Godly Persuasion

Introduction

In generations past, letter writing was not only a common and personal way of communicating, but a form of prose; almost poetic at times.  For some, the handwritten letter was an art form, not only as to content but even the style in which it was hand written.  Today, we send e-mails, text messages and the occasional letter or card via “snail” mail.  But regardless of form, the personal letter remains a highly valued way to tell someone something from the heart.  Maybe it’s because letter writing allows us to more carefully choose our words and express our feelings, without distraction or interruption.

It should come as no surprise then that, much of the New Testament was written as personal letters, addressed to individuals but intended to be read to the entire church.  That said, what constituted a church in the first century was more like gathering of a few friends at a neighbor’s house by today’s standards.  It wouldn’t be until the 3^rd century that churches were separate buildings built and dedicated to worship.  Among the letters included in the New Testament, Philemon is a short, yet very personal communication, from the Apostle Paul to a dear friend and his wife.  Unlike the other letters Paul wrote to the house churches of Asia Minor, the letter to Philemon and his wife Apphia is not known as a great theological treatise, but is for us a highly significant and instructive work worthy of a careful reading.

Paul’s letter to Philemon and his wife Apphia is also unique because of its subject matter.  It’s a personal appeal on someone else’s behalf, a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus.  Paul is appealing to Philemon and Apphia, not on the basis of theology or rationality; rather, it is an argument from the heart.  Paul is frequently passionate and personal in his letters; but here his intent is not merely to teach or admonish but is an appeal for intercession on behalf of another through a carefully crafted argument for acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Our take away is as much about method as it is motivation, as we see Paul gently arguing on behalf of his new friend and partner in Christ, Onesimus.  We come away with a method for intercession and reconciliation which can be useful within our own marriage and family, something we all need at some time.  Paul teaches us how to use the authority we have been granted, not because we have earned it, but because God has assigned it to us.  We also learn how to deal with the aftermath of rebellion, once the rebellion has been transformed into obedience; how to forgive those who have little to give as recompense.  Paul’s letter is brief but well packed and there is much to be learned by unpacking it.  It is an example of Godly persuasion, for the purpose and sake of the gospel, free of self-interest and focused on selfless love.

Take a few minutes and read Paul’s letter to Philemon; then join me as we unpack what God, in Christ, has written through Paul, to and for us.

Look what I found!

In the basement of our house, when I was a kid, was a big wooden box my dad had made where the toy’s that were once my brother and my favorites were stored.  Every once and awhile, bored with more recent acquisitions, we would dig through the box and unearth artifacts of past military campaigns, construction projects and other past events.  It was almost like getting new ones, but even better because they had memories attached to them.  In fact, if you haven’t gone through the box or boxes where your old toys are stored, you should try it.  It’s a lot of fun.

King Josiah, as you recall, got rid of all the statues of the false gods (idols) that had made their way into his kingdom during the reign of his father and grandfather.  Also, he resolved to restore and repair the temple of the one true God of Israel.  It was in bad shape and would require the help of all sorts of construction workers and their tools.  Now keep in mind, this occurred many, many years ago and there were no bulldozers or power equipment, only hand tools like shovels, hammers and chisels.  But before any work could begin the temple needed a good cleaning.  Over the years the temple had become more like your basement or garage, a place where stuff you don’t use anymore or seldom use is stored and often forgotten, until you need it again.

One day while cleaning out the junk that had been stored inside the temple, one of the workers discovered something very exciting indeed.  They had no idea how long their discovery had been lost, but I’m sure it was dusty, dirty and looked nothing like it used to.  It could have easily been thrown away with the rest of the trash, but God had something else in mind.  After they examined it carefully they discovered that what they had found was a book, but not any book, but the most important book of all!  Now keep in mind that books back then didn’t look like books today, they looked more like a roll of paper towels and instead of turning pages, you unrolled them.  They were called a scroll.  Now what they had discovered was the Book of Moses, the book that contained part of what we call the bible. Today there are millions of copies of the bible all over the world, in fact you probably have one in your house right now, but back then, this was the only one copy in the whole world.  Imagine, if it had been thrown away with the rest of the trash, we wouldn’t have much of what we call the bible to read, today.  But God wouldn’t allow the story of Him and His people to be discarded for eternity, instead it was God’s plan to protect and preserve it, even for you and me.  Yes, God had you and me in mind when he didn’t allow His story to be destroyed.  But if the Book of Moses is so important and valuable, how and why was it tossed into a pile trash?

In the Book of Moses there is a list of rules that all of us are to obey, if we wish to please God, they are called the Ten Commandments.  The list had been given to Moses many years before by God and was to be passed on to all future generations.  I’m sure there are things and ideas that have been told or given to you from either your grandfather or great grandfather, or maybe your grandmother or great grandmother.  Now that you know or have them, you can someday pass them on to your children in much the same way.  When my father died, I gave my sons and daughter special things that once belonged to him with the expectation that they would value them and keep them for their children.  There was a coin collection, old guns, pictures even jewelry but even more important are the stories and memories about Grandpa Jim.

Well, this list of rules given by God has always caused problems for people and still does today.  In fact, they’re a problem for you and me, as well.  The list includes things like, do not steal, do not lie and a real tough one; do not tell lies about other people.  The real tough one, for Josiah’s father and grandfather, was not to worship other god’s except the one true God of Israel.  That’s the one they couldn’t keep and the one that caused the most of their problems.  The god’s of Israel’s neighbors had no problem with stealing, killing and lying, but why?  Because their gods were made up, pretend, and the rules they passed along to their children were not to please the one true God, only themselves.  Their most important rule was that they themselves made the rules and not God.

I can remember when I was a kid, my parents would often give me rules that I didn’t like and sometimes when they weren’t looking, I would disobey and do what I was told not to do.  More often than not, I would get caught and then punished.  The rules my parents made for my brother and I weren’t unfair, although we often felt they were.  They were rules made for the purpose of keeping me safe and to help us recognize and understand right and wrong.  It is the same with God’s rules and why it’s good to read them and remember them.  They can be found in The Book of Moses; Exodus, chapter twenty and Deuteronomy, chapter five.

Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no other gods besides me (the real God).
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol (something to worship besides God).
3. You shall not misuse God’s name.
4. Remember the Lord’s Day (Sunday) and keep it holy (go to church and make Sunday special).
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not be unfaithful (keep your promises).
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie or lie about other people.
10. You shall not want or desire what doesn’t belong to you.

Home Project:  Get several pieces of paper and copy the Ten Commandments onto them or have your mom or dad help you if you can’t write yet.  Maybe you can draw a picture on them as well.  Roll them up to make a scroll and then tie a ribbon or string around them to keep them rolled up.  Tie a bow like you do when tying your shoes.  Your scrolls will be just like the ones Josiah’s helpers found in the temple.

The Boy King

An eight-year old boy by the name of Josiah became king of the Southern Kingdom of Israel over 2,600 years ago and would rule his kingdom as the godliest king since David the giant slayer.  You may have heard about David, the boy who killed a giant with only a sling shot and a stone. But how do I know the story of the boy king named Josiah or the story of David?  Because I read about Josiah in the Bible, a book that God gave all of us to read so that we might know Him.  The Bible is full of stories about God and His people, but also about people who refused to obey God.

 

The world of Josiah was nothing like ours for it was a time when there was no television, no computers, no radio or telephones, cars or jet planes, no bicycles or scooters; not even a stove or washing machine.  Men walked where they needed to go if they couldn’t afford a beast to ride on.  They fought their wars with swords and clubs instead of guns and bombs.  This was a time when great beasts roamed the country side, and the only defense was strong legs to run or a sword, axe or club to slay the beast.  Life for most people was more like a camping trip, which may sound like fun to us but in those days, every day was a struggle for survival.  The kings lived better than their subjects but being king required constant diligence because there were enemies just beyond the next hill or across the nearest river or sea.  You see there were many kings and many kingdoms in those days, and they grew rich by killing and stealing from their neighbors, and although the nation of Israel should have been different because it was God’s chosen, the reality was that they too fought to gain wealth and power just like their ungodly neighbors.  Even Israel, God’s chosen people, was divided into northern and southern tribes who were often in conflict and jealous of each other.

 

This was the world Josiah was born into, the son of an evil king and grandson of Israel’s most wicked king, Manasseh.  Josiah’s father, Amon, was killed by his own household servants after serving as king for only two years, because he was evil and wicked like his father before him. So what hope did Josiah have in becoming a good and godly king at the age of eight; how might he survive and prosper his people?  Josiah would not follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps but instead “did right in the eyes of the Lord God.”  Josiah chose instead to follow the guidance of his loving mother Jedidah and would do things of greatness that could not be measured by wealth and the riches born of battle and strife.

 

Josiah was only a teenager, when God spoke to his heart and told him to destroy all the statues of the evil and wicked gods that had invaded the kingdom of Judah years before. God also told Josiah to rebuild the temple of the only real and true God of Israel, whose name was so holy that it should not even be spoken.  That’s right, the people of Israel were not even to say the name of God, it was so special.  What made God’s name so special then and still today? It was because God created all the earth and everything that lives in and on it, above and below it.  God didn’t need tools or lumber, brick or stone or anything else.  All God needed to do was say the word and it was done.  In fact, God created the earth, sun, moon and stars in only four days and then finished His work creating every living thing by the end of the sixth day.  By the seventh day, God was finished and declared all that He had made as good and good it was.  This is what makes God’s name so special.

 

Well, it was now time for Josiah to get down to work and start the rebuilding of God’s temple.  Now in those days a temple was much the same as a church is today; a special place where people go to worship God.  What is worship?  It’s our way of telling God thank you for everything He has done for us, like creating the world in which we live.  But, it’s so much more than that.  God created something that is more important than all the stuff in the world, much more important than all the toys we received for Christmas or on our birthday, the homes we live in, the cars we ride in, the beautiful trees, mountains, lakes and seas.  Do you know what it is?  You can’t touch it, but it touches you, you can hear it in people’s voices and see it in what people do.  Do you know what it is yet?  It is the most important thing God created.  It’s the one thing we all want and if we don’t have it, life isn’t worth living.  I’ve made a list of things below, can you pick out which is God’s greatest creation.

Is it good food, having fun, being smart, being handsome or pretty, having a brother or sister, being free to do what we want, or is it… love?

 (2Kings 22: 1-23:30; 2Chronicles 34:1 – 35:27; Genesis chapters 1 and 2)

Tomorrow we’ll learn more about how Josiah, the boy king, would rebuild the temple and a very surprising discovery he and his friend’s made

Refreshments Anyone?

My mother has always enjoyed playing cards with her friend’s and as far back as I can remember she would have seven or so ladies over for an afternoon of cards, cookies and other delicious snacks.  This was the exact circumstance many years ago when I couldn’t have been more than three or four years old.  Now you might think that my older brother and I didn’t like it when the ladies descended on the house, but it really wasn’t so bad.  The ladies always oohed and aahed over my brother and me, saying how cute we were and remarkably well behaved.  However, the real attraction for me had nothing to do with that, it was the snacks.  The ladies all brought something sweet to eat, cookies, candy, cakes and brownies; all homemade and in abundance.  Every one of them wanted my brother and me to try theirs and we were happy to comply.   Now we were allowed to be around the action until the games commenced, then we were to be “seen but not heard.”  This particular afternoon my brother went over to a friend’s house to play and I had a choice to go with him or stay home with the ladies and surprisingly I chose the latter.  I think mom would have preferred me to go with my brother and as it turned out, her instincts were right.

 

Once the games began there wasn’t much to do but watch the action and it didn’t take long for boredom to kick in.  Now I wished I had chosen to go with my brother but that was no longer an option, so I retreated to our room to play with the deck of cards and score pad my mother had given me.  As the time passed, I would make runs into the kitchen to grab another cookie or chocolate nut bar, and ate until I thought I was going to burst.  It was then I got the idea that I could play like I was a server in a restaurant and bring goodies to the ladies at the card tables.  They all were thrilled with my offer to serve them and I pretended to write down everything they ordered from the kitchen on the score pad my mother had given me.  All was going quite well until I was asked to get one of the ladies something to drink.

 

I found the cups my mother had put out and there seemed to be only two beverage options, coffee or fruit punch.  When I went back into the living room to inform the ladies that neither was within my reach, they all agreed that water would be fine.  Now remember, I was pretty young and the only faucet I could reach, with the help of a step stool, was the one in the bathroom.  No problem I thought, as I carried the pretty cups ever so carefully into the bathroom and laid them out in the tub.  But another problem soon became apparent; mom had hid my step stool somewhere; I’m sure in preparation for the ladies using the bathroom and it was nowhere to be found.  I decided the only course of action was to interrupt mom and ask her where she had hid it, but before I could say a word, she said, “I told you that you are to be seen but not heard; just go get the water and don’t interrupt.”

 

Once back in the bathroom, I came up with an easy and obvious solution.  There was a big bowl of cold water sitting right there in front of me, within easy reach.  All I had to do was dip the cups in the bowl; just like I had seen the ladies do at the punch bowl.  Now you may be asking yourself, “Why in the world would anyone think it would be alright to use the toilet like a punch bowl?”  Fair question, but you didn’t hear the conversation I had with my mother just minutes before the ladies arrived.  Mom had just finished scrubbing the toilet bowl with some blue stuff that looked and smelled mighty potent, and she told me, “I’ve got this toilet and sink clean enough to drink out of, so don’t mess it all up until our company leaves, understand?”  “I promise.”

 

Now I have to admit, I did pause briefly before dipping the first cup into the toilet bowl, but then I thought to myself, “I’ve seen our dog, Lady, drink out the toilet dozens of times and nothing bad ever happened to her.”

I delivered cup after cup to the ladies and each time they warmly thanked and praised me for my willingness to serve.  My plan seemed to be working perfectly that is until I needed to use the toilet for something other than a punch bowl.  I walked into the living room with an urgent smile on my face (I really had to go) interrupted my mom asking, “Could you tell me where you put my step stool; I need to go to the bathroom and wash my hands.”  Now mom was concentrating intently on the card game so it took a moment or two before she jumped up and asked me in a whisper, out of earshot of the ladies of course, “Where have you been getting the water for the cups you’ve been serving?”  My answer was obvious.  Mother took me firmly by the hand, retrieved my step stool escorted me into the bathroom, so I could relieve myself and wash my hands. I then was taken firmly by the hand again to my bedroom, without so much as word being spoken.  Mom finally said to me before she shut the door, “Don’t come out your bedroom until everyone has left, do you understand?”  She didn’t seem mad really, just quite firm in her desire that I not leave my room until the games has ended, so I stayed put, for the rest of the afternoon.  I decided to lie down on my bed, take a nap and try to figure out whether or not I was in trouble.

Once the ladies left, my mother opened my bedroom door and before she could say anything, I asked, “Am I in trouble?”  She replied, “You’re not in trouble, but what made you think it would be alright to drink water from the toilet, was it some kind of crazy joke?”  I explained to her my logic, including the part about the dog drinking out of the toilet and her obvious anxiety, soon turned into a smile and a chuckle.  She told me never to do such a thing again and to tell her if I see the dog drinking out of the toilet again.  I had only one last question for my mom, “Did you tell the ladies about the toilet water?”  She didn’t answer but said, “Why don’t you go outside and play until dinner and we won’t speak of this again, OK?”  I said yes, but as soon as my brother got home I told him the whole story.

What does this story teach us about how to behave when company comes over?

What does this story teach about wanting to serve others and whether it can be fun?

What does this story have to say about misunderstandings and forgiveness?

Was it OK to tell my brother about it?

Something to Do

I always liked school.  Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the classes I liked so much but being with my friends and all.  Whenever I was sick and had to stay home it was fun for a while but it wouldn’t be long before boredom would take over.  The only thing I liked better than school was when summer vacation rolled around.  No more rushing around in the morning getting ready to meet the bus and making sure I didn’t forget this or that; time was no longer an issue and watching the clock, a thing of the past.

 

I was lucky because I had an older brother so if my friend’s weren’t able to come over to my house or I to theirs, I always had someone to do stuff with.  Most days I would start off the day by walking to my friend Gary’s house and just hang around until we came up with something to do.  Gary had a tree house so we almost always climbed the tree ladder and ducked inside to plan the rest of our day.  Some days we would walk down the block to another friend’s house that had a garden as big as a small farm.  Steve was his name and his mother always allowed us to go into the garden to look for frogs, toads, garden snakes or grasshoppers.  Steve’s mom always told us not to kill the frogs, toads or snakes because they were good for the garden, just how we never could figure out, but the grasshoppers we could have our way with.  Once we captured a baby mouse and couldn’t decide if it was on the “don’t kill list” or not, so we decided to let it live.  Now it wasn’t that we tried to kill any of them, except for the grasshoppers, they all just always seemed to wind up dead after we played with them for a while.  As for the grasshoppers, we usually plucked the big hind legs off them and watched the legs keep jumping even after having been detached.  It sounds kind of gross, I know, but after all they’re just bugs.

 

As much fun as it was to have the summer off from school and although there was a lot to do, sometimes I’d get bored anyway and go in the house, whining to my Mother, “I’m bored…there’s nothing to do.”  Mother would respond the same way almost every time, “Don’t you know it’s a sin to be bored, I’ll find you something to do.”  What that really meant was she would find some chore for me I didn’t want to do, so being bored didn’t seem so bad after all.  After one of those whining sessions, my brother and I went back to moping on the stoop outside the back door until my brother said, “I’ve got a good idea, follow me!”

 

We ran into our dark and kind of scary garage that was even kind of scary with light on and the big door open.  That was probably because there was always an ample collection of spider webs almost everywhere and the big black spiders that made them.  Now my dad had a lot of tools and a work bench with a very large metal tool called a vise.  It was like a giant pliers bolted to the bench which my dad used to hold stuff when he was working them, like when he was sawing something. He’d put the piece of wood in its jaws and turn the crank until it was tightly held in place and then saw away.  My brother’s idea was that we would use it to crush stuff, what kind of stuff you ask?  Well, we started out with rocks, acorns, grapes, bugs, apples and when we got bored with that, we went in the house and brought out small toy’s we didn’t care about and crushed them.  We put some firecrackers and caps in the vise and cranked them down, but nothing happened.  We even got a hard-boiled egg out of the refrigerator and put it in the crusher, which was pretty cool.  Then I went into the back yard and picked up one of the many bones that were lying around that belonged to our dog, Lady.  We didn’t like Lady much because she didn’t like us, so we surely wouldn’t feel guilty destroying one of her bones.  But much to our disappointment we weren’t able to make much progress in crushing it with the vise.  Then we got an idea that would not turn out the way we’d planned.

 

My dad had come home from work while we were crushing stuff in the vise and of course parked his car in the garage, paying little or no attention to what we were doing.  We got the idea that that it would be cool to put the bone under the rear tire of my father’s car and see if when he backed out of the garage in the morning, the car would crush the bone into a million pieces.  Now the one we chose was a sharp pot roast bone, not one of those smooth round ones.  We would find out in the morning why that was significant choice.  After placing the bone under the right rear tire we went in the house and decided we would go out in the morning and watch my dad pull out of the garage when he went to work and then examine the remains of the bone.  We even talked about how Lady would like it when we gave her the bone back, already chewed into pieces.

 

It’s important to know a little about our dog, Lady before you find out the rest of the story.  Lady was a Black Cocker Spaniel with a very bad attitude much of the time and one of those times was during and after she had her dinner.  If you got anywhere near her while she was eating she would growl at you and no one, not even my dad, could pet her or even get near her after she’d had her dinner.  Lady just wanted to sleep after eating and if you got near her, she would growl; so it was best if you kept your distance.  I don’t think even my mom and dad had much affection for her when she got that way.

 

Well, at breakfast we watched the clock, anxious for 7:00AM to arrive so my dad would leave for work.  When the time finally came we followed him out the door and waited on the stoop to witness the crushing of the bone.  What happened next we never expected or had even considered.  As my dad put the car into reverse and started to back-up we heard a muffled popping sound, followed by a long hissing sound and to our horror we watched my father’s right rear tire go flat as a morning  pancake.  My father also must have heard the sound and jumped out of the car to find out what had happened.  When he saw the flat tire he said something I can’t repeat and returned to the car to pull it forward off the gravel and onto the concrete apron in front of the garage.  This time when he got out of the car he saw the bone lying on the ground a few feet in back of the right rear tire and  yelled, “Where’s that darned dog, she’s going to get it!”  Lady was laying in the grass only a few feet from the car and as my dad reached to grab her by the collar to give the spanking of her life, so we thought, my brother and I both yelled, “Stop…don’t hurt her, it’s not her fault!”

 

Dad immediately stopped and turned toward us with a face I’ll never forget.  Now we’d seen our dad plenty mad before, but never worse than this fateful moment.  He replied saying, “What do you mean it’s not Lady’s fault?”  As we explained our plan for crushing the bone, we could see the anger drain from my father’s face until we could even see a hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth.  Dad said, “That is probably the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard and although I’ll have to call the office and tell them I’ll be late getting in, and probably have to buy a new tire that we can’t afford right now, I’m proud of both of you.”  I then asked what both my brother and I were thinking, “why are you proud of us for giving you a flat tire?”  Dad replied, “I’m not proud or happy with you for putting the bone under my tire, but I am proud of you for admitting it and before I punished the dog for something you both did.  Just for that you can help me change it and when we’re done, maybe mom has a few more of those blueberry pancakes for us.”  Well changing the tire was anything but boring and what could have been a terrible morning, instead turned out to be one of the best of the summer.  Dad took the rest of the day off and we went with him to the gas station to get a new tire.  Dad told the man at the gas station the whole story about how the tire went flat and they all had quite a laugh. When we got home, dad showed us how to do more productive things with the vise than crushing stuff; we sawed a few boards and cleared out all the spider webs we could find.

 

What does the story have to say about having a brother or sister, telling the truth, being bored, respecting animals and about trusting your mom and dad no matter hard it might be at the time?