Dividing Wall: Finding Our Hope in God’s Reconciliatory Grace.
“Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.”
- St Augustine-
Reconciling with people that have wounded you is a very difficult thing. Sometimes within Christian circles there is this expectation on individuals of “Instant” forgiveness. What I mean by this is when someone hurts/offends/ mistreats you, you just need to get over it. Over the course of my short and inexperienced life, I have found the issues of grace and forgiveness to be more complicated than that.
While I do profess that we as followers of Christ are to readily and submissively forgive those who have hurt us…Biblical truth is never easy to act out in everyday life. The initial choice to forgive someone can sometimes be much easier than the daily choice to continually forgive that same person days, weeks and years later.
The reality is that as Christians we have been forgiven tremendously by God. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we are now able to approach God for the remission of our sins through the irresistible grace he provides within the confines of the gospel. However, the issue that has always blown me away is that many Christians freely receive forgiveness for themselves, but are very selfish when it comes to pouring it out to others.
Honestly…I am one of those. It is in this area I probably struggle the most.
In Paul’s letter to Philemon, we are confronted with the issue of grace and forgiveness head on.
Onesimus the slave has run away and stolen from his master Philemon. His journey from Colossae has brought him to Rome where it just so happens (Not really) is where the apostle Paul is being held as a prisoner of the state. Through God’s sovereign plan, Onesimus ends up meeting the apostle and becomes a follower of Christ.
After some time spent with Paul, it is decided that he should go back to Colossae to make right the wrongs he had committed towards his now fellow brother and continued master Philemon.
The problem in all of this is that if a run away or criminal slave returns to his/her owner, according to Roman law Philemon has the right to put to death a slave who has acted in the manner that Onesimus has.
As Onesimus stands before his master after his long journey back and hands the letter from the apostle to him, the tension in the air was probably quite thick. As Philemon read the words that had been carefully penned onto the page, he would have been quickly confront with these words:
10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.
11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)
12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel,
14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.
15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother-especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it-to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
As Paul begins to appeals to Philemon, he structures everything he says within the context of Christ and the transformative work of the Spirit.
1) The apostle addresses the progression of the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon in metamorphic language, as it relates to the saving work of Christ.
V11- “He was formerly useless to you, but now is indeed useful to you and to me.”
V16- “No longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother…”
When we stand before our brothers and sisters in Christ who have offended us, we must be reminded that our unity in Christ has not only changed us, but that it also trumps any man made Soc.- structure.
We must remind ourselves that we at one time offended God with our sin and yet because of the sacrifice of Christ, we have now been made right before God. He has forgiven us beyond what we deserve and we must also forgive others with the same free flowing grace He has shown us.
We must also be reminded that despite a specific role a brother or sister in Christ may hold (Father, mother, sister, employer, employee, in law, congregation member etc), they are united with us in Christ and this is to take first priority. It is that relationship that must be valued more than the biological, economic or ecclesial roles one may hold. Since we are all united in the grace and forgiveness of God through Christ, we must all show the same grace and forgiveness to one another, no matter how that affects the social structure that is between us and our fellow believers.
2) Paul urges Philemon that in light of Onesimus’ transformation that he should receive the slave as a dear friend/ fellow worker (V17) and that all debts should be forgotten.
Paul’s challenge to Philemon still resounds amongst the body of Christ today. When a fellow brother or sister hurts /wounds / wrongs us we are to respond with reception and not rejection. We are to receive that brother or sister with open arms, knowing that while their offenses may have been atrocious towards us, our offenses towards God were a dividing wall that was brought down only by grace and forgiveness.
The Christian community must not be made of score keepers that keep records of wrongs done to them by fellow believer. We must be the erasers of debts and releasers of debtors who always point those individuals to the Gospel and its effect in our lives.
Ultimately we do not know what the outcome between Philemon and Onesimus was. However, we do know that Paul had much faith in Philemon (V21), that the love he so openly showed to the church at Colossae would also be shown to Onesimus.
At the end of the day, is the dividing wall that is between you and your brother or sister in Christ bringing glory to God or is it causing His name to be blasphemed among the “Gentiles” because of you (Rom 2:24)?
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 35)
