"Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord refresh my heart
in Christ. Having confidence in thine obedience I write unto thee,
knowing that thou wilt do even beyond what I say. But withal prepare
me a lodging: for I hope that through your prayers I shall be
granted unto you.
"Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, saluteth thee; and so
do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen."--PHILEM. 20-25 (Rev. Ver.).
We have already had occasion to point out that Paul's pleading with
Philemon, and the motives which he adduces, are expressions, on a lower
level, of the greatest principles of Christian ethics. If the closing
salutations be left out of sight for the moment, there are here three
verses, each containing a thought which needs only to be cast into its
most general form to show itself as a large Christian truth.
I. Verse 20 gives the final moving form of the Apostle's request.
Onesimus disappears, and the final plea is based altogether on the fact
that compliance will pleasure and help Paul. There is but the faintest
gleam of a possible allusion to the former in the use of the verb from
which the name Onesimus is derived--"Let me have _help_ of thee"; as if
he had said, "Be you an Onesimus, a helpful one to me, as I trust he is
going to be to you." "Refresh my heart" points back to _v._ 7, "The
hearts of the saints have been refreshed by thee," and lightly suggests
that Philemon should do for Paul what he had done for many others. But
the Apostle does not merely ask help and refreshing; he desires that
they should be of a right Christian sort. "In Christ" is very
significant. If Philemon receives his slave for Christ's sake and in the
strength of that communion with Christ which fits for all virtue, and so
for this good deed--a deed which is of too high and rare a strain of
goodness for his unaided nature,--then "in Christ" he will be helpful to
the Apostle. In that case the phrase expresses the element or sphere in
which the act is done. But it may apply rather, or even also, to Paul,
and then it expresses the element or sphere in which he is helped and
refreshed. In communion with Jesus, taught and inspired by Him, the
Apostle is brought to such true and tender sympathy with the runaway
that his heart is refreshed, as by a cup of cold water, by kindness
shown to him. Such keen sympathy is as much beyond the reach of nature
as Philemon's kindness would be. Both are "in Christ." Union with Him
refines selfishness, and makes men quick to feel another's sorrows and
joys as theirs, after the pattern of Him who makes the case of God's
fugitives His own. It makes them easy to be entreated and ready to
forgive. So to be in Him is to be sympathetic like Paul, and placable as
He would have Onesimus. "In Christ" carries in it the secret of all
sweet humanities and beneficence, is the spell which calls out fairest
charity, and is the only victorious antagonist of harshness and
selfishness.
The request for the sake of which the whole letter is written is here
put as a kindness to Paul himself, and thus an entirely different motive
is appealed to. "Surely you would be glad to give me pleasure. Then do
this thing which I ask you." It is permissible to seek to draw to
virtuous acts by such a motive, and to reinforce higher reasons by the
desire to please dear ones, or to win the approbation of the wise and
good. It must be rigidly kept as a subsidiary motive, and distinguished
from the mere love of applause. Most men have some one whose opinion of
their acts is a kind of embodied conscience, and whose satisfaction is
reward. But pleasing the dearest and purest among men can never be more
than at most a crutch to help lameness or a spur to stimulate.
If however this motive be lifted to the higher level, and these words
thought of as Paul's echo of Christ's appeal to those who love Him, they
beautifully express the peculiar blessedness of Christian ethics. The
strongest motive, the very mainspring and pulsing heart of Christian
duty, is to please Christ. His language to His followers is not, "Do
this because it is right," but, "Do this because it pleaseth Me." They
have a living Person to gratify, not a mere law of duty to obey. The
help which is given to weakness by the hope of winning golden opinions
from, or giving pleasure to, those whom men love is transferred in the
Christian relation to Jesus. So the cold thought of duty is warmed, and
the weight of obedience to a stony, impersonal law is lightened, and a
new power is enlisted on the side of goodness, which sways more mightily
than all the abstractions of duty. The Christ Himself makes His appeal
to men in the same tender fashion as Paul to Philemon. He will move to
holy obedience by the thought--wonderful as it is--that it gladdens Him.
Many a weak heart has been braced and made capable of heroisms of
endurance and effort, and of angel deeds of mercy, all beyond its own
strength, by that great thought, "We labour that, whether present or
absent, we may be well-pleasing to Him."
II. Verse 21 exhibits love commanding, in the confidence of love
obeying. "Having confidence in thine obedience I write unto thee,
knowing that thou wilt do even beyond what I say." In _v_. 8 the Apostle
had waived his right to enjoin, because he had rather speak the speech
of love, and request. But here, with the slightest possible touch, he
just lets the note of authority sound for a single moment, and then
passes into the old music of affection and trust. He but names the word
"obedience," and that in such a way as to present it as the child of
love, and the privilege of his friend. He trusts Philemon's obedience,
because he knows his love, and is sure that it is love of such a sort as
will not stand on the exact measure, but will delight in giving it
"pressed down and running over."
What could he mean by "do more than I say"? Was he hinting at
emancipation, which he would rather have to come from Philemon's own
sense of what was due to the slave who was now a brother, than be
granted, perhaps hesitatingly, in deference to his request? Possibly,
but more probably he had no definite thing in his mind, but only desired
to express his loving confidence in his friend's willingness to please
him. Commands given in such a tone, where authority audibly trusts the
subordinate, are far more likely to be obeyed than if they were shouted
with the hoarse voice of a drill-sergeant. Men will do much to fulfil
generous expectations. Even debased natures will respond to such appeal;
and if they see that good is expected from them, that will go far to
evoke it. Some masters have always good servants, and part of the secret
is that they trust them to obey. "England expects" fulfilled itself.
When love enjoins there should be trust in its tones. It will act like a
magnet to draw reluctant feet into the path of duty. A will which mere
authority could not bend, like iron when cold, may be made flexible when
warmed by this gentle heat. If parents oftener let their children feel
that they had confidence in their obedience, they would seldomer have to
complain of their disobedience.
Christ's commands follow, or rather set, this pattern. He trusts His
servants, and speaks to them in a voice softened and confiding. He tells
them His wish, and commits Himself and His cause to His disciples' love.
Obedience beyond the strict limits of command will always be given by
love. It is a poor, grudging service which weighs obedience as a chemist
does some precious medicine, and is careful that not the hundredth part
of a grain more than the prescribed amount shall be doled out. A hired
workman will fling down his lifted trowel full of mortar at the first
stroke of the clock, though it would be easier to lay it on the bricks;
but where affection moves the hand, it is delight to add something over
and above to bare duty. The artist who loves his work will put many a
touch on it beyond the minimum which will fulfil his contract. Those
who adequately feel the power of Christian motives will not be anxious
to find the least that they durst, but the most that they can do. If
obvious duty requires them to go a mile, they will rather go two, than
be scrupulous to stop as soon as they see the milestone. A child who is
always trying to find out how little would satisfy his father cannot
have much love. Obedience to Christ is joy, peace, love. The grudging
servants are limiting their possession of these, by limiting their
active surrender of themselves. They seem to be afraid of having too
much of these blessings. A heart truly touched by the love of Jesus
Christ will not seek to know the lowest limit of duty, but the highest
possibility of service.
"Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely calculated less or more."
III. Verse 22 may be summed up as the language of love, hoping for
reunion. "Withal prepare me a lodging: for I hope that through your
prayers I shall be granted unto you." We do not know whether the
Apostle's expectation was fulfilled. Believing that he was set free from
his first imprisonment, and that his second was separated from it by a
considerable interval, during which he visited Macedonia and Asia Minor,
we have yet nothing to show whether or not he reached Colossae; but
whether fulfilled or not, the expectation of meeting would tend to
secure compliance with his request, and would be all the more likely to
do so, for the very delicacy with which it is stated, so as not to seem
to be mentioned for the sake of adding force to his intercession.
The limits of Paul's expectation as to the power of his brethren's
prayers for temporal blessings are worth noting. He does believe that
these good people in Colossae could help him by prayer for his
liberation, but he does not believe that their prayer will certainly be
heard. In some circles much is said now about "the prayer of faith"--a
phrase which, singularly enough, is in such cases almost confined to
prayers for external blessings,--and about its power to bring money for
work which the person praying believes to be desirable, or to send away
diseases. But surely there can be no "faith" without a definite Divine
_word_ to lay hold of. Faith and God's promise are correlative; and
unless a man has God's plain promise that A. B. will be cured by his
prayer, the belief that he will is not faith, but something deserving a
much less noble name. The prayer of faith is not forcing our wills on
God, but bending our wills to God's. The prayer which Christ has taught
in regard to all outward things is, "Not my will but Thine be done,"
and, "May Thy will become mine." That is the prayer of faith, which is
always answered. The Church prayed for Peter, and he was delivered; the
Church, no doubt, prayed for Stephen, and he was stoned. Was then the
prayer for him refused? Not so, but if it were prayer at all, the inmost
meaning of it was "be it as Thou wilt"; and that was accepted and
answered. Petitions for outward blessings, whether for the petitioner or
for others, are to be presented with submission; and the highest
confidence which can be entertained concerning them is that which Paul
here expresses: "I _hope_ that through your prayers I shall be set
free."
The prospect of meeting enhances the force of the Apostle's wish; nor
are Christians without an analogous motive to give weight to their
obligations to their Lord. Just as Paul quickened Philemon's loving wish
to serve him by the thought that he might have the gladness of seeing
him before long, so Christ quickens His servant's diligence by the
thought that before very many days He will come, or they will go--at any
rate, they will be with Him,--and He will see what they have been doing
in His absence. Such a prospect should increase diligence, and should
not inspire terror. It is a mark of true Christians that they "love His
appearing." Their hearts should glow at the hope of meeting. That hope
should make work happier and lighter. When a husband has been away at
sea, the prospect of his return makes the wife sing at her work, and
take more pains or rather pleasure with it, because his eye is to see
it. So should it be with the bride in the prospect of her bridegroom's
return. The Church should not be driven to unwelcome duties by the fear
of a strict judgment, but drawn to large, cheerful service, by the hope
of spreading her work before her returning Lord.
Thus, on the whole, in this letter, the central springs of Christian
service are touched, and the motives used to sway Philemon are the echo
of the motives which Christ uses to sway men. The keynote of all is
love. Love beseeches when it might command. To love we owe our own
selves beside. Love will do nothing without the glad consent of him to
whom it speaks, and cares for no service which is of necessity. Its
finest wine is not made from juice which is pressed out of the grapes,
but from that which flows from them for very ripeness. Love identifies
itself with those who need its help, and treats kindnesses to them as
done to itself. Love finds joy and heart solace in willing, though it be
imperfect, service. Love expects more than it asks. Love hopes for
reunion, and by the hope makes its wish more weighty. These are the
points of Paul's pleading with Philemon. Are they not the elements of
Christ's pleading with His friends?
He too prefers the tone of friendship to that of authority. To Him His
servants owe themselves, and remain for ever in His debt, after all
payment of reverence and thankful self-surrender. He does not count
constrained service as service at all, and has only volunteers in His
army. He makes Himself one with the needy, and counts kindness to the
least as done to Him. He binds Himself to repay and overpay all
sacrifice in His service. He finds delight in His people's work. He asks
them to prepare an abode for Him in their own hearts, and in souls
opened by their agency for His entrance. He has gone to prepare a
mansion for them, and He comes to receive account of their obedience and
to crown their poor deeds. It is impossible to suppose that Paul's
pleading for Philemon failed. How much less powerful is Christ's, even
with those who love Him best?
IV. The parting greetings may be very briefly considered, for much that
would have naturally been said about them has already presented itself
in dealing with the similar salutations in the epistle to Colossae. The
same people send messages here as there; only Jesus called Justus being
omitted, probably for no other reason than because he was not at hand
at the moment. Epaphras is naturally mentioned singly, as being a
Colossian, and therefore more closely connected with Philemon than were
the others. After him come the two Jews and the two Gentiles, as in
Colossians.
The parting benediction ends the letter. At the beginning of the epistle
Paul invoked grace upon the household "from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ." Now he conceives of it as Christ's gift. In him all the
stooping, bestowing love of God is gathered, that from Him it may be
poured on the world. That grace is not diffused like stellar light,
through some nebulous heaven, but concentrated in the Sun of
Righteousness, who is the light of men. That fire is piled on a hearth
that, from it, warmth may ray out to all that are in the house.
That grace has man's spirit for the field of its highest operation.
Thither it can enter, and there it can abide, in union more close and
communion more real and blessed than aught else can attain. The spirit
which has the grace of Christ with it can never be utterly solitary or
desolate.
The grace of Christ is the best bond of family life. Here it is prayed
for on behalf of all the group, the husband, wife, child, and the
friends in their home Church. Like grains of sweet incense cast on an
altar flame, and making fragrant what was already holy, that grace
sprinkled on the household fire will give it an odour of a sweet smell,
grateful to men and acceptable to God.
That wish is the purest expression of Christian friendship, of which the
whole letter is so exquisite an example. Written as it is about a
common, every-day matter, which could have been settled without a
single religious reference, it is saturated with Christian thought and
feeling. So it becomes an example of how to blend Christian sentiment
with ordinary affairs, and to carry a Christian atmosphere everywhere.
Friendship and social intercourse will be all the nobler and happier, if
pervaded by such a tone. Such words as these closing ones would be a sad
contrast to much of the intercourse of professedly Christian men. But
every Christian ought by his life to be, as it were, floating the grace
of God to others sinking for want of it to lay hold of, and all his
speech should be of a piece with this benediction.
A Christian's life should be "an epistle of Christ" written with His own
hand, wherein dim eyes might read the transcript of His own gracious
love, and through all his words and deeds should shine the image of his
Master, even as it does through the delicate tendernesses and gracious
pleadings of this pure pearl of a letter, which the slave, become a
brother, bore to the responsive hearts in quiet Colossae.
* * * * *