March 29, 1993
Elias A. Meena
Olympias, the "slave of Christ Jesus,''l to the believers
in Colossae, with their bishop and deacons, sends greetings with my prayer
for blessing and peace to you all. How I miss all of you, among whom, in my
former life in the house of Philemon, I found the true freedom Given through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; who himself "took on the form of a slave''2 for
~ our sakes, that each of us might find everlasting liberty by the grace of
God. Ail of you know my
reputation in the house of Philemon, how I served faithfully and without
complaint my former master in the flesh, whose kindness is well known, who
is a faithful slave of Jesus Christ among you. I served until that day when
0nesimus, also a slave in Philemon's house, returned from being with the
divine Paul. As if grace poured from his mouth, 0nesimus told of spreading
the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ with Paul, of miraculous signs and
wonders he had seen worked by the apostle, and of the power of God manifested
in those who believed Paul's testimony and who received the Spirit of God.
Our master was moved by this report as well, but especially by a letter from
Paul which he read in private, upon which reading he called for me, saying, "My
sister Olympias, Jesus Christ has set us free. You are no longer my slave;
I grant you freedom." You know that from that time
until now I have served the Lord as a freedwoman, visiting other towns and
villages with the true hope of freedom in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
By God's grace I have met with success; but it is not I who am successful,
but Christ at work in me "both to will and to work for his good pleasure"3 From
afar I have heard that, partly because of my legal freedom obtained through
the mercy of Philemon (although it was clearly God who led him to it), you
are becoming confused and argumentative with each other. But your confusion
has been caused by hoaring of a lcttcr, purported to be from Paul, which
tells the faithful who are slaves to be submissive to their masters. Are
~slaves who come to faith in the Lord, and who are baptized in the church,
then, legally free? I cannot say whether Paul actually wrote these words,
but it seems unusual that he would say it; I have never heard nor read anything
from that blessed man that would agree with this statement. But I do know
this, that Paul would always have one goal in mind for the churches in his
charge, "that there should be
no division in the body"4, and that each of us must be "diligent
to preserve theunity Qf the Spirit in the bond
of peace''5.
This argument
amongst you, therefore, causes me no little grief. As one who
by God's grace has been faithful to the calling of the gospel, and as one who
loves you, I shall try to ease your minds about this apparent problem; and who
better to do so, who was at one time a slave to a man, but who now is a slave
to Jesus Christ? It is plainly
manifest that the salvation wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ is open to all
people, and that as pertains to the gospel, legal slavery or legal freedom matter
nothing. As Paul put it, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus,,6 Thus, all who trust in Christ and are baptized into his
death possess iifreedom" in Christ (as our Lord himself is reputed to have said,
"If the Son shall make you free, you shall be freeindeed"7).
Master and slave stand equal before him. But note: our world~y position or social
standing does not change the salvation won for us by Christ, for our freedom
is first a freedom of the heart and of the mind, a freedom from slavery to sin
and death8. What, then, are riches or poverty, what are health or
illness, what are legal freedom or legal slavery? Only temporary conditions
of a temporary life, in which each of us works out our salvation "in fear and
trembling,,9 What am I saying?
Must slaves remain slaves when they become Christians, or not? Before answering,
let me ask another question: Who can better understand the misery of slavery
to sin than one who is bound in leyul slavery? Who can better understand the
sweetness of Christian freedom than one who is bound under the authority of
another? And what is Christian freedom
but the submission of ourselves to Jesus Christ, to become
his willing slaves for all
eternity? Why then, after I had
obtained legal freedom, did I
opt for becoming the slave of Christ? I could have
married and had a nice home; I could have led a calm and peaceful life. "For
we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves
for Christ's sake,10
Was I
legally freed from slavery by my baptism into Christ?
It does not matter; my true freedom was already won from sin and death, and
its result will be in eternal life. For myself, I should have been content to
live in my legal slavery until I should "meet the Lord in the air''il with
all of you. I was, in myself and in reality, free. But God, who calls each of
us to slavery in him, spurred-on the conscience of Philemon to grant me legal
freedom, in order to call me to spread the gospel of his Son. Thus I am now
legally free, but free only to servethe living and
true God as a slave. Indeed, had I remained a legal
slave to Philemon, I should have been doubly enslaved, although
my true service would have been Christ's.
It
is good for a master who is a Christian to grant his
slaves legal freedom: good for the slave, but even better for the
master. For in this action you imitate our Lord Jesus
Christ when he set each of us free in trampling sin and death underfoot.
Are Christians required to free their slaves? Their salvation
does not finally depend on such an action, but rather that
masters should grant their slaves "justice and fairness, knowing
that you too have a Master in heaven''12 Indeed, a
master brings
upon himself a greater judgement, for he
is responsible not only for himself, but for his
slaves as well. But as one who has been both legally enslaved and legally free,
and who is now the willing slave of Christ, I say that masters should free their
slaves. This action sets the master free as well, free to follow our Lord withersoever
he leads, without the encumbrances of legal slaves and material things of this
temporary life. whom Christ died! Your
believing slaves are men and women for
...
Do not be confused, my fellow believers;
if legal freedom comes to a believing slave, accept it as a grace from God.
But know that your true freedom is already won. As Paul said, "Were you called
while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free,
rather do that. For he who was called ih the Lord while a slave is the Lord's
freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ's slave''13Masters,
you must obey the leading of your conscience, for it is God who speaks to you
thus; woe betide the one who ignores the Spirit of the Living God!I,
Olympias, pray to God that you may all continue to be
one; "make
my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining
the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose
. . . .That you my prove yourselves to be blameless
and innocent, children of God above reproach in
the midst of a crooked arid perverse g~ne~ation, among whom you shine as lights
in the world." May the God of peace be with all of you.
6 Philippians 1:1. For consistency,
I will render the word "doulos" as "slave" rather
than "servant."
2 Philippians 2:7
3 Philippians 2:13
4 I Corinthians 12:25
5 Ephesians 4:3
6 Galatians 3:27-28
7 John 8:36. I am assuming that Olympias would have known this
saying of Jesus from the shared source of Jesus' sayings among the early Christians.
8 See Romans 8:2
9 Philippians 2:12
10 I Corinthians 4:5
11 I Thessalonians 4:17
12 Colossians 4:1
13 I Corinthians 7:21-22
14 Philippians 2:2, 15.