Slavery:
Does God Prefer Piety, Outreach or Justice?

1.     Intro:

Ø    Amazing Grace: written by slave trader John Newton at the end of the 18th century who saw the error of his trade and was haunted by it.

Ø    I saw an important movie that helped clarify the issue.  Wilberforce, piety & slavery.

Ø    Steve Boone’s complement
too infrequently repeated in my life and in the lives of all claim to be Jesus’ followers.

Ø    Will we take our faith seriously and hold a balance between piety, outreach and justice?

2.      Does God Prefer Piety, Outreach or Justice?

Ø    Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27

Ø    He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

Ø    Jesus came to seek & to save the lost.  1 over 99.

Ø    Worm savior story.

Ø    It would be wretchedly cruel to better people’s lives for a season and allow them to suffer for eternity.

Ø    It is far better to suffer and allow a little suffering now if it allows us to focus on leading people into an awesome eternity with Christ.

Ø    But, to what degree must we choose?  Can we not choose to retain our focus on the eternal and give it greater weight & power in people’s perception by working to alleviate suffering and injustice so that Christ’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

Ø    This should be where Wiberforce’s story comes in, but first we must answer a fair question posed by many…

3.      Does God Condone Slavery?

Ø    The OT laws were both civil & spiritual.  There were laws that regulated slavery rather than condemning it outright.

Ø    There were also laws that did the same for divorce, and Jesus clarified that by saying in essence, God gave civil laws taking in account our sinfulness and need for regulation due to our failings, but the deeper spiritual calling remains, one flesh never to be divided.

Ø    Slavery may have been an ill that required civil regulation, but did God condone it any more than he did divorce?

Ø    Christ’s cause is more important than liberty.
1 Timothy 6:1-2

Ø    Paul sends Onesimus back, but then writes Philemon asking for his freedom.

Ø    Value in Christ isn’t measured by the world’s measures. Galatians 3:26-29

Ø    False doctrines are more readily accepted by those warped by such sins as being slavers.
1 Timothy 1:3-11

Ø    So, I think we can say that God regulated slavery at times due to the hardness of our hearts, but that He has always valued each individual equally and sees slavery as sin.

4.      Will We Wake and Make a Difference?

Ø    William Wilberforce had a promising political career, was found by Christ, and considered giving it all up for a contemplative pastoral life.

Ø    He was torn between that a fighting for justice.

Ø    He was urged to consider the possibility of serving God by serving justice and using his political and oratorical gifts to end slavery.

Ø    Over many years, at the cost of his health, against withering opposition, one man crusaded.

Ø    We often ask or hear asked, what can one person do?”

Ø    By God’s amazing grace, William Wilberforce changed the world by ending African slave trading to the West.

Ø    Like Martin Luther King he changed the world, not by violence, but by passion & persuasion.

Ø    Will we stand up and do something?  Slavery continues today.  Other social injustices abound.

Ø    I am not talking about taking one political parties line about “how” to do it, but let’s do something!

Ø    Can we not, like Wilberforce, choose to retain our focus on eternal life in Jesus, and yet give it greater weight and power in people’s minds by working to alleviate suffering and injustice so the Christ’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven?

5.      Invite:

Ø    Grande - 4:25, 7:10, 9:50
Carmike - 7:00, 9:30