A Godly Reputation & Faithful Connections

This morning, we come to our final sermon looking at the prayers of Paul, and we find ourselves in his shortest letter, which was written to a man named Philemon. The entire letter is probably just one or two pages in your Bible, and the book is not divided into chapters.

The letter has been divided into 25 verses, and I’d like to begin by reading the opening seven verses of that letter. This portion contains Paul’s main prayer, and it’s also where we’ll be focusing our time today. Verses 1-7 of Philemon say this:

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker [2] and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: [3] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [4] I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, [5] because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, [6] and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. [7] For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

One way or another, Paul’s courage and affection are seen in every one of his letters, including this brief, little letter to a man named Philemon.

Before we get to the heart of Paul in his prayer, I want to give you some of the background to this letter. I think that’ll help us see Paul’s heart a little better.

At the time that Paul writes this letter, his primary missionary journeys are complete, but he is now in prison. That’s why, at the beginning of verse 1, he refers to himself as “a prisoner for Christ Jesus.” Rather than introduce himself as an Apostle with authority over Philemon, Paul writes as a humble, suffering servant of Christ.

From prison, he wrote letters to the churches of the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians. And he also wrote this more personal letter.

Philemon, it appears, was someone that Paul knew personally. At the end of verse 1, Paul calls him a “beloved fellow worker.”

According to verse 2, Philemon has a wife named Apphia, and his household also include a guy named Archippus, who is probably his son. The same name comes at the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, so that’s the church where this family is ministering.

Besides knowing Paul personally, though, this family has the distinct privilege of hosting the church. This probably means they had a large home, with enough space for everyone to meet, and that probably means they were at least moderately wealthy. This was a family of means, and of ministry.

And that brings us to the opening verses of the body of the letter, which is Paul’s prayer. And in seeing Paul’s prayer, we get to see, once again, Paul’s heart. And in seeing Paul’s heart, we get to see the heart of Jesus Christ.

Verse 4 says—I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. And then he goes on to unpack what that prayer is.

What is it that Paul pays attention to? What does he point out? What is he going to commend in this man?

In looking at verses 5, 6, and 7, we get four key words that shows us Paul’s focus. They are: love, faith, community, and knowledge. Love, faith, community, and knowledge.

Look at verse 5 with me. Here is why Paul gives thanks for Philemon. Verse 5—because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints

Philemon is a man of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has embraced Jesus as the true Messiah, the true King and Savior of the world. Philemon understood, as many of you already do, that rather than face the eternal judgment of God that we all deserve, he would be saved because Jesus gave His life to ransom the lost and then rose again in victory. That’s the heart of Christian faith. That’s the message every true church proclaims.

Our job, as the church, is to hold out that truth, without apology, and call people to believe. We want people to hear the message, but beyond that, we want people to receive it and to receive Christ for themselves by calling out to Him, begging for mercy, and turning from their sin. That’s true saving faith. That’s what Philemon had, and that’s what God wants all of us to have.

Expressing faith, however, isn’t the end of the Christian life, or of God’s work in a person. If that faith is genuine, one of the results will be love for Christ and love for His people. And that’s what Paul points out in Philemon’s life. This is why he gives thanks.

Paul says that Philemon had a love for all the saints. But this wasn’t just some generic love for God’s people all across the world. This was specific. For Philemon, it meant opening up his home. It probably meant letting people eat his food and get his house dirty. It might have even meant washing people’s feet and meeting their physical or financial needs.

This is the kind of love that the Bible describes for the church all through out the New Testament. There can be no legitimate assertion of faith if there is no love for the saints.

That love means self-sacrifice for someone else’s spiritual and physical wellbeing. It includes physical things like giving money, providing food, and meeting needs for travel and lodging. Spiritually, this would include the courage and the compassion to teach, to admonish, to encourage, to confess sin, to give advice, to correct gently.

Ordinarily, in a sermon, we get teaching points. But in looking at Paul’s prayer, I’m not as concerned today about making a point, as I am about asking a question. In fact, I’d like to ask two questions, and they are primarily aimed at those of you who are members of the church.

The first question has to do with your reputation. Like Philemon, are you known for a brotherly love that is fueled by your faith? Are you known for a brotherly love that is fueled by your faith?

How would you know the answer to that? One way is to ask a friend. But it’s not an easy question to ask.

What’s my reputation like in the church? Would people say I love Christ, and would they say that it has translated into a love for the church? Is it a love that extends to everyone in some way, not the just the people who sit next to me? Is it a profound love that is significant, visible, and undeniable?

Would people say about me what Paul says about Philemon? Why? Or why not? Do people give thanks to God because of how I love and serve?

I’m not really going to add more to that, but I want you to seriously think about it. Evaluate your contribution in the family of God and in the church you have committed yourself to.

Although this is a personal letter, verse 2 says that it was also addressed to the church, which means that it was going to be read aloud in front of everyone. The people would have known whether Paul was simply flattering Philemon or giving an accurate assessment of his life. The people of the church would have been able to confirm his reputation.

If you know people like this in the church, tell them. Thank God for them and encourage them. One other thing to do is to pray for them. Pray that their ministry and service in the church would continue and flourish.

This is exactly what Paul does in verse 6. Look at what it says—and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

The first pair of words that showed us Paul’s focus were love and faith. The second set of words, from verse 6, are community and knowledge.

Paul talks about the sharing of Philemon’s faith. He’s not talking in a plural here. He’s talking about Philemon. And the word “sharing” can guide us a little astray because when we use the phrase “sharing the faith,” we’re usually talking about evangelism, but that’s not the case here.

The Greek word Paul uses is koinonía, which a number of you have heard. Some translations use the word fellowship, or communion, or participation. The word has the idea of a partnership or a belonging. It points to unity, which is why I chose to use the word community.

When someone comes to faith, he is united to Christ. Jesus’ perfect life,. Jesus’ sacrificial death, and Jesus’ glorious resurrection are all counted toward the person who comes to faith. They are “in Christ.” And by being made one with Christ, they are also united to every other person who is in Christ as well. We are a spiritual family.

And when the church gathers—whether it happens formally for a service, or informally in the parking lot or in a hospital room, or at a restaurant, or in someone’s home—that unity, that partnership should be on display. We are the family of God.

If I were to go to the grocery store and bump into a parent of one of the players on my kids’ sports team, that greeting will be very different than if I were to bump into my aunt or my grandma, right? The fact that we are related shows up somehow.

Some of you have experienced the difference between what it is to come to church as a visitor, and then, having come to faith and shared your testimony and gone through baptism, what it is to come as a brother or a sister in the Lord. It’s not the same!

When the Colossian church gathered in Philemon’s home, they were there as family. And it wasn’t simply a love that stirred their emotions. It was a love that produced something. That love—that community, or communion, that they shared—had a purpose. It strengthened and deepened their faith in, and their understanding of, Jesus Christ.

Paul is praying for that pattern to continue. Look at verse 6 one more time. He’s praying that the sharing of their faith with one another would be effective.

The Greek word there is energés, which is where we get words like energy or energetic. The word means “active” or “powerful.” Something is being accomplished. What is it?

In sharing their lives with one another, Paul prays that they would grow in their knowledge of every good things that it is in us, for the glory of Christ.

The word “knowledge” there is a special word. It’s not just intellectual knowledge. It’s intimate knowledge. It’s experiential knowledge.

My doctor knows all about me from the tests and the charts. But he doesn’t know me like my brother or my sister or my parents do, right? My wife and my kids have personal, experiential knowledge of who I am.

We could use the same analogy for an object too. You can read all about a specific car or a specific tool. You can know how much it weighs and how much it costs. You can know where it was manufactured. You can read all the pros and cons, but that’s not the same kind of knowledge as the person who owns and uses it. The second category is personal, experiential knowledge.

What kind of knowledge do you want concerning the good gifts of God?

Ephesians 1 says God the Father has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

How do we find out more about those blessings? One way is to read your Bible. It explains what Christ has done for us. It helps us understand.

Another way is to pray. Paul prays for this in Ephesians 1 and 3, when he says, “I pray that you would have the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe… I want you to have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

It takes the word of God and the grace of God for us to grow into a fuller and more intimate knowledge of the blessings we have in Christ.

But according to verse 6, we find that there is one more important ingredient. Growing in the knowledge of Christ also takes the people of God. Living in community, living as an expression of the unity we have in Christ, will be effective in helping us gain more knowledge of all the good we have received in Christ.

To say it another way, the more we exercise faith and love as an expression of our fellowship, the better we will come to understand all that Christ has given us.

You don't learn about God and Christ simply from a book. We learn the history and the theology from the Bible; there’s nowhere else to go. But the practical experience of it comes as we live out the Christian faith.

When someone genuinely accepts you and forgives you, or when you genuinely serve or forgive someone else, you gain a better understanding of Jesus Christ. You gain personal knowledge of the sacrifice and the love Christ has shown you.

If any of you were ever adopted by another family, you have a personal knowledge of adoption. If any of you were ever rescued from death by a police officer or a lifeguard, you have a personal experience of salvation.

But even if you haven’t experienced that, you can deepen your knowledge of Christ by connecting more faithfully with the family of God.

When sickness humbles you physically, you gain a better understanding of the sufferings of Christ. When others meet your needs, you gain a better understanding of the love of Christ. When you dig deep to love your family, you gain an understanding of Christ’s love. And when you fail someone, you gain a better appreciation of the perfection of Jesus who never failed.

God intended for us to live in community, but not just so that we wouldn’t feel alone. It was so that our Christian unity would deepen our understanding, our knowledge, and our experience of Jesus Christ.

And so, here’s the second question I want you to think about. The first question was about your reputation with others. The second question is about your connection with others. What are you doing to enhance for yourself and for others the knowledge of Jesus Christ? What are you doing, or what can you do, to enhance the church’s knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Moms and Dads, when you love your kids, you’re giving them a picture of the love of Christ. Kids, when you listen to your parents, you’re reminding them about the way they’re supposed to listen to their heavenly Father.

When you invite someone into your life and into your home, you are demonstrating the grace of Christ that invites people in, rather than shuts people out.

When you share your struggles or your victories, you help others understand the mercy of God.

Ask yourself, what would the answer to Paul’s prayer in verse 6 look like in my own life? How can my commitment and communion with my church be effective for helping others grow into a fuller knowledge of Christ and His blessings?

Verse 7, gives us one simple example that can get us thinking in the right direction. Even though Paul is sitting in prison, he says he has joy, and he is comforted because he knows that the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through Philemon.

What a beautiful word to use. They’ve been refreshed. On a hot day, when you’ve working outside in the sun for a few hours, doesn’t it feel good to sit down in the shade and have a cool breeze flow across your face? That’s refreshment, right? That’s rest. That’s relief.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It’s the same Greek word there as Paul uses for Philemon’s ministry.

You can help others experience the rest Christ offers. Think about that, and put it into practice.

After highlighting these beautiful qualities that he saw in Philemon’s life, Paul goes on, in the rest of the letter, to ask Philemon to do something very special, but also very difficult. It would take the power of God to accomplish, but it would be a beautiful picture of the love of Christ.

It’s a short letter, so, I’ll let you read it for yourself. Let’s pray.