God Treats Us with Great Generosity

Today I want to conclude our meditation on the parable of the prodigal son by exploring and analyzing the passage from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to Philemon, to see how, in a particular situation, God speaks to us about the dual identity we have:

On the one hand, we are servants wholly subject and devoted to the will of their Lord; on the other, we are also chosen children who have every right to approach the Throne of Grace with confidence, knowing that our Heavenly Father and our standing as children allow us to have a generous and ambitious outlook on our lives and on ourselves.

In this passage from Philemon, beginning with chapter 8, we recall the story: Paul is pleading on behalf of Onesimus, a slave who had run away from his master, Philemon, and gone to another city. Paul meets him there; Onesimus receives Christ as his Lord and Savior; and Paul then tells him that he must return to his master, Philemon, and put right the situation caused by his running away.

But Paul writes what amounts to a letter of recommendation for Onesimus so that Philemon will receive him positively and, rather than punish him for leaving the household, will receive him as his brother in Christ Jesus, treating him kindly instead of punitively.

And so, after writing to Philemon to tell him to accept Onesimus, Paul says: “Therefore, although I have much freedom in Christ to command you to do what is proper”—listen to that—“I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love, being who I am, Paul, now an old man and also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus.” It is interesting that the name Onesimus means “useful,” “profitable”: “whom I begot during my imprisonment, who was once useless to you because he had run away, but now is useful to us, and whom I am sending back to you. So receive him as you would receive me.”

What Paul says is fascinating: although I have much freedom in Christ to command you, to order you to do what is proper, I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love. There you have this idea in a nutshell. Although God has every right in the world and the universe to require us to do absolutely anything He wants, and although we are obliged to regard God as having the full right to govern our lives down to the smallest things, what is interesting is that God instead treats us with great courtesy, with great generosity.

And often, instead of forcing us to serve Him or to give to Him, God uses the gentleness of the Holy Spirit and the conviction of the heart to invite us to do His will. One thing that often moves me in my own ministry is that God sits down with me and asks me to do something, but He does not force me to do it or treat me like a robot or a puppet controlled by Him. Rather, God always works through my free will, my own will, and uses His Holy Spirit, His Word, and the counsel of other brothers and sisters to bring me to the conviction that I should do what He wants me to do.

Then, in verse 13 of Philemon, Paul tells Philemon: “I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the Gospel.” In other words, Paul tells him: hey, it would be useful to me to have this young man helping me while I am in prison, helping me dig my pits in the Gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent.

Do you see here again this idea that, although Paul could very well make use of this young man and would have the right to do so in a spiritual sense, because Paul has been Philemon’s mentor, he prefers not to do anything without Philemon’s prior consent? In a sense, he is saying: hey, I am going to send him to you, but if you can send him back to serve me during my imprisonment, that would be ideal. He says: “So that your favor would not be given out of necessity, but voluntarily.”

God does not want us to serve Him out of obligation, but to do so voluntarily. What does the Word say? That God loves a cheerful giver. God delights when we serve Him with great joy, with great gladness, understanding the immense privilege this represents.

In verse 15 he says: “For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while: that you might receive him back forever, no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, as a beloved brother.” Do you see here the beautiful clarification the Holy Spirit gives us? God now receives us not as slaves but as something far greater than slaves: God receives us as beloved children, and Christ receives us as brothers and sisters; He receives us as friends.

Verse 17: “So if you regard me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me. And if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me even your very self.”

Do you see, my brothers and sisters, how these two tendencies are contending in Paul’s mind? On the one hand: Philemon, I have the right to order you to do something for me because I begot you, I have been your mentor, you came to know Christ through me, I have discipled you, and in a sense I have spiritual authority over your life. But instead, I ask you to do these things out of conviction, generosity, and your own goodwill—though remember that, in truth, you are indebted to me; I owe you nothing. If, at my request, you do something that blesses Onesimus, I am indebted to you, but ultimately you owe me more than I owe you.

So these are the two sides of the Christian life: on the one hand, unprofitable servants; on the other, blessed and chosen children. We must live in the tension between these two dimensions, and when we find ourselves moving too far toward one side, let us turn to the other to correct our course and maintain that precious balance between these two luminous truths. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brothers and sisters, and I hope this meditation on the unprofitable servant has been a great blessing in your lives, as it has been in mine. Until next time.