Wednesday 29 August 2007

William Placher continues to give us much to consider when we look at how we approach and struggle with scripture.



In the days of slavery, some Presbyterians as well as non-Presbyterians cited Paul's letter to Philemon as teaching that owning slaves is morally acceptable. After all, Paul does not demand that Philemon free his slave Onesimus.

We might say, in response, that Paul was assuming the social reality of slavery in his time, but what he teaches in the letter has at its core his appeal that in Christ a master might be called to be a brother even to his slave. The letter teaches about a transformation of the nature of human relations, not about the acceptability of slavery. Along the way, we might also emphasize the differences between slavery in the ancient world and in the American South and ask whether what Paul discussed was really the same thing as slavery as it existed in America in 1850.



Here again is that vital point...what is written in the text and what is being taught. As Placher notes the letter has "at its core his appeal that in Christ a master might be called to be a brother even to a slave." This is all about the new life into which we are being called. It is a transformative life that does not do the everyday acceptable stuff - like keeping slaves - in the same manner that has been. We are looking at the way the Reign of God moves our relations to a new level and in that picture, there will be everyday implications for how we live among others. In my faithful imagination I can see people looking at some of Paul's followers and talking amongst themselves about how they are treating their slaves. They still have slaves...but things are really changing. As that imaginative line continues, slavery is lost and relationships of equality and love emerge and win the day. To stay put in the chains of slavery because Paul uses that life issue would be foolish and as we all know, destructive to life around us and a source of great injustice and brutality. From simple, respectful, and loving changes within a well-accepted practice of the day, comes the liberation of slaves and the demand for equality for all within a new realm of life.



Connection: So what is said must be looked at again and again. We cannot assume that words once spoken can be taken as they once were. We also must look to see what is the greater message or teaching that appears to be handed to us. Sounds like a good way to listen to everything that goes on around us - not just Scripture.



What a delight it is to be drawn into your liberating Word, O God. For in the middle of the way we would have the world go, your Word continues to draw life into question and pull us into a vision that will not settle for anything less than the liberation of all people and healing of the cosmos. Praise to you, O Lord. Amen.