We are still...
Illustration
Object:
We are still a nation plagued by slavery. One thinks of the statistics on racial profiling in America. Los Angeles Police Department 2008 statistics indicate that blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked by cops than whites. According to the 2005 U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Justice, black drivers are twice as likely to be arrested as whites when stopped by police. And 2011 U.S. Census Bureau statistics reveal that black household income is only 55% that of whites. The world is also plagued by slavery, as the U.S. Department of State reports that in 2007 there are at least 4 million enslaved worldwide, and perhaps as many as 27 million. These slavery statistics are the children of the enslavement we all endure, a slavery well described by Martin Luther:
The reason is our nature has been so deeply curved in upon itself because of the viciousness of Original Sin that it not only turns the finest gifts of God in upon itself and enjoys them... but it also seems to be ignorant of the very fact that in acting so iniquitously, so pervasively, and in such a depraved way, it is even seeking God for its own sake.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 291)
This "curved in on ourselves" selfishness is the root of our oppression of others. But God sets us free from all this slavery, breaking the oppressor's rod (v. 4). Martin Luther refers to Jesus setting us free from all works, so that we can "empty ourselves" [of all the selfishness that has bound us] (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 366). James Cone, the father of modern black theology explains what this entails in our context regarding the vestiges of slavery endured by African Americans:
Economically it may mean boycotting, or building stores for black people. Religiously or philosophically it means an inner sense of freedom from the structures of white society which builds its economy on the labor of poor blacks and whites. It means that the slave now knows that he is a man, and thus resolves to make the enslaver recognize him. I contend that such a spirit is not merely compatible with Christianity... it is Christianity.
(Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 62-63)
Famed medieval nun St. Bernard of Clairvaux notes that we are lured into this freedom, that it is not something we accomplish with our faith or free will:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word and, as it were stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word.
(Elmer O'Brien, ed., The Varieties of Mystic Experience, p. 106)
The word's sweetness lures us into freedom and away from our insidious, oppressive selfishness.
The reason is our nature has been so deeply curved in upon itself because of the viciousness of Original Sin that it not only turns the finest gifts of God in upon itself and enjoys them... but it also seems to be ignorant of the very fact that in acting so iniquitously, so pervasively, and in such a depraved way, it is even seeking God for its own sake.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 291)
This "curved in on ourselves" selfishness is the root of our oppression of others. But God sets us free from all this slavery, breaking the oppressor's rod (v. 4). Martin Luther refers to Jesus setting us free from all works, so that we can "empty ourselves" [of all the selfishness that has bound us] (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 366). James Cone, the father of modern black theology explains what this entails in our context regarding the vestiges of slavery endured by African Americans:
Economically it may mean boycotting, or building stores for black people. Religiously or philosophically it means an inner sense of freedom from the structures of white society which builds its economy on the labor of poor blacks and whites. It means that the slave now knows that he is a man, and thus resolves to make the enslaver recognize him. I contend that such a spirit is not merely compatible with Christianity... it is Christianity.
(Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 62-63)
Famed medieval nun St. Bernard of Clairvaux notes that we are lured into this freedom, that it is not something we accomplish with our faith or free will:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word and, as it were stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word.
(Elmer O'Brien, ed., The Varieties of Mystic Experience, p. 106)
The word's sweetness lures us into freedom and away from our insidious, oppressive selfishness.
