DIVES AND LAZARUS: STRIKING THE BALANCE

HOMILY FOR THE 26TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C
Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

 

It is not enough to say that we do not do wrong/evil. It does not follow that since one does no evil, that he does good. Doing no wrong must be merged with doing something good (detachment from the devil, and attachment to God). Then can one claim to be good.

Last Sunday, we encountered the story of the unjust servant, in which we explained the concern of the story on the attitude of human beings about the things of this world more than the things of heaven. Jesus continues this Sunday to tell such a likely story to teach his audience that the yardstick for measuring going heaven is not based on how wealthy we have lived in this world, but on how well we have lived. Jesus indicated that man must love God and use money and not using God and loving money. Having told his audience the story of the unjust servant, the Pharisees who were present ridiculed him (cf. Luke 16:14). Hence, to answer that scoffing, Jesus tells them the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This is the story that we encounter in today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-31); a story which is highly educative. This parable is meant to rebuke not the possession of wealth but its heartless, selfish use. Actually, we shall consider the two principal characters (The Rich man and Lazarus) in it, and thereupon present an awareness of two other characters often neglected (the five brothers and ‘Moses and the prophets).

The Rich Man (Dives)

There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. The rich man has been popularly referred to as Dives, but this is not his name, as Dives is the Latin equivalent for ‘rich’. Thus, the rich man was not named. The description we know about him was the way he dressed and ate. These are mere externalities of life. He was described by Jesus based on where his heart lay, the temporal things of this world. Another thing necessary to know about this rich man stems from this question: what was actually his sin? He lived to self. He neglected the plight of Lazarus, the poor. He never noticed Lazarus. We must be aware that there was nothing bad he did to Lazarus such as pursuing him away or even releasing bad words on him. He had made no objections to his receiving the bread that was flung from his table. His was the sin of omission: the good he has failed to do for a brother who was in need. A life lived to the self is death as to live for others is life. The sin of Dives was that he did not feel any answering sword of grief and pities pierce his heart having seen the suffering and pains of a fellow man that is in dare need. He ignored Lazarus. He did nothing when he should have done something.

Dives in our world today

The first question we need to answer is this: how do you describe yourself? Its corollary is: how do people describe you? We must be aware that the way we are described says a lot about us. Are you described based on the material things you possess? Or are you described based on how lovely your heart is. The danger of describing us based on our riches is that our names are lost, just as the name of this rich man was lost as it was not mentioned. We lose our names, lose the main thing that ought to characterize our lives, loose our identity with God, and even lose our connection with our fellow humans who can be helpful through their words of admonition. Therefore, when you notice that people around has started to describe you based on how luxurious you live your life or the material things you possess, run as far as your legs can carry you and embrace the spirit of charity and love. By so doing, the tag on you will be easily transformed to something positive, something which is more intrinsic, not external, and something which actually constitutes everyone as persons. Then and only then can such statements arise: he is a good man with a good heart. Learn to focus on those behaviours that make us really human. We have to ask ourselves whether what we are expected to do with material possessions are actually being done by us. A constant re-examination of self is important.

Lazarus (the poor)

And at his gate was a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. This poor man is named Lazarus, which is the Latinized form of Eleazar, and means God is my help. This name is given to us to show the poor man’s piety. He was so helpless that he could not even ward off the street dogs that pestered him. But God was his help by making him cross the path of the rich man, who blocked his heart to feel the clarion call for pity and help. He was at Dives’ gate and got no help from Dives. He got some crumbs from Dives’ table but not from Dives (in those days, they did not use spoons, forks or knives or napkins; they would eat with their hands, wiping them on crusts of bread that had been thrown out afterward. The serious point is that Lazarus became the measure for the goodness of Dives. But Dives was not aware.

Lazarus in the world today

When we do nothing when Lazarus lies at our gate, we do great wickedness. See how the scene was changed. When they both died, and went each to his own place, Dives became helpless, while Lazarus became helpful. The helpless became the man from whom help was demanded. Lazarus finds relief and is comforted, while the rich man is in pain and anguish. Lazarus was in heaven as Dives was in hell. However, we must clarify that the rich man was not in hell because he was rich nor was Lazarus in heaven because he was poor as we have explained. Dives begged for water which symbolizes relief. He who was unable to relief the pain of the other was seeking relief from the other. But it is a pity as there is now a very big chasm between Lazarus and Himself. The chasm indicates the impossibility of change in either condition. If you are in heaven, you are in heaven. If you are in hell, you are in hell. There is no passage from one to the other. This Abraham made the Dives to understand. Earth is the place for mutual help and love. Practice care and concern when you can so that you will not live an eternal life of regret. Sometimes, God sends ‘Lazarus’ in our paths that they may be added to the measures for our judgment, and many times, we have failed to see that when we fail to feel pity and show concern, we are scoring low grades as regards our defence after this life. Help that poor man beside you today, and secure a good place tomorrow in the bosom of Abraham.

The five brothers and the ‘Moses and the Prophets’

Dives had five brothers, and pleaded that they be warned less they join him in that place of torment. But he had lost the right to appeal since he is now in hell. Only the saints in heaven can appeal. If s sinner in hell can appeal even when he has lost such a privilege, what more of the saints in heaven who has such privilege. The saints in heaven do appeal for our good here on earth. Dives recognized this truth that he cannot return o warn the five brothers. He then appealed for Lazarus to be sent. The emphasis is that Dives is sure that the five brothers are still living like him and neglecting the poor, since he was with them in such a life. But one thing is striking. Here in hell, Dives felt some concern for his brothers, but his torture is all the more worsened because of his inability to do anything. The dead do not come back to life to warn us. Even when they have such a desire to warn, they are unable to do so.

However, there is a reasoning that might follow from this:  if God really wants to save the five brothers, he should have granted the request of this man. This reasoning fails as God gives us ample opportunities to repent. If they do not listen to the Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Abraham is right. Many Christians today do not repent on hearing the word of God from the mouth of Moses and the prophets. They too desire to see dead men rise in order to believe. This parable portrays our human desire for the spectacular, the dramatic or the shocking to occur. Sometimes we want God to tear the heavens open and come down. Many feel that they will not believe unless they experience some miracles. There are Moses and the prophets. If we listen to them, we shall be like Lazarus who enjoyed heaven. If we fail to listen to them, we shall be like Dives who is in hell. There will many a poor man in hell, as there will be rich men in heaven. The main thing is to give heed to the word of God preached through the mouths of the preachers (the Moses and the prophets today). The reason for your earthly life is that you might learn through the Moses and the prophets, the realities of life, and the realities of the life after.

The First Reading (Amos 6:1a.4-7) warns against this life that Dives lived. It warns against the life of luxury lived without considering the other persons in the society. According to God, through the mouth of the prophet, such persons are in potency of being driven into exile. They will be punished first in this life, even before the afterlife. The Second Reading (1 Tim 6:11-16) exhorts all to aim at righteousness and to fight the good fight of faith by keeping the laws of God and avoiding evil. It exhorts everyone to strive so as to achieve heaven like Lazarus.

We must strive, dear friends to combine the practice of detachment from evil with that of attachment to the good. We must strive after good having rejected evil. It is a terrible warning, as William Barclay says, that the sin of Dives was not that he did wrong things, but that he did nothing. We are called to help thus, the Lazaruses of our community, with the awareness that God is highly interested in the poor. God bless you as I wish you a blessed week ahead.

THE SONS OF THIS WORLD VS THE SONS OF LIGHT

HOMILY FOR THE 25^TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4)

As a newly ordained priest, I carried my car to get it fixed up to a certain place known for their expertise in car parts. I wanted to change the fork cover and replace it with fork lamps. With immediate effects, I was rushed by very many retailers who presented themselves as good advisers on what and what I needed to fix up in the car for it to have the highest level of road worthiness. When one of them realized I was a priest (having seen the souvenir of my priestly ordination), he immediately told me that he was a catholic and can never have in his mind to cheat or deceive me. Many too identified themselves as Catholics. Their reason which was obvious for such identification was not actually to help me with the right knowledge I needed, but to make sure I patronized them and if possible to enrich their purses. Oh, what a funny day!!! They never knew that I knew what they know. Many persuasions came from left, right and centre to buy and add to the vehicle so many parts to make it appear more glamorous and presentable. I paid deaf ears to them as I had a particular reason for which I came.

Finally, I settled on the fork lamp and told its retailer to help change it. After much negotiation on the price, he started work. As I watched him and from what he said, he wanted to take those fork covers with him (for he had told me that they were now useless, since I had replaced them with the fork lamp). I refused, insisting that they are necessary and even as costly as the lamps (for a friend had told me how important those parts are). When he noticed that I was not ready to let him have those covers, what he now did was to fix the fork lamps in a manner that it can easily fall off when on a highway (probably so as to make me spend more). Oh, what a shrewd society!!! He did not tighten those lamps very well. It’s a pity as I never recognized this. After some days, the lamps had gone. The awareness of how poorly he fixed those fork lamps then came to me. I have chosen to begin this homily with this story to show how cunning and dishonest the sons of this age can be in issues that demand trust. The sons of this world have their cunning ways of acting which they take as normal forms of behaviour, without knowing or counting on the repercussions such acts can bring about in their lives. They tend to remove Christianity from their business ethics. They cheat and collect bribes on working days, and on Sundays go to Church, give their offering, pay their tithes without the reminiscence of the ill way they had got the money they offer.

In the Gospel passage today (Luke 16:1-13), Jesus told his disciples and all of us Christians a parable that is geared towards expunging such traits of shrewdness in our dealings with God. It is the parable of the unjust servant. It is a parable that passes some message about the kingdom of God. Actually, this parable is one of the most misunderstood parables of Jesus as presented by Luke. Many think Jesus praised the shrewd servant. Many also think Jesus advised us to make effort to enter heaven even if it be in a shrewd manner. In the text, we saw how a steward lavished his master’s wealth because of his selfish interest of the fact that he noticed that the master was about to fire him. He had used his master’s possessions in such a way as to make friends and to prepare for the future (since he had thought that he was unable to go through various hard labours to make a living. Now, he had no right to do this since he was still a steward, who must always need the will of the master (cf. 1 Cor 9:17). The interesting part of the story is that the master appreciated him for his skill of shrewdness in making provisions for his future. The pertinent worry here is: how can a man who had been cheated by his steward, someone who has suffered a substantial and irretrievable loss, commend a crooked steward? The answer to this is offered in the words of Christ in verse 8: the master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light (Luke16:8).from these words came my headline.

He recognized and appreciated such shrewdness because he valued it, and practiced it. He too was shrewd. You do not commend a man for something you disdain. Hence, both the unjust steward and his master valued the same thing –shrewdness. Both of them belonged to the group regarded by Christ as the sons of this age. Thus, one can hypothesize that the master praised the steward for the shrewdness because he knew that if he were to be in that position, he would have done the same. With these words, Jesus makes a demarcation between the city of God and the city of man, between heaven and earth, between light and darkness, between good and evil, between shrewdness and straightforwardness, between honesty and lies, between believers and non-believers, between the sons of this age and the sons of light, etc. Therefore, Jesus would not and cannot join the master in praise of such a crime.

In the interpretation of this parable by Jesus (from verse 8b-13), we derive more insights. Jesus words were a description of how men think and act, and not a commendation nor a recommendation of it to us. The unjust servant and the master may commend shrewdness, but Jesus condemns it. God does not commend what he condemns. What God condemns, He does not commend. The parable does not teach shrewdness as a way for God’s followers, but a way to be avoided by his followers, since no one can serve two masters at the same time. We are not to be shrewd but to be honest and straightforward as Christians. The shrewdness exhibited by this steward is typical of the way sons of this age act (as exemplified in our lead story). If Christians are to put off worldly ways of acting and thinking, then we are to be clear on what worldliness is. This story gives us a vivid image of the worldly manner of thinking which Christians must change.

Christians must use what God has given to them to store treasures in heaven. In v. 13, Jesus said: make friends for yourselves by the use of material possessions. Christians should act like the unjust steward (but not the same). We like the unjust stewards are stewards. We have nothing we can rightly call ours. God gives us everything. If we understand this well, we shall learn to use our money and our material possessions in ways that manifest Christ to men, and which can draw men to Christ in faith. The Christian must give exclusive loyalty to God or succumb to the enslavement of money (mammon). This loyalty is expressed by sharing mammon with others in need.

We cannot serve both God and wealth. One of the great temptations which must have confronted the steward was the tension of how to use the master’s money to further his master’s interest (being faithful to his master) or using his master and his money as a means to his own (self-serving interest). He did the later. In our age, money posses itself as a master to many Christians, as they allow themselves to become slaves of money. In such a case, we become sons of this age, ceasing to be sons of light.

This world represents the many distractions that try to remove our focus from God and the things of heaven. It can represent those ideals and ways (abortion, gay marriage, etc.) that are inimical to our Christian belief which today the world promotes. The sons of this age trample upon the needy and destroy the poor (cf. First Reading –Amos 8:4-7). The sons of this age are the perpetrators of social injustices and vices. They cheat, take bribes, are corrupt, are violent, and steal forcefully from others. The sons of this age find nothing wrong with lies in their business life. The sons of this age are quick to sale damaged and expired goods to the masses to eat. The sons of this age are comfortable with the production of fake drinks and drugs.

The light represents Christ and every good thing that comes from him (cf. John 12:35). If we believe in the Lights, we become sons of light (cf. John 12:36). The sons of light help to lift up the poor and salvage them from their poverty. The sons of light offer supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that there may be a quiet and peaceful life, godly and respectful in every way (cf. The Second Reading -1 Timothy 2:1-8).  The sons of light are sons of peace (Luke 10:6). The sons of light are fans of social justice and virtues. They are sincere, are incorruptible, and cannot desire that which is not theirs. The sons of light disgust lies in their businesses. They cannot sale damaged nor expired goods to others. The sons of light are quick to report any offense against human life and right; for they take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (Eph. 511).

Therefore, dear friends, I must end with the very words of St. Paul to urge us to strive to become sons of light.

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness...since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation; for God has not destined us for wrath but for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ...therefore, encourage one another and build up one another just as you are doing (1 Thes. 5:5-11).

I wish you a blessed week ahead. God bless you.

I WAS ONCE LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND

HOMILY FOR THE 24^TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

♫♫Amazing grace, how sweet that sound; that saved a wretch like me. I was once lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.♫♫ During my Primary school days, it was always the case that whenever items are lost and a pupil finds or discovers the lost item, an announcement is always made: there is a lost and found item. The owner rushes and collects the item, and everyone would see the intense feeling of joy and gladness in the owner of the item that was lost. Yes, it is a principle of human nature that the recovery of an object in danger of being lost affords much more intense joy than the quiet possession of many that are safe. We rejoice over a child rescued from danger or disease more than over those who are healthy or safe. These words form the foundation of my reflection today.

In the Gospel today (Luke 15:1-32), many tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus. Seeing this, the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured against such an act because they look forward not to the saving but the destruction of the sinner, but Jesus told them some parables. What is a parable? Parable comes from the Greek word parabole. In the New Testament, parabole designates the wise sayings or the fictitious short stories used by Jesus to set forth his teachings. One thing peculiar with every parable of Jesus is that Jesus uses it to communicate a deep truth about the kingdom of heaven. Today, we encounter three of such parables:

·       Parable of the lost and found sheep

·       Parable of the lost and found coin  

·       Parable of the lost and found son.

These parables have the singular theme that revolves around God’s abiding forgiveness and the human need of repentance. From the parables too, we discover that repentance produces two principal effects: the joy of God in heaven, and the goodness of man on earth. We now take them one by one.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST AND FOUND SHEEP

This parable has two principal moral fibres: the moral fibre of the shepherd and the moral fibre of the sheep (from which one got missing). The shepherd of the New Testament Era was personally responsible for the sheep. These shepherds were so responsible that they make every effort to find any strayed sheep, or at least bring home the fleece to show and confirm how it has died. Another point is that many of the flocks were communal flocks, belonging not to individuals, but to villages and communities. There may be two or three shepherds in charge. If any sheep gets loss, at least one shepherd must be on the search to discover the lost one. The whole village will be on the watch, and when in a distance, they saw the shepherd striding home with the lost sheep across his shoulders, there is a shout of joy and thanksgiving from the whole community. This is the imagery Jesus draws of God. Just as the community is glad over a lost and found sheep, so also God (and heaven) is glad over a lost sinner who is found.

The moral fibre of the sheep too is a great lesson to us. If you are in Christ (that is, among the 99 sheep that were not lost), you must count yourself worthy and not behaving like the Pharisee who portray self-righteousness and seek for the destruction of the sinner. You must pray that the one lost will be found in order that your number may be complete. Remember, when that one is found, there is a complete joy. We must learn never to rejoice over the suffering of others. We must rather work and pray that the suffering be alleviated. As a sinner (the lost and found sheep), remember that men may give up hope of you, but God never gives up. God loves the person that never strayed, but there is the joy of joys when a lost one is found and comes home.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN

It would not be difficult to lose a coin in a Palestinian peasant’s house and it might take a long search to find it. The houses were very dark, and the floor was beaten earth covered with dried reeds and rushes, and to look for a coin on a floor like that was very much like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was so difficult but the woman insisted in searching even though the coin was so negligible. The woman treasured the coin. This is how God treasures every one of us, even when we think ourselves to worth nothing. God is in deep search for us whenever we get loss; and when he finds us through our repentance, he is most joyful.

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST AND FOUND SON

This parable popularly known as the parable of the prodigal son is actually one of the most popular short stories in the world. There are many issues and lessons in this parable. Firstly, under Jewish law, a father was not free to leave his property as he liked. The elder son must get two-thirds and the younger one-third (Deut 21:17). It was by no means unusual for a father to distribute his estate before he died, if he wished to retire from the actual management of affairs. The father is never obliged to listen to the callous request of the younger son, but he did not argue with him. He just obliged him and granted his request. The younger son then made away with his share of the property.

This prodigal son finished the money in a distant land, suffered and then realized his mistakes. That was when he decided to come home again, and plead to be taken back not as a son, but in the lowest rank of slaves. The father accepted him with deep joy and gladness, accepted him as his beloved son, and gave him a sound reception. This parable spells out intensely the father’s love for a son who sinned. This tells us about the forgiveness of God. The love of God is far broader than the love of man; and that God can forgive when men refuse to forgive. In face of a love like that we cannot be other than lost in wonder, love and praise.

RESUME

In these three parables, we notice the recurrence of the expression ‘lost and found’ which I have carefully used to drive home my points. It is carefully used to depict that the story does not end in the loss but in the discovery, in the renewal, in the revival, in the resuscitation, in the recovery. What do you do when you have fallen down? Do you remain there? Or do you stand and pick up your mat to walk? Many times, we are complacent with sin. We prefer to remain in sin than to come back to God. The problem does not lie in falling down, but in the ability to rise when one has fallen.

Another interesting thing in these parables is that they touch things, animals and persons, and these represent the three important categories of living realities: plants, animals and man. The first concerns an animal; the second concerns a thing, while the third concerns a human person. This means that anything created can get loss and be found with the condition of proper search and disposition. No one is above getting loss, and everyone can be found. No one is above sin; for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). Hence, we must all say the prayer of the tax collector: God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner ( Luke 18:13). And the Lord does surely forgive. The First Reading (Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14) today demonstrates how the Lord relented in the punishment he wanted to inflict on the Israelites when Moses pleaded for his mercy. We must be rest assured that the Lord relents whenever we call upon him to forgive us the punishments due to our sins. Let us therefore sing with the Prodigal son: ♫♫ Yes, I shall arise and return to my Father ♫♫.

We must note that these three parables are not simply three ways of stating the same thing. There is a difference. The sheep went lost through sheer foolishness. It did not think; and many a man would escape sin if he thought in time. The coin was lost through no fault of its own. Many a man is led astray; and God will not hold him guiltless who has taught another to sin. The son deliberately went lost, callously turning his back on his father. The love of God can defeat the foolishness of man, the seduction of the tempting voices, and even the deliberate rebellion of the heart. (cf. Barclay William, commentary on the Gospel of Luke).

May the Lord continue to give us a humble and a contrite heart to always approach him whenever we have been weighed down by sin. Good luck to you as I wish you a blessed week ahead. God bless you.

THE MORE WE RENOUNCE, THE MORE USEFUL WE BECOME

 HOMILY FOR THE 23^RD SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The world today strives after gain and utility in whatever they do. There is this cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society and our religion. This cankerworm is the manner with which Christians nowadays search for crowns and glory without cross and sorrow; the manner with which Christians strive after magic and take them to be miracles; the manner with which Christians look assiduously at the gains of a particular venture without being calculative of the work that ought to accompany such a venture. As it stands now in Nigeria, I see the Church is trying to lose her identity as ambassadors of Christ and as the conscience of the society. What is Christianity if not a life lived in sincere imitation of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ? Are we forgetting the teachings of Christ? Or do we not see faith in what we are doing again? The way people view the Church as a profit-oriented institution, and not as an institution for service baffles me. The way Christians fight over power is scandalous. What are we fighting for? The only fight every Christian is permitted to engage in is the fight to possess Christ with a holiness of life and a sincere humble spirit of service to God and to humanity. Woes betide us if we lose sight of this.

Today, the Church presents us with the gospel of renunciation. To be candid: IF YOU DO NOT RENOUNCE, YOU BECOME USELESS; useless in what you are doing regardless of your status in the Church or in the society. To be useful as a Christian, you must renounce the distractions of the world that are there only to weigh our souls down. When we accumulate, we sink. When we denounce, we are lighter; only then can we fly. Every Christian must know the expectations Christ demands from us. The Gospel of today (Luke 14:25-33) is very explicit on the expectations from every Christian. Jesus made it clear that Christianity is not a bed of roses. If you want to be a priest, be ready to accept the difficulties. If you want to be a leader of a particular group in the Church, be ready to serve and not to be served. We are gradually loosing focus. We are gradually missing the mark. Any person who desires to follow Jesus must be ready to face some difficulties. He is not on the road to worldly power and glory, but must be ready for a loyalty which would sacrifice the dearest things in life and for a suffering which would be like the agony of a man upon a cross. Whosoever wants to be my disciple must be ready to take up his cross and follow me, Christ insists. He must denounce worldly possessions, powers, family, friends, children, wives for the sake of Christ. No love should supersede the love we have for God.

Only when we love God can we share this love to our brothers and sisters in the faith. If your love for God is thwarted or one-sided (expecting only the good and pleasurable from God), then your love for your fellow Christian will be highly k-legged. There is no two-ways about it. We all are brothers and sisters in Christ. The status of Onesimus in the Second Reading (Philemon 9b-10.12-17) today was changed due to this singular character of conversion to Christianity. Onesimus renounced his pagan worship and bad ways of life (for which he ran away from his master Philemon). That was why Paul asked Philemon to accept him for his newly found faith.

Paul, who is an ambassador of Christ, and an elder in the Christian faith appeals to Philemon (a fellow Christian) on behalf of Onesimus. He addresses onesimus as his child: I appeal to you for my child, whose father I have become... With the mention of the name ‘Onesimus’, Paul makes it explicit to Philemon the name of the person for whom he writes to him. The fact that Onesimus is begotten of Paul indicates that the slave was converted through Paul’s ministry, thereby making Paul his spiritual father. Philemon also has the same relationship with Paul (cf. V. 17 –if you consider me a partner). Therefore, Paul enjoins Philemon to accept Onesimus as a beloved brother, both in the flesh and in the Lord. They are now adopted children of God through baptism. This is because what unites them now is greater than the unnecessary hierarchy of being slave and master.

Paul did not just stop at exhorting Philemon to accept Onesimus as a beloved brother, but to have him forever. By virtue of the Christian baptism, we have become engrafted to Christ that we forever share a common patrimony and father, irrespective of race, class and interests. Yes, Onesimus is now returning more faithful than ever, but there is now a new relationship that exists between Philemon and Onesimus. Both are now Christians, related in a way that not even death can undo. Onesimus is coming back with a big difference. He went away as a heathen slave; he comes back as a beloved brother in Christ.

We also must take note of a very important issue herein. The Christian has the obligation to accept the man that has made a mistake. Often time, we regard the man who has made mistakes with suspicion and show that we are never prepared to trust him again. We believe that God can forgive him, but we ourselves find it difficult to forgive.

Let us now consider the name and the meaning of this name for whom the letter was written. Onesimus is a Greek name which means ‘useful’ (a profitable one). The bearer of the name was a slave of Philemon, who wronged his master and had to run away. He became useless. He then met Paul at Rome and was converted to Christianity. He became useful. Paul then had to send him back as a useful Christian, no longer as a useless servant to Philemon with a letter of recommendation.

And actually, the Greek terms for useless (αχρηστον) and useful (εὑχρηστον) suggest that whereas Onesimus was once αχρηστον, and therefore α-χρὶστον (without Christ), he is now εὑχρηστον, and therefore εὑ-χρὶστον (good Christian). Paul himself testifies to this real change of Onesimus. Life presents us with many experiences that make us to see ourselves either as useful or as useless. Being useless is an attribute every normal person makes effort to avoid. However, in the Christian life, a useless life is a life devoid of Christ whereas a useful life is one rooted in Christ.

Christianity has the power to make bad men good. In Christ, the useless person is made useful. Christianity teaches us great morals, not only about things concerning the heavens, but also things concerning the earth. She teaches us how to live in the society, and how to carry out our work more efficiently. Indeed, the Church produces people who are of use and can do a job better than they ever could if they did not know Christ. Think about the great artists of history (Michelle Angelo for instance), the great scientists of history (Galileo Galilei, Copernicus, etc). The very first wine production was done in the monastery. The Church produces efficient people, useful for the society and useful for God.

In renouncing the things of the world, we become more productive for the world, offering our time, talents and treasures for the good of humanity. But in accumulating the things of the world, we become mere consumers, exploiting the people and causing harm unto the mother earth. Never be a party to such an exploitative mentality. You must believe that if there is no cross, there will be no crown. Never nurture in your mind to reap where you have not sown. When we follow Christ sincerely in service, do not worry, for the one you follow has promised to provide a hundred-fold of that which you think you are losing. Remember Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question of the reward for discipleship: whosoever sacrifices for the sake of Christ will receive a hundred-fold of what he/she has sacrificed and upon those, eternal life (Matt. 19:29). We should seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and every other thing will be added unto us. May these words guide our paths as I wish us a blessed week ahead. God bless you.