A local church may often describe itself as a, "spiritual family". It's an appropriate biblical term. The Christians of the New Testament referred to themselves as brothers and sisters. In a world that suffers a lot of loneliness and isolation we might think the image of spiritual family is an inviting one, but many of us know that family life often comes with a lot of pain. Just like biological families, the spiritual family of the church has the ability to hurt each other and the reconciliation of brothers and sisters is some of the hardest work we can do in this life.One of the smallest books of the New Testament speaks to this issue. Paul's letter to Philemon is a glimpse into a real-life episode of reconciliation within a congregation, but with deep cultural complexities and surprising approaches to matters of power, justice, grace, equality, and forgiveness. This Sunday as we consider the task of our own congregation to build community, we'll look at the book of Philemon to consider the gospel's power to make us reconciled people in ways that go beyond "patching up differences" but seeing each other in new ways: as beloved brothers and sisters, equals before God, heirs of the grace of Christ.

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