Colossians 4:7-9

Some of you, there will be people to pray with you at the end of the service. If you had that kind of week, is what I sensed here. Well, it's a joy to be with you and worship again. It's also a joy just to celebrate the Lord's table together with you. That would have looked a little different a couple thousand years ago for the first few churches in existence after Jesus death and resurrection, as they gathered in different situations, cities around the Roman Empire, in different small towns and large towns, those churches would have normally gathered in somebody's home.

Usually a wealthy person who had a home, who was part of the church, would host everybody. They'd come together often in the evening and have a meal together. Part of that meal would be a remembrance of the Lord's Supper and a celebration of that time of communion, remembering what Jesus had done for them and how he had brought them together. There'd be singing, there'd be some sharing of the word. And for some churches at particular times, there was a special event because Paul, the great apostle Paul, who God had commissioned to go and to plant churches around, really around the world at that time Paul would write these letters to different churches to kind of instruct them and remind them and encourage them and warn them.

And one of the letters we started looking at last week was the book of Colossians. So I going to invite you to turn there and I want you just to imagine that church that's gathered together, gathered together in somebody's home. And now this night, this night there is a letter from Paul. A man named Tychicus has brought that letter to the church. He's carried it from Paul, who is in prison.

He's carried it, he's brought it to the church and he's going to read it to the church often. It'll probably be read in its entirety and everybody's going to hear this. But there's some personal stuff in there too. In fact, the host of this church in Colossae, which is kind of like central Turkey. Now, the host of this church was a guy named Philemon.

You may recognize that name because he has another book of the Bible named after him. Paul would actually write him a direct letter, the letter to Philemon, which would have some very personal instruction and encourage you to read that as well. But in this letter through the Colossians, the end of the letter kind of goes into some really personal greetings and instruction and reminders. And it feels a little weird to read kind of some of the personal stuff at the end of the letter. And sometimes it's kind of just, well, why are we reading this?

This doesn't seem as applicable. And in fact, you may be a little uncomfortable with it because the US Code, Title 18, Section 1702, actually makes it a federal offense to read mail not addressed to you.

So with your Bibles opened to the letter to the Colossian Church from Paul, you might be a little uncomfortable. The penalty for breaking this law is either a fine up to $2,000 or imprisonment up to five years or both.

So. Well, I mean, the laws probably, I don't think, apply to the letters of Scripture. In fact, the laws assume that you're reading it before it was actually delivered to the person. So I think we're going to be okay. And there's not going to be federal agents breaking in because of our reading of this personal letter this morning.

But it is personal and we're going to see. We're going to look at a few verses at the end of the Book of Colossians that you read and you're like, I don't know who that is. But Paul seems to know that person really well. So do the Colossian Church. I don't know that situation.

What's going on? Who is this guy? I mean, the ends of the letter often are filled with a long list of unfamiliar people. This letter to Colossians, there's someone named Jesus in there, and it's not that Jesus. It's another Jesus, also called Justus, and we don't know anything about him really.

There's someone called Nympha there, and we don't know much about her. There's people with hard to pronounce names, like Tychicus, like Epaphras or Epaphras or something. I'm not sure. Sometimes these people have hard to pronounce names and they're unfamiliar or there's unfamiliar places or there's instructions that seem not really applicable for us. You know, why does Paul tell someone to bring his books and his parchments?

And like, how do I apply that to my life? So when you read some of the ends of the letters of Paul and the New Testament letters, we may be tempted to kind of skim past those parts because we want to find the more relevant material. But my prayer is that you see that there is something beautiful in the whole of these letters. We are supposed to read someone else's mail here. Paul assumed that, that other churches actually would.

Would get a copy of this letter and hear what he said to the Colossian Church and think about that. And so down through the centuries, we have these letters and we get to enjoy them this morning. But remember that Paul wrote to a specific group of people in the 1st century in the city of Colossae in a different language, a different culture than we are familiar with, he wrote. And there was an explanation that his letter would be read among other churches. So we're going to read just a few verses here and pray, and then I'm going to kind of try to fit these verses into the rest of Colossians and see how what we looked at last week impacts this passage and then impacts our life.

So Colossians, chapter 4, verse 7 starts out with one of those hard to pronounce names. Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one one of you.

They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. That's our text for this morning. Let's pray for God's help. Father, would you help us to see the relevance and the importance of this passage? There are beautiful things to see here that show us the glory of Jesus and what his transforming power the gospel does.

We praise things in his name. Amen. Well, I want to start out. I'm not going to get into the details of this, those specific verses quite yet. I'm going to back up and try to just show you what Paul has done throughout the letter that has led to this point where he's introducing Tychicus and Onesimus.

So if you're a history person, we'll get to the history, we'll kind of get that. But I want you to see just how his letter has developed and led to this moment, which is very important. So last week we looked at chapter one, we looked at a few verses 15 through 18, in particular of chapter one, that just introduced this lofty, massive, glorious truth about Jesus. Jesus is Lord. Paul starts out, that's the point of his, the opening kind of salvo of his letter.

Jesus is overall, he is preeminent. He is Lord, he is supreme. In fact, if you just look at chapter one, verse 15, by Jesus, all things were created. All things were created through Jesus. And for Jesus, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. That in Everything he might be preeminent. I mean, that's Paul's just kind of one of his big pushes in the beginning. Jesus is over everything.

And if Jesus is Lord of all things, the universe, what does that mean then? For your life, what does that mean? I mean, there's some massive claims there in just that passage right there. One Jesus. Jesus is the creator.

It means he's God himself. He is co equal with God the Father, an agent of creation. Jesus is the sustainable sustainer of the universe. He holds all things together. Jesus is the head of the universe and he's the head of the local church.

He is preeminent. He is supreme in all things. And God the Father is reconciling all things through God the Son, Jesus, who made peace by his death on the cross. Jesus is not just Lord. He is our Savior that has brought us to God.

Jesus, though, is Lord. Which means that Caesar, whose image would be everywhere in Colossae and other towns of that day, Caesar, who was called Lord and who was called Savior. If Jesus is Lord of all, if Jesus is as preeminent as Paul says he is, then Caesar's not quite up there, which would have been quite uncomfortable for many of the citizens of Rome to hear. Jesus reigns supreme as Lord of all is what Paul has started with. And what does that mean then for us?

It means that his death and resurrection means that while there's still a battle being fought, the final victory is secure. Paul will say this in chapter one, verse 21. You who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by, by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, Jesus death, which we just remembered and celebrated in communion. Lord's table. Jesus death reconciles us to God, reunites us to God.

While we were alienated and hostile, it has brought us back to the Father. But his supremacy is not good news if we're not in Christ, if we're not in Christ, if we're not connected to Jesus, him being Lord of all is kind of a terrifying concept. It's not good news to those who are his enemies because it means their doom is sealed. But for those who are in Christ, Jesus supremacy is overwhelmingly good, glad, joyful news. Because we have hope in Him.

We will be presented holy and blameless. Paul says so while it does give us hope for eternity, there is also an immediate result of Jesus death and resurrection. Those who are united to God in Christ are also united to one another. In the church. And that's really what Paul's going to push into in the second and third chapter of Colossians.

We won't obviously read the whole thing, but his emphasis will be if we're united to Christ and if Christ is Lord of all, that means those in the church. Sometimes we don't get along so well. Believe it or not, they're united as well. And that unity in the church displays what God has done through Jesus and unite us to himself. In being united to Jesus and sharing in his victory.

We are also then united to each other. So take a second here and just do a quick scan of the room. Go ahead. Like I want. You just look at a couple faces.

You don't have to like capture everybody.

There's a reason I had you do that. Paul will say this in chapter 3, verse 11 here in the church, and he's looking at the Colossian church. But you, you can transfer this. I think he says here in the church there is not Greek and Jew, which, which would have been a defining characteristic for people in that day, one or the other. There's not circumcised and uncircumcised.

There's not barbarian and Scythian and slave and free. But Paul will say Christ is all and in all there are other distinctions. Like there's some ethnic distinctions, there's some different backgrounds, there's some different, you know, status of like jobs, things like that. There's some people who are from far off areas of the empire apparently, but in Christ they are united is what Paul is meant, is really emphasizing on. Say that the last pair in that list though, it's, it's really important for this particular context.

In Colossae there is no longer slave or free. Christ is all. Christ is in all. That means Jesus is the key identifier of anyone, whether they are slave or free. Now a little note that there is no longer slave or free will be followed by instructions in this letter to those who are slaves or masters.

Slavery was widespread in the Roman empire in the first century. Some estimates have 50 to 75% of the population existed as slaves. And of course we need to do a little work on that because slavery is not good, in case you need me to say that clearly. But Paul will say to those in that situation, slaves obey in everything. Chapter three, verse 22.

And then he'll say, masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, which was unheard of. Roman masters did not have to treat slaves justly or fairly. They could do whatever they want. With them, it was a revolutionary concept. They could, they could any kind of abuse, oppression, whatever they wanted to do, they owned that slave.

And so Paul has now stated that in Christ, slaves and masters stand equal in their worth and dignity because of Jesus, they are all in him.

And then he calls Christian slave owners to operate with an understanding that their slaves have been given God given worth and dignity. And he's subtly sowing seeds which will advocate for the dignity of enslaved people and even over the years will lead towards abolition of slavery. It was largely Christians that led the charge in abolishing slavery in our country. And as history moves forward, this will result then in the abolition of slavery. But in that day, it was widespread, the Church was minuscule.

And so it's not quite the time for Paul to politically try to change things. At this point, he's sowing the seeds that will result in the end of slavery, though. But in that day, at that time, when the church gathered in the house of Philemon, there were slaves there who confessed the name of Jesus, and they were free people like Philemon who confessed the name of Jesus. And as they heard this passage where Paul says there's no longer slave or free, they would have said, what does that mean? What do you mean by that?

I mean, like most early church communities, Colossae had slaves and free men and women in their church. Some of those free men and women owned slaves who served within their households. Some of them came and were part of the church. Some of them weren't. Philemon, the host of the church at Colossae, had a slave who was noticeably absent.

His name was Onesimus. Perhaps you've heard of him. If you've read the book of Philemon, Onesimus had run away and he had probably taken a quite substantial amount of money with him. So Onesimus has left and now Paul writing to the church. Philemon sitting in that church.

Paul writes things and says things like this. He says, if one of you has a complaint against another, forgiving one another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And then Paul will say, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And then as Philemon hears this letter read to the church, this meeting in his home, you can just imagine him thinking, there's no way this applies to Onesimus, does it? I mean, he ran away.

What's Paul talking about here? Scholar John Byron, who has written a lot about first century slavery, says this. He says the division between slave and free meant that although a significant Part of the population worked to create the benefits of and prosperity for society. They were unable to enjoy them. A slave's life was lived on the margins.

They were a nobody. Even though they were the majority of the population. His or her primary function as a slave was to assist and benefit the owner. In other words, slaves were the property of their master and those masters had complete control over their lives. Byron then writes, some masters cared for and treated their slaves as if they were their own children, even going so far as to adopt them and make them heirs.

Most, though, were probably not inclined to such acts of kindness. They provided slaves with the bare minimum of food and clothing, and in some case worked them to the point of exhaustion and or death. For many owners, occasional beatings were a way to ensure that slaves remained obedient. And then remember, Paul says, masters treat your slaves fairly and justly. Punishments, though in that day were often cruel and included flogging, shackling, branding of the face and forehead, and being fitted with an iron collar.

Dismemberment and maiming were not uncommon. Doesn't sound like an optimal life. We don't know the exact reason why Onesimus ran away, but we can assume that Philemon was likely not one of those masters who treated their slaves as if they were their own children. There was something that drove Onesimus out and now Paul keeps talking about forgiveness and one body and that there's no slave and free, that we are all in Christ and Christ is in all. A slave's existence, though in that day was just thought they just exist for their master.

So there is Philemon in that church that's gathered in his house. Tychicus has brought this letter and he also probably has that little letter to Philemon that he'll pull out later. The wealthy owner of this house invited the Colossian church, probably provided a meal for them. He's the owner, though, of this runaway slave and he's listening to Tychicus read Paul's letter here about Jesus as preeminent and Lord and master of all, about Jesus reconciling slave and freeing the church by Jesus call, calling and empowering forgiveness and unity. You can almost feel Philemon getting uncomfortable.

What are we supposed to do with that? And then Tychicus begins to read Paul's concluding remarks, the passage we read earlier. Tychicus, that's him, will tell you about all about my activities. So he's got other information to give about Paul and his situation. And people were concerned about him in prison.

He's a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the the Lord, I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. And then I like to imagine that after awkwardly reading Paul's kind of rather flattering introduction of himself, Tychicus pauses for a breath and then continues with the next few lines and with him, Onesimus. I don't know if this is the first time that Onesimus had come back to. To Colossae. It might have been when this letter was delivered and read.

I almost like to imagine that Colossae kind of. Or that Onesimus kind of comes out from behind a curtain and everybody, oh, he's back, you know, the guy who ran away, the guy who stole, and he's back. Now what do we do? Audible gas perhaps spread around the congregation whenever he made it back. That would have happened because Onesimus had come there with Tychicus carrying this letter.

The runaway slave was carrying a letter from Paul back to the church of Colossae, which met in his former owner's home. So Tychicus then, as he reads this letter, says, with me is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. And everyone's gaze and the church just kind of keeps going back from Philemon to Onesimus going, what's going to happen here? The prodigal slave has returned.

The thief is back in the house he stole from. Philemon has every right, according to Roman law, to execute Onesimus without a trial. And did you hear how Paul described Onesimus? He describes him as our faithful and beloved brother. Onesimus was, wasn't faithful, he was a fugitive.

Onesimus wasn't beloved by the church in Colossae. He was a betrayer. Onesimus wasn't considered a brother. He's a dirty, no good, thieving runaway slave. And so before Tychicus could continue with some further greetings, he likely had to settle the congregation down, telling them that they'll talk about it a little bit more as he reads another letter.

There's another letter to be read after this, and you can read Philemon later and encourage you to do that. But just feel the tension in the church. And this would have been regular in New Testament churches as slaves and free as Jew and Greek men and women who didn't get together often. Usually children and parents weren't together. And in the church, all of that is together.

And Paul's saying, Christ is all and in all and, and Onesimus, even Onesimus, because he's now in Christ is our faithful and beloved brother. Just like Tychicus. He's our beloved brother and faithful minister, but also Onesimus. You just see the similar description. So let me tell you a little bit about them.

Tychicus, whose name actually means lucky, you can do what you want with that. He was a trusted member of the great Apostle Paul's entourage. He's not a major figure in the New Testament. He's only mentioned five times. But often he's regularly given tasks like delivering letters from Paul to a church or an individual.

He carried letters like this to the church at Colossae, to Philemon, to Ephesus, to Titus on the island of Crete. He carried a letter to Timothy in Ephesus. I mean, just, he's just a mailman for Paul. He's carrying the mail. And if it wasn't for his family, faithful servants, a good chunk of our Bibles wouldn't have made it to us.

So thank God for Tychicus. He was likely a Gentile from Ephesus who was converted there during Paul's ministry. He later accompanied Paul in delivering funds to those suffering in Jerusalem. And it's possible that he was the reason Paul got arrested there, because Paul invited this Gentile into the temple. Let me just take a moment here and just note something.

We kind of have this celebrity obsessed culture where we love to celebrate those who are flashy and upfront and we would venerate the greats like Paul or Peter. But God's plan of spreading the news of his son's victory also depended on faithful servants of relatively unknown people like Tychicus. God calls and uses preachers and musicians, but he also calls and uses those who clean up the nursery every Sunday. He calls those and uses those who press buttons so slides can advance. He calls and uses those who visit someone in the hospital.

He calls and uses someone who pours grape juice into tiny cups on a Sunday morning. And so thank God for those Tychicus like faithful ministers and fellow servants in the Lord. Thank God for those like Onesimus, whose name means useful. It's a name that was very commonly given to slaves, reminding them of their sole purpose in that society. Onesimus only shows up twice in the Bible, once here and then once in the book of Colossians.

We can't say with 100% certainty, but the chances are good that there was indeed reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus. Likely Onesimus State stayed in Philemon's household, worshiping the true and ultimate master alongside the master he fled from who had welcomed him back, we probably wouldn't have the book of Colossians or the book of Philemon if there wasn't reconciliation between these two parties. And that reconciliation, that's just beautiful. It's a beautiful portrayal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because just think about this for a second. Like Onesimus, we belong to another.

God is the Creator of all things, and therefore he rightly rules and reigns over all things, just as we learned last week. He is Lord, so the psalmist will say, know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are His. We belong to another. And yet, just like Onesimus, we rejected that person's rule and ran from him.

Prophet Isaiah says, all we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and we deserve wrath. We deserve judgment. A servant who deals wisely has the king's favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully. Proverbs says, and yet in his graciousness, God withheld that wrath because he chose to extend mercy towards his people.

God placed that wrath on Jesus because. Because he needed to act justly, sin needed to be punished. And so he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God. So all of this, God turned enemies, those estranged from him into friends. You who once were alienated, Paul says in Colossians.

You who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing, which is exactly what would have happened with Philemon and Onesimus, Alienated, hostile in mind towards each other. And now Paul says, you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, God has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. Rebellious slaves are now adopted as sons and daughters. We are now holy and we are welcome to sit at God's table. We don't deserve that.

You didn't clean yourself up well enough to be accepted by God. It's his mercy and grace and forgiveness that welcomes you in to be adopted as his son or daughter. And this is exactly what's supposed to happen between two parties that disagree significantly. We will forever be seated at God's table. Slaves have become sons and daughters.

Enemies have become friends. Runaways are welcomed home. Rebels are forgiven and reconciled. Guilty criminals are pardoned and raped. Reign with God forever, all because of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is supreme and he has reconciled us to himself through his death. That's the glorious truth that encourages our heart. But then what does that mean when you don't like somebody, when you don't get along really well with someone. I mean it's probably not as significant as the disparity between Onesimus and Philemon here, but there's probably some of that, right? N.T.

Wright says this. If the gospel both Onesimus and Philemon have embraced is indeed the message of reconciliation, then it must be able to bring together slave and free as it did Jew and Greek or male and female. Paul is faced with a test case. It's no use preaching grand sounding theory if it cannot be put into practice when it is needed. In other words, last week we looked at these corporations grand sounding theological statements.

Jesus is Lord, he holds all things together. What does that mean when you're not getting along with your spouse or your parents or your brother or your sister or your neighbor or the person that you disagree with about the budget item at the church? What do you do with that? Tychicus and Onesimus are both called beloved brothers. One has a stellar track record of gospel service like Tychicus, the other not so great of a resume both called faithful and beloved brothers.

So just a moment here to say no matter what is in your past, no matter what is in your present, there is a seat at God's table for you if you place your faith in Christ. But there's more here. Onesimus is called one of you in verse nine. One of you. He's one of you.

And just that's a mind blowing concept there. Onesimus wouldn't have been considered one of the church there. That's, I mean he's, he's from Colossae maybe, but there's, there's, there's, he's not really one of us, is he? That's what people would have been thinking. Paul now says because he is in Christ, he's part of the church.

And that means he stands next to a faithful guy like Tychicus as songs are sung. It means he sits next to Philemon. As the word of Christ dwelt dwells richly through the reading and preaching of scripture in the church, he sits at the table with fellow slaves and free men and women. But in a greater reality, these are his brothers and sisters in Christ. Now as bread is broken and his cup is shared, the gospel changes things.

It radically changes who people are. It makes enemies into brothers and sisters. And so let's get real with that. What does that mean? I mean that's, Paul has been angling for that in the book of Colossians.

He'll directly confront it in the book of Philemon. About what Philemon needs to do towards onesimus and the reconciliation there. Well, what does it mean for us? Go back to verse 11 in chapter three for a moment. Here.

Paul says, in the church there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave free. But Christ is all and in all. That means that among those who have been redeemed through Jesus and are now adopted into God's family as brothers and sisters in the church, it means that our identity in Christ supersedes any ethnic differences. Greek, Jew, that's not the primary categories anymore. Our identity in Christ supersedes differing religious backgrounds.

Those circumcised and the uncircumcised. That's not the primary category anymore. Anymore. Our identity in Christ supersedes geographic barriers. Barbarians, Scythians, those who lived kind of on the outskirts, like the way rural hick stuff of the empire.

That's what they would have been. That doesn't matter where you're from anymore. Our identity in Christ supersedes that. Our identity in Christ supersedes our socioeconomic differences. Slave free.

Why? Because Christ is all and in all. We still come from different backgrounds. We still have different socioeconomic backgrounds. We don't lose all of that in Christ.

But the point is that in Christ, our unity overshadows the differences that so commonly devise, and that must be evident most in the church. In the church, Wright says this, there will always be forces that try to tear the church apart, but there will always be the Gospel itself to point the way of humility, forgiveness and reconciliation, by which unity can be not only precariously preserved, but solidly established. Listen, unity in the church, unity between brothers and sisters who have been reconciled is not just a nice thing.

It's an example of what God has done for us in Christ. Paul will say this in Galatians. In Christ you are all sons of God. Through faith, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free.

There's no male and female. For you are all in Christ Jesus. In the church, all are reconciled in Christ. And that means we're reconciled to each other. This isn't just a theological status or a truth to be believed.

It's specific. What do you do? And so Paul will get into that throughout the Book of Colossians. If you read it, you saw him say, bear with one another, forgive. Put away anger, put on kindness.

Let Christ's peace rule. Let Christ's word dwell in you. Wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters, all are loved as Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Why? Because God's chosen ones are all redeemed and forgiven through Jesus.

And those who are redeemed and forgiven in Jesus are holy and beloved and united to their brothers and sisters in the church.

What does that mean? How do you practice forgiveness like that? Sometimes it's just like, well, you were wronged, just gotta forgive. True, but look how Paul says this in Colossians. In Jesus we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

So he points first towards the forgiveness we have in Christ. God made you alive together with Jesus, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us. We were forgiven by God through Christ. And so then Paul can say, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. You ever struggle to forgive?

I'm going to guess that's 100% yes on that one, even though it's not audible. How do you. How do you find that? How do you let go of some of the anger and bitterness? Look to Jesus.

The gospel is where you're forgiven. And that overwhelming truth of forgiveness that you have in Christ. Christ means you can freely forgive your brothers and sisters. You don't hold on to that. Same thing with peace.

Because we have peace with God, we practice peace with each other. Same thing with Christian love towards each other, because God loved us. We are God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. We then love one another. So what do we do with all of this?

We practice and we fight for unity in the church. Sounds better. Weird to say fight for unity, but that's what needs to be. Why? Because our unity in a church evidences and shows to a world what God's reconciliation has done for us.

When we live in unity with people that we just really, we would never get together with on a normal day, it shows something. It evidences the power of God. I mean, this group would probably never be together except for the church, right? I mean, this is not a natural group to get together. Maybe a few of you are good friends with each other or your relatives or something like that.

But most of the time the churches come together and you find people that are like you and not like you, and you sit next to them and you worship with them and you are united to them in Christ so that people can see an example of the gospel. Reconciliation in a marriage between parents and children is so important throughout the book of Colossians because it showcases the gospel and it's what the gospel is meant to do to reconcile us to God. So when people look at Your marriage, when they look at your family, when they look at your church, when they look at your small group, we just had those up here. Do they see an example of Christ's forgiving, reconciling love? The New Testament doesn't tell us, like I said, the conclusion of the story with Philemon and Onesimus.

But according to church history and church tradition, there was reconciliation. Most agree that Onesimus was even freed, and later both he and Tychicus became leaders in the church of the first century. Bishop Onesimus actually probably followed Timothy in Ephesus. And that means there very well could have been a time in the old first Church of Colossae when a new pastor stood up to preach to God's chosen, holy and beloved people in the home of Philemon. And Pastor Onesimus got up, he may have pulled out an old parchment, which was a letter that Paul had given him, Antiochus, decades ago, to take and write, read to this church.

Pastor Onesimus may have started that sermon by reading this. Here in the church, there is not slave and free, but Christ is all and in all. And then he may have started his sermon by saying, for those of you who are new here, did you ever hear about how Philemon and I became friends? You'll never believe what Jesus can do to a relationship. The Gospel changes things.

The lordship of Jesus means that he's Lord of our lives, and we are reconciled to our brothers and sisters to celebrate that and to show that beautiful gospel to the world. May that happen here. Let me pray. Father, we thank you that you in Christ have forgiven us, that you have cleansed us and redeemed us, that you, while you are Lord, are also our Savior and the one who has reconciled us to yourself. And that has effects on our life.

It means we need to fight for reconciliation in our relationships. Would you help us to forgive because we have been forgiven? Would you help us to love because we are loved by you? Would you help us to practice peace because you have made peace with us through the cross? We thank you for the Gospel, and we pray that the Gospel changes how we live our lives.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen.