When Grace Wins We All Win

Scripture

23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. 25The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Philomen 23-25

Observation

I noticed something at the end of Paul’s brief but poignant letter to Philemon that added a whole new layer. The “Mark” mentioned in Philemon 1:24 is widely believed to be John Mark, the same person who had caused a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:37–39. At that point, Paul refused to take Mark on another missionary journey because Mark had previously abandoned them (Acts 13:13). The disagreement was so intense that Paul and Barnabas split up over it—Paul took Silas, and Barnabas took Mark. Now, fast forward to this letter to Philemon, and what do we see? Paul, who once saw Mark as unreliable, is now calling him a fellow worker—a title of honor, respect, and reconciliation. Paul is extending grace to Mark, which mirrors the grace he is asking Philemon to extend to Onesimus, the runaway slave who had wronged him. Paul is practicing what he’s preaching and modeling what grace looks like in real time.  It’s as if Paul is saying, “Philemon, I know what it’s like to be hurt or disappointed by someone.  The anger, the frustration, the determination to never be hurt by that person again.  I’ve been there. But I’ve also learned that grace wins. When grace wins we all win.” He doesn't just preach reconciliation—he lives it. That one little name—Mark—tucked away at the end of the letter speaks volumes. It’s a quiet, but compelling witness to the transforming and reconciling power of the gospel. Paul isn’t just writing a letter about grace—he’s writing it WITH people of grace. The list of names at the end isn’t filler—it’s fruit.

Application

Reconciliation is not optional for the Christ follower. Paul not only modeled it with Mark and challenged Philemon to it, but describes this quite clearly as the mark of every Christian. “7 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17–20)

I was remembering a very painful incident a few years ago when Cyndi and I had to part ways with some friends of ours in ministry. They weren’t just ministry partners either, they were our good friends since Bible College. We’d known each other for years. They were like family. Then, through a perfect storm of circumstances during our ministry time in Hawaii we came to an impasse and I had to let them go from my staff. They blamed us and we weren’t the senior leaders so we couldn’t share all the information on why this had to happen. We left each other in tears and didn’t talk for years. This weighed on our hearts constantly. Finally, Cyndi and I set up a meeting with them and apologized for our part in the pain we caused them. We weren’t sure how they were going to respond. In tears they responded in kind and with kindness and apologized for their part in the division. They saw our actions, now fully explained, in the light of grace and we did the same. We left that conversation reconciled. They are now pastoring their own church and we are cheering them on! We had so much peace after our talk. David Augsburger put it this way, “Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God in the midst of it—leading us to reconciliation.”Reconciliation requires humility which is the main reason we don’t do it. Living divided instead of united seems easier in the short term, but actually sucks the life out of us in the long run.

Prayer

Jesus I thank You anew for modeling reconciliation with me and all of mankind. I thank You for this short little letter that packs a big punch. Forgive me for my pride that treats reconciliation like it’s optional instead of required. We live in a fractured world and I have been called to help put it back together starting with the relationships in my life. Your grace compels me as I see Your face in this Scripture this morning. Let it be Your grace people see when they see me. “Grace is the face that love wears when it meets imperfection.”-Joseph R. Cooke