Slavery
by Rev. Paul Howden
July 22, 2007
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Romans 6:15-19

When I was in fifth grade I learned about the slavery of Indians in South America. They were captured by the Spaniards and made to work in the mines. Their masters were sure that much gold could be taken from the earth. And they were greedy to find it, no matter what the cost. The work was so strenuous, and their treatment so harsh, that many Indians never survived more than five or ten years. I remember looking at pictures of naked Indians with chains on their legs carrying back breaking loads of earth out of the mineshafts. Soldiers whipped them to go faster. This was their bondage day after day until they died an early death.

In Old Testament times some people chose to become servants, virtual slaves. Why? Debt. They got themselves into financial debt. Those who could not pay their debts, instead of going to debtor’s prison, could work off their deficit as servants or slaves for up to six years. This was less than an ideal situation, since the Bible says, “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Nevertheless, some slaves felt content and secure as they were. According to the law, if you liked your master and wanted to continue working for him you could volunteer to do that.

During the 17th century people in Europe who lacked money to sail to America agreed to become indentured servants. Once they arrived in the Amercan colonies they worked six or seven years for a merchant or farmer. Then they were freed and started out on their own. Indentured servitude provided tools, supervision, education, food, and shelter to those without capital. It was a helpful arrangement for those who desired to get a fresh start in the New World. Indentured servitude has its roots in the Old Testament. For Israelites, slavery was normally a contractual service that lasted six or seven years. You will remember that Jacob served Laban, his father-in-law, for seven years in order to earn Rachel as his wife. Jacob served Laban as an indentured servant. If a slave truly loved his master, he could choose to become a perpetual slave. Exodus 21 describes the procedure. The elders would examine the servant to make sure he was serious about wanting to remain a slave. Then the master would bring the servant to the doorpost of his house and “pierce the ear with an awl.” The slave’s ear would be pierced and a ring put into it in a ceremony that tied him to his master.

Throughout history we see a variety of slave systems. The word “slavery” to the typical American mind invokes the racist version practiced in the Antebellum South. Prior to the Civil War blacks were captured in Africa, and brought to the New World shackled in the filthy dark holds of slave ships. Many died in transit. Once in America, families were often split up. And even after conversion to Christianity, black slaves were kept in perpetual bondage. All these practices violated the precepts of the Bible. Thus, it is necessary to distinguish the indentured servitude of the Bible and American slavery. They were two completely different systems. Those who hate God will sometimes state that the Bible promotes slavery. It is untrue. Scripture accepts an arrangement called indentured servitude that has nothing to do with the racial slavery practiced in the U.S. before the Civil War. God’s Law prohibited kidnapping, the stealing of people from Africa. It prohibited the splitting up of families, and it specified that Christian slaves be released after six years. None of these laws were followed in America.

The Roman Empire was dominated by yet another form of slavery. We’ve mentioned the Indians of South America, there is the slavery to debt, the indentured servitude of Colonnial America, and the racist slavery of the South; there is another variety: the slavery of Greece and Rome. The Romans, through military conquest, enslaved nations on a massive scale. By the time of Christ there were more slaves than free. A typical wealthy household in Rome consisted of the immediate family, and an army of slaves. Female servants did chores indoors, and male slaves cared for the stock, and worked the fields outdoors. There were so many servants that the owner, usually a father, appointed a “steward” to supervise the operation. St. Paul picked up on this “steward” term and applied it to the ordained ministry. Thus pastors are stewards of the Lord.

Most slavery is negative: slavery to debt, slavery during Roman times, slavery in the American South, not to mention the Muslim enslavement of Christians in Sudan today. These are repugnant. Even the indentured servitude of Jacob, and the voluntary contracts of poor American colonists seem like desperate decisions. After all, they gave up seven years of their lives. But the Bible speaks of a good slavery. St. Paul mentions a slavery that we can enjoy. He called himself a “bondservant” of Christ. This positive slavery,  or servanthood, is what we want to examine now. Reading Romans 6:15-18.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

The apostle Paul here is making the case that slavery is an inescapable concept. You are either a slave of sin, or a slave of righteousness. Without Christ you are a slave of sin. Once redeemed by His blood you become a slave of righteousness. What is a slave of sin?

There was once a boy in India who learned how to catch monkeys. He put a shiny coin, or a piece of hard candy in a wooden box that had a window on one side. The box he put in the jungle where monkeys played. Invariably, a monkey would come along, look through the window and see what was inside. He wanted it. There was a hole in the side big enough for the monkey to put his hand through and grab the coin. But the hole was too small to pull his hand out with the coin or candy in it. His little fist would get stuck. If the monkey released the coin, he could get his hand out and escape. But the monkey wouldn’t let go. The boy would then run up and catch the monkey in his net. The boy imprisoned many little monkeys because their desire for the coin or candy was greater than their desire for freedom. They couldn’t let go. Without Jesus we are like those monkeys. Satan can easily catch us because we are slaves to sin. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us that every human being is born a slave to sin. The tense of the verb “you were” is imperfect and suggests ongoingness; this is what you always were before regeneration. In theology we call it “orginal sin.” The sin, rebellion, and guilt of the First Adam was imputed to you at conception, and you stand justly condemned before a holy God. Original sin causes your heart to have a selfish bent. So strong is this tendency toward self-centeredness, it is called slavery. It is the monkey. Salvation liberates you from animal like slavery to sin and makes you free, a slave of obedience. When the Holy Spirit makes you a new creation, you are willing and able to obey God’s Word. Baptism gives you a new Master. Your slavery to sin, then, began at your conception; it is the natural condition of all humanity; but your slavery to God began, when, by grace, you obeyed the Gospel; when God graciously imputed the righteousness of Christ to you. “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”  If you are in Christ Jesus, you are a slave of righteousness. Moreover, Jesus declared, “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). What am I free of? you ask. You are emancipated from your evil desires, your selfish habits, and your slavery to sin. You are now free to be a slave to righteousness. Are you tempted to steal that candy? You can resist that temptation for you are a slave of righteousness. Are you looking through many windows and coveting what you see? Don’t. You are a slave of righteousness. You are free. Don’t lust. You are free. Don’t get angry. You are free. Don’t eat that second helping. You are free. Don’t get inebriated or use drugs. You are free. What is your pet sin? You don’t have to do it. You are a slave of righteousness. Because you are a slave of righteousness you will have a growing desire to read your Bible and pray and worship; you will develop a love of the brethren, a love for the Church and her sacraments, and a yearning to see the extension of Christ’s Kingdom.

Consequently, slavery is an inescapable concept. There are two categories of slaves in the world – slaves to sin, and slaves to obedience. There is no third slave master, nor is there a status of non-slavery. There is no high ground from which a person can stand and gaze down upon the two camps and remark, “those poor people are slaves, but not me.” The person who says this is self-deluded, and is in reality a slave to sin. Let’s read the next verse: Romans 6:19.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Another point comes out in this verse. We see the development of the two slaveries. There is either a progression downward or upward. The sin slavery leads to moral deterioration. St. Paul says, “In the past you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness…” This is the slave spinning down into the maelstrom. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a short story called “The Maelstrom.” In northern waters a massive hole opens up and begins to suck down the sea. An underwater funnel develops. If a ship happens to be in the wrong place it will get caught in the revolving current and slowly spin down to the bottom of the sea. Every revolution the poor sailor in Poe’s story descended quicker and deeper. That downward spiral is the pull of the first slavery. When people are enslaved to sin, they are held in bondage to a master who seeks their destruction. I once read about a woman in the 1920s. She was one of those heroines of the feminists. She had multiple affairs behind the back of her husband. To conceal her adultery, she had to lie to her husband and others about where she was, and what she was doing. In order to keep straight all her stories she wrote them on 3 X 5 cards which she kept hidden, and reviewed often. It was worse than studying for an exam at school. She had to memorize her lies, and they became so vast she had to study them constantly. The more adultery she practiced, the more she worked at lying. We too, the more we practice sin, the deeper we sink into it.

The slavery to God is very different. It results in gradual sanctification and maturity, a happy condition. “So now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” Paul says (v. 19). Each slavery develops; neither stands still. In one, we get better, gradually growing in Christlikeness; and in the other, we slowly spiral down to depravity and death. Beth and I backpacked in Yosemite and we came to a falls called Nevada Falls. The trail came to a cataract. The fast moving waters of a roaring river poured over the side of a cliff and crashed hundreds of feet below. It was spectacular. I stood near the edge and looked down. The current was powerful. Signs in many languages warned: “Don’t swim in the river, or you will get swept over the side and die.” The world is like that river, a powerful current that leads to destruction. 

On this basis I would ask you today, have you grown in holiness this week? Have you given yourself to prayer and love and study of the Bible? Or have you done nothing? Which means you let yourself be carried in a current that drops over the edge to death. The Christian life is dynamic, not static. You are either progressing or regressing. You will one day possess a glorified body, working and worshipping in the New Heavens and New Earth in total love and obedience to Christ the King. That is what you will be. Even now that is what you are: a slave to righteousness, a slave to obedience. Now start becoming that. Don’t wait until you get to Heaven. You are either walking with the Lord, or walking away from the Lord. You can’t float in limbo; it is not on option. The current is too strong. The slave of righteousness grows in holiness, righteousness, love, and service for His Master.

The larger context of this passage has to do with the abuse of grace. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul asks rhetorically (Romans 6:1). Some people have the attitude: “I have my ticket to Heaven, and I don’t have to worry about immorality. It doesn’t matter what I do because God’s grace lets me off the hook.” And so, some people interpret the doctrine of grace as a doctrine of cheap grace. Paul wants to counter this notion. What St. Paul wishes to stress is this: the same exact way the Christian was a total slave to sin in his prior bondage, so should he be a total slave to righteousness in his new bondage.

Paul actually apologizes for using this picture. He says, “I speak in human terms becaue of the weakness of your flesh.” He apologized because he regretted comparing the Christian life to slavery. To understand this, we must understand the schedule of the slave. When we think of the live-in nanny, or the hired hand today, we think of a person who clocks in and clocks out. He receives a certain agreed upon wage for doing his job. When he clocks in, he is under the command of the owner of the house. But, when he clocks out, he is free to do whatever he likes. During his working hours he belongs to the client, but in his free time he belongs to himself. In Bible times the status of the slave was different. Literally slaves had no time which belonged to themselves; every single moment belonged to their master. They were their master’s absolutely exclusive possession. That is the picture that is in Paul’s mind, for which he regrets using. Even today we feel uncomfortable with this illustration as a representation of the Christian life. Slavery as we know it is a violation of human dignity, it runs counter to human nature itself. We also know that we are sons and daughters of God by adoption. In Christ we are prophets, priests, and kings. The slave image is only one facet of the complete picture.

But the one thing that this picture does show is that the Christian can have no master but God. He cannot give a part of his life to the Lord, and another part to the world. With God it is all or nothing. As long as you keep some part of your life from God, you are not really a Christian. A Christian is someone who has given complete control of his life to Christ. He has put his hand to the plow, never looking back. No one who has done that can ever think of using grace as an excuse for sin.

Our text from Romans presents two completely different systems, producing totally opposite worlds – the life of the old self, and the life of the new. By birth you were a slave of sin; the slavery of sin descends to death. By grace and faith in Christ you have become a slave of God. The slavery to Christ is righteousness, obedience, and perfect freedom. It is a good bondage. Thank the Lord that He has delivered you from sin’s bondage. You are a slave of righteousness. You are free indeed.

Let us pray.