Philemon- On returning a runaway

This letter is short and pretty much to the point.

Onesimus is a slave, who has run away from Philemon but Paul has convinced him to return to his owner with this letter asking Philemon to free him.

This strikes me as interesting in light of the previous letter where Paul tells the Corinthians to stay in whatever station they are found.  So, by that standard, Onesimus should remain a slave.  And I guess by having him return to his owner, Paul is standing by that.  But Paul doesn't leave it there - doesn't just ask Philemon not to kill Onesimus , even though he would be within his rights to do so.  Nor does he ask him to take him back as a slave and treat him well. No, Paul challenges Philemon (in what appears a pretty manipulative way) to free Onesimus.

I am seeing a bit of a parallel with the prodigal son.  There a boy shows disrespect to his father, leaves behind his responsibilities, and takes off for what he sees as a better life.  When that life lets him down he returns and the father welcomes him.  Here Paul is asking Philemon for that kind of graciousness for a slave who did pretty much the same thing.

What I see is that Paul is challenging each man in his own way.  Onesimus may have needed to forgive Philemon, we don't know, but what we do know is that he is expected by Paul to humble himself back into his role as a slave.  He has to trust Paul and Philemon that he will not end up severely punished, perhaps even put to death. We don't even know if Onesimus knew that Paul was asking for his freedom. Paul was actually asking a lot of Onesimus.

Philemon, on the other hand, had been shown disrespect. In effect Onesimus running away degraded him as one unable to control his slaves.  Philemon had also suffered a financial loss - Onesimus was property and therefore his running away was equal to theft.  In spite of this insult and injury, Paul is now asking (telling) him to greet Onesimus as a brother, and set him free.  Paul was asking a lot of Philemon, too.

Sometimes, when we are faced with difficult situations, we feel it is unfair, or too hard.  These men had to deal with a situation that was harder than many we face, yet Paul expected them to take risks, to risk losing reputation, property, health or even life, and do the right thing.  That is a real challenge to us, to me - one I hope I can take on with integrity and courage.