Useful Names

Philemon 1-21

Pentecost 13, September 7, 2025

HTC & Tri-Parish Picnic

“Useful Names”

No matter what the language, the name of a child carries significance.  In many traditions, a baby is given a name that reflects their family’s heritage.  You may be called after a revered auntie or uncle or grandparent. Or your name may be a combination of your mother’s and father’s- a creation that then becomes uniquely yours.  Part of your name may be carrying forward a historic surname.  For Christians, babies are often named after a character in the Bible.  Preferably a positive one.  There are a lot more Davids and Marys than there are Jezebels or Judas!  And then there are the children whose names point to a quality that their parents would like them to exhibit.  Virtues like Grace, Hope, or Ernest.  I have a colleague whose first name is Rejoice.  Sometimes we don’t make the connection because the meaning lies in a different language.  Sofia means “wisdom” in Greek.  Today we have a story about a man whose name means something important.  He is Onesimus.  And he, like his name, is useful.  To his pastor.  To his master.  And also to us as a gospel message.

What happens to Onesimus is the subject of the apostle Paul’s letter to a Christian called Philemon.  It’s the shortest book in the New Testament.  You heard most of it this morning.  In it, we catch a little of the back story of a slave that was considered useless but becomes useful through the grace of God.  We don’t know whether Onesimus was born a slave in his master’s household in the city of Colossae in Asia Minor.  He could have spent his whole life in servitude or become indentured as an adult after incurring a debt he couldn’t repay.  Maybe he was like a foreign worker who has to make enough to pay his employer for the cost of room and board while trying to send money home to his family.  Whatever his situation, Onesimus does not have the freedom to follow his own trade or live independently.  He must please his master in everything he is commanded to do no matter how he feels. 

But pleasing his master is something that Onesimus fails to do.  The implication is that he has now run away.  He has defied the law and abandoned his responsibilities.  In doing so, it is likely that he will be imprisoned or face death.  His master can set the authorities to hunt him down, or he can punish the man if he dares to show up again on his doorstep. Slaves don’t have a lot of rights in any age.  To complicate matters, Onesimus has run to Paul the apostle.  Maybe he had heard Paul speak on a past visit to the household. Perhaps he even heard the apostle proclaim that in Jesus Christ there is no male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free, and his heart was set on fire for the gospel.  Onesimus the slave becomes a Christian with the hope of a new future.  However, can he run from his past?

Onesimus finds Paul in prison.  The servant of Christ is willing to be incarcerated in order to witness to the truth of the message.  And the slave begins to serve Paul’s daily needs as he learns about the Christian way.  The apostle grows to regard Onesimus as a beloved son, but recognizes that the brokenness between master and slave is a barrier to both of their further wellbeing.  It may have taken a lot of tears and coaching, but Paul persuades the individual of a plan to send him to his master in such a way that Philemon will agree to take him back.   What we Christians today is the very diplomatic message that Paul employs to show that every person is useful to God. 

Paul begins with praise about how useful Philemon has been in the work of the gospel.  Then he appeals on behalf of the bearer of the note, Onesimus and asks his master to take him back, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother”.  The leverage that the apostle uses is his previous relationship with Philemon. Paul was the one who brought Philemon the message of repentance and forgiveness from God. He owes Paul!  Now Philemon can help repay that debt by accepting Onesimus back into his household just as God has accepted Onesimus into the household of faith.  To underscore the generosity of God’s mercy, Paul assures Philemon that he is good for whatever sum is outstanding: whether that is the balance of the slave’s debt, any moneys he might have stolen, or perhaps even the price of freedom. It is important to note that Paul is not explicitly asking for the master to legally free the slave (although he may be hinting this is a good idea) but he is asking for a re-alignment of Philemon’s perspective.  After all, he may be an influential and wealthy personage, but he has also committed to live in the love of Christ.  That means continuing the good work and enabling his former slave to be useful.  In following this path, Philemon will live up to the name that his own parents gave him.  Philemon means “a loving kiss”. 

So Paul asks in confidence for the master and slave to meet together in the kiss of peace.  In God’s way, each is useful to the other.  Onesimus becomes a partner in the mission to spread the good news, and Philemon is an example of brotherly love that reaches across human divides of status and legality.  Once reconciliation comes about, God can indeed do more than they can ask or imagine.

I don’t suppose there is anyone here whose name is Onesimus, or Kapaki-Pakinabang, or Useful.  The good news is that we are all useful to God.  The names given to us or chosen by ourselves to use are unique indications of the good work that our Lord has invested.  Whether you carry the strength of family tradition, the example of a saint, or a particular value or trait, your name reminds you of how special you are.  Even on the days when you feel useless, Christ is within- active and redeeming you.  Sometimes it takes another person in faith to bring us again to the realization that Jesus Christ is the one who makes this possible day by day.  Thanks be to God. Amen.