people, 250 million people, around the edges of the Mediterranean.

250 million people, a little bit smaller than the United States population today. Out of that, out of that, 60 million people were estimated to be slaves. 60 million people were estimated to be slaves. Now, you do the math. The math would tell you this, that one out of four people would be a slave.

One out of four. Now, say, okay, that's one out of four. What does that mean? Well, we're going to have fun here for a moment, okay? We'll just go down the aisle for a moment. I'll pick on some people here. Let's start. Let's go to the back here. Let's see who we've got here. I'll just go to the front here. One, two, three, one, two, three, Dave, would you please rise? Okay, then one, two, three, four, and Miss Nook, would you please rise? You're up. Yes, you're on.

You're on stage. You're up. Yes. You two are a slave. Go ahead. Okay, one, two, three, four, would you please rise right here? Yes, please rise. Go ahead. That's it. We're going to let you sit down later. Don't worry about it. One, two, three, four, Christy, would you please rise? One, two, three, and just to show that I'm not playing favorites, Susan, would you please rise?

One, two, three, four, and who do we have here? Aaron, would you please rise? Okay. And we're going to go real quickly. Paul, would you take a rise? Lauren, would you take a rise? Oli, would you take a rise? David, would you take a rise, please? Robert, would you please take a rise? Okay, let's just get a feel of what the early church would like, because — thank you very much. Just please be seated — because the early church was a microcosm of the world that was around it. It's hard for us in our 21st century mentalities to think that such an evil could exist, even within the church, as it were.

That was the culture. That was the time. There were slaves that were in the church, and they most likely were in church with their slave owners. Now, that's hard for us to fathom in 21st century America, but that's what's happened. And the story behind Philemon, if you've never read it before, is that Onesimus, the slave, takes off. He is vacant from where he lived, either in Colossae or Laodicea. And he's vamoosed, as it were, and found the apostle Paul. And he's in Paul's domain now.

Now we've got a problem. We've got three people in the church. We've got the slave, we've got the slave owner, and we've got the minister. What is the minister going to do? How is he going to get the slave back to the slave owner? Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses, all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And probably getting Onesimus, the slave, back together with Philemon was probably harder in that world, and in that time, in that culture, which I'll talk about later, than Humpty Dumpty having a great fall. So let's read what happens here, and we'll start the story.

What would you do? This is what Paul did. And remember, the basis of this is a word fitly spoken. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus with Timothy, our brother. Notice how Paul begins the epistle. Paul recognizes that all things are for a reason. His life is purpose-filled. You will notice in all of Paul's epistles, he never calls himself a prisoner of Rome. He will not go there. He is always the Lord's man.

He is always on mission. His life is a purpose. It's not accidental. He says, I am Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And Timothy, our brethren, and to Philemon, our beloved friend and fellow laborer. Now, Philemon, stay with me, please, is the gentleman that's over in Asia Minor, that is the slave owner, and, yes, is in the church. To Philemon, our beloved friend, and you're our fellow laborer. You've been in the work of the Gospel with us. To the beloved Aephea and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church that's in your house.

So there's Philemon. Aephea is most likely his wife, and Archippus is perhaps his son, who Paul refers to as a fellow soldier, meaning a companion, as it were, in the work of the Gospel and the work of the church. And not only that, but notice what it says here, and to the church that's in your house. Philemon, the slave owner, also has the home church. He has the church in his house, which was very common in that day and age, going back to the Book of Acts and to the story there.

Now, notice how he begins. Now, his story, stay with me, please, is that he's got to somehow get the slave back to the slave owner, and everybody stay under the same roof and remain calm. But notice what he does. He realizes that there's a situation here, and the words are very carefully crafted. How's he going to go about this? Is he just going to tell him, listen, I am the apostle, I'm the man of God, and I am telling you on the authority invested in me, that you, Philemon, must take back Onesimus. That's not how Paul handles it.

What Paul does is something incredible that sometimes we take for granted when we read the epistles.

Rather than passports, rather than funding, the apostle Paul offers Philemon the best gifts. He says, grace to you, and to peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where Paul begins his conversation with a fellow believer. Grace and peace are the great hellos and goodbyes of the ancient world. They bring together the constituents of the early church, both the Greek and the Jewish community. Grace is a word that comes from the Greek word keras, or charismatic gifts, etc., which you may be familiar with. He's basically saying grace to you. That was the greeting of the Greek world. May you have a charmed gift at life.

To add on to that, because you're God's man. Because you've come to understand God. You've come to understand what God has done for you. He's given you the greatest gift of all. He's given you His Son, Philemon. So may grace be to you. You are indeed blessed. You are indeed spiritually comfortable. And you are within the palm of God's hands. You have been visited in this lifetime. You have been consecrated. You have been sanctified. You've been set apart. And God's grace, God's favor, not only what He's done in the past by forgiving you, but what He continues to offer and share and will give you, and that which I'm about to talk to you about. Then, and then Paul says, not only grace, but then he uses the famous phrase of the Jews, Shalom, peace. Not peace that is absent of conflict. Not peace that is an easy peace. But it's a blessing. The Jews use it as a blessing. May you have peace. May you have Shalom. Yes, life is a challenge, but we know that in all in all that God will supply you exactly what you need for where He wants you to be.

This is where Paul begins the conversation. Grace and peace.

And he will conclude with that as well as we will see. So that's what he offers. And he says, I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers. And I hear of your love and your faith, which you have towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all of the saints. So he's reminding Philemon that, you know what, I'm not just Johnny on the spot. I'm not just sending this letter to you right now. I'm praying for you all the time. You are in my prayers. Prayers that God will continue to bless you and mold your heart and shape your thoughts and bless your actions, that you might glorify God above and that you might be a blessing to your fellow man.

I thank my God. I talk about you in my prayers to Him. I've heard of your love and I've heard of your faith. Now, the faith that is mentioned here is the word pistos, P-I-S-T-O-S. Oftentimes in the 21st century, we think of faith as being a rolodex of doctrine. That is not what is being spoken about here. The faith that is being spoken about here is the faith that God Almighty sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and that you have faith in that Messiah. You have faith in that offering.

You have accepted that this is God's gift and you've surrendered yourself to it in faith. So I hear of your love and your faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus and towards notice all of the saints. Have you ever noticed that at times people have great faith towards God and great love towards God? In other words, it all goes up. But that's only half of Christianity. The other half of it is to have faith for your fellow man. And to have the same respect for your fellow man as you have for God.

Because every individual, every fellow person is made in God's image and in God's likeness. So Paul says, I've heard of this, that you have towards all of the saints. Now, this is going to be a setup. I've got a smile at this. Because Philemon is going to find out who's a saint now that wasn't before. And that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you. In Christ Jesus. If you're daring enough with your Bible, you might want to circle the word in.

There is no good apart from God and Jesus Christ. It's not our righteousness, it's their righteousness working inside of us. And our surrendering to their perfect will even when it looks tough. Even when it looks challenging with the humpty-dumpty that you may be facing today in your life. For we have great joy and consolation in your love. Because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Now the love that's being talked about there is agape. It's not talking about Philemon, it's not talking about Eros, it's not talking about family love. It's talking about a love that as the Apostle John speaks of in his epistle, Behold the manner of love that God has bestowed upon us.

It's as the Greek would bear out and translate into English, it's not from around here. It's not earthly, it's from somewhere else. Because humanly it does not compute. It's spiritual. It's a gift. It's a fruit of God's Holy Spirit. For we have great joy and consolation in your godly love. Because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. You know how you know what it means to be refreshed? Here we are in summertime. It gets hot here in the valley. It really gets hot out in the Inland Empire. I don't know who lives out there.

It really gets hot. 105, 108, 110. Have your pick. And you know how refreshing it is if you've been working outside or whatever, and somebody gives you a glass of water. Just how that refreshes you. Just refreshes you. Or when all of a sudden, in a hot day, when the breeze comes up against your cheek, you go, oh, you're just refreshed. That's exactly what the Apostle Paul is talking about.

So, refreshed by you, notice, brother, being a member of the body of Christ is not a number. It's being a part of a family that's connected. Connected. Connected. Now, verse 8. Perhaps one of the most important words come out here.

This is very important in the discussion of the book of Philemon. And somehow, getting all the parts of Humpty Dumpty back together again in our lives. Can we talk? Because I realize we have some Humpty Dumpty experiences out there, and so do I. And where do we start with the therefore? Did you notice that it took to verse 8 for Paul to say therefore? To get to the point. I have a question in your problem solving, in your peacemaking. Where do you put therefore in your sentence structure? When something isn't going according to Hoyle or according to how you think it ought to be. And you face your mate. You face your child. You face your adult child. You face your boss. You face your employee. You face somebody that's in this church, and we're all supposed to be lovable sheep altogether, aren't we? But we're human beings. Where do you put the therefore? Then you wonder, I see by your... We've all done it. I've stepped in it. I've stepped in it with my family. I've stepped in it in the past with some of you. Where I haven't built the connective bridge of what brings us together. Looking to God's grace. Looking to that peace. Looking that the answers will come. Looking that I've got to move more than a body. I've got to move a heart. You can move bodies. That's what armies are for. That's what generals do. They move bodies. But Christianity is about more than moving bodies out of duty. Christianity is about moving bodies and hearts and motives. Not out of merely duty, but out of a desire for the greater good. A good that moves beyond what you are and what you're doing. But that you can glorify God and you can be a blessing to somebody else. That's why we're born. That's why we've been created. Not to get. We have been born and given birth both physically and spiritually. To glorify God, to worship God, and to be a blessing to our fellow man. And you're going to find that happen here in the book of Philemon. Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting yet for love's sake, I'm going to appeal to you being such as one as Paul the Ancient, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus. He brings again back the thought of being a prisoner. You know, sometimes when you've had everything taken away from you in life, everything comes down to a simple plane and you say, and you're in a cell. Or maybe you're in bed, or maybe you're aged yet, you say, look at those people down there. Look at that couple. Look at that family. Look at those brethren. They're wasting time.

They're wasting time rather than building the relationship and forgiving one another. I appeal to you for my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains. Speaking of a birth, and he's... I'm shackled. Paul's saying, I'm shackled. Philemon, why shackle yourself by what the culture expects of you, by what your neighbors expect of you? Don't be shackled. I'm shackled. I get it. I know what it's like to be in a life without movement. I'm shackled. But my son Onesimus... Now, stay with me. Did you notice Philemon's a brother? Onesimus is a son. Paul, through the inspiration of God's Spirit, beginning to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Who was once unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. Which is a pun or a play-off of Onesimus' name, which means profitable. I'm going to send him back to you. Therefore, receive him. That is my own heart.

We're seeing a relationship that is being sewn together between Philemon, Paul, and Onesimus. And what Paul is doing is he's putting his own skin in this game. He's coming off the bench. Whom I wish to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister in my chains for the gospel.

But without your consent, I didn't want to do anything. That your good deed might not be by compulsion, but rather was voluntary.

You can do something by duty. You can do something that seems so right on the outside.

It can seem from the exterior like, wow! But if your motives are not correct, you might as well not do it.

What Paul is basically saying here is, you know, Philemon, you have an opportunity to give a gift. You have an opportunity to forgive. You have an opportunity, as with Jubilee, to start all over again.

For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever. No longer is a slave, but more than a slave. A beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more do you, both in the flesh and in the Lord?

Now, let's understand what's going on here. This is not a fairy tale. This is something that was real.

The way that Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, was held was by Roman brutality, the boot of Rome.

You had a quarter of a billion people in the Roman Empire, and one-fourth of that were slaves.

There was always the fear of a slave rebellion. Just think of Spartacus and the slave and gladiator rebellion around 70 BC.

And so, if a slave got out of line, you had to set an example of that slave.

There was the very real chance that if Onesimus went back, the slave, that according to custom, he could have an ear cut off, he could have his nose cut.

Most likely, he would have minimally had a brand put into his head with an F from the Latin word, fucitivus.

Fucitivus. Pardon me. Pardon my Latin. You got it. Fugitive.

And that slave, then, was to use another Latin word, was then stigmatized. He was a stigma. He was set apart.

There were times when he would just be crucified. That's what all of Philemon's neighbors would have expected.

Because if Philemon didn't do it, then what are their slaves going to think?

So, there was this reign of terror and brutality that kept the slaves in check.

So, this was twofold. Any time God asks us to do something, there is a spiritual challenge, but there's also a human risk.

Spiritual challenge, human risk. For Onesimus to go back, I've explained what could have happened to him.

For Philemon not to act upon his return in doing something to him also could have been disastrous for Philemon's standing in the community.

And yet, here is the man of God appealing, saying, he's no longer a slave, but now he's a beloved brother.

Remember how Paul said, I've heard of your love for all of the saints? All of them!

Guess what? Your slave is now a saint, and you're going to have to love him too, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

If you then count me as a partner, receive me as you would me. Join me if you would in Galatians 3.28.

This is an important part of our discussion that we have to have. In Galatians 3. You'll be familiar with it, I think, once we turn to it. There is. It's going to verse 27. Let's go to verse 26. It gets better.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as of you that were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free.

There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. What we're talking about is that inner person. You and I might say, well, why did Paul send back Onesimus to a slave owner?

What was Paul thinking of? Let's even go back further in the story. What was, are you with me? What was Onesimus thinking of? And why was he compelled to go to the Apostle Paul?

Colossae or Laodicea, wherever Philemon was, and Onesimus was, is a long ways away from Rome.

What compelled this slave to seek out Paul in prison? What kindness was visited upon Onesimus by this aged man named Paul?

Back then, slaves did not have names. Slaves, according to Aristotle, one of the most brilliant people that ever lived, made a systematic chart of nature and also made a systematic chart of the realm of humanity. And basically, slaves were not human. Slaves were looked upon as simply being living tools in the Greek world, in the world of Asia Minor.

What small kindness, perhaps, did Paul visit upon Onesimus? Did he perhaps look him in the eye? Did he perhaps look him in the eye?

Just like Peter, John, as he went up to the temple in Acts and said, Silver and gold, have I none? But what I have, I will give you.

Maybe just the milk of human kindness.

And that man traversed 1500 miles from Asia Minor to Rome to join this aging Jew, this Christian man, and minister to him in the shackles.

One small favor, perhaps just looking somebody in the eye, perhaps reaching out and offering human touch to something that was considered inhuman, the slave, Onesimus.

Hmm. Hmm. See, you and I have that opportunity every day, dear friends, to be a blessing, not by what we know but by what we do, by reaching out, by being different than the world around us.

The greatest sermon that we can possibly offer is not the notes, but the motives and the acts of our heart to our husbands, to our wives, to our children, to our neighbors, to our employers, to our employees, to our community members.

That they know that there is something really different. It's not from around here. This love, this... They're not going to call it love, but they say there's something different about this person that's refreshing.

No slavery was not done away with in early Christianity. Christianity at that time could not transform society.

But it could transform the hearts that were in that society. It could not deal with the exterior, but it could deal with the interior.

If Christianity had chosen to deal with it at that time, perhaps Christianity itself would have been stamped out. Sometimes things just simply take time.

But Paul created this level playing field. You're not just a slave owner, and he's not just a slave.

The slave owner is my brother, and the slave is my son, and we are all family, and we're going to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Let's continue the story.

If you then count me as a partner, receive him as you would me, but if he has wronged you and he owes you anything, you put that on my account.

I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay, not to mention to you, that you owe me even your own self besides.

Now he's getting personal. He's going from preaching and teaching to meddling.

Philemon, you were a slave to human nature. You were a slave to unrighteousness. You were in the dark, and you were shackled by your sins until you heard the gospel from me.

And you yourself were liberated, and God used me. Yes, in that sense you do, owe me even your own self besides.

Yes, brother, always keeping the tone of the familial relationship.

Yes, brother, let me have joy from you and the Lord, and refresh my heart in the Lord.

Let me have joy. Refresh me.

Now, I realize out here we have some church veterans that have been in this way of life for 30, 40, and 50 years.

So, you're going to know what I'm going to talk about here in a moment. We've seen it in our membership. We've seen it in our family members.

When you see somebody that does something that is so incredible because God's purpose is being worked out in them, you see somebody turn from what is natural, you see somebody turn what is from human, and you see somebody grow in their conversion.

You see somebody that came in like a rough piece of coal, and I mean rough!

All around the edges, and all in their speech, and all in their mannerism.

And yet, you begin to see the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, and the fellowship of the brethren, and the messages that they receive, and put it all together, and God's righteousness being developed in them.

And you begin to see that person turn from a saw to a paw.

That isn't just ancient history. That's happening today.

By people that will humble and surrender themselves to what God has called us to be.

How refreshing is that?

How refreshing is that? To see a heart transformed and a heart changed, and you really do see a new creation jump out of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, not just black and white and print, but you see it in the pew in the aisle before you.

That you remember what that person used to be like, or you remember what you were like.

And how refreshing that is that the miracle is happening today.

Refresh my heart.

I feel that way sometimes when I preach, I teach, I write. You know I preach, I teach, and I write.

And sometimes I'll receive a letter from somebody.

They'll read an article that I wrote years ago.

They'll mention to me what it did for them, what it did in their life.

And how refreshing is that?

We forget that change can occur. I think I've told you this story before. I wasn't planning to do it, but maybe that was the opening prayer.

So hopefully this is that when you see people literally change their lives.

I think I've shared this story with you.

Years ago I wrote an article, and Susie knows the story, about we were looking at a storm off of Mount Wilson.

And there was lightning, and there used to be lightning and thunder, and it used to rain hair.

There's lightning and thunders and echoes coming off of Mount Wilson.

And Megan and Kalen were with us at the time. They weren't this tall. They were this tall at the time.

And they kind of came around the corner. Susie and I were watching the storm out of our back porch.

And all of a sudden Kalen's eyes, and a lot of you know Kalen, Kalen's eyes were like saucers.

You know, what's coming next? Like this.

And Susie said, don't worry. That's God's voice. God is in the storm. And you just saw their little bodies relax.

And all four of us, little family time, we just had the open door, looking out and watching the storm. I wrote about that in the column that I used to write called, This is the Way.

There was a man that read that story, and he wrote me. He said, I read your story and it changed my life.

You see, when I was young, I was out on the field with my brothers.

And there was lightning. And that lightning struck my brother.

And my brother died. And I saw that on the field in the storm.

My other brother that saw that never really came out of that right. His life was completely changed. And I'm not going to quite say what happened. It was really tragic, whatever happened with the other brother. That man said that since that time, and as I grew up, I could not at all even change a light bulb.

I could not be around electricity. It was just anathema to me.

He said, then I read your story. And he said, my life changed. He says, I'm writing to you tonight. I'm writing to you tonight. It's not my story, it's God's story, because it's God's voice that's in the storm. It's God that's in all of our storms. God right now is in all those Humpty Dumpty moments that we're having right now, trying to put our lives back together.

He was writing me from a skyscraper in Dallas.

He said, we're up here because I'm remodeling my house right now. I'm doing all of the electrical work myself.

I'm doing all the electrical work myself.

My daughter and I are watching this storm, typical Texas storm, lightning storm, and it's all around us. And you know what I've told her, Mr. Weber? God is in the storm.

You and I may have storms going on right now in our life that seem unsolvable.

It seems like Humpty Dumpty cannot be put back together again.

And that's why we come to church, to be encouraged. That's why we read the story of Philemon, to be encouraged. But we also have to put our skin in the game. We have to allow God to refresh our hearts, that we might be able to refresh others.

And how refreshing I was talking about in the beginning, how refreshing that was to me, as much as Paul to these people, that that man was able to write. He can tell me that his life dramatically changed. And brethren, that is happening every day in the world, around the world, to those that will allow themselves to be touched by God and reach to God, and say, I can't do it by myself. But as Paul said to Philemon, do this in Christ, that we might be about our Father's business.

Let's look at the rest of the story here and conclude.

The rest of the story.

Let me have joy.

I shared the joy that I had from that letter that came to me years ago. I actually then wrote another article about his response. Some of you will remember that.

Brethren, we need to be refreshing one another.

Refreshing one another. Showing one another what God is doing in us as we get out of the way.

We say we can't get out of the way. I want to have my therefore in verse 1. I'm right, they're wrong. I'm good, they're bad.

I'm righteous, they're not.

Go ahead. See how that works.

Paul waited to verse 8.

He created a connection of history between Philemon and Aephea and Archippus and Onesimus.

Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

But meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me.

For I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

Now, this is kind of funny. This is kind of the smile part. I think many of us that are a little bit older will remember President Reagan.

He had a very famous phrase when it came to dealing with the Soviet Union.

He said, trust, but verify.

And here's Paul telling Philemon, I just know you're going to go above and beyond what I'm asking you to do out of sheer desire and willingness, not for me, but for Christ in you.

But, just so you know, I may be coming by.

So get ready.

But beyond that, there is an optimism that is part and parcel of Christianity.

Paul is writing from prison.

He says he's in bonds. He says he's shackled. He says he's the prisoner of the Lord. And yet he has the optimism that God is not yet done with him.

That his Humpty Dumpty can come back together again, and that God can yet use him.

Brethren, Christianity is about optimism.

It's about a good God, a powerful God, a God that takes darkness and makes it into light, takes human clay and makes it into his jewels, takes a stone that's too heavy to roll away, and rolls it away, and the light comes in, and the Messiah rises.

Christianity, by its very nature, is optimistic.

That Humpty Dumpty, by God's grace, by God's peace, by living in the framework of the life of Christ that God Almighty has given us.

There is nothing that is impossible.

You say, Mr. Weber, you don't know my story. Well, you don't know my story either.

There is nothing that is impossible.

Where are you today? What Humpty Dumpty do you think cannot be fixed?

And I say it can. In time, by God's grace, with patience, with thoughtfulness, with surrender, with knowing that with God all things are possible.

That's what the book of Philemon tells us.

But meanwhile here, Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you.

As you mark, and Aristarchus, and Demas, and Luke, my fellow laborer.

And notice how Philemon ends this jewel of Christian diplomacy.

Did I say Philemon meant Paul?

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Grace, which is not just simply an event, but is an experience and an existence that we remain in.

By God's design. It is his favor.

It is him lifting us up when we are too weak to walk.

It is his filling our heart when it seems like a vacuum.

It is his strength in us to put one foot in front of another in our marriage, perhaps in our financial crises, perhaps in our relationships that have gone sour at work, perhaps in a financial crisis that we see no way of getting out of.

God says to me, all things are possible.

If you can put back together a slave and a slave owner in the same house church, I think Humpty Dumpty can be put back together again.

I hope you'll remember Philemon. I hope you'll remember Onesimus.

I hope you'll remember the beautiful example of the Apostle Paul as a GPS as to what faces you this coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, as to how you'll chart your course, which means, first of all, you'll have to chart your heart.

You'll have to chart your motives. You'll have to say, God, here I am.

I am weak. You are strong. I am nothing. You are everything.

Guide my heart.

Test my motives.

Guide my thoughts. Bless my tongue.

That like Paul and Philemon on Onesimus, you might be glorified, and that I might be a blessing to my fellow man.

We'll see you in a few minutes. Let's get ready to praise God after hearing what He can do for each and every one of us.