Text: Galatians 5:1; 13-25; John 10:27-30
5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Facebook live: The Story worth repeating: Christ the Redeemer – The Road to Redemption!
The African American Spiritual, “Steal away to Jesus” begins:
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here.
“I was born, June 15, 1789, in Charles County, Maryland, on a farm belonging to Mr. Francis N., about a mile from Port Tobacco. My mother was the property of Dr. Josiah, but was hired by Mr. N., to whom my father belonged.” – Josiah Henson
The story of slavery is a story hard to comprehend. Through books, movies and songs we get a bit of a picture. The longing for freedom drove many slaves to seek their freedom and many, opposed to slavery, did what they could to help – and for some all they could do, and it cost them their lives.
William Seward – long before the Civil War and service in the Lincoln administration took a trip with his wife to the south. The pictures of slaves chained together and slave owners and the cruelty they saw left them a picture etched in their minds that would drive them in service to see it eradicated. – they did all they could do!
How free are you?
Most of us certainly would answer that we are not slaves and have never been a slave to anyone, or endured the hardships that slaves endured.
The beating of slaves, malnourishment, the splitting up of families, the lack of education or schooling – and death as the only hope of escape - was the day-to-day existence for most.
Adult or child? It didn’t matter and made no difference.
Again, how free are you?
Most of us would agree, that we are free.
But, if you work, can you just not go to work without any consequence, and expect to get paid?
Does your family expect things of you?
If you are of school age, can you stop going without consequence?
If you stop paying taxes does the government smile and look the other way?
No, in this life we have freedom, but that freedom is bound in a life broken by sin and the sinful flesh in this world we inhabit.
The Apostle Paul pits freedom against slavery in our text today and in a world where slavery is very, very real, tells his hearers that:
Christ has set us free
The story of slaves in bondage before the Civil War found many kept in bondage by their owners and masters, through power –the power of ownership, the power of intimidation, the power of education and the power of retribution.
“My brothers and sisters were bid off one by one, while my mother, holding my hand, looked on in an agony of grief, the cause of which I but ill understood at first, but which dawned on my mind, with dreadful clearness, as the sale proceeded. My mother was then separated from me, and put up in her turn. She was bought by a man named Isaac R., residing in Montgomery County, and then I was offered to the assembled purchasers.” – Josiah Henson
Knowledge is power and slavery has no power, no future, no hope, and no life.
In Christ you are given another power as the Apostle Paul says … Love.
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Josiah continues:
“There was a person living at Georgetown, a few miles only from R.’s plantation, whose business was that of a baker, and whose character was that of an upright, benevolent, Christian man.”
“When I arrived at the place of meeting, the services were so far advanced that the speaker was just beginning his discourse, from the text, Hebrews ii. 9; [Heb 2:9] …
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Heb 2:9
This was the first text of the Bible to which I had ever listened, knowing it to be such.” – Josiah Henson
“He said the death of Christ was not designed for the benefit of a select few only, but for the salvation of the world, for the bond as well as the free; and he dwelt on the glad tidings of the Gospel to the poor, the persecuted, and the distressed, its deliverance to the captive, and the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, till my heart burned within me, and I was in a state of the greatest excitement at the thought that such a being as Jesus Christ had been described should have died for me—for me among the rest, a poor, despised, abused slave, who was thought by his fellow creatures fit for nothing but unrequited toil and ignorance, for mental and bodily degradation.” – Josiah Henson
The Apostle Paul continues:
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The word of love lived out in a sinful world fulfills the Law. Because Christ was obedient unto death, he has fulfilled the Law for you and me so that in him we might love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Through love serve one another.
“When I was about twenty-two years of age, I married a very efficient, and, for a slave, a very well-taught girl, belonging to a neighboring family, reputed to be pious and kind, whom I first met at the chapel I attended; and during nearly forty years that have since elapsed, I have had no reason to regret the connection, but many, to rejoice in it, and be grateful for it. She has borne me twelve children, eight of whom survive, and promise to be the comfort of my declining years.” – Josiah Henson
Saint and sinner, flesh and Spirit, death and life, slave and free are in tension in this life constantly pushing and pulling against each other with you and me in the middle. Paul writes:
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Gal 5:17
“My post of superintendent gave me some advantages, too, of which I did not fail to avail myself, particularly with regard to those religious privileges, which, since I first heard of Christ and Christianity, had greatly occupied my mind.” – Josiah Henson
As a slave Josiah too wrestled with the Spirit and the flesh. As he was being taken to the deep South to be sold, he thought to kill his master’s son and escape to the North, maybe even to Canada.
As they traveled down the river Josiah writes:
“I resolved to kill my four companions, take what money there was in the boat, then to scuttle the craft, and escape to the north.” – Josiah Henson
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal.5:19-21
“I was alone on the deck; Mr. Amos and the hands were all asleep below, and I crept down noiselessly, got hold of an axe, entered the cabin, and looking by the aid of the dim light there for my victims, my eye fell upon Master Amos, who was nearest to me; my hand slid along the axe-handle, I raised it to strike the fatal blow, —when suddenly the thought came to me,
“What! commit murder! and you a Christian?”
“I had not called it murder before. It was self-defense,—it was preventing others from murdering me,—it was justifiable, it was even praiseworthy. But now, all at once, the truth burst upon me that it was a crime.”
“I shrunk back, laid down the axe, crept up on deck again, and thanked God, as I have done every day since, that I had not committed murder.” – Josiah Henson
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Josiah Henson’s story has many twists and turns as he made his way North and eventually reached freedom on October 28, 1830 in Canada after crossing the Ohio River and making his way through Buffalo after 41 years as a slave.
He settled in what is now Ontario and built a new life for he and his family in the freedom of Canada. and continued to preach, as a Methodist minister, the truth of freedom and salvation in Christ saying:
“… I am persuaded that, speaking from the fulness of a heart deeply impressed with its own sinfulness and imperfection, and with the mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, my humble ministrations have not been entirely useless to those who have had less opportunity than myself to reflect upon these all-important subjects.” – Josiah Henson
There is much more to Josiah Henson’s story as there is more to all stories of lives bound in sin, death and the devil. For we who remain, it is our story to learn and tell as well.
To tell the story of Jesus who has taken the sin of the world upon himself and set us free from the bonds of sin and death and the yoke of slavery, bound to sin in this life, so that in him, we might all walk in the light of Christ and his salvation won for us at the cross.
It is the Apostle Paul’s final words in our lesson for today that gives us all hope, as we continue to live in this sin broken world:
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
The Rev. Josiah Henson entered eternal rest and reward on May 5, 1883 in his 94th year as the New York Times reported, and Harriet Beecher Stow used his story and autobiography from 1849 as her basis and inspiration for the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
One of the hymns sung at his funeral was the spiritual that began this message: Steal away to Jesus. - Wallace Willis
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here.
My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder;
The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Green trees are bending, Poor sinners stand a trembling;
The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Dear friends,
[We] ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Bound in sin you have gloriously been set free - through the thunder and lightning of God’s Word and Spirit - and by his calling, you too can Steel Away Home, and rest in the Good News of the forgiveness, truth and grace that Christ offers – for you!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in and through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior now and forever. Amen
Quotations taken from THE LIFE OF JOSIAH HENSON, FORMERLY A SLAVE, NOW AN INHABITANT OF CANADA, AS NARRATED BY HIMSELF. BOSTON: ARTHUR D. PHELPS.1849.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53609/pg53609-images.html
If you stop paying taxes does the government smile and look the other way?
No, in this life we have freedom, but that freedom is bound in a life broken by sin and the sinful flesh in this world we inhabit.
The Apostle Paul pits freedom against slavery in our text today and in a world where slavery is very, very real, tells his hearers that:
Christ has set us free
The story of slaves in bondage before the Civil War found many kept in bondage by their owners and masters, through power –the power of ownership, the power of intimidation, the power of education and the power of retribution.
“My brothers and sisters were bid off one by one, while my mother, holding my hand, looked on in an agony of grief, the cause of which I but ill understood at first, but which dawned on my mind, with dreadful clearness, as the sale proceeded. My mother was then separated from me, and put up in her turn. She was bought by a man named Isaac R., residing in Montgomery County, and then I was offered to the assembled purchasers.” – Josiah Henson
Knowledge is power and slavery has no power, no future, no hope, and no life.
In Christ you are given another power as the Apostle Paul says … Love.
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Josiah continues:
“There was a person living at Georgetown, a few miles only from R.’s plantation, whose business was that of a baker, and whose character was that of an upright, benevolent, Christian man.”
“When I arrived at the place of meeting, the services were so far advanced that the speaker was just beginning his discourse, from the text, Hebrews ii. 9; [Heb 2:9] …
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Heb 2:9
This was the first text of the Bible to which I had ever listened, knowing it to be such.” – Josiah Henson
“He said the death of Christ was not designed for the benefit of a select few only, but for the salvation of the world, for the bond as well as the free; and he dwelt on the glad tidings of the Gospel to the poor, the persecuted, and the distressed, its deliverance to the captive, and the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, till my heart burned within me, and I was in a state of the greatest excitement at the thought that such a being as Jesus Christ had been described should have died for me—for me among the rest, a poor, despised, abused slave, who was thought by his fellow creatures fit for nothing but unrequited toil and ignorance, for mental and bodily degradation.” – Josiah Henson
The Apostle Paul continues:
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The word of love lived out in a sinful world fulfills the Law. Because Christ was obedient unto death, he has fulfilled the Law for you and me so that in him we might love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Through love serve one another.
“When I was about twenty-two years of age, I married a very efficient, and, for a slave, a very well-taught girl, belonging to a neighboring family, reputed to be pious and kind, whom I first met at the chapel I attended; and during nearly forty years that have since elapsed, I have had no reason to regret the connection, but many, to rejoice in it, and be grateful for it. She has borne me twelve children, eight of whom survive, and promise to be the comfort of my declining years.” – Josiah Henson
Saint and sinner, flesh and Spirit, death and life, slave and free are in tension in this life constantly pushing and pulling against each other with you and me in the middle. Paul writes:
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Gal 5:17
“My post of superintendent gave me some advantages, too, of which I did not fail to avail myself, particularly with regard to those religious privileges, which, since I first heard of Christ and Christianity, had greatly occupied my mind.” – Josiah Henson
As a slave Josiah too wrestled with the Spirit and the flesh. As he was being taken to the deep South to be sold, he thought to kill his master’s son and escape to the North, maybe even to Canada.
As they traveled down the river Josiah writes:
“I resolved to kill my four companions, take what money there was in the boat, then to scuttle the craft, and escape to the north.” – Josiah Henson
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal.5:19-21
“I was alone on the deck; Mr. Amos and the hands were all asleep below, and I crept down noiselessly, got hold of an axe, entered the cabin, and looking by the aid of the dim light there for my victims, my eye fell upon Master Amos, who was nearest to me; my hand slid along the axe-handle, I raised it to strike the fatal blow, —when suddenly the thought came to me,
“What! commit murder! and you a Christian?”
“I had not called it murder before. It was self-defense,—it was preventing others from murdering me,—it was justifiable, it was even praiseworthy. But now, all at once, the truth burst upon me that it was a crime.”
“I shrunk back, laid down the axe, crept up on deck again, and thanked God, as I have done every day since, that I had not committed murder.” – Josiah Henson
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Josiah Henson’s story has many twists and turns as he made his way North and eventually reached freedom on October 28, 1830 in Canada after crossing the Ohio River and making his way through Buffalo after 41 years as a slave.
He settled in what is now Ontario and built a new life for he and his family in the freedom of Canada. and continued to preach, as a Methodist minister, the truth of freedom and salvation in Christ saying:
“… I am persuaded that, speaking from the fulness of a heart deeply impressed with its own sinfulness and imperfection, and with the mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, my humble ministrations have not been entirely useless to those who have had less opportunity than myself to reflect upon these all-important subjects.” – Josiah Henson
There is much more to Josiah Henson’s story as there is more to all stories of lives bound in sin, death and the devil. For we who remain, it is our story to learn and tell as well.
To tell the story of Jesus who has taken the sin of the world upon himself and set us free from the bonds of sin and death and the yoke of slavery, bound to sin in this life, so that in him, we might all walk in the light of Christ and his salvation won for us at the cross.
It is the Apostle Paul’s final words in our lesson for today that gives us all hope, as we continue to live in this sin broken world:
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
The Rev. Josiah Henson entered eternal rest and reward on May 5, 1883 in his 94th year as the New York Times reported, and Harriet Beecher Stow used his story and autobiography from 1849 as her basis and inspiration for the book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
One of the hymns sung at his funeral was the spiritual that began this message: Steal away to Jesus. - Wallace Willis
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here.
My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the thunder;
The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Green trees are bending, Poor sinners stand a trembling;
The trumpet sounds within my soul; I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
I ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Dear friends,
[We] ain't got long to stay here. [Refrain]
Bound in sin you have gloriously been set free - through the thunder and lightning of God’s Word and Spirit - and by his calling, you too can Steel Away Home, and rest in the Good News of the forgiveness, truth and grace that Christ offers – for you!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in and through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior now and forever. Amen
Quotations taken from THE LIFE OF JOSIAH HENSON, FORMERLY A SLAVE, NOW AN INHABITANT OF CANADA, AS NARRATED BY HIMSELF. BOSTON: ARTHUR D. PHELPS.1849.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/53609/pg53609-images.html
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