New Testament | Philemon 1-21 (with Jeff Sholar)

Opening Song:

O Lord, open our lips and our mouths will declare Your praise.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end,
Amen.

The Scripture for today is Philemon 1:1-21.

Let’s prepare our hearts to hear from God’s word as we listen to Grace and Peace by Fernando Ortega and John Andrew Schreiner. The simple words of this frequently used greeting in the epistles establish a gentle tone. The text of “the Lord Jesus Christ” is treated with special reverence and emphasis; each time the melodic line rises higher and with more embellishment.

Lyrics:
Grace and peace
Grace and peace
Grace and peace to you
From God our Father
And the Lord Jesus Christ

Passage:
1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.[a] 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,[b] whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant[c] but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Musical Reflection:
Bless the Lord, My Soul by Jacques Berthier

Reflection Notes:
A contribution to the Taizé tradition, this tune by Berthier provides a reverent foundation for the text: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.”

Prayer:
O Lord God, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.