Week of Proper 25: Wednesday, Year 2, and Week of Proper 25: Thursday, Year 2

Above:  Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), U.S. Abolitionist and Former Slave

Slavery

OCTOBER 26 and 27, 2022

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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COMPOSITE FIRST READING

Ephesians 6:1-24 (Revised English Bible):

Children, obey your parents; for it is only right that you should.  Honour your father and your mother is the first commandment to carry a promise with it:

that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.

Fathers, do not goad your children to resentment, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, give single-minded obedience to your earthly masters with fear and trembling, as if to Christ.  Do it not merely to catch their eye or curry favour with them, but as slaves of Christ do the will of God wholeheartedly.  Give cheerful service, as slaves of the Lord rather than of men.  You know that whatever good anyone may do, slave or free, will be repaid by the Lord.

Masters, treat your slaves in the same spirit:  give up using threats, and remember that you both have the same Master in heaven; there is no favouritism with him.

Finally, find your strength in the Lord, in his mighty power.  Put on the full armour provided by God, so that you may be able to stand firm against the stratagems of the devil.  For our struggle is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark age,  against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, take up the armour of God; then you will be able to withstand them on the evil day and, after doing your utmost, to stand your ground.  Stand fast, I say.  Fasten on the belt of truth; for a breastplate put on integrity; let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to give you firm footing; and, with all these, take up the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the burning arrows of the evil one.  Accept salvation as your helmet, and the sword which the Spirit gives you, the word of God.  Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit.  To this end keep watch and persevere, always interceding for all God’s people.  Pray also for me, that I may be granted the right words when I speak, and may boldly and freely make known the hidden purpose of the gospel, for which I am am ambassador–in chains.  Pray that I may speak of it boldly, as is my duty.

You will want to know how I am and what I am doing; Tychicus will give you all the news.  He is our dear brother and trustworthy helper in the Lord’s work.  I am sending him to you on purpose to let you have news of us and put fresh heart into you.

Peace to the community and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  God’s grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.

RESPONSE FOR WEDNESDAY

Psalm 145:10-19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

10 All your works praise you, O LORD,

and all your faithful servants bless you.

11 They make known the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your power;

12 That the peoples may know of your power

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures throughout all ages.

14 The LORD is faithful in all his words

and merciful in all his deeds.

15 The LORD upholds all those who fall;

he lifts up those who are bowed down.

16 The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD,

and you give them their food in due season.

17 You open wide your hand

and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

18 The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and loving in all his works.

19 The LORD is near to those who call upon him,

to all who call upon him faithfully.

RESPONSE FOR THURSDAY

Psalm 144:1-10 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1  Blessed be the LORD my rock!

who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;

2  My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield in whom I trust,

who subdues the peoples under me.

3  O LORD, what are we that you should care for us?

mere mortals that you should think of us?

4  We are like a puff of wind;

our days like a passing shadow.

5  Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down;

touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

6  Hurl the lightning and scatter them;

shoot out your arrows and rout them.

7  Stretch out your hand from on high;

rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,

from the hand of foreign peoples,

8  Whose mouths speak deceitfully

and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

9  O God, I will sing to you a new song;

I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.

10  You give victory to kings

and have rescued David your servant.

COMPOSITE GOSPEL READING

Luke 13:22-35 (Revised English Bible):

He [Jesus] continued his journey through towns and villages, teaching as he made his way towards Jerusalem.  Someone asked him,

Sir, are only a few saved?

His answer was:

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door; for I tell you that many will try to enter but will not succeed.

When once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may stand outside and knock and say, “Sir let us in!” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.”  Then you will protest, “We used to eat and drink with you, and you taught in our streets.”  But he will repeat, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from.  Out of my sight, all of you, you and your wicked ways!”  There will be wailing and grinding of teeth there, when you see prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves are driven away.  From east and west, from north and south, people will come and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God.  Yes, and some are now last who will be first, and some who are first will be last.

At that time a number of  Pharisees came and warned him [Jesus],

Leave this place and be on your way; Herod wants to kill you.

He replied,

Go and tell that fox, “Listen:  today and tomorrow I shall be driving out demons and working cures; However, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is unthinkable for a prophet to meet his death anywhere but in Jerusalem.”

[He continued,]

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that murders the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her!  How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let me.  Look!  There is your temple, forsaken by God.  I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!”

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The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Week of Proper 25:  Wednesday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-wednesday-year-1/

Week of Proper 25:  Thursday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-thursday-year-1/

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Antebellum U.S. defenders of chattel slavery used Ephesians 6:5-9 (mostly 6:5-8, actually; 9 was sometimes inconvenient) to justify the Peculiar Institution.  This interpretation was faulty for a few reasons.  First, slavery in the Roman Empire was not chattel slavery.  Beyond that, the Pauline assumption about the Second Coming of Jesus was that it was imminent, a matter of the very near future–the medium term if not the short term.  So reforming society was not a priority; God, the assumption held, would take care of that part soon.  Preparing oneself for the parousia was immediately important.  Jesus had not returned by the 1800s, so social reform was legitimately on the table.  The Abolitionists (many of them Evangelicals) understood the link between the Golden Rule and imperative to destroy slavery, and many White Southern Evangelicals did not.  As I tell my students, look beyond stereotypes, in this case, Evangelicalism.  It exists on a spectrum and defies easy definition.

The lack of a condemnation of slavery mars the Pauline tradition for me.  Galatians 3:28 tells us that the labels free and slave lose their meaning in Christ, but Paul should have taken the matter to its logical and ethical conclusion:  insistence on radical equality in society.  Alas, egalitarianism upsets many a societal apple cart, for people seem to like privileges which come with rank.

Ephesians 6 continues with a description of metaphorical Christian armor for a battle against evil.  This makes for tacky and cheap toys one can buy from certain Christian bookstores.  And the less we say about Bibleman merchandise, the better.  Kitsch does not become the Bible or religious retail; I suspect that it embarrasses Jesus.  I imagine him now, in Heaven, shaking his head and saying,

I did not suffer and die so that children can play with cheap plastic shields of faith.

No, it is better to be serious about resisting evil in all its forms.  I live slightly northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, one of the centers of human trafficking, i.e., slavery.  Modern slavery assumes many forms and exists in many places.  These days is most often economic and/or sexual.  A foreign worker lured on false pretenses and held against her will is a slave.  A woman forced to work as a prostitute is a slave.  Slavery, unfortunately, is alive and well all over the world.  This spiritual battle continues, and people of good will need to win it, with God’s help.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/slavery/