Sermon Tone Analysis

You'll be aware of the film about William Wilberforce, the Christian campaigner who, 200 years ago, got a bill passed in the UK parliament banning the slave trade.

The transatlantic slave trade lasted for over 400 years, the final slaves eventually being set free in 1837, 30 years after Wilberforce’s bill was passed – and just 3 days before Wilberforce died.

Wilberforce was an MP before becoming a Christian but, on his conversion, he became driven to change the situation.

It wasn’t an easy fight - slave traders included governments, merchants, individuals and businesses, justified holding and maltreating human beings by dismissing their humanity.

Slave traders weren’t criminals or people hiding behind other respectable fronts – slave trading /was/ respectable.

We may feel good today when told that Wilberforce was driven by his Christian beliefs – but churches and church organisations were active supporters of the slave trade – Christians openly backed the practice and used the Bible to support their belief.

The transatlantic slave trade was largest forced migration in history and one of the most destructive in terms of lives lost.

It ended 200 years ago – or did it?

* In 1807, when the bill was passed, there were 4 million slaves.

According to UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation, there are currently over 12 million people in slavery; that’s three times the number in 1807.

* 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.

* Each year, almost 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders – borders that are meant to stop them.

* Approximately 80% of trafficked people are women and girls.

* Human trafficking is third only to arms and drugs as a source of criminal income.

There’s a short video from Tearfund I’d like to show…

{{@Cue Run the Tearfund DVD.}}

William Wilberforce had a hard fight to get his bill passed – in fact, he had to present it to parliament 12 times, the first in 1789 – rejected; the next 10 attempts rejected; the 12th, in 1807 passed.

I doubt he’d claim to be special.

He would certainly never claim to be a saint – in fact, he would probably have fitted in well with people like Jacob and David – people who yielded to temptations and dishonesty but could still be used by God for good.

But he persisted and had faith.

He wasn’t alone in his fight.

One of the people working alongside him at the start was an ex-slave who had saved for 20 years to buy his own freedom and then campaign relentlessly against the trade – his name was Olaudah Equano – not so well known now, but somebody who helped lay the foundations of change.

And there were many others working in the background.

As the video and the numbers I read out just beforehand tell us, slavery may not now be respectable, and is a crime in the West, it hasn’t gone away.

We’ll be taking up the offering next.

I’m not going to suggest today’s offering should be any different from other Sundays.

But I’m going to ask you to think – and remember today when, in the days and weeks to come, you get an opportunity to do something – either by donations, joining in a writing campaign, praying - whatever you feel is for you.

If we ignore it, we are condoning it – just as Christians did over 200 years ago.

We may not be in a position to stand up in public and campaign like Wilberforce, but we each has opportunity to support those who are.

There are organisations working now – /Tearfund/ is one, /Stop the Traffik/ another.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we may not openly trade our fellow human beings today; we certainly don’t support the hidden trade, but we know we can’t ignore it, either.

Give each one of us the will to do our part, no matter how small, in making a difference – a difference to the lives of our brothers and sisters.

We ask this in Jesus’ precious name, amen.