Slavery

I Peter 2:18-25

We our diving into our series called love one another. We love the way Jesus showed us the way. We are also honor black History Month, I thought it would be best to explore some verses in the bible that people associate certain words. Turn your Bible to I Peter 2:18-25 as it was read for our hearing. This section has one very important topic a very difficult topic called “slavery”

18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh

Let’s be real this verse is not very popular and we may not like to read it, But. I respect it because I respect the Bible, but I do not like this verse for a very good reason. This verse has been Weaponized against my people and my ancestors for ungodly and unbiblical purposes in my own country, only a few generations ago, and that very verse and others like it were employed in the name of the Christian faith and under the sanction of the Christian church to give sanction to the oppression and justice and evil of American slavery.

And for that very reason many people today reject the bible as a whole. If the bible supports slavery, then why bother with it? But hold up, That’s not the whole picture. There were many other Christians who fought and made many sacrifices for the abolition of slavery and they were inspired by the same Bible and quoted other verses Like, Isaiah 58 “lose the chain of injustice and set the oppressed free” Most of the abolitionists who fought to end the African slave trade in Europe and later fought to end slavery in America were driven by their faith in Christ Jesus. Even the very emblem of the abolitionist movement was based on the Bible book of Philemon, a black man in chains with the quote. “Am I not a man and a brother” So now I’m confused, slave owners used the Bible to justify slavery, but the abolitionists used the same Bible to end it. So is the Bible inconsistent? Or was one of those groups wrong about the Bible and if so, then which one? And above all since we’re here in I Peter what on earth is this verse about slave submission doing here in the Bible? Lots of Questions

Let me remind you of some important Bible essentials and realities in our world. The first thing to remember is that slavery has been practicing various forms in every corner of the globe and at various times through every part of history, including our time right now, so of course, the Bible talks about it. Second, not all slavery is the same historically that we know today in America, we hear the word slavery and we think of the African slave trade that brought black slaves to work for white slave owners in America. That was chattel slavery the cruelest and most extreme form of slavery in which slaves were kidnapped sold and treated as property. But historically there have been many forms of slavery with Varian levels of controlling oppression for slaves. Some forms of slavery historically will be closure to what we would call employment. and I don’t use that term lightly, maybe another word is “Indentured Servitude“. Basically working for wages, except that the work commitment was several years and the wages were land, bribe, protection, or paying off debt. The group enslaved is also very historical. We associate slavery with skin color or racial divisions, but much of slavery historically was related more to poverty and war. People were sold into slavery because they couldn’t afford anything else, or they were captured in battle. Slavery has some level of an equity and injustice to be sure, yet they were vastly different, and here’s why it matters. It matters because when Peter says something to slaves 2000 years ago in Rome, he is speaking into a particular time and situation. Yes, the word of God is eternal, but it was also written for its time. Let me share a few examples When you read that Paul is going to send Timothy to visit you in Philippians 2. You don’t need to set an extra place at your table Timothy‘s not coming so you have to be discerning. Many commands in the Bible are for all times Like our current series “Love one another”, but then others' commands are mixed. When Jesus told the disciples to go on a mission with no supplies but on another trip he told them to pack supplies and a sword. Which one is right? That depends on the situation and on hearing from the Lord. It helps to look at the biblical context and compare that to your situation and most importantly you should always put the individual command into the consistent and repeated theme and doctrine of the whole Bible. The Bible is big for a reason. A misreading of one verse can be corrected by reading five others that disagree. so let’s do that let’s look at the whole Bible, Then examine this passage in context one of the Bible‘s most important themes from Exodus to Isaiah to the gospel to Galatians is freedom. We know the famous words of Dr. King “ Let Freedom Ring” The one who the son sets free is free indeed, and that freedom is both spiritual and physical. Way back in Exodus, the story of God rescuing his people out of slavery in Egypt is one of the Bible's foundational stories. We sing an old spiritual hymn that says go down Moses way down in Egypt land, tell O Pharoah what? Let My People Go!! This is our God. He rescued the Israelites from slavery, moving forward to the law in Leviticus the Israelites practiced a form of indentured servitude, but every Jubilee year all debts were automatically forgiven and every slave was set free. The law commanded the Israelites to make opportunities for the poor people to get land, for loss to be regained, for extra food to be harvested by the needy. Freedom, Justice, and opportunity were mandated by law. As for Chattel Slavery, Kidnapping was punishable by death. And Israelites were commanded to treat foreigners with compassion and not mistreat them. So the slavery we think of the African slave trade would be severely punished under the law. The Israelites didn’t always obey those laws. Just like people today do not obey the laws. Just food for thought.

In Isaiah 58 God calls them out for fasting as if they’re faithful exploiting their workers, and God tells them the kind of fast that he respects “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yolk to set the oppress free and break every yolk” to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked to clothe them. that’s pretty strong language. Set the oppressed free “ Let Freedom Ring” Now how can I read that and say the Bible supports slavery? The Lord goes on if you do away with the yolk of oppression and you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness. This is consistent with biblical doctrine, freedom, compassion, and injustice, and that’s the Old Testament moving to the New Testament one of the defining moments of Jesus' ministry was the opening of the scroll of Isaiah to Read. Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” Don’t miss that it's at the heart of Jesus' ministry. The oppressors where not welcomed in I Timothy 1, as they’re also condemned in both Amos 1 and Revelation 18 and 1 Corinthians Paul encourages slaves to gain their freedom if they can. The entire letter to Philemon is Paul’s appeal to a slave owner to set his slave Free! Have you noticed a theme yet? ending oppression and freeing slaves are major Bible themes. It's bold and consistent from front to back. The word redemption may be the Bible’s most important theme. Literally means to pay the price to set a slave free. There are verses that inspired the abolitionists. The very reason slavery was ended in our country. The Bible did that. The Bible that has this verse in 1 Peter is responsible for our freedom. But how do we get a passage like this in First Peter? Why would the same Bible call slaves to submit their masters? Here in America, slave owners distributed a slave Bible that removed all of those verses about freedom but left passages about submission it was a short altered Bible.

So let’s now focus on the last half of I Peter 2 and find out exactly what it says, and why it is here. Let’s read again here at verse 18, slaves in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your master's. Similar Directives for slaves are found in Colossians, Titus Ephesians and Timothy clearly it's an issue that came up often so what’s this about? remember the context, Peter is calling believers to do right while the world is still wrong. Slavery was the unjust reality in Rome and Peter could not change that most slaves were captured in war, though they could be of any race or ethnicity, and there were several levels of slaves, the treatment of most slaves was unjust to be sure, which is why Paul calls out slave traders as ungodly. Slavery was a cultural and economic reality Between 10 and 30% of people were slaves, and there was no movement to end it. Christians had no political power and no conceivable means to change the system. What could they do exactly? When the opportunity arose, they helped slaves gain freedom when they could. The call on masters to treat slaves with human dignity and fairness or better yet set them free they couldn’t end it, but their actions and their words could later influence those who did. The 19th-century abolitionists were primarily driven by Christian conviction, but that was a long way away for the slaves in Peter’s time, so he wrote to the slaves to serve their masters. Let’s keep reading not only to those who are good and considerate but also those who are harsh “It doesn’t matter how bad your bosses are, you do right. Why Brother Hayes? look carefully at verse 18 in Reverent Fear of God, that's the driving force. Get your eyes off your earthly boss and fix your eyes on the master of all things. God is the one you serve.

In Verse 19 is striking, For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering, “commendable “means people notice they honor it When you face unjust suffering and you bear it and respond righteously. Let’s read that clearly, Peter describes slavery as unjust but causes you to act justly, but why would you do that? right here in 19 because they are conscious of God's simple phrases so much consciousness of God is an awareness of knowing who God is and where he stands regarding the injustice and how you respond to him. verse 20 but how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it, but if you suffer for doing good and endure it, this is commendable before God. Peter says there’s no commendation for someone who suffers for doing wrong so we have to do right. We do not return evil for evil we overcome evil with good. Does that mean that we do nothing to fight injustice ? of course not that would violate 100 other scriptures, but as we battle against oppression, we also live by doing right. That was the calling that inspired Christians from the abolition movement to the civil rights movement, and it was effective. What about the slaves in the American South? About the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman? Should they have obeyed verse 18 just to submit the cruel masters? Was running away considered a sin? Or was running away obeying First Corinthians to get your freedom? Honestly, it's complicated. If you ask me, I don’t think the verse applies in the same context, different times different slavery different applications. One thing I do know is that the slave owners who weaponized those verses against my ancestors acted in direct violation of God’s law. Peter himself warns that ignorant and unstable people will distort the scriptures to their own destruction. To this day, They give the Christian faith a bad reputation, and the abolitionists who ended slavery, just like those who fight in human trafficking today acted in obedience to the Bible's consistent message “set the oppressed free” So what do I think of this verse? I still don’t like it because of the harm that’s been done with it but I also don’t let it rob my faith. One difficult verse does not change the clear and consistent message of scripture to read this verse as an endorsement of slavery is to believe the wicked hypocrites who weaponized it. They were wrong and I agree with what I believe to be the heart behind the person doing good even in a bad situation. Act justly in an unjust world. that’s not easy so Peter gives us the ultimate example verse 21 to this you were called because Christ suffered for you. Leave an example that you should follow his steps. Remember Peter is the same guy who couldn’t make sense of Jesus' suffering.

How could that be right but now you understand Jesus suffering that helps us make sense of it today. Peter says this is our calling. Jesus suffered for us as an example. We follow him Peter reminisces about the cross and he quotes Isaiah 53 to recognize that God had it planned all along verse 22. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth when they hurled their insults at him he did not retaliate. When he suffered, He made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly. that’s the key. Jesus suffered under unjust judgment, but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. That’s the fear of God in the consciousness of God and that’s what we’re called to do. trust God He is just He will judge. He himself bore our sins his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness by his wounds you have been healed. This is what Jesus did for us and his radical way, and he caused us to live radically to carry on the fight against oppression to lose the chains of injustice, and to do it in a just manner. Peter closes out the chapter in verse 25 for you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the Shepherd and overseer of your souls. Let’s help people see what we see in God. To do right while the world is still wrong.