Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22
Then the Lord God formed a manfrom the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
I recently finished the book Slave by John MacArthur with an amazing group of women. It was challenging, convicting and encouraging. He writes that when the King James version of the Bible was created, the word “slave” was softened to “servant” in many places. The ancient concept of slavery had evolved and caused people to become averse and sensitive to the word.
In Greco-Roman times, the average landowner, merchant, trader, politician, etc had their fair share slaves and bondservants. It was expected and universally accepted. Those folks performed every task imaginable for households and businesses including being a doctor, shopkeeper, accountant, farmer, maid and more. It was said that walking the streets of Roman towns you wouldn’t have known the difference between a slave or free person.
Opportunities for a poor person to be able to care for themselves financially were so limited many offered themselves up as slaves so that every need they had would be provided by their owner. As for the average Roman citizen? They were “Caesarians” or slaves to Caesar. Some scholars have proposed that the term “Christian” literally means “slave to Christ.”
When I listen to this song, which feels so much like a love song, I find myself collapsed in total submission to the Master. A slave to Christ. Bought for a hefty price. Loved and cared for by the Creator. A Master whom I never fear will treat me badly or forget about me. This Master has literally given me the breath of life.
Mr. MacArthur points out that we are all slaves to something. I prefer to turn my life over and be desperate for the One who breathed a peace in me that goes beyond any understanding.
Modern, worldly slavery is a terrible human disaster. Traffickers of people have no care for the people they destroy and toss aside. To be a slave to God, however, gives life, a life eternal. Who or what are you desperate to serve each and every day?
Click here to listen to today’s song: Breathe by Shane & Shane
If you ever talk to a non-Christian and they give you the line, “The Bible is just some old book written thousands of years ago and society has evolved since then,” you might want to share the story of a slave named Onesimus, which means “Useful.” Not the Onesimus in the book of Philemon – we’ll get to him later. No, the Onesimus of 1716. It shows God’s total sovereignty over this world and how He weaves His way throughout all time. He works through all of us to complete His plan – whether a believer or not. The story of the black slave Onesimus shares striking parallels to the Bible’s slave written of in the New Testament.
Puritan minister Cotton Mather of Boston was gifted a slave by a parishioner in 1711. It’s believed Mather changed the slave’s name to Onesimus. And like Philemon’s slave, Onesimus was considered a liar and a thief by his master. But in 1716, Onesimus told Mr. Mather something he did believe: That he knew how to prevent smallpox. He shared with his master how in his home country people would rub pus from an infected person into an open wound on the arm. This would cause mild symptoms and would inoculate the person against smallpox.
Mather was fascinated. He verified Onesimus’ story with that of other enslaved people. Mather, while attempting to spread this great news during the smallpox epidemic, was vilified. How dare he take the word of a slave? A black slave at that? But Mather pressed on. Combining efforts with physician Zabdiel Boylston, the two inoculated their children and enslaved workers. They then began inoculating other willing Bostonians. Of the 242 people they inoculated, only six died—one in 40, as opposed to one in seven deaths among the population of Boston who didn’t undergo the procedure.
While history doesn’t give much credit for Onesimus being a key part of the development of immunizations, he can be found in the story. Like Naamans’ Jewish slave girl, his desire to be useful and seeking a better relationship with his master saw him sharing a cure for so many.
"It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me." Philemon 1:9-11
How useful are we to God? How are our new beginnings lived out for the world to see the glory and gifts of God? For the Boston slave Onesimus, he appeared to never have accepted his master’s Christian religion. He did, however, buy his own earthly freedom by giving Mather enough money to purchase a different slave. But for the Bible’s Onesimus, who stole from his master and ran away to Rome, his freedom was purchased for him. Once by Jesus, when he, after being discipled by both Philemon and Paul, accepted the Lord as his savior. And his earthly freedom was paid for by Paul who stated, “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.” (v 18)
Paul exhibited a great lesson of our faith in Jesus, to stand for those who cannot stand on their own. And in doing so, lived out an example for Philemon to follow. If Philemon believed in what Jesus taught, not just believed “in” Jesus, he knew he must live out the fruits of the spirit – kindness, compassion, forgiveness, grace, etc. This was no small feat. Just as in the world of the 1700s, slaves were a valued commodity. And allowing a slave to run away without punishment was bad enough, but to allow a thieving slave (like both were) to do so was unheard of. Mather suffered public humiliation by accepting his slave as an equal partner in curing a deadly disease. Philemon was certain to suffer the same fate from other slave owners if he accepted Onesimus back as an equal in Christ.
But what about the Bible’s Onesimus? Where does he fit in God’s plan? Notice that our worldly sins and crimes are not erased without any repercussions. Paul did not say Philemon should just welcome Onesimus back with all debts forgiven. A crime had been committed and it needed to be repaid by someone.
Onesimus took a number of steps in his life to become useful to God. He first sought out Paul in Rome when his life had become a mess. He accepted Jesus as his savior. And like the first 3,000 Christians, he sat at the feet of a great teacher to learn about Christ and his expectations of us. He then, apparently, asked to go home and face Philemon, his old master.
15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. Philemon 1: 15-16
We can only imagine the scene of Onesimus and his fellow travelers arriving at Philemon’s door. Hat in hand. A posture of humility most likely. Asking for forgiveness. He became God’s instrument to help others learn how to forgive, how to love, and how being a Christ follower transforms us. My friend Andrea has been the person in my life to model forgiveness. I’ve watched how she has forgiven well-trod hurts and has been eternally grateful for receiving forgiveness. By seeing her transformation, it has helped to transform my heart. She has been very useful to God!
Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 steps are well known by many. And placed in a Christian context may help some of us to follow in Onesimus’ footsteps to being fully available for God’s purposes. To be “useful” in our new beginning. With a few minor edits, those 12 steps are:
We admitted we were powerless over (sin)—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Come to believe that (God) is greater than ourselves and can restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God (forgive) all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove(/forgive) our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to (all sinners), and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Jesus paid the price to be our intercessor, our kinsman redeemer. We are accepted by Him in full. But it’s now up to us to do the work to live out being acceptable to Christ each and every day with our new beginning.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” Exodus 1:22
Whenever I picture Moses, Charlton Heston comes to mind. For those of you too young to know that reference, Mr. Heston personified Moses in the blockbuster 1956 movie The 10 Commandments. He was sweaty and swarthy and muscular. He was bold and without fear. Some of his final scenes show him standing fiercely on top of a mountain, wind blowing his impressive white beard and long gorgeous hair as he calls on the name of God. A hero. A rescuer. A man not to be trifled with because God was with him. As usual, the big screen skips over a few of the finer points of history for the sake of the storyline. Like the fact that Moses, even though God Himself had been his rescuer many times, really didn’t want the job of Israel’s savior. Of being the leader of the new beginning for an entire people.
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11
That interaction alone might lead the reader to think Moses well, he’s just being humble. But by my count Moses tries to turn God to someone much more suited, much more capable than him eight times! I can’t! What if! I’m not! Why should I? Sound familiar to anyone out there?
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Exodus 4:1
My BSGs (Bible Study Girls) and I have embarked on a new study by Shirley Giles Davis called, God. Gifts. You. In our first week we were asked: “Where are you hearing God, but your excuse for delaying sounds a lot like “Lord, I’m afraid.”?” Moses afraid? Not that guy. God saved him from death as a baby. God placed him in the care of royalty. God gave him incredible opportunities for gaining knowledge and physical strength. He saved him from capture. There’s no way Moses was afraid of yet another challenging new beginning, right?
Eight times. Standing in front of bush that was talking to him even! I don’t know about you but if I told my husband when he walked in the door from work that one of my bushes in the yard was on fire and speaking to me about going to the governor’s office demanding, “let my people go!” he’d be very, very concerned. In fact, this was a point of discussion with my BSGs. Not burning bushes mind you but whether or not God still speaks audibly to us. And if he does, do people think we are crazy? It’s an unfortunate state we are in that some pastors and biblical teachers try to assure us that God doesn’t speak out loud to us anymore. We must discern His word in other ways. And while I agree we need to use God’s character, gleaned from His written Word to verify the voice we hear I completely disagree that we no longer hear His audible voice. I know. I’ve heard Him. Some of my BSGs have heard Him. To me the real question is now that you’ve heard Him, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to accept the challenge of this new beginning or find another excuse?
Moses, although a pretty amazing and instrumental piece of God’s plan, stumbled even with God’s past provisions clearly given to him and the promise of God’s presence and help spoken to him. Moses, sometimes called the “Lesser Jesus,” is so often seen in parallel with the Messiah. Their birth stories are almost identical with a king demanding their death. Moses was to rescue people from slavery. Jesus from the slavery of sin. Moses led the Israelites through the parted waters toward the promised land. Jesus is our living water giving us the promised land. Moses was tested. Jesus was tested. So, where’s the problem with his hesitation?
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:13
If you remember from Noah or even Abraham when called they went. And in Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah raises his hand proudly and says, “me Lord, send me!” It’s hard for a lot of people, I believe to relate to those guys. We regular folks sometimes are more like Moses. We list our reasons God’s plan won’t work. We aren’t smart enough, strong enough, likeable enough, talented enough. But like with Adam, if God wants us in His service He won’t let go. He wants us to be part of a new beginning. And so, he nudges us to the right people and places. He puts other saints in front of us to help open doors. For Moses? He said, “Fine, I’ll give you Aaron to use as your spokesperson.”
But here’s the thing. Even though Moses is the one remembered and exalted, it was Aaron that got to wear the priestly, holy robes. It was Aaron that was allowed into the most holy place. Think if Moses had responded like Isaiah – “Me! Me! I can do it Lord because you have rescued me so many times!” Moses would’ve been allowed into the whole glory of God, the first priest of Israel. True, his relationship with God was pretty amazing. But God clearly wanted even more for him.
His new beginning, as Moses led the Israelites toward the promised land, would require him to call on the Lord for strength and rescue many times. I find it interesting that Moses had to listen to all the people constantly complaining to him about why he took them down this path. Do you think he occasionally thought, “That sounds a lot like I was with God.”?
Friend, whether it’s a nudging or a clear directive from God I want to urge you to step up in faith and raise your hand. To use all your resources (prayer, scripture, pastors, teachers) plus God’s past intervention in your life to discern what He is asking of you. In your new beginning when you step out in faith you can then say “I overcame my fears and allowed God to take my weakness and turn it into strength.” This blog and podcast was my big step. Let Him work a New Beginning in you and He will let His glory shine brightly through you!
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.Galatians 5:1
There’s been a lot of talk (and screaming) about slavery the last few years. Some people stating that relatives of people who were enslaved in the United States prior to 1862 – over 150 years ago – should receive financial contribution from people who have never owned a slave. The details of this idea get quite complicated. Which new government department will receive millions or billions of dollars in funding to manage this program? How would it be proven someone was a relative of a slave? Would people whose relatives didn’t live in the United States prior to 1862 be required to contribute? I saw one estimate, based on a city government’s financial proposal, that in the end the recipients would actually receive a paltry sum.
Is slavery bad? Absolutely. Does it go on still today in many forms? Yes. As a Christian we should all know the dirty secret of slavery. Our individual submission to sin causes the most destructive and widespread slavery of all – placing our souls in shackles. In some cases, that sin leads to what we think of as “traditional” slavery – the illicit sex trade, illegal employment practices, and more.
There’s really only one answer to eradicating slavery – Jesus. So today I praise God that He and He alone offers us freedom. The true freedom we all need. Freedom from the slavery of sin.
For me, I still have to work daily with God on not willingly putting back on the shackles of fear and worry and doubt. Of pride and selfishness. Of allowing my flesh to rule my life. Giving in to those sins causes me to treat others in very non Jesus-like ways. When I focus on myself, I take my eyes off serving others and helping them out of slavery. When my feelings are hurt, I want to hurt others. When I’m really worried or afraid I might pour myself another drink.
Each day I turn to God and commune with Him He gives me strength to shake off those shackles. Each day when tempted to fall back into my sin I can proclaim with Him that I am free at last no matter my physical circumstance. For some, an extra $100 or so either given out of their pocket or given to their pocket might feel like enough. But for me, no amount of money can ever replace God’s gift of freedom.
Life Lesson #9: Christians are in the job of changing hearts and saving souls.
Perhaps this is the reason he was
separated from you for a while,
so that you might have him back
forever, no longer as a slave but
more than a slave, a beloved
brother—especially to me but how
much more to you, both in the
flesh and in the Lord.Philemon 1:15-16
When I was in college, I was approached by two missionaries on campus. I believed in God, to an extent, but didn’t know anything about Him or Jesus. I asked the typical questions – “Why does God allow bad things to happen to people” and “Why did He give us free will instead of just making us all good people?” I’m sorry to say they couldn’t give me even a best guess. I wonder if you were tasked with talking to a friend about Jesus would you be ready with passable answers to these questions?
I heard a talk by Joyce Meyer the other day where she took up the question of why evil things continuously happen in the world. She’s seen some pretty bad situations in all of her world-wide missionary work. She prayed this question one day. The answer she got back was, “I’m waiting on my people to obey me and take care of each other.”
The righteous know the rights of
the poor; the wicked have no such
understanding.Proverb 29:7
I’m currently doing a study that takes me through the entire Bible. It’s fascinating to see in Leviticus how sin offerings are adjusted for the poor. Even thousands of years ago God was making sure the downtrodden were taken care of. But notice you won’t find in the Bible that the Israelites or Christians are told to take up arms to eliminate poverty. Verse after verse we are tasked to do one thing with the poor – to help them.
In Joppa there was a disciple named
Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas);
she was always doing good and
helping the poor.Acts 9:36
As social justice issues go, the poor are always on the lips of “social justice warriors.” Their desire appears to be to eliminate poverty and all social injustice via legislation, protests or even through violence. But as Christians we are shown a different approach. Take the issue of slavery, as discussed in the letter from Paul to Philemon. The subject is the slave Onesimus. Notice in the introductory verse that Paul does not chastise or demand of Philemon the release of his slave. Paul, instead, appeals to faith principles. He reminds Philemon that as a faithful follower of Jesus our hearts and therefore, our minds are changed.
“To me, a follower of Jesus means a friend of man. A Christian is a philanthropist by profession, and generous by force of grace; wide as the reign of sorrow is the stretch of his love, and where he cannot help he pities still.”
Charles Spurgeon
By teaching slave owners about the power and love and salvation found in following Jesus, the disciples were slowly changing the hearts and then minds of people who, not only owned slaves, but behaved in any number of sinful ways. The new Christian is tasked with living in a new loving and giving nature.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
the new creation has come: The old
has gone, the new is here!2 Corinthians 5:17
Had the disciples come into new cities preaching about abolishing slavery (let’s remember too that slavery in that time was mostly more like indentured servitude) they certainly would’ve been met with resistance. Slaves were costly commodities – just as they were in the early years of the United States. To preach that people had to give up much of their wealth in order to follow Jesus would not have been as successful as first telling of the Good News.
Last year, I watched as protests and violence broke out in cities across the United States by self-professed social justice warriors. To be honest, at times I wasn’t even sure what some of it was about. In Portland, Oregon, the young people rioting just seemed to hate everyone. It was a perfect time for the church to rise up and do what we should do best – show love and help change hearts. I hoped and prayed that in communities hit by violence that God’s people would come together and form prayer chains around the cities – enveloping it in God’s love. Instead, I watched as pastors led more protests and took to microphones and megaphones yelling about injustice, pointing fingers at different races.
“It is easier to make laws than to make Christians, but the business of the church is to produce Christians and everything else is a by-product of that new creation.”
Vance Havner
The people of Jesus’ time expected a Messiah to come and bring justice. They wanted punishment of those who had wronged them. They wanted to see governments and whole groups of people destroyed. But Jesus was not that kind of social justice warrior. From town-to-town He cared about one thing – changing people’s hearts. He did out-of-the-box things like sit with sinners, touch the leper, heal on the Sabbath, talk with the outcasts. He brought the bread of life and the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks
this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks the water I give them
will never thirst. Indeed, the water
I give them will become in them a
spring of water welling up to eternal
life.” John 4:13-14
How amazing would it have been if, when our churches closed down in March 2020, they instead remained open. Not just open but open 24 hours a day with a sign out on the street that said, “Need someone to talk to? We’re always open and ready to listen.” I know this idea is radical. And you’re probably thinking of all the reasons why your church can’t do this. But the work of Jesus and His apostles was radical. So is the work of every Christian you probably admire.
“Behave at them.”
Ken Blanchard
As Christians we are not tasked to be worldly “social justice warriors.” We are commissioned to be God’s soldiers. When we are tempted to join a protest march and carry a sign we should first think how we can directly help those for whom we are marching. God’s plan for the world will only be accomplished through our active showing of love, grace, charity, and forgiveness of others — while espousing His truth. The spreading of the message of Jesus brings the changes we so long for – maybe just not as fast as we like. He designed us this way.
I do get outraged by many things going on in the world. And then I remember to pray to God for peace in my heart so that I can listen for my marching orders. When I feel overwhelmed by the problems we face, I remember that God works out-of-the-box in radical ways. It’s up to me and it’s up to you to be in the heart changing business when God puts opportunities right in front of us. We will always find ourselves on the right side of “He who is most important” when we obey God.
The Apostle Paul worked on one rich, slave owner at a time. And over time, our Christian faith has led to a world-wide abolishment of sanctioned slavery. What small step can you do today to help change one heart?
emboldened.net 