Title Philemon 01-07 Philemon's Family
Contents
Philemon 1:1-7 / Philemon's Family
These days, in gatherings of people, I often hear people worrying about the future of the country, asking what the world will be like. At the gathering of religious leaders, many people are concerned about the future of the church, asking whether the Korean church will be as good as it is. In fact, if you have a will, when you look at today's reality, you can't help worrying about the country's work, the church's work, and the future.
So what is the solution to these concerns? There are many things we can think of, but the most fundamental solution is to put the family right. This is because families come together to build a nation and a church. Therefore, the way to build a society right is to build the family upright, and to make the future of the church beautiful is to build a happy and desirable home.
Now is the time for us to first turn to our individual homes. And each family must be built on a solid foundation and built up brightly. If we do this, our society and our church composed of these families will naturally transform into a bright and upright society and a healthy and beautiful church.
In this sense, we want you to learn a family introduced in the Bible today. This is Philemon's home. Philemon's family is a family in which all members of the family are united in the faith and set an example for generations to come.
This family is first and foremost a healthy family. For a country to stand upright, a family must stand upright, and for a family to stand upright, the family's Australia must stand upright. Everyone in the family is fastening their belts and working hard to live a happy and happy life, but if the head of the family is distracted and does not take care of the family, it will be difficult for that family to arise.
Philemon is the Australian, husband, and father of the family mentioned in the Bible today. He must be an exemplary husband and father, and a good father.
As a proof of that, first, he was called a 'beloved co-worker' by the Apostle Paul as a worker like a pillar of the early Colossian church. Second, he inspired his family so that his wife and son would have the same faith and spirit of service. Third, he was a person who led the family well to contribute to the evangelization of the local community by opening his house as a church.
Indeed, Philemon was a man of faith and a man of love. He was a hardworking man and a godly man. He was a servant and a cooperative person. He was a creative person and an inclusive person. He was an exemplary husband to his wife, a good father to his son, and a typical head of the family.
Around us today, there are not just a couple of families in which the wife who should be happy becomes unhappy because of her husband, the children who should be good are derailed because of the father, and the family that should be harmonious is depressed because of the head of the household. Those who are in the position of the head of an unknown family will have to bear their responsibilities well.
So, by serving me as my husband, my wife should be thankful, by having me as my father, my children will be happy, and by treating me as the head of the family, my family should be happy. At that time, all things will blossom beautifully, and you will be a precious worker who goes out and is built for society and for the church.
And the role of the wife in the family is really important. We see great mothers behind great men, and great housewives in great families. We can confirm this fact again in one assumption here.
Abbia is known as the housewife of this family, the wife of Philemon and the mother of Archippus. When you think about it that way, you can see that Abbia is indeed the present wife.
There are good reasons for that. First, his name is fully introduced here in the book of Philemon. In the old patriarchal society, women's names are not listed in official documents unless they are a special person. Nevertheless, the fact that Paul puts his name here, even calling him a sister, shows that he never thought of Abbia as an ordinary woman.
Second, Paul considered Abbia as a sister because he helped her husband to become a co-worker with Paul in the work of God. It is also because his contribution to raising his son to become a soldier of Christ was recognized.
Third, the Colossae church was started in his house at that time, which would not be possible without the understanding and cooperation of the housewife. For this reason, Paul praised Abbia by name and recognized him as an exemplary current wife.
Traditionally, for Jews, faith is passed down through the mother line and through the mother line. Of Jewish descent, if both parents are Jewish, the children will be Jewish as well. However, when a Jewish man marries a foreign woman, the child born is a foreigner. Also, a Jewish woman marries a Gentile man and the child they have is a Jew. In this way, we follow the mother line when it comes to religious matters.
The reason is not something else. It was because of the belief that the education of children was the responsibility of the mother. This is to say that the influence of a mother in the home is that great and significant. So it is today. Some statistics show that 70% of the influence parents have on their children is the mother's. This is probably because mothers have more opportunities to interact with their children than do fathers.
And it is said that the atmosphere of a family depends on the personality and character of the housewife. With this in mind, it is not necessary to explain how heavy the responsibility of a housewife in the family is.
However, there are cases in which a housewife's excessive greed stimulates her husband to turn a good husband who lived in a fountain into a wealthy rich man. It is common today that mothers' excessive vanity puts pressure on their children, making healthy teenagers fall victim to physical and mental illness.
It is not uncommon for housewives who have financial resources but lack stewardship, and who are passionate about education but lack an educational philosophy, disturbing their families and making society sick. Today, our Korean families also need descendants of the godly Abbia. Only then will the family stand upright, and we will be able to build our society upright.
In addition, it has been said since ancient times that descendants are a blessed family and a prosperous family. It means that there is hope in the family when the children are somewhat superior to their parents. There is a saying that if you want to predict the future of a country, you can tell by looking at its youth.
In that sense, Philemon's home here is a home with hope. Because there is Archippus. Paul refers to Archippus as a soldier of Christ. Perhaps he is recognized as a young and courageous evangelist, who is soon known as the son of Philemon and Abbia. It need not be emphasized that Philemon's family, having such a servant as a son, is indeed a rich family.
Here Paul speaks of Archippus as a soldier with us. It means comrade. Who are the soldiers? A person who works at all risks and dedicates his life to work. Soldiers do not think about personal matters. Soldiers only think of one thing: loyalty to their country.
In addition, comrades are life comrades who suffer together, share the threat of life together, sweat together, and go to war together. Even so, the soldier labors to death, and the captain receives the reward. The pawns work hard to death, but they do not receive great rewards. That's the soldier.
That is, Archippus, the son of faith, is a soldier who labors together for the sake of Christ, with Christ as the captain. We risk our lives and fight together for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Lord. In fact, friends in the military, especially in times of life or death, are the closest friends. Paul acknowledges and praises Archippus as such.
Today, there are surprisingly many families who have trouble secretly because they have troubled children as their children. Some young people are debauchery because they have a lot of money, and some young people, on the other hand, are rebellious because they don't. Whatever the reason, as long as there is a problem child, the family is sick, and it is really difficult for sick families to gather to form a bright and healthy society or church.
There is a saying. Herbal medicine is said to be effective only when three elements are combined. In other words, the sincerity of the doctor who diagnoses and prescribes the medicine and the sincerity of the caregiver who administers the medicine must match that of the patient taking the medicine. That's a sensible word.
Likewise, so is our family. We believe that the love, hard work and effort of the head of the household, the housewife, and the children born in them will create a beautiful and blessed family. If any one of them goes wrong, it is bound to be a sick family.
I hope that our members, God's blessings, and all the family members will build a blessed family through the efforts of faith, hope, and love. I believe that there will be a bright society, a healthy country, and a desirable church.
For that to happen, I hope that parents, mothers, and children will all come to God and kneel in reverence. Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, will renew me, my family, our church, and this society.
There is an article called the Ten Commandments for a healthy family. We will briefly introduce this time.
Number one, be sincere in speaking and listening between family members. In a conversation between a married couple or with a child, listening dryly, listening with different thoughts, or not listening to the end, a disrespectful attitude can cause discord and misunderstanding.
Second, family members should work together to find a stable self. It is not a happy family for the family to enter a single furnace and to melt away all their characteristics and personalities. Create an atmosphere that recognizes each other's qualities and encourages them to develop their strengths.
Third, do not lose the atmosphere and humor of the play. We need to create an atmosphere of openness as a family together. The longer you spend in front of the TV, the more you lose conversation in your family.
The fourth is that the sooner the fight ends, the better. Instead of waiting for the other person to come to me, the way to solve the problem is to find the solution first.
Fifth, clarifying what is right and what is wrong is the foundation of a healthy family. To condone what is wrong is not tolerance. A parent's positive attitude toward right and wrong is the basis for respect and trust in their children.
Sixth, try to make the family tradition a sense that the family is one community. Family meetings, where families come together to discuss and find solutions to small problems, help bring families together.
The 7th should be the joy of sharing with family members. The spirit of doing my work is good, but you must have the joy of sharing that I help your work.
The 8th, external volunteer activities help the happiness of families Even within the family, there are times when we feel tension and conflict, dissatisfaction and boredom. In such a case, the family's problems will be resolved automatically by helping neighbors in need.
Number 9, the length of time you spend at home determines your happiness. There is a saying that time is money, but at home, time is happiness. The longer a family spends together, the longer the length of their happiness.
10, have time to worship together. When all the family members gather together to worship, God will warmly surround the family.