October 29 - Philemon 1-25 - Don’t Miss the Third Dimension

M. C. Escher was a highly creative and technically skilled illustrator. He was especially fond of producing three-dimensional effects with the two-dimensional medium of pencil on paper. Not only that, he delighted in creating three-dimensional effects that were at the same time, completely believable and completely impossible. Look carefully at this sample of his work.


To see more of Escher's work, click here.






Do you see how the stairs are both always ascending and always descending? How can each step be higher than/lower than the next and yet lead back to where they begin? It boggles the mind. M. C. Escher helps us to marvel in and have fun with the third dimension.

There is a third dimension in today’s text, Paul’s quirky letter to his friend, Philemon. I say ‘quirky’ because this brief letter is a bit of a lesson in rhetorical manipulation. Crazy enough, it still qualifies as Scripture! Paul writes to encourage Philemon to re-embrace his runaway slave, Onesimus, as a brother in Christ. The way he does this leaves us laughing as well as raising an eyebrow. Did Paul actually say, “If he … owes you anything … I will pay it back – not to mention that you owe me your very self” ? Not to mention! But, let’s move beyond the ‘not to mention’ to the third dimension.

See what Paul writes in verses 5 and 6? “I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.” Two dimensions of the Christian life – trusting God and loving His church. These are clear demonstrations of a redeemed life. There are many people who trust in money or might or mentality, but not in the Lord. There are many who demean or disregard the church as ignorant and irrelevant. So those who put their trust in Jesus and embrace His followers are clearly a unique breed; disciples of Christ. But there is another relational dimension to the Christian life – our relationship to the lost.

“Be active in sharing your faith,” Paul prayerfully instructs. If you know the joy of God’s salvation and the fellowship of God’s church, then share it with a lost and lonely world. By the providence of God, Philemon’s slave runs away from him and smack dab into his friend, Paul. In fact, it looks like Onesimus got tossed in the ‘slammer’ and ended up in the cell next to Paul’s! With his jailhouse testimony, Paul introduces the slave to the Savior. Now this stranger/slave is as a son to Paul, and a newborn child of God. “Be active in sharing your faith,” Paul wrote, “so that you will have a full understanding (a three-dimensional view) of every good thing we have in Christ.”

If we are not sharing our faith, we are neglecting and forfeiting some of the best blessings of God. We are living a two-dimensional life in Christ. Like the difference between a sheet of paper and a block of wood, two dimensions prove flimsy; three prove to be substantial. Don’t settle for a flimsy Christian life. “Be active in sharing your faith.” Don’t miss the third dimension. Go for substance.

Pray: Redeeming Lord, remove the obstacles in my life that keep me from sharing my faith. Convince me to embrace the privilege and blessing of leading others to saving faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Place some name upon my heart even now, to identify the one you would have me tell Your story to. Your story and mine have intersected with eternal impact. Keep me eager to share that life-changing account with others.