Mission Trip Prayer & Devotional PlanSýnishorn

"Revolution"

People sometimes wonder why Paul didn’t preach against slavery. The short answer is that he did. The little, powerless Christian church had no power to influence the Roman government, and in fact it’s questionable whether the emperor himself could have ended an institution that was so powerful and pervasive. Slaves did everything!

Nevertheless, Paul’s writings undermine slavery at every point by insisting that slaves are really human beings, God’s children and worthy of respect. They are not tools, to be used up and discarded!

And in this little book of Philemon, we see what Paul is really after: revolution.

This is not a revolution of blood. Rather it is a revolution of love. Paul gently but firmly urges his friend Philemon to give up his slave Onesimus — his valuable property. But more he urges Philemon to join the revolution, seeing Onesimus not as a slave, but as a dear brother. The two are utterly incompatible. Slaves aren’t brothers, and brothers aren’t slaves. If Philemon listens to Paul, his days as a slaveholder are over. If the Roman empire listens, its days as a slave nation are over too.

Slavery of the kind Paul experienced did eventually die, but the power of his revolution goes on. Love has a way of chipping away at the foundation of tyranny. We’ve seen revolutions of blood that only led to more shed blood. But the true revolution, the one that changes everything, is still coming. That’s why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “your kingdom come.” Whenever we treat an enemy or a stranger as a brother, the kingdom comes a little closer.

Prayer: Lord, show me the “dear brothers and sisters” that I don’t even recognize.