A better kind of slavery

Sermon for Trinity 7

Romans 6:19-23  +  Mark 8:1-9

Slavery is coming up in conversations again these days here in our country. Who took slaves, who owned slaves, who should receive reparations for the slavery that ended in our country 155 years ago—strangely, there has not been much talk about who fought to abolish slavery or who sacrificed their lives to end it. Why do I bring this up in a sermon? Because St. Paul talked about slavery in today’s Epistle. Now, understand, there is more than one kind of slavery. Different kinds have existed throughout the world for most of its history, some worse than others. In Old Testament Israel, a person could enter into slavery willingly in order to pay off a debt, or in order to avoid dying on the streets from poverty. At other times, slavery was used as a punishment for crimes committed, or sometimes conquering nations would make slaves out of the peoples they conquered. The slave trade in Africa in the 17th century was especially heinous, because people were simply kidnapped and then sold by African slave-traders and shipped off to Europe or to North or South America, where some were treated better and others far worse, depending on the kind of owner they had.

And that’s really what slavery is: Being owned by someone as their property. It certainly isn’t how God created human society to be. But then, He also didn’t create human society to have murderers like Cain or adulterers like David. He didn’t create human society to allow babies to be killed in their mothers’ wombs or for anyone to have sexual relations outside of marriage. He didn’t design human society for spouses to fight with one another or for marriages to be broken or for children not to have both their mom and their dad in their home. But ever since the Garden of Eden, the corruptions of God’s good creation have been growing, and growing worse.

And this is what we need to understand: Since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, God’s plan for the human race has never been to create a better, more just society on earth, and Christianity has never existed in order to see to the creation of a better society. God’s plan for the human race has been to deliver us all from a slavery that is far worse, far more damaging and far more dehumanizing, than any form of slavery that men have ever invented, and Christianity exists in order to preach the Gospel that delivers people from that slavery. It’s the slavery St. Paul talked about in today’s Epistle: the slavery to sin, the slavery to uncleanness and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. It’s the slavery in which the devil himself is the true slave master. This kind of slavery produces suffering and turmoil here on earth, and at the end of the day, it ends in death, both temporal and eternal.

But Christ came to redeem mankind from the slavery to sin at the price of His own precious blood and to bring us into the glorious freedom of the sons of God by bringing us to repentance and faith, to make us God’s children through Holy Baptism and heirs of eternal life. But you have to understand that sometimes the Bible refers to that very freedom of the sons of God also as a kind of slavery, though a much better kind.

Now, even St. Paul says that “slavery” isn’t a perfect analogy here; he says he’s speaking in human terms, using an earthly analogy that we’re somewhat familiar with because of “the weakness of your flesh.” There is a sense in which the term slavery applies both to unbelievers and to believers.

A slave is owned by someone else and must serve someone else. And unless you’re the Creator of the universe (and you aren’t), you aren’t now and can never truly be your own master. People don’t like to hear that and they’ll deny it loudly, but it’s the truth. So by right, God, as the Creator, should be the Master of everyone. But our race sold itself into the slavery of sin. Jesus says in John 8, “Whoever practices sin is a slave to sin.” That’s the natural state of every human being. Those who are slaves to sin are free from righteousness, free from goodness, free from godliness. They are instead bound to lead unholy, unrighteous lives, some more than others, some more outwardly, others more inwardly. They think they’re free, but actually, they’re owned by their own sin as they serve it and serve its purposes. The slavery to sin looks like fear. Anger. Jealousy. Hatred. Injustice. Laziness. Selfish ambition. Self-absorption. Homes full of tension and empty of forgiveness. Families that are destroyed or dismantled. Sexual depravity that is praised. False gods, disappointment with life, despair, and finally death and the never-ending fires of hell that come after death, when sin’s wages are finally paid out. We see it in the world all around us, this slavery to sin.

Then there’s that other kind of slavery St. Paul talks about, the “slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” This is the slavery of those who have been “freed from sin and made slaves to God.” But this is a good kind of slavery with a good Master, our dear Father in heaven. It’s a slavery in which we aren’t beaten for our disobedience, but Christ was beaten and abused for us. It’s a slavery in which we don’t work to make our Master happy with us, but He gives us His favor free of charge, apart from our works. As Paul writes, the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The connection between Paul’s discussion of slavery in today’s Epistle and the Gospel of Jesus feeding the 4,000 may not be obvious, but it’s there. What is it like to live as “God’s slave”? What kind of Master is He? Well, as we see here, He is a good Master who has compassion on His people and always takes loving care of His own. His is a better kind of slavery.

In the feeding of the 4,000, we have this beautiful account of the care and compassion of Jesus for the needs of His people, for His “slaves,” who, unlike the 5,000 who were fed on a previous occasion, who spent only part of one day listening to Jesus—these 4,000 had spent the last three days out in the wilderness, hanging on His every word.

We see that compassion in our Gospel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, ² “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have already remained with me for three days, and they have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away to their homes without eating, they will faint on the road, for some of them have come a long way.”

You see, it’s a slavery of sorts, this slavery to righteousness; you aren’t “free” to believe whatever you want, but you are bound to believe what Jesus teaches. But that’s a good thing, because what Jesus teaches is the saving truth. You aren’t free to go off and live in unrighteousness. But that’s a good thing, because while unrighteousness may bring momentary pleasure, it wrecks lives, both here and hereafter. You aren’t “free” to live your life apart from Jesus and His Word. But again, that’s a good thing. Because where Jesus is, there is a compassionate Savior, one whose compassion led Him to die on the cross for our sins, one whose compassion still leads Him to give special care even now to those who follow after Him.

His disciples didn’t know where they could get bread to feed over 4,000 people out in the wilderness. God’s ministers today often don’t know how Jesus will ever take care of His people in their great needs. Sometimes it seems hopeless. Sometimes it seems like there’s no way He can. But we foolishly forget, as the disciples forgot, that He has done it before, that He has always done it. He fed the 5,000 before He fed the 4,000. He has kept sustaining the members of His Church, both spiritually and bodily, since the beginning, and He always will.

In our Gospel, Jesus took seven loaves of bread, for which He gave thanks, and then broke them and gave them to His disciples to distribute to His people. He did the same with a few small fish. And everyone ate and was satisfied, and seven baskets were needed to collect the leftover pieces. In the same way, Christ sends out His ministers with His grace, with His mercy, with His forgiveness, even with the bread and wine that are His true body and blood, which He multiplies in order to serve His people with the spiritual food they need. And He also works in countless ways, even miraculous ways if need be, to make sure His slaves have their bodily needs taken care of, too.

That’s how Jesus, the gentle slave master, took care of His “slaves,” His beloved disciples, while He was with them on earth. He not only gave them reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of their sins as a gift, but He also rewarded them with earthly care and compassion. It’s an illustration of what He said in Matthew 11, Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Those who walk under Jesus’ yoke, those who serve as His “slaves” are loved as children of God and are cared for as children of God, both here on earth in our weakness, and forever in heaven in glorious strength.

Does that mean that Christians have no needs here on earth? Or that Jesus will rush in to heal our every sickness or prevent all suffering for us? Not at all. What it means is that, sometimes, when He knows it’s best, He will prevent us from getting sick or from suffering. Sometimes, in His mercy, He will lessen our suffering. Always, we can be absolutely sure that if we suffer, it’s only because He allows it to happen for our good. And always we can be sure that He will give us all the strength we need to get through the times of suffering and need.

And so, because of the great compassion and care of Jesus for His people, the Lord is calling out right now to every unbeliever, to those who are still slaves of sin and slaves to uncleanness. He says, “I have paid the price to end your slavery to sin. I want you to serve Me, not sin. I want you to live and not die. See how I care for My own! Repent and believe in Me! Be baptized (if you haven’t been already) and so become a slave of God and an heir of eternal life!”

And then, once you are freed from sin and enter God’s kind of slavery, you are also called on to live under this better kind of slavery. Paul says to the Roman believers, now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. What does that look like? It looks like trust in God, no matter what terrible things are going on around you. It looks like peace. Patience. Kindness. Self-control. Love—the fruit of the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5. It looks like focusing outwardly on helping others instead of focusing inwardly, on how to serve yourself or on how others treat you. It looks like the grace of patiently putting up with the sufferings of this life and the persecution of the devil, the world, and our flesh. It looks like forgiveness for the past. It looks like confidence for the future. In short, it looks like offering your whole self in service to God, each day, in all you do, with thankfulness in your hearts.

I can’t think of any kind of slavery here on earth that sounds good, and the slavery to sin is truly terrible. But God’s kind of slavery is entirely different and infinitely better. In His slavery, you have your fruit leading to holiness, and the end is eternal life. Amen.