Sermon
I was listening to an episode of Snap Judgment on NPR yesterday that maybe some of you heard also. It was a story of a man named Ayik who was a child soldier in the Sudan. As a child soldier, he was tortured by the man in charge of the training camp. Eventually Ayik and others were resettled in Australia as refugees, where they were able to go to sleep without fear, to eat until they were full, to walk about their day without fear. As a young adult, by chance in a church, Ayik actually saw the man who used to torture him which caused him to begin to experience PTSD flashbacks, asking himself, why is my enemy here where I am? He fell apart, became a low level drug dealer, got into trouble, served some time in prison. After lots of time had past he was slowly able to feel better, he said that the biggest reason for his improvement was that he had a son. He thought about things differently. Wanted to be a different person. Eventually he was able to return to a small dream he had about being involved in movies somehow. Maybe stunts, maybe acting, maybe part of the production team. He had some success at this. One day he answered an ad on a website where actors would go to look for work. The ad was for a tv show that was looking for people to agree to re-connect with someone from a long lost broken relationship. It was one of those reality shows where two people who have disconnected after many years, are put in a room together to just make eye contact for about 5 minutes, and see what would happen. Will the friends who argued get together again? Will the parent and child rekindle a broken relationship? Ayik wrote a letter to the producers and told them about the time he saved his friend from being killed by a leopard. The producers called him, intrigued, and asked lots of questions. How did you come to have a leopard, how did you come to be a child soldier, what was that like, how did you get to Australia? With every answer the man gave, the producers could see that this man had a deeper relationship in his life to re-encounter on this television show than the friend who didn't get harmed by a leopard. After long discussions with Ayik, Ayik agreed to let the producers find that torturer and see if he would be willing to sit down on the show. They found him, and he agreed.
What happened next? Did the two meet on live television and fight? Ignore one another? Cry? Or, it's a reality show, maybe what aired on the show was completely contrived? What was Ayik thinking to agree to meet the tormentor who had been living in his head all these years and was finally just a memory? Would Ayik return to his previous struggles with PTSD? Why would the tormentor agree to meet someone he had tortured? To gloat? To show that he still had power?
This story made me think about how difficult and risky a thing it is to try to be a part of redemption. What needs to happen in order to call a person redeemed; a situation redeemed? Does it require forgiveness? Does it mean that there is no heartbreak after? Does it mean that both sides are better off? Does redemption necessarily mean that one side loses? Loses face, loses money, loses reputation, loses their self-respect, loses their dignity? Does it mean that things are corrected and all is well?
The scripture this morning is the entirety of the letter of Paul to Philemon, with the exception of three lines of greeting at the end of the letter. It is the only undisputed letter from Paul to an individual that we have in the bible. Unlike Paul's other writings to communities, Paul does not deal with theological controversies or ethical divisions among the readers. This letter to Philemon will not have been passed around from house church to house church in order to learn the teachings of Paul. Written to just one person about a single circumstance, this letter is a perfect example of the kind of boots on the ground Christianity that occurred in the immediate aftermath of Christ's death. It's a perfect example to us of what it was like then to make the lessons of Christ relevant to current life.
The letter begins with Paul writing from prison, to the slave owner Philemon, whose slave Onesimus has run away, eventually managing to get as far as Rome. We don't know how Onesimus has come to spend time with Paul, but during that time Paul has learned some things about him and decides that he would like Onesimus to stay with him. Writing this letter on behalf of Onesimus, Paul would like Philemon to grant Onesimus the right to be in Rome with Paul. Paul feels as though he has enough authority to command Philemon to send Onesimus to Paul, but Paul would rather that Philemon sees his way to doing this from his own heart. Paul is an old man, and he is in prison, and it seems as though he has become Onesimus' spiritual father during their time together. Onesimus would be useful to Paul to participate in Paul's mission in Rome. Paul will send Onesimus to deliver this letter to Philemon, which will give Philemon the chance to make his own choice. Verse 12 says, “ I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.” He can either punish Onesimus by crucifixion or other ways, or he can see his way to freeing Onesimus from slavery and greet him as a brother – either a brother in his own household, but at least as a brother in the Lord. The pressure is there for Philemon to do as Paul asks, but Paul while persuasive is not demanding. Paul also tried to make some good come from Onesimus' running away. Verse 15 says, “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 ---” Paul gives Philemon a chance to save face, and offers a redeeming way to even think about the fact that his slave left him in the first place.
In that time, Philemon would not have been judged for punishing Onesimus in one way or another and keeping him enslaved and never send him off to Paul. Paul doesn't use this opportunity to launch an anti-slavery campaign and change society. Scholars have criticized Paul in this letter for not going far enough. But Paul believed that Christ's return was imminent so his call in general, was for people to stay as they were. There would be no need for great societal change when the ultimate kindom of all was about to be put in place.
Consider Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus.
Consider Ayik, the torturer, and the producers of the television show.
Consider yourself, something or someone that harms you, and your faith.
SnapJudgment didn't air this story so that they could eliminate child soldiers or do anything about the war in Sudan. Paul didn't write this letter to Philemon so that he could write a treatise against slavery. The larger issues were not the purpose of the stories. Our faith offers us a great deal of advice and examples of theoretical situations – theoretical to us because they are not happening the same way in 2022. This scripture today, the letter to Philemon, offers us a biblical example of what it is like to consider the full personhood of everyone involved, and let God guide our behaviors and their lives.
The purpose of the stories is to highlight the very personal and diverse circumstances that occur in people's lives, whether they are in ancient Rome, or the civil war of Sudan or right here and now.
The overriding value and relevance of the scripture for today as well as the real life example from the radio program is for us to see that when there is a wrong to be addressed, often biting off the entire problem is too much. I can't address racism, what can I do? We as a congregation won't make a dent in homelessness if we contribute to the shelter – and yet we do. We as a congregation cannot solve the discrimination and unwelcome by churches of people of the LGBTQ+ community on our own – and yet we welcome. We consider the people involved, we consider the place where it touches us, and we start there – not to solve something complex and huge – but maybe we can redeem some small individual pain suffered by another.
Everyone has the place inside themselves where they are enslaved to a fear, an insecurity, a fear that our shameful past behavior will forever define us, enslaved to judgment from others. We can't just point to someone else for this. We can't just say, why did they do that? We have to recognize our own complexities and use our own history and self discoveries to call up the empathy needed to engage with others.
Paul offers Philemon the chance to step beyond his own societal right to own a man and punish a man who wronged him, to keep that man down, and instead consider what others have done for him, consider what good might come from changing Onesimus' future as no other can. By putting the decision in Philemon's hands Paul let go of his own power to control the situation. He took a risk. Slavery wasn't going to change because of Paul's risk. But Onesimus' status could change for the better if Philemon also took a risk.
Just because good comes of something doesn't make the pain and torture and suffering and PTSD go away or turn it into a good thing. All of society doesn't change. But for one small situation the redemption happening is everything. If we make a small change in one person's life, it's not huge but it's the only thing that matters to them. Our call as gospel people is to be the redemption in someone's life. Our call as gospel people is to look inside our own hearts and see ourselves in someone else. We don't help people so we can be on a list of the biggest donors, or so that we can come in first in a good-deed-doer's contest. We help people so that they will have dignity, so that they will have a better life because of something we were a part of, so that they might have one meal, or one shower, or one cool drink. It is our calling to be the light in whatever darkness comes our way if we can, for their sake, not our own. Being Christ-like is not about us. We exist as a community for others. Not at the cost of our own suffering but as we can, so that we have an impact that others. If we take care of ourselves but not also outside of ourselves we will fail as a community. If we take care of only those outside of ourselves then we will be lost, and will fail as a community.
Ayik and the torturer looked at each other in silence for five minutes. The torturer was wearing all black, and wearing dark glasses, and Ayik really wanted to see his eyes to see if he had changed; he wanted to look inside the man through his eyes and see who was there now. They both got up and left the room and the producers went to each of them to ask how they were. Both men wanted to speak to the other so they met in the room again. Ayik just asked one question, “Why?” Eventually the other man just came over and said in Ayik's language, “I'm going.” and left the room. In the SnapJudgment episode we are taken through much more activity and calls and visits over a long time. At one point the torturer told Ayik that he too was afraid of what would happen to him if he did not do as he was told, and that he too was a child. After some time Ayik felt as though maybe if he were in the same position he might have done the same thing, but not as hard. He realized that the torture he received was primarily because of the evil situation the man/boy was in, but the harshness and overt cruelty of it came from the anger and fear inside of the frightened participant. At that point Ayik realized that his own fear of returning in his mind to that torture place was over, and all that remained was for the other man to finish dealing with his own demons from that time. Forgiveness was requested. Forgiveness was granted. While some redemption came for each man that day, their story is not over.
As individuals and as a community we are continually faced with opportunities to be part of someone's return to humanity. There are always risk. We do not need to be afraid. God is with us.
Let us pray,