Jesus Has Made All the Difference In Our Lives
Philemon Series: Part 3
Philemon 11-19
Alan Walker

Even if we chase the rainbow, the pot is empty. The yellow brick road doesn’t really lead to Oz. It leads to the desperate realization that life is just life. As we reach out to grab it as it goes hurriedly by us, we don’t seem to be able to hold on it to. Nothing we do slows it down.

Do you sometimes feel a bit like Onesimus? Life begins to feel like slavery. You feel cornered, trapped. Life is moving by faster each year and you aren’t getting anywhere. Ever feel like getting in the car and driving and never coming home? Ever feel like changing careers? You think you’d look good in a Mazda Miati - if you could fit? The rainbow seems to be calling. The yellow brick road seems to attract you. You want to run.

How many have run off after the rainbow, seeking the pot of gold?

"What kind of man was Onesimus?"

Possibly he was an incredibly poor manager of money. He may have had to sell himself into slavery to pay off his debt.

Maybe he was a man who had spent his youth and early adulthood with a restless spirit. He just knew life was out there - and he wasn’t. He was frustrated and anxious.

It can be presumed he was a thief. It seems Onesimus may have lifted a few bucks from his master as he ran off. (18)

Apparently, he wasn’t an honest man, because he took off. He beat feet out of there. Only to discover, even out there life is a void.

Even if we chase the rainbow, the pot is empty. The yellow brick road doesn’t really lead to Oz. It leads to the desperate realization that life is just life. As we reach out to grab it as it goes hurriedly by us, we don’t seem to be able to hold on it to. Nothing we do slows it down.

I don’t know if these questions ever entered the mind of Onesimus, but folks, I know they have entered some of ours.

Isn’t there more to life than this? Aaaaaaagggghhhh!

Tired of the fields, tired of slavery, weary of his master, depressed by life, inspired by hopes of finding the rainbow, Onesimus ran off. Looking for the land of Oz.

Onesimus chased his rainbow. He ran down the Yellow Brick Road. Then like hundreds, perhaps thousands of prodigals before and after him, he hit rock bottom.

The freedom he risked his life to attain, did not give him the purpose, the answers, the pot of gold he desired.

We can only speculate about how he met Paul. Perhaps Onesimus wound up in jail. Perchance they were cell-mates. Maybe he had heard Paul teach when he visited Philemon’s home, and he sought him out. However it happened, they met. And the weary old man who had helped Onesimus’ master discover that the real rainbow is in Jesus, told him the story of the loving Savior. Onesimus came to know Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, Onesimus found his purpose in life. He discovered that the void in his heart was now filled with God. Life finally began to make sense.

It was time to go home. He would return to Philemon to face the music. But it was okay, because Jesus was leading the Orchestra, and God had written a new song.

Folks, Jesus makes all the difference in life, and we have a masterpiece right here in front of us displaying with aggressive strokes, just the kind of difference He makes.

When we change our direction, Jesus changes our life.

Let’s look again at this postcard and consider the difference Jesus made in the life of Onesimus

When Onesimus met Jesus, he went…

Paul writes in verses 11-14:

11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12 I am sending him-who is my very heart-back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. (NIV)

Useless doesn’t equal worthless. People outside of the Kingdom of God are not worthless.

All people, Christians and non-Christians alike have intrinsic worth. We have value within ourselves because we have been created in the image of Almighty God. That doesn’t save us, but it does make us valuable. God’s mark is on our life. We look like our Father, even when we don’t act much like him.

All of us have extrinsic worth as well. We are valuable because of what we do. We have value as citizens, as parents, as grand-parents, as husbands or wives.

Outside of Jesus though, our worth has been marred by sin. We are not worthless - not by a long shot - but to a very real degree to Jesus, we are not useful.

Onesimus, the runaway slave, went back home. He returned to where he belonged. On the run he had been of no use to Philemon at all.

Now, because Jesus touched this runaway rainbow chaser, not only does he have intrinsic and extrinsic worth, but, he has eternal value! He is useful to the Kingdom! He is useful to the Christ of the Cross. Useful not only to Philemon, but also to Paul.

The worth, marred by sin, is now restored to the image of God.

You are of great use to the Kingdom of God. You have value. You have worth. God has made a remarkable change in your value. That’s right; I’m not talking about Onesimus, but about you!

You are a home for the Holy Spirit. You have Jesus dwelling in your heart. You are an agent of God to share the incredible news of what the Lord has done in your life and what the Lord can do in the lives of others.

When we change our direction, the Lord changes our life. But that’s not all. When Jesus touched Onesimus’ life he went...

Verse 14:

14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
(NIV)

Have you noticed how relationships change?

My wife and I were pals, then good pals, then really good pals. Then engaged, then married, and now 20 years later, we are still good pals. But the relationship has changed.

Most of us can’t relate to Onesimus. He ran away a slave, but returned home as part of the family of God. As a brother in Christ. As a fellow soldier for Jesus. When they sang, "When the Roll is Called up Yonder," Onesimus sang right alongside of Philemon.

What happened? Jesus Christ touched his life. Jesus became His Lord. Jesus became his Savior. Jesus became the most important person in the world to him.

It hadn’t always been that way. He was busy chasing rainbows. He was taking a trip down the yellow brick road. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to know Jesus. He just hadn’t taken the opportunity to get to know him. Much like some of you this morning, either in the past, or right now. It isn’t that you don’t care for Jesus. It isn’t that you don’t love Him. You just for some reason haven’t made time for Him.

Like Onesimus, we too were slaves. Not to Philemon, but the Bible we read says we were "slaves to sin", slaves to this world. But:

Paul put it this way in Romans 6:16-18:

16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. (NIV)

Now, things are different. Jesus has touched our life. We are now more like the:

We are a part of the family of God.

You may have come here originally a stranger, not knowing anyone at all. But now, because you learned about Jesus and accepted him, you are no longer a stranger, you are a part of the family. These are your brothers and sisters. Multiply that thousands of times over and that’s what it must feel like to know we are a part of God’s family world-wide.

It’s a large and growing family. It’s a fun family. It’s an awesome family. It’s a joyous family. It’s a wild family. It’s an incredible family. But most importantly, if you belong, it’s your family! Praise God!

We no longer have to be slaves to sin, apart from God, away from Jesus. We can sit at the table. We can sit down together. We can have fellowship.

Onesimus left a frightened and frustrated slave and returned as a prince. A prince, because the blood of a King - the King of Kings - was shed for him, and now forgiveness dwells in his heart.

Better than chasing rainbows is entering an authentic relationship with the Kings of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Do you know Jesus? Are you a part of the family of God?

When we change our direction, the Lord changes our life.

He changes our value. He changes our relationship. But that’s not all...there’s more! When Jesus touched Onesimus’ heart, he went...

Verse 18:

18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back-not to mention that you owe me your very self. (NIV)

Have you ever had the title to your car in your hand after 5 years of payments? Paid in Full. All the coupons out of the book are gone! It’s yours. You might trade it in soon or buy another, but for the moment, it’s paid in full.

If you’ve ever been in the red, deep in debt, then you may also know the excitement of entering the black, that is, you’re no longer in debt. In the physical and financial realm, it is so much easier to get into debt than to get out of debt.

Onesimus, was in the red. He was the property of Philemon. He was valuable to Philemon. When he ran away, not only did he rob Philemon of money, but productivity. All the days, weeks or months he was gone, he wasn’t working for Philemon, and that added up quickly.

Philemon may have had to contact the temp slave office, and hire someone to come and fill in for him.

When the cost was added up, loss of time, loss of money, loss of productivity, he was really in debt. I doubt Onesimus would have ever been able to cover the cost himself.

In this little postcard from prison, we see a couple of sentences of grace – an IOU, signed by Paul, in his own hand. "Philemon, whatever he owes you, I will pay it. You figure it out anyway you want to. Come up with the largest total, and I will pay it! I’ll do it! You know me."

Listen to these words of grace once again this morning.... "If he has done you any wrong, or owes you anything, charge it to me. I Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back..."

Maybe even the cost of his slavery. Maybe Paul is even offering to buy him back completely. Paul loves his new found son in the faith, and he will pay whatever price necessary to insure his freedom.

Wouldn’t you enjoy a friend like Paul? Well, how about a friend like Jesus. You know, that’s where Paul came up with the idea.

What do I mean?

Much like Onesimus, we were in the red, big time before we came to know Jesus. Oh, we may not have been in debt financially, but we were in debt to sin. It had piled up big time. Small sins, big sins, itsy-bitsy sins, great big monstrous sins - they were all there, every lie, every time we used God’s holy name or the name of his precious Son in vain. Every time we cheated. Every moral failure. Every lustful thought. They were all there amassed on our soul. We were deeply in spiritual debt and despair.

Jesus looked to the Father, He talked it over with the Spirit, and He came here, and lived with us. He knew he had to get us out of debt, because this debt kept us from God, and we were going to be so overwhelmed with it, that we would lose our souls.

Enter Jesus. He offered his life as the price of our sins. He took our sins like the bank takes our credit cards and wipes them clean. We have been set free. The debt has been paid. When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus, the sins fall off of us like nobodies business.

Jesus looks at the Father, and says, "Charge it to me - I have paid the full price". And the Spirit in some unique way, marks with the ink that looks a lot like blood, the words on our soul, "PAID IN FULL - PAID IN FULL - PAID IN FULL" Praise God, paid in full!

And for the first time in along time, we are no longer in debt. We are free! The load had been eased. The board erased. The scar healed. The darkness lifted. We can see and feel, and almost touch Him. We can talk to Him. We can praise Him. We can shout the shout of victory for him.

Folks, I have had the incredible joy of immersing into Jesus people who were in their 80's. The angels sang the song of victory in heaven. Jesus applauded. God smiled. Victory was assured.

Yet, what excites me even more is when young people who don’t wait until they are in their 80's, take their stand for Jesus. They don’t wait for late in life to live for the King. They decide early on, before they are old enough to shave, or probably understand all the intricate theological details, but determine they will take their stand with Jesus. I can’t help but believe when this happens the angels not only sing but dance the dance of victory. Jesus applauds loudly, the Spirit weeps tears of joy, and God smiles a big smile, and wonders, what am I going to be able to accomplish with this young person.

Don’t wait to serve the Lord. Don’t wait to take your stand for Jesus. Don’t worry about having to do all the things teens have to do to fit into society today. Stand up for Jesus. Come home like Onesimus. Live for Him now! Make your peace with God. Allow your eternal soul to be stamped with the precious words only Jesus can make possible, "paid in full." Charge it to my account!

When we change our direction, the Lord changes our life. Praise God! He and He alone can do what we could never do, even if we had all of eternity.

Did Almighty God work in Onesimus’ life or what?

Onesimus met Jesus Christ and his life was eternally changed! He’s probably still so excited about Jesus, that this morning he’s wishing he could preach this message, and afraid I’m going to leave something out.

When he met Jesus, the questions of life we answered.

How did it happen? Jesus touched his life!

Two quick thoughts:

#1. I said earlier that in the financial realm it is easier to get in debt than out of debt. The opposite is true, but only in Jesus. In Jesus, it is easier to get out of spiritual debt because He’s already paid the price. It’s called Redemption. It’s called Justification. I don’t care what you call it, but you need to accept it.

#2. Paul loved Onesimus his son in the faith, and did everything he could to pay the debt he owed Philemon. God loves you! Believe it or whatever, but it’s true. Now, you may not love Him as you should, but He still loves you. Like Paul, Jesus paid our debt in full. Not because we earned it. Not because we deserve it, but because we can’t do it on our own. No way. We were broken, penniless slaves. If we haven’t yet accepted the gift of His grace, we need to, right now!

That’s exactly what Onesimus did. He left the prison in Rome, and returned to Colossae, returned to Philemon, and returned home.

Maybe this morning, it’s time to stop chasing rainbows, stop running after the yellow brick road to Oz, and come home to Jesus, where you belong.

Copyright © 1997-2004, The Preacher's Corner. Reprinted here by permission of the author (and our good friend) Alan Walker for the benefit of our subscribers. Alan may be reached at: sermonzzzz@aol.com. This message may be used by subscribers of The Preacher's Study in their local work only. It may not be published on the Internet, in a book, or anyplace else beyond the local congregation without the expressed permission of the author. All Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.