Are we in bondage?

Language evolves, including language in church. These days we are sensitive to the words we for the gender of God. We are careful not to characterize darkness as evil. Some of you may recognize one slight change in the confession of sin in our current liturgy compared to the so-called green book of 1978. We used to say: “we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.”

Now we say: “we confess that we are captive to sin.” I don’t know the exact reason for the change, but I suspect it has to do with the second dictionary meaning for the word bondage. And so that I do not lose my G-rating for this sermon, I will not illustrate further that second meaning of bondage. It is either in your imagination, or not!

Several places St. Paul talks about being slaves to sin. Lutherans talk about the old self curved in on itself. In baptism, and day by day, we return to those waters—the old self is put to death that we might rise with Christ and walk in newness of life. Odin was just immersed into the forgiveness and freedom of this faith. And Martin Luther urges us to creep back to the amazing grace of baptism each morning.

For all our industrial and technological advances, we are still enslaved to power, privilege and prestige. Lutherans are sometimes accused of having a low anthropology, and I struggle with that at times. Yet, when you look at the ways we treat each other, and what we are doing to the earth, it is clear that we are in bondage to sin and we cannot free ourselves.

The prophet Jeremiah does not mince words as he condemns Israel and Judah for their evil ways. But as they repent, and reorient their lives, God is like a potter—reshaping divine curse into divine blessing.

Bondage suggests slavery, and I’ve been reflecting on slavery this week. For starters, we have the slave Onesimus in our second reading. Philemon is one of the shortest books of the Bible, and today we had the rare chance to hear an entire Pauline epistle in one hearing.

Sadly, this passage was used in this country to justify slavery. If Paul is returning the slave Onesimus to his master—and not standing up to imperial Rome—why would earlier Americans disobey the laws of a democratic state to challenge slavery? In the past people simply assumed that the Bible justified slavery. But times change. The Spirit continues to speak, prod, challenge anew.

And so, there are new interpretations of this passage. We know that Onesimus was sent to care for Paul in his imprisonment. In that experience, Paul has a moment of transformation. He describes Onesimus as the child of his own heart. He sends Onesimus back to be welcomed by the community not as a slave, but as a beloved sibling. Onesemus is kin! Then, like now, the gospel transforms lives, changes lives. And breaks the chains that enslave us!

Which leads to the second way I have been thinking about slavery. Anniversaries cause us to take a new look at events in history. In the past year and a half, we have marked the fiftieth anniversary of the deaths of MLK and Robert Kennedy, the riots in Chicago during the Democratic convention, and more recently the first human to walk on the moon, and yes, Woodstock!

Last month, the New York Times brought to our attention the 400th anniversary of the first slaves being transported to this country. The goal of Project 1619 is to reframe American history. Some 157 years before the colonists even decided they wanted to form their own country, 20 to 30 enslaved Africans were brought to our shores. In the coming years, 12.5 million Africans would be kidnapped from their homes and brought in chains across the Atlantic ocean. Almost two million of them died en route.

You can see how it wasn’t only the slaves who were in bondage, but all of us. Thankfully, we can take the conversation out of the mere political realm, and reflect on slavery and bondage to sin from a theological perspective. James Wallis has written a book called “America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America.” Wallis notes that a black professor always asks his white students whether they ever heard racism called a sin in sermons while growing up. The answer is always no.

One of the Project 1619 writers asserts that our country was founded both on an ideal and a lie. We know well the famous lines from the Declaration of Independence: that all men are created equal. Except that the white men who penned these words did not believe that to be true for hundreds of thousands of black people in our country at that time.

Another Project 1619 writer notes that despite being denied freedom and justice promised to all, centuries of black resistance and protest has helped our country live up to its ideals that all people are created equal—the same principle of welcome we announce here each week. The movement toward equality for all races paved the way for every rights struggle—including women’s and gay rights, immigrant and disability rights.

I am proud to announce: At its churchwide assembly last month, our denomination, the ELCA apologized to people of African descent for its historical complicity in slavery and enduring legacy of racism in the United States and globally.

And all of this talk of slavery and sin and equality has everything to with baptism. Today we welcomed Odin into this countercultural way of life. Being a follower of Christ will always be out of step with the norms of society. The cost of discipleship is high as Jesus states in our gospel today. The temptation is to water down the gospel so that others find it attractive. I confess I probably do this more often than I’d want to admit. Today’s tough gospel will unlikely cause people to break down our doors to join the church!

Yes, you are free from the bondage of sin. You are no longer enslaved to the false gods of materialism and accumulation. And that has everything to do with the future of the earth and the growing list of endangered species.

Because of divine forgiveness and mercy, you are set free. Set free to take risks for the sake of the gospel. Set free to take risks for the sake of our beloved earth. Set free to take risks for the sake of the most vulnerable among us.

Like the Israelites, in baptism you walk through water, from bondage to freedom! Your call is to bring others with you.