Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching)

by Philip Quenby

  This does not mean that we are necessarily called to express gratitude for terrible events, but that we should look beyond such happenings and see the things that manifest God’s activity and blessing. If we concentrate only on the troubles of daily life, we will miss much that is good. In the midst of tribulation, St Paul focuses on the positive: Philemon’s “faith ... [and] love” (Philemon :5), which have “refreshed the hearts of the saints” (Philemon :7) and which in turn “has given me great joy and encouragement” (Philemon :7).

  St Paul’s desire is that Philemon should build on this foundation of faith and love by “[being] active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” (Philemon :6). An intriguing truth lies at the heart of these words: it is through the act of sharing our faith that we gain “full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” (Philemon :6). Faith cannot just remain an internal, intellectual or theoretical thing. It needs to be acted out and it needs to be shared: shared in the sense of telling others and shared in the sense of being given practical expression. Real understanding comes only through doing so, for until the message is lived it cannot be fully appreciated.

  Appeal.

  St Paul offers Philemon the chance to “be active in sharing your faith” (Philemon :6) in a remarkable way. What he asks is that Philemon should display three qualities that are central to the Christian life and message: forgiveness, love and brotherhood. Philemon is asked to take his former slave Onesimus back into his household “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” (Philemon :16). This is against every social convention and legal obligation. Onesimus was a runaway slave and as such could face the death penalty. Some surmise that he may have stolen from his master and that this is why St Paul says: “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.” (Philemon :18). Even if he were taken back into the master’s household, everything would appear to militate against his being freed, still less that he should thereafter be treated as a “dear brother.” (Philemon :16).

  Philemon is under no requirement of law or convention and St Paul deliberately avoids putting him under any hold by virtue of his own authority and standing within the church, for love and compulsions of these kinds do not mix. Rather, the apostle says that whilst he “could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love ... I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do will be spontaneous and not forced.” (Philemon :8 and 14). Far from pulling rank, St Paul deliberately puts his relationship with Philemon on an equal footing, calling him “partner” (Philemon :17).

  Instead, the apostle draws on the impetus that comes from love and adherence to the gospel. He draws a parallel between what Philemon has already done for others and what St Paul now asks to be done for him. When he asks for “some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ” (Philemon :20) this mirrors the earlier mention of Philemon being one who “refreshed the hearts of the saints.” (Philemon :7). He also reminds Philemon that “you owe me your very self” (Philemon :19): that, but for St Paul having preached the gospel to him, he would still be dead in his sins and cut off from salvation.

  The appeal to Philemon shows how we can continue to make steady progress in the Christian life as our understanding of the implications of the gospel for ourselves and those around us deepens. Although Philemon is a sufficiently committed Christian that there is a “church that meets in [his] home” (Philemon :2), clearly he had never previously considered that he had any obligation to free a slave. Now he is brought to that realisation through being challenged by a fellow believer and being forced to confront the implications of the things in which he believes. In the same way, we need to challenge ourselves and our fellows about the implications of our beliefs for our own lives and those of others. We should do this in a loving way, without pulling rank or giving orders, but we must not shy away from it. If we do not grasp the nettle, we will fail to grow, the gospel will fail to gain ground as it should and our society will remain under unnecessary burdens.

  Family.

  The letter to Philemon is a personal one. Unlike those that are addressed to an entire church community, it was not designed for public consumption by being read out to the whole assembly. Its tone is intimate and familial. Indeed, its every reference to people is shot through with family analogies. St Paul writes of “Timothy our brother” (Philemon :1), “Apphia our sister” (Philemon :2) and Philemon his “brother” (Philemon :20).

  The most fulsome family references are to the former slave, who is described as being related both to St Paul and to Philemon. To St Paul he is “my very heart” (Philemon :12), “my son ... who became my son while I was in chains” (Philemon :10) and “is very dear to me” (Philemon :16). To Philemon he is “even dearer ... both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” (Philemon :16) and can be restored “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” (Philemon :16). There is something deeper at work here than the straightforward story of a runaway slave. The repeated references to family relationships are not just an elaborate conceit on the part of a skilled orator to win trust, build sympathy and compel obligation. Family relationships between all Christians exist by virtue of our all being adopted into God’s family.

  We do not know why Onesimus ran away from his master. There is no telling what hurts, injustices and cruelties were on one side or what measure of broken trust on the other. For these individuals, as for us, it is not the past that matters, however, but the present and the future. Both Onesimus and Philemon had to put their former relationship behind them in order to experience the kinship that they share by being children of a loving God. We need to do the same, especially in those areas of our lives that have been scarred by bad experiences.

  The story of Philemon and Onesimus is no less than an acting out in real life of the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and hence the story of our own redemption by God. Loss and separation are to be made good. What has been marred or mislaid is to be replaced by something even better than before. Human beings are to be transformed: “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” (Philemon :11) – a pun on the name Onesimus, which means ‘useful.’ Thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit in his life, a slave is set free and is made into the person that God intended him to be. This is a story that our nation needs to hear again.

  Conclusion.

  John Bunyan experienced repeated loss: the death of wife, daughter, friend and mentor was compounded by enforced separation from family during long years in gaol. There is a world of pain in this life, but through such a cauldron he was fired, moulded and transformed. Indeed, the very trials he suffered were used so that they became the occasion for something great and beautiful to see the light of day. Perhaps Pilgrim’s Progress could not have been written without years behind bars. This is not to fall into the facile argument that “everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.”[45] It merely recognises the way that God is able to work extraordinary things through ordinary people and bring spiritual triumph from circumstances of desolation and despair. Although we often have difficulty accepting it in times of hardship, it is indeed the case that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). With the benefit of hindsight, we can often say as Joseph did to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20).

  We have kinship with God and kinship with each other. We must start to put this into practice. We need to challenge each other, gently and lovingly but also firmly so that we may continue to grow and so that our nation may be transformed by the power of God working through us. The things we experience, alone and collectively, can be our cauldron. We have the option of concentrating on our pain and anguis
h, of allowing ourselves to be caught up in the injustices of the past, or of looking beyond these things to where God is at work. To quote Oscar Wilde: “We are all lying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” God calls us to “shine like stars in the universe as [we] hold out the word of life” (Philippians 2:15). With his help, we can all do so.

  22. Restoration

  1 Peter 5:1-10

  Key word: humility.

  It is a measure of the misery brought about by civil war, the selectiveness of human memory and the amiable nature of the occupant of the throne that the Restoration retains the aura of “good king Charles’ golden days.” Reality belies the rosy image. Charles himself had talent and charm, for sure. With the exception of trying and executing the surviving regicides early in his reign, he was remarkably free of vindictiveness towards supporters of the Commonwealth. The ‘Merry Monarch’ was a keen tennis player, yachtsman and hunter. He started horse-racing at Newmarket, which in turn gave rise to the new sport of fox-hunting. People generally welcomed such pursuits after years of Puritan moralising and petty restrictions on traditional pastimes.

  Yet the sovereign was also deeply cynical in both private and public affairs. He set the tone for a court that was a byword for corrupt morals, some of whose attitudes and witticisms are preserved in the Restoration comedies penned by the fashionable playwrights of the day. At one point, he arguably betrayed his own country by negotiating the extraordinary secret Treaty of Dover (1670) with Louis XIV. This provided for Charles to receive annual payments, and in return he agreed both to help the French ruler and to become a Roman Catholic. The subsidies enabled the king to dissolve Parliament on 28 March 1681, in an uncomfortable echo of his father.

  Perhaps most notable of all is that he presided over three consecutive years of disasters, any one of which might have been enough to darken the remembrance of a reign less flattered by the internal strife that preceded and followed it. In 1665 bubonic plague struck, first in London and then throughout the country. Scenes reminiscent of the Black Death were played out, highlighting the same mixture of human virtue and vice. At Eyam in Derbyshire, an entire village chose to die rather than risk infecting others, but plenty had no such qualms.

  London was still recovering from plague when the Great Fire (1666) caught hold. It burned for four days. In that time it devastated 400 streets and lanes, 13,200 houses, 89 parish churches, 52 halls, old St Paul’s cathedral, the Guildhall, gaols, markets and other public buildings. The area affected comprised 373 acres within the old city walls and a further 63 acres outside. Some 200,000 people were made homeless, but remarkably there was little loss of life. The fire caused enormous damage to property, but in destroying the filthy alleys and narrow thoroughfares of the city, it cleansed it of the last traces of plague.

  Through disease and fire the country was at war with former allies and fellow Protestants, the United Provinces of the Netherlands. They inflicted one of the most ignominious defeats in English naval history. In 1667 their admiral de Groot sailed up the Medway, broke the defensive chain across the river and burned the English fleet at anchor, towing away some ships as prizes. In the event, the war was fought to a stalemate and peace brokered later that same year, but the blow to English pride and prestige was heavy. In Last Instructions to a Painter, the poet Andrew Marvell (a former tutor to the daughter of Parliamentary general Lord Fairfax and a fierce critic of Charles II) wrote indignantly of “our ships unrigg’d, our forts unmanned.”

  Yet Charles breezed blithely through it all, for all the world without a care to his name.

  Authority.

  In truth human lives, even those of kings and princes, are seldom without care. The apostle Peter writes to early Christians who experience “anxiety” (1 Peter 5:7) and whose “brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9). He cautions them to “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).

  At a time of difficulty and persecution, Peter has advice for how we should conduct ourselves. The way in which he phrases his exhortations to those in positions of authority in the early church is revealing. The apostle is a man who lived with Jesus for more than three years during his earthly ministry, was a participant in many of the major events of those days, was “a witness of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 5:1) and was the leading figure at the first Pentecost. At the time of writing this letter he remained one of the acknowledged principals of the new faith.

  Nevertheless, he does not give orders, though he might be considered to have every right to do so. Rather he says: “I appeal to you” (1 Peter 5:1). He puts himself on the same level as those to whom he writes, calling himself “a fellow-elder ... and one who will also share in the glory to be revealed.” (1 Peter 5:1).

  Peter gives a good example of the way in which we are to exercise authority: through persuasion and encouragement, relying on the power of example rather than “lording it over those entrusted to you” (1 Peter 5:3).The watchword is humility. To both young and old, Peter counsels: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand ...” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

  Peter practices what he preaches. This no-nonsense fisherman, by turns rash, courageous, cowardly, and foolhardy, has learnt just as Jesus predicted: “You do not understand now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (John 13:7). This should encourage us that we, too, might grow in understanding. It should also guide us towards humility, for there will always be much that we “do not understand now” (John 13:7).

  Advice.

  Humility is not the same as weakness, though many confuse the two. The humility that we are to practice is to enable God to clothe us with his power and strength: our attempts to do things on our own and according to human understanding get in the way. When once we start to exercise humility, we allow God to work in us “to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). We are told to “humble yourselves ... that God may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6). The word “that” in this sentence makes it clear that there is a connection between our humility and God’s lifting us up. Far from our being weak, the Lord “will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10). This is the bedrock on which we are to build.

  The values of the kingdom of heaven seem topsy-turvy by comparison with those of the world. Humility and its corollary, service, are amongst the central kingdom values. With that in mind, Peter has advice for both the leadership and the rank and file of the church. “To the elders among you” (1 Peter 5:1) he counsels:

  • “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care” (1 Peter 5:2). Leaders act under the delegated authority of “the Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4): the flock is not ours, but belongs to the Lord God Almighty. We are to be mindful that the flock is “entrusted” (1 Peter 5:3) to us, for with trust comes a special duty of care and responsibility.

  • “[Serve] as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be” (1 Peter 5:2). In the kingdom of heaven, compulsion is replaced by willingness and service becomes a joy. It is impossible to serve in the way that God truly desires without humility.

  • Be “not greedy for money, but eager to serve” (1 Peter 5:3). In this we are to follow the example of Jesus: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” (Matthew 20:28). In doing so, we recall that: “No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24).

  • “Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). The earthly ministry of Jesus is a prime instance of teaching by example rather than through the heavy-handed exercise of power and authority. God i
s “the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15) and as such he has every right to compel obedience. Instead, he allows us to exercise choice.

  Each of these pieces of advice reminds us that it is right for us to be humble, in submission to God and in submission to others. The followers, the “young men” (1 Peter 5:5) are told: “In the same way be submissive to those who are older” (1 Peter 5:5).

  Sheep and shepherds.

  Humility is one of the qualities to be expected of those who “will share in the glory to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). When Peter speaks of this glory, he is not just talking in figurative terms. Neither is his an intellectual understanding divorced from experience. He himself saw something of it through being present at the Transfiguration of Jesus: “There [Jesus] was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matthew 17:2). So what Peter says deserves the closest attention:

  • “When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:4).

  • “God’s mighty hand [will] lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6).