“no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.”
– Philemon 16
Hi James and Ellen,
How would you like it if a personal letter that was written about you is today in the Biblical canon? Onesimus had it happen to him. Onesimus’ claim to fame is that he became Paul’s cellmate. When Onesimus tried to escape to get away from the endless expectations and incessant demands that were put on a guy who for one reason or another has become 2,000 years ago a slave, Onesimus ends up in jail. Philemon was Onesimus’ master. Philemon’s home was in the town of Colosse. Apphia was Philemon’s wife. Philemon and Apphia used their home as a house church for Christ-follower guys and gals who lived in the town of Colosse. Because the town of Colosse was situated on or very near a major trade route that connected the city of Antioch to the city of Ephesus, your grandpaa believes that Paul – while he was on his third missionary journey, very possibly spent several days in the town of Colosse. Your grandpaa thinks that it is possible that Paul met Philemon and even Onesimus while he was in the town of Colosse. Archippus was a Christ-follower who lived in the city of Colosse. Archippus may have been the positioned leading elder in the Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals that was in the city of Colosse. Paul sent his single chapter letter – that is called Philemon in the Bible, to Philemon from the city of Rome. This short letter is a heartfelt plea from Paul to Philemon for Philemon to take Onesimus back into his household without any recrimination. Paul went on record in his letter to Philemon that he would pay any debt that Onesimus might owe to him or if Onesimus has done something else to Philemon that he would . . . why do you think that Paul would write this reference letter for Onesimus to Philemon? It seems that while Onesimus was locked up in a prison cell with Paul, Paul encouraged Onesimus to make a decision of faith in Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. Verse 16 has Paul saying this about Onesimus as being “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” The significance of this letter that Paul sent to Philemon is Paul’s symbolical act of taking on a temporary role of a micro substitutionary mediator for Onesimus – which Jesus Christ did as God – God the Son, for all eternity in an absolute complete macro way for the guys, gals and kids who God – as God the Father, elected for Himself before He created planet Earth.
Do you think that a guy, gal or kid can be in the wrong place at the wrong time or that he or she can be in the right place at the right time or that he or she can be in the wrong place at the right time or that he or she can be in the right place at the wrong time? Your grandpaa believes that nothing ever happens by chance – that everything that has happened, is happening and will happen has been, is and will be controlled by God’s divine determination that He formulated before He designed the cosmos let alone before He created planet Earth. Onesimus being stuck in a jail cell with Paul was not coincidence; it is a demonstration of God’s unqualified ability to interweave lives in an uncanny, timely way. When OC International – which is known as Equipo SEPAL in Guatemala, gave Guatemala as a viable option for a place where your grandmaa and grandpaa could go to honor the overseas, cross-cultural call that God – as God the Father, gave them, Guatemala was nowhere on their radar screen. When Hector Pivaral – who is a host country missionary with Equipo SEPAL in Guatemala, began to pray that someone from the United States would show up in Guatemala to help him with enabling rural guys and gals in Biblical truths, there was no way that your grandpaa could stop something that God had put into motion before He perfectly placed planet Earth into a celestial void that He was filling at the very same time with other luminaries that includes a near enough hot star to maintain on planet Earth a variety of ‘life’ that defies imagination. Hector became your grandpaa’s close ministry companion and a very good friend to your grandpaa during the 7 ½ years that your grandmaa and grandpaa were on OC International’s Equipo SEPAL field missionary team in Guatemala. Hector had gotten a civil engineer degree from the university that is in Guatemala City before your grandpaa arrived in Guatemala. After Hector had worked for a year or so as a civil engineer, Hector decided to go to SETECA. SETECA is Dallas Theological Seminary’s sister school in Guatemala City. Hector had already completed an equivalent to a B.A. from SETECA when your grandpaa arrived in Guatemala City. Not long after your grandmaa and grandpaa arrived in Guatemala City to join OC International’s Equipo SEPAL’s Guatemala field missionary team, a couple with Central America Mission arrived in Guatemala. Bob and Shirley Kasper spent a year or so in Bolivia the same time that your grandmaa and grandpaa were in Bolivia. Bob and Shirley ended up attending the same church that Hector attends. Bob was tasked by SETECA – while Bob and Shirley were in Guatemala City, to initiate a doctorate program at SETECA – which would be Latin America’s first doctorate program. Just as Hector finished an equivalent to a M.A., Bob received accreditation for a doctorate program at SETECA. Hector has only his dissertation left for his PhD from SETECA.
Hector has focused his studies and is focusing his dissertation on the contextualized Bible education program that he and your grandpaa implemented in Guatemala. To be an Onesimus is to be in the right place at the right time.
Philemon (1027)