Have you ever gone through a stretch of time when you felt more anxious than usual? In general, I don't consider myself a worrier, but on occasion, I have experienced my share of sleepless nights and days when my mind kept racing with "what-if" scenarios. It took me a long time to realize what was contributing to that, but eventually, I realized that a major contributor to those anxious feelings was my pattern of keeping too much to myself and trying to do too much on my own.
Human life wasn't meant to be lived in solitude. We have been created in the image of God, and one of the things we know about God's nature is that for all eternity, He has existed in perfect community. A perfect, eternal relationship has existed for all time between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And when the Lord created man in His image, He said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Gen. 2:18)
But sometimes in life, we might feel very alone. Sometimes, you might make an unpopular decision based on your biblical convictions and feel ostracized because of it. Sometimes, you might go through a unique trial that very few people can identify with. Maybe you've gone through seasons when you felt like your personality wasn't understood by others and developing close relationships seemed abnormally challenging. Maybe someone who was part of your life during an earlier season has distanced themself from you, or someone you loved has passed away. All of these experiences can leave us feeling alone and on our own.
So are we alone?
Have we been abandoned?
Are we forgotten?
I think the devil would love for us to become convinced that we're alone in this world because he takes a twisted form of delight in seeing God's children forget that in Christ, we are never alone. Our Lord who loves us will never abandon us, even if we've made the mistake of living like He's distant.
When Paul wrote his letter to Philemon, I believe he was forced to wrestle with his own feelings of loneliness, but in the midst of being imprisoned and under home confinement, the Lord sent reminders to show Paul he wasn't alone at all.
If you've been feeling alone, please observe what God allowed Paul to see in the midst of his confinement to remind him that he was never alone.
I. God sends people who are willing to suffer alongside you
““Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,” ”
Epaphras was an interesting man. He was the kind of person I find personally inspiring. Years earlier, when he first heard the gospel preached by Paul in the city of Ephesus, Epaphras returned back to the city of Colossae where he was from, and began sharing the gospel there. In the process, he helped plant the church that met in that city, and it's believed that he continued to serve in pastoral leadership there.
In the book of Colossians, when Paul makes mention of Epaphras, he shares several important things about him. We're told that Epaphras was willing to serve others for Christ's glory and that he was a faithful minister of Christ. Epaphras also demonstrated a desire to remember others in prayer, and Paul indicates that he had a strong work ethic.
The comments Paul made demonstrate the depth of Epaphras' faith in Jesus Christ, and the love he had for the people of his home church. And now in the conclusion of Paul's brief letter to Philemon, Epaphras is referred to as his "fellow prisoner."
That's certainly an interesting way to describe this church leader, but what did Paul mean? Well, we don't know what happened, but it's believed that Epaphras was also imprisoned for his faithfulness to proclaim the gospel in the midst of an unbelieving culture. Apart from Paul's brief comments in this passage, the rest of the details aren't mentioned in Scripture. It's believed that Epaphras was eventually released and traveled back to Colossae with Onesimus to hand deliver this letter to Philemon. Tradition also holds that while continuing to serve in pastoral leadership in Colossae, Epaphras was eventually martyred for his faith in Jesus.
Paul had a lot of respect for Epaphras because Epaphras was the kind of man who lived his earthly life with eternity in mind. He was willing to face off against earthly threats to his freedom and his life because he was highly aware of what Jesus had in store for him. He wasn't trying to play life overly safe because he knew he had a mission to complete that was more important than his personal safety.
Epaphras was also a comfort to Paul because he reminded him that he wasn't the only one who was willing to take big risks to see a lost world come to faith in Jesus. Paul wasn't alone in this struggle. Epaphras was willing to visit Paul in Rome. Epaphras was willing to get in trouble with the authorities for the same reasons Paul was. God had sent Paul a friend who was willing to suffer alongside him.
If you're suffering right now, particularly if your suffering has come due to your faith in Christ and obedience to His word, don't mistakenly let yourself believe that you're suffering alone. I suspect that if you look around and ask around, you'll be shown that there are other compassionate souls willing to share that suffering with you just as Jesus demonstrated His willingness to suffer for us.
II. God sends people who are willing to work with you
““and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.” ”
One of the most devastating natural disasters to hit my mother's hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was the flood that swallowed up her city in 1972 after Hurricane Agnes dropped an unbelievable amount of water on the region. The water was so deep that it reached the second story of her home. My mother had just turned 15 two weeks earlier, and in that flood, her house was nearly destroyed and she lost just about everything she owned.
While that was taking place, her older brother was serving in the National Guard. When the flood waters started to recede, one of his superiors approached him and said, "You're from Wilkes-Barre, correct?" My uncle said, "Yes, I am." He was then told, "Your family is going to need a lot of help, so I'm sending you there to help them and I'd like you to take several others with you." You could imagine how grateful my mother and my grandparents were to see them when they showed up.
Paul was grateful for those who were willing to share in the hard work of leading, serving, and planting the early church. The men and women who worked alongside him are often mentioned in the conclusions of his letters, and that's what he does in this passage as well. Paul wanted to acknowledge them because he knew they were gifts from God. These people joined together with Paul to carry a heavy burden in the midst of a very oppositional culture. Their hearts were burdened to see people come to know Jesus, so they dedicated their lives and their efforts to that task. Who were these people?
Mark was someone that Paul didn't think very highly of at an earlier season of ministry because he initially failed to follow through on his commitments. But eventually, his faith matured and his backbone grew, and he became a key leader in the early church who is best known for writing the Gospel of Mark.
Aristarchus risked his own safety to accompany Paul on his trip to Jerusalem and then again to Rome. Demas got off to a good start and seemed to be committed to gospel ministry, but eventually abandoned the work and demonstrated that he loved the things of this world more than he loved the Lord (2 Tim. 4:10). Luke was a physician and historian who traveled with Paul, cared for his medical needs, and eventually wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.
I love reading about these people because it's a great reminder of how the Lord gets things accomplished in this world. He doesn't send us out into His mission field to do everything alone. He joins us together in His Son, Jesus Christ. He makes us one body, then unites us together in the task He entrusts to us in our generation. One of the greatest joys I have been blessed to experience in my years of serving in pastoral ministry are the people I get the opportunity to serve together with. It's honestly one of my favorite facets of ministry.
III. God sent His Son who has promised to never leave you
““The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.””
We praise God for the people that He sends that are willing to suffer with us and work alongside us, but no one surpasses the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are never alone because He has promised to remain with us forever.
““Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ”
Paul told Philemon that the grace of Jesus would be with his spirit. The grace of Christ is His holy, unmerited favor. It's seen in the joyful delight He expresses as He blesses us beyond anything we deserve.
When I think about the many blessings of Jesus that I've received, I can certainly testify to the fact that I didn't deserve them. I don't even deserve His promise to be with me always because I can think of several seasons of my life when I wasn't really making Him a priority. I was busy doing my own thing and not prioritizing my walk with Him.
Yet even in my lowest and most confusing seasons of life, Jesus didn't leave me. He walked with me, pointed me in the right direction, and reminded me that His love for me wasn't based on my ability to get everything right. His love is based on His faithfulness and unchanging nature, not my ability to earn His favor.
And when you look at this brief letter from Paul to Philemon, you find a vivid illustration of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Like Onesimus, we too were slaves. We were slaves to sin and living under the fear of death and condemnation.
But just as Paul encouraged Philemon to demonstrate grace and mercy to Onesimus, we too have been the recipients of the grace and mercy of Jesus. Onesimus once ran from Philemon, but now he was coming back to him. We too once ran from Jesus, but now the Holy Spirit implores us to draw near to Him and find mercy.
And as Onesimus owed Philemon a debt that he was incapable of paying, so too were we spiritual debtors. As Paul illustrated when he offered to pay whatever Onesimus owed and made himself legally responsible for his debts, so too has Jesus taken our debt upon Himself and satisfied it completely.
Our debt has been paid. Our condemnation is cleared. We are no longer slaves, but are received by Jesus as family. The heart of the gospel was put on full display through this brief, one-page letter from Paul to Philemon. Are you able to see the way the Lord was using these unique circumstances between Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus to help us understand the gospel with more clarity?
With that in mind, as you face each day, remember that the Lord has you on His mind. In Christ, you are a new creation. You are no longer who you used to be. He has promised to never leave you and never forsake you, and I'm grateful for the Holy Spirit's inspiration of this letter to give us this vivid and powerful reminder.
© John Stange, 2022
