Tag Archives: Slavery

God Listens, We Can,Too

Living in the Spirit

June 10, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the Lord, because he has heard
   my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
   therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
What shall I return to the Lord
   for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
   and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
   is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
   I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
   You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
   and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
   in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
   in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Once again, a black man has been killed by policemen. This time we all got to watch the killing via media. Repeatedly, I have heard the word “listen” regarding the plight of blacks in our society over the past few weeks. Our scripture today tells us that God listens to all God’s children and hears what we say. Ours is a dynamic relationship with God, where love is reciprocated with more love.

We do not worship the fixed statues of old granting them powers they were unable to possess. We tend to worship out-of-control aspects of society that, like a parasite, flirts with us and diverts our attention from what really matters, allowing it to sap our soul-strength from us for its benefit.  

Our nation was formed by primarily Europeans immigrating here some in search of freedom from oppression, some in search of freedom of religion, and others seeking fortune. Some came with the full blessing of their church. The questions of history, I suppose, will never be answered whether the amalgamation of those immigrants and the natives that were already here could have ever been peaceful and mutually beneficial. Abraham’s migrating from Ur to the land of Canaan was at first hospitable until it was not. Until the parasites of greed resulted in violence among the tribes.

Four hundred years ago, the idea of producing more and more crops to make more and more money at the cheapest cost possible resulted in slavery. Humans, primarily from Africa, were extracted from their homelands and sold to the highest bidder to provide the cheap work necessary to make the most money from those crops. And we are still paying a high price for this denigration of God’s children for personal gain.

God is crying for us to abandon these draining gods and calling us to a deeper relationship with God. God listens and will enable us to listen to one another if we open our hearts to God.

Prayer: God let your love overpower us to the extent that we can see all the evil distractions of this world and turn from them and practice loving one another. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Suffering Unjustly

Eastertide

April 30, 2020

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:19-25

[Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.] For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ –1 Peter 2:18-22

The lectionary scripture for today seemed to begin in the middle of the subject. Originally I though this scripture from first Peter was discussing the pain inflicted on the early disciples. Using an online source, I was not seeing the full context of the scripture, so I pulled up the previous page and discovered verse 18 which is not included in the scripture reading above, even though it was the first verse in a new segment clearly marked.

We 21st century Christians have a hard time dealing with the Biblical coverage of slavery. Do we just ignore it. That was then this is now. I do agree it is good advice to learn from the bad things that happen in life as well as the good. Recently I told someone that while my education included course work on management of staff, I learned more about good management of staff from the man who was my boss when I was a waitress in high school and college than I did in all my management courses. I then went on to say that I had also learned how not to supervise from some bad examples from other bosses.

The words we cannot ignore in this scripture are suffering unjustly. The pain of injustice is not limited to the sting of the whip or otherwise being misused or abused. Many African Americans in the USA in tracing their ancestry find their black ancestor’s white owner among their great grandfathers. The mental pain of mistreatment can and is passed from generation to generation. Some slave holders wanted their slaves to count in the apportionment of representation but not have the right to vote. The original USA Constitution included a provision that slaves were to be counted as three-fifths human.

We are all called to end suffering unjustly as a part of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We cannot rectify our past with our faith until we face it and work together to ameliorate it.

Prayer: Lord, grant us insight into the things that cause unjust suffering and help us identify and implement ways to end it and heal the wounds it causes. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Adoption

Living in the Spirit
July 17, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 8:12-25 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. —Romans 8:14-17

Slavery as it is described in the Bible may have been the absolute ownership of another human being usually a foreigner perhaps taken in war, but, particularly among the Jews, it was more like what we called indentured servants in the early days of the founding of America. When someone could not pay a debt they were indentured to work for their creditor until the debt was paid. Many people came to the US via an indenture of work in return for their ship passage. Others, like one of my ancestors was indentured to learn a trade. He worked for room and board for seven years to learn how to operate a forge. He may have worked alongside the children of the forge owner who also were learning the trade and not getting paid but who would at some point inherit the forge, a subtle but very important difference.

Paul likens our relationship to God as being like a child accepted into a family as a family member with all the benefits that go with that status unlike slaves who worked until their debt was paid and then were released or worked until they were no longer able to work. They most likely then become the beggar in the street. Our homeless in America today are very much like these outcastes of centuries ago, only in most places here it is against the law for them to beg.

The interesting thing about such divisions by status is that Jesus opened the door to recognize all people as the true children of God that they were. Paul, following his lead and his command, extended the invitations throughout the known world. We should not miss what a radical concept this must have been for a society that was so comfortable with haves and have-nots that they accepted them as the norm. Is it still a radical concept in our world today?

Prayer: Lord, give us the spirit to take up the mantel of Jesus and Paul as we too open the door for all to be welcomed as your children. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.