The Table of Duties: Slaves and Masters

Sermon for Midweek of Laetare – Lent 4

Small Catechism Review: The Table of Duties

We come to what may be the most difficult part of the Table of Duties, the passages concerning servants or slaves and masters or lords. I call it difficult for three reasons. First, because the circumstances were so different in former times than they are now in 21^st century America with regard to social structure and expectations. Second, because our own country’s experience with slavery, tied as it was to racial factors, was historically so different from the slavery mentioned in the Bible, which had little to do with race. And third, because, while the world’s moral understanding of slavery has shifted 180 degrees, it still doesn’t line up with God’s Word and with God’s morality.

First, let’s hear the relevant Bible passages from the Table of Duties from Ephesians 6:5-9:

Servants, obey those who are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as you would obey Christ; not with service done only before the eyes, as if pleasing men, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill, as rendering service to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive it back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man [(Eph. 6:5-8)].

And you lords, do the same things toward them and leave threats aside, knowing that your own Lord is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him (Eph. 6[:9]).

The Greek word for “servant” in these verses is the same as the word for “slave.” Doulos. It could just as well be translated, “Slaves, obey…” But the verb, which is related to that noun, includes many forms of serving or service. St. Paul often calls himself the Lord’s doulos, the Lord’s “servant” or “slave.” He viewed himself as belonging, not to himself, but to the Lord. And that’s really what a slave was: someone who belonged to someone else, and was therefore bound to service someone else, who was called the person’s “master,” which is the same Greek word for “lord.” But clearly the relationship between Paul the slave and the Lord was a very good one, and, while Paul recognized that he belonged to the Lord, his service (his slaving) wasn’t an unwilling thing, nor was the Lord’s lordship a cruel thing. The fact is, no Christian belongs to himself or herself. As Paul writes, You are not your own. For you were bought at a price—the price of the holy precious blood of Jesus, who has freed us from slavery to sin and death and has made us slaves of righteousness and heirs of eternal life.

Now, it was commonly accepted in the world at Paul’s time that some people belonged, not only to God, but to other people, either permanently, as a slave, or temporarily, like a worker or a house servant. Sometimes people made themselves slaves to another in order to pay off a debt. Sometimes people were captured in war and made slaves. Or sometimes, people just became what we would call today employees of someone else. Hired hands. Domestic servants.

St. Paul’s words to the Ephesians apply to all those circumstances, even to Christian slaves, even to Christian lords or masters. Yes, a person could be a Christian and a slave. And yes, a person could be a Christian and a slave owner, a “lord according to the flesh.” Today’s twisted version of Christianity in the world denies that, and today’s world despises that. But in the truly Christian worldview, it is not the Christian’s highest goal in life to have earthly freedom or to create a society where everyone is equal. Those things do actually flow from Christian morals, but Christianity does not require them or make them a primary goal for Christians. On the contrary, the Christian faith allows for that kind of slavery and that kind of inequity in social structure.

But while the Lord allows Christians to live with those inequities in society, He doesn’t allow bad behavior in those societal roles. In both slave and master, worker and boss, He requires love. And how does He define love in those roles?

Well, for Christian slaves, and in our context, for Christian workers, who work for someone else, love looks like obedience at the workplace. It’s the Christian’s duty to make sure there’s no one who works harder than you at your job. It means showing up on time, and maybe early. It means doing everything that’s expected of you, and more, if possible. It means looking out for your boss’s best interests instead of your own. It means working diligently the whole time you’re on the clock, and not just when people are watching, but even when no one’s watching, even when no one knows, because Christ knows, and it’s Him you’re really serving.

For Christian masters or employers or bosses, love looks like fair and kind treatment of your servants or workers. Your duty is to make sure there is not an employer out there who is fairer or kinder than you. It means not having a haughty attitude toward your workers, as if you’re better or more important than they are. Your duty is to remember that you, too, have a Lord in heaven who sees how you treat those who are under you. So if you don’t want to be treated badly by your Lord, then you’d better not treat your servants badly, either.

Christians can behave this way in these earthly roles because we know that’s all they are: earthly roles that will one day pass away. Already God has made all Christians equal in Christ in His sight, of equal worth, all of us free and beloved children of God, even if a person is a poor slave here on earth. There is no partiality with God. He doesn’t favor the rich more than the poor, or the master more than the slave. He favors all the same in Christ. And when this short life is done, and we all stand before God at the Last Day, then these earthly roles will all pass away, and we’ll all live in the perfect freedom of the new heavens and the new earth.

Now, as always, more could be said about masters and servants, employers and employees, but these midweek services are only meant to serve as a general review of our Christian duties. Where you have failed to do your duties, where I have failed to do mine, let us repent and look to Christ, who fulfilled His duties perfectly and gladly, including His duty to His Father to suffer and die for our sins. Throughout this Lenten season, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as He fulfills all His blessed duties for us, so that we have all the motivation we need to fulfill our duties to Him. Amen.