FROM USELESS TO USEFUL

Philemon 11 “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.”

Although Philemon may have been ready to give up on Onesimus, God wasn’t. He steered Onesimus to Rome and made certain that, out of the million or so inhabitants, he came into contact with the Apostle Paul. When Paul first met Onesimus and found out that he was the runaway slave of a Christian he knew from Colosse (a city in present day western Turkey, a city over 1,000 km away), he recognized that his heavenly Father was at work. And so Paul went to work on Onesimus. He pointed out Onesimus’ sin of running away from his master, and then he followed that up with the good news of how Jesus had already paid for that sin. As a result Onesimus was not only converted to the faith, he became a trusted and reliable helper to Paul. The runaway slave who had once been useless, now finally lived up to his name, Onesimus, which means “useful”.

Just as God guided and directed Onesimus’ steps to Rome, he still leads us today. It’s no accident that we are where we are. God brought us here to learn that, even though we often run away from him, he has forgiven us and has plans for us. Through the work of Christ, God makes us useful again.

Although Onesimus was a changed man, he still must have been nervous about going back to Philemon. After all, Roman law gave slave owners the right to brand the forehead of runaway slaves, lock them in chains, or simply execute them. Onesimus knew he deserved any one of these punishments because he had not just run away from Philemon, but had probably stolen from him as well. Paul must have sensed these fears and so he wrote to Philemon that he would pay for any damage Onesimus had done. This promise allowed Onesimus to go back and serve his master free of the fear of punishment.

Do you see the parallels between Onesimus and us? Although we should be punished for our sins, Jesus told his heavenly Father to charge those sins to him. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross so that we now can serve our God without fear of punishment. Not only that, Jesus also provides for all of our daily needs.

We’re like the man who was arrested for stealing bread. He admits his guilt but begs the judge for mercy explaining he stole the bread to feed his children. Because the man pleaded guilty the judge has to assess the fine. He fines the man $100 but before the man can be taken away, because he doesn’t have the money to pay the fine, the judge goes over to the clerk’s desk and pays the fine for him. The judge then gives the man a check for $1,000 to feed his children. That’s what Jesus does for us. He forgives us and then he equips us.

The work of Jesus makes us who, by nature are less than useless, into useful tools of God’s bidding. Therefore we can and will go forward boldly and joyfully with the work and challenges God has set in front of us, no matter what our life is like.