The Ultimate Combo

What two factors, when combined, form the ultimate combo? 

Fr. Goodrich preached this sermon based on the book of Philemon to a live person congregation of Christ Church, Westerly, RI.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.
Amen.
No, I can't do it.
I just can't do it.
We were backpacking in thebeautiful green mountains of
Vermont.
And we were carrying heavybackpacks.

(00:41):
All of our supplies, all of ourstuff.
And what was an adventure formost of us was for a very small
group of people, a purgatory, aslog, a very difficult
challenge.

(01:02):
But at the end of the journey,which was a week or more, those
who had said, I can't do it, hadin fact done it.
They made it because the rest ofus cheered them on, carried some
of their stuff, and patientlywalked with them when they

(01:24):
thought they could not take onemore muddy hiking boot step
forward.
And if you're anything like me,you've been both the struggler,
the helper, and the onlooker insituations like that.
Because some mountains in lifeare a joy, but others are a

(01:47):
struggle.
It wouldn't take long to bringthis proverbial train of
struggle to your heart's homestation.
I need only mention parenting achild in trouble, a health

(02:09):
crisis, an addiction, a move, anew job, a new school, a loss, a
tense relationship with yourspouse or another family member.
We've all been there.

(02:29):
In fact, I bet not only havemany of you been there, but
you're there now in some way.
The struggle is real.
How many of you have ever read abook of the Bible?
A whole book of the Bible, notthe whole Bible, but one of the
little books.
Raise your hand.

(02:49):
I see some hands.
Good for you.
Well done.
Well, check this out.
If you followed along,especially in the bulletin today
for today's epistle fromPhilimon, then you have just
read an entire book of theBible.
Give yourself a pat on theshoulder.
Yeah, good job.
Philemon is one of the shortestbooks in the Bible.

(03:12):
And it is a personal and publicletter from the missionary Saint
Paul, who's getting on in yearsand currently is in prison for
his faith, to a man namedPhilemon, who is a man of some
means, and to the entire churchthat meets in his house.

(03:33):
Did you know there were nochurch buildings in the first
century?
The letter is personal becausePaul is asking Philemon to take
back his runaway slave Onisimus.
And it's public because it'swritten to everybody in the
church.

(03:54):
Now, Philemon had legal rightsin the first century Roman
Empire to punish Onisimus forrunning away.
But Paul is asking Philemon totake Onisimus back, not as he
puts it in verse 15, as a slave,but as a beloved brother in the
Lord.

(04:14):
Slavery was common in the RomanEmpire.
It was a little different thanthe chattel slavery that we know
about from American history.
Roman slaves came from manybackgrounds, many races, many
situations, including those whovoluntarily became slaves,
indentured servants to get outof extreme poverty.

(04:37):
Some slaves even acquiredinfluence and property, some
even their freedom, but most didnot.
And as is obvious, it was a verydifficult way of life.
Now think about the situation.
Think about the situation.
Paul knows Philemon personally,and he knows all the people who

(04:58):
attend his house church, whichis probably just like all of you
over there on that side.
That's probably the whole housechurch.
He knows all of these people,and he's writing to him
publicly.
And if you're reading orlistening, did you notice that
Paul refrains from using hisauthority as an apostle to
directly command Salehman totake Onisimus back?

(05:21):
Instead, Paul in verse 8 appealsto him on the basis of love.
And this is the selfless,selfless, Jesus-like love that
we see in the Gospels.
And check this out, because thisrelates to your center street of
your life and mine.
This is often a love that ismore of a choice we make, an

(05:45):
action we take, than somethingwe feel.
Hence the phrase, liking isoptional, love is required.
Liking is optional, love isrequired.
Let's say that together.
Liking is optional, love isrequired.

(06:07):
And without the ultimate combo,do you even know what the
ultimate combo is?
You and I will struggle to liveout this sort of Christian love
faithfully and consistently.
And by the way, this combo doesnot always come with French
fries.

(06:29):
Here's some questions for you tothink about, and you can answer
aloud or silently.
Do you think that most of theearly Christians, like Philemon,
Afia, and Archibis, who arementioned in this letter, would
have been able to keep their newChristian faith in the hostile
world of the first century RomanEmpire by themselves?

(06:52):
Two, do you think it would havebeen easier for Philemon to
punish Onisimus if he wasn't aChristian?
Three, what if he wasn't part ofa congregation?
What if Paul, who probablymentored Philemon personally,
had not written him a publicletter?

(07:12):
I think we know that the answerto all these questions is
probably yes.
Without Philemon's new faith inGod in Christ, and without the
Christian community that he wasa part of, it would have been
much easier, maybe eveninevitable for him, to lead into
his worst inclinations when itcame to Onesimus.

(07:34):
And now for a joke.
And he chooses a bench in WilcoxPark to make his proposal.
And in traditional style, hegets down on his knees and he

(07:58):
says to her, I have twoquestions.
First, will you marry me?
And the older woman says, Yes, Iwill.
And what's your second question?
And the older gentleman replies,Can you help me up?

(08:21):
You and I often need to behelped up in life.
Through the tough stuff andsometimes even just the boring,
ordinary stuff of life.
If you can honestly admit that,loudly say amen.
Amen.
The power of the Christian faithis the ultimate combination of

(08:42):
the power of God working withand through the power of a
Christian community.
G plus C equals T U C.
G plus C equals T U C.
God plus community equals theultimate combo.

(09:04):
God plus community equals theultimate combo.
Let's say that together.
God plus community equals theultimate combo.
The combination of divine powerand human power helping us up.
Now no church is perfect.
The church that met inPhotoman's house was not

(09:26):
perfect.
Phylomon's faith was notperfect, nor was Paul's.
But God used Saint Paul tocreate an opportunity for
transformation in the life ofPhilemon and Onesimus.
And God will and do the same foryou and me.
But here's the challenge.

(09:46):
You gotta be open to God, andyou gotta be open to being part
of a local church and beingthere and being involved, a
community of faith.
In this little letter ofFalleman, about this little
house church, about this littledifficult circumstance, we

(10:06):
receive a hint of the big powerof God and the big power of
community.
So be open to God.
I'm speaking to you.
Be open to God.
Carefully receive the Eucharisttoday.
Just don't go through themotions.
And be open to community.

(10:26):
Connect with others after theservice today.
Don't just leave immediately.
Make a point of connecting withat least one other person.
Now you know, if you werereading carefully, we don't know
Failemann's decision.
We don't know what he decided.

(10:47):
We just have this letter.
We don't have the response.
We don't know what followed.
But you can know your decision.
Your decision.
What will you decide when theproverbial train of struggle and
trauma and challenge rolls intoyour heart station, your life?

(11:12):
What will you do?
Will you choose God?
Will you choose community?
Because when you choose theultimate combination, in good
times and bad times, you'll findthat you are helped up and even
transformed in ways you couldnot have imagined.
Accompanied by a motley group ofspiritual backpackers climbing

(11:38):
metaphorical green mountains ofjoy and struggle you could not
have scaled on your own.
Bringing blessings to your life,the people you care about, and
the world.
And sometimes, maybe even a sideorder of French fries.

(11:59):
Amen.