Slaves & Masters

Bible

Ephesians 6:5–9 NLT

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. 9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

Introduction

We have been working through the “household code” section of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and this is the third and final section. It seems to be more difficult to apply to ourselves than the first two parts. After all, the relationships between wives and husbands and children and parents are still broadly the same as they have been throughout history. But slaves and masters? There are no lawful slaves or masters in most societies in the modern world.

The closest I have come across in my own experience is in the Hong Kong domestic helper, or “maid.” These women—they are all women—are actually employees, but because they are employed from the Philipines or Indonesia and they live in their employer’s home, their employer tends to have a lot of power over them. The law in Hong Kong provides limited protections, but still their standard of living is dramatically lower than their employer’s. We were quite uncomfortable with the whole system of domestic helpers while we lived in HK, but many of our friends, both locals and expats, had a maid. If we had had a maid, this would have been her bedroom, basically a cupboard, off the kitchen, long enough to lie down in.

Now, to emphasize how different the institution of foreign domestic helpers is from slavery, consider this: in Paul’s time, slaves were property: they could be sold, rented, their children belonged to their owner, they could not own anything themselves, and they could be punished with anything up to death. In Hong Kong, a maid can leave at any time (although unless she quickly finds a new job she will have to leave Hong Kong), and is free to own whatever she wants and go wherever she wants on her day off. Employers are not allowed to punish her in any way except by terminating her contract of employment.

In Paul’s time, slaves were often, although far from always, motivated by a justified fear. In Hong Kong, maids are motivated by financial opportunity.

So how do we relate slaves and masters to our current world? As it turns out, Paul’s advise is actually very relevant to us.

Slaves

You see, the distinguishing characteristic of Roman slaves was that they had to obey their masters. They had no choice in the matter. That was the difference between a slave and a free person. So when Paul says, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling,” he’s not really saying anything startling. A sarcastic (and foolishly courageous) slave might say, “Well, duh!”

But Paul doesn’t stop there. Instead he goes on to explain how a slave should obey their master. And in describing how a slave should obey their master, Paul reveals how we should live out his earlier direction:

Ephesians 5:21 NLT

21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Paul gives slaves perhaps six ways that they should be expressing their obedience to their masters. Half of these talk about the motive that slaves should have, and half talk about the attitude. Let’s work through these six ways.

Now before we start I want us to grapple with how this applies to us. You see, Christians are called to submit to one another out of our respect for Christ. The New Testament consistently exhorts us to humility and faithful service that follows in Jesus’ footsteps. It is clear that God has designed us to live in service to one another, not to live in tyranny over one another. So, when Paul is instructing those Christians in the humblest of social stations in the Roman empire—the slaves—how to serve others, that applies directly to us. We don’t have to “obey [each other] with fear and trembling,” but the way we submit to one another is exactly the same as the way slaves obey their masters.

So here are the six ways:

Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.

Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you.

As slaves of Christ,

do the will of God with all your heart.

Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

The first way to serve involves “sincerity” of service. The idea of sincerity in the New Testament refers to a heart and soul devoted to a single master. In other words, Paul is telling slaves that, when they serve their earthly masters, they should dedicate themselves wholly to that service, just as they do with Christ. There is to be no thought of working towards freedom or attempting to undermind your master, or anything like that. That’s a tough call, right? In the same way, when we are submitting to someone, Jesus is not expecting us to do so on the basis that they will then submit to us, as if there were some sort of quid-pro-quo arrangement. He’s expecting sincere, single-minded service to one another.

The second way focuses on our habit, as human beings, to act in an outwardly noble way while harbouring selfish motives. Doing some service in such a way that it looks good on the surface, but isn’t properly done with care has always been distressingly common. I’m sure you have the experience of coming into a recently tidied room to find dustballs hidden under the bed or behind the curtains. Another aspect of this self-interest is when we are trying to benefit ouselves rather than genuinely benefit another. As a manager in IT I became aware very early on of the counter-productive nature of performance rewards. Programmers quickly maximise reward-gathering behaviour and abandon all pretense of developing quality software for their customers.

The third way to serve addresses our status as Christians: we are all slaves of Christ. We have submitted our lives to his lordship, and so we must obey him. Jesus says,

John 14:15 NLT

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.

That should be a powerful motive to serve others: simply because Jesus tells us to do so.

The fourth way to serve is to do it wholeheartedly. Paul has already said we should serve with an undivided heart, but now he is adding that we should serve with our whole heart. We should not hold anything back. Remember that this is how slaves are supposed to serve their perhaps cruel masters. How much more wholehearted should we be in our service to one another?

The fifth way is to serve enthusiastically, remembering all the time that this service is ultimately for God, in addition to benefiting another human being. In his first letter, the apostle John explains,

1 John 4:20 NLT

20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?

And finally, Paul reminds slaves that, unlike their masters, God is watching their every move, he hears their every thought. And all these selfless things they do will be rewarded by our good God. That applies to us, too. It should be a comfort and an encouragement to us that every time we humble ourselves and serve one another, especially when it goes unnoticed, God notices. As Jesus says,

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So, you see, Paul’s advice has a lot to teach us about how to relate to one another.

Masters

Ephesians 6:9 ESV

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

What about his advice to masters? Well, masters are supposed to have the same attitude that we’ve just been talking about, towards their slaves. Their earthly positions of master and slave have no bearing on their eternal relationship, which is based on their position in Christ—both are slaves of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

Jesus doesn’t care a whit about our temporary positions here on earth. I could be the emperor of Rome and you the lowest slave and in Jesus’ eyes we are equally his slaves.

The only specific advice Paul has for masters is related to a possible abuse of their position: the temptation to use threats to force their slaves to obey them. That’s good advice for all of us, isn’t it? Emotional blackmail, manipulative threats, a victim mentality, political correctness, over-sensitivity to offense—all of these are modern techniques we use to threaten people, to try to force them to comply with our will. Instead, we should simply ask, and trust their integrity.

Open complaint

Now, before we finish with the household code there is one important feature of this set of relationships that I want to point out. It relates to how these relationships can endure in a healthy, loving way.

You see, each of these relationships have traditionally had a significant power imbalance. Even today children and employees have less power in those relationships. Only marriage is more equal. Unfortunately the increased incidence of divorce demostrates that equality does not lead to endurance in a relationship. Paul doesn’t even attempt to create some form of “equality,” because, inspired by the spirit, he knows that attempting equality merely leads to pride and grasping. But an unchecked power imbalance also leads to abuse, so what does Paul suggest to allow healthy, enduring relationships?

In each of the more powerful roles in these three relationships: husbands, parents, and masters, Paul insists that that person first submits themselves to Christ, and second, refuses to force their will on the person in the weaker role. For husbands, they are to lay down their lives for their wives, not force their wives to lay down their lives for their husbands. For parents, they are to instruct and discipline only in the Lord, and to pay careful attention to their children’s emotional state, caring not only for their education and morals, but their feelings. And masters are required to recognise that they, too, are slaves, and to never force their slaves to their will. How amazing is that?

But there is a hidden element to this: how does a parent know their child is becoming angry? How does a master know when their slave is unable to do something? How does a husband know when he needs to make a sacrifice for his wife?

Ephesians 4:25 NLT

25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

Well, they need to hear it! Husbands, parents and masters are not mind-readers! You may have noticed something missing from my face. My beard is an example of an extremely minor form of the sacrificial love of a husband for his wife. But I could have known to make that sacrifice if Mable hadn’t expressed her displeasure with my beard.

And this is a problem with our culture. We are so afraid of conflict that we dare not complain. Oh, sure, we complain to the government and to businesses ad nauseum. And the modern idea of equality in marriage means we are constantly nagging each other, and the child-parent relationship seems to be going the same way. But nagging and genuine complaint are two different things. We have become so practiced at ignoring the nagging (“I don’t want to eat that!” or “But I want to watch that YouTube!”) that we can’t hear the genuine complaints.

And what about with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we able to offer genuine complaints to one another in order to allow healthy relationships to continue? That’s such a counter-cultural action in our tolerance-obsessed, politically correct society that it requires genuine courage and strength. Last year, in Emotionally Healthy Spirtiuality and Relationships we explored some of these skills, and we’ll continue to invest in that this year, too. But, until we can trust one another enough to both complain and submit to one another, our relationships will remain at the same level as the people of this world.

Conclusion—Importance of a household code

As we finish looking at Paul’s household code, it’s important to reflect: why is a household code important?

It’s really very simple. In the beginning of the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus contrasts the external requirements of the Mosaic law, like not committing murder, with the internal reality required by God, like not hating your brother. In between those two extremes stands your behaviour at home. I remember getting a lift with one of the ministers of the church I attended at Uni. I was shocked when this dignified man suddenly started swearing at the other drivers on the road. You see, I had stepped from his church world into his household world, and he was not entirely the same man. That matters. Jesus calls us to be pure-hearted people. If you want to know a person’s character, step into their house in the middle of a difficult time. It’s easy for me to look patient and caring up here, it’s so much harder when I’ve got a flu, Atalia is doing something crazy, Mable is struggling with her, and my sink tap has just sprung a leak. Nonetheless, that is our calling—genuine holiness.

Ephesians 6:10 NLT

10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

But, remember, we don’t do this on our own. The mighty power of God is available to us, if only we will accept it. And that’s what Graham will be preaching on next week, in our final sermon in Ephesians - The Secrets of the Church.