'Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, "My master is delayed," and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 24:45-51
'Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his
master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when
he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge
of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, "My
master is delayed," and he begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and eats
and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when
he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 24:45-51
When I read today's Daily Office gospel reading, it was
familiar in its opening. Jesus talks about fig trees and how when summer comes,
the fruit ripens. That brings memories of Mama's fig preserves, made from the fruit
of a large tree at my aunt and uncle's farm, brought home and carefully prepared
and canned. I loved those preserves.
Then I get to the second coming
and how no one knows when it will happen. Not even Jesus himself knew, but
surely the time would come, and some would rise to heaven while others would be
left behind. Some denominations wrap a great deal of their theology around
this, but I don't really think about this very much. There are many more
important things to contemplate. I will try to be ready, but I'm not going to
stress about it or look for signs and wonders that are said to precede it.
Next comes the part quoted above. I've been reading the
Bible for years, but this was the first time this passage truly brought me up
short. For some reason, I could not read the word "slave" but found
myself substituting "employee" or "co-worker" instead. I
know the translation I read referred to the customs of the first century A.D. I
can accept that as I try to read the scriptures through the eyes and ears of those
times. I can do it most of the time, but not this time. So why is it different
now?
I grew up in the South, where slavery was a historical
fact, and we couldn't change that history no matter what we wanted to or even
could. My teens saw the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, and I saw the
riots and gradual dismantling of customs and beliefs I grew up with. The church
I had chosen (or where God had called me to be) began adjusting just as society
and the times changed. It was good to hear sermons about all of us being equal
in God's sight instead of the "us vs. them" I had often heard in my
childhood. It took me a long time to stop seeing myself as a flawed sinner who
seemed far from God's grace and love and began to see myself as who I was. Then
it was time for me to see others in the same light. We were all God's beloved
children, who would have seen our pictures proudly stuck on the doors of God's
refrigerator.
Lately, there's been a lot more emphasis on seeing all
people as human beings, equal in rights and status. Oh, we still have rich and
poor, sick and well, those for whom learning is difficult and those who always
seek more and more education. We still have people with different skin colors
and cultural traditions. It isn't uncommon to walk through a grocery store and
hear people speaking in native tongues we don't understand. We hopefully realize
that the world is a much smaller place than it used to be, and what happens on
the other side of the globe affects us whether we think it should (or would) or
not.
Our language is changing as our views change. For many,
the King James English of the Bible is almost as foreign as the Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Koine Greek, in which it was first put down on paper. Even more
modern translations use phrases we may not like, but we need to read them to
understand the culture from which the stories, sayings, and teachings came.
Slavery still exists today, and that's a known fact. We
hear stories of the sex trade, kidnapped children forced to work instead of
being allowed to be children, and teens are recruited into cults and gangs to
increase their numbers and solidify their power. Women are still fighting for
the right to choose how their body is used. Non-Caucasians struggle to be free
of hate speech and fear of being beaten or killed simply because of their skin
color or origin. LGBTQ+ want to be able to be open about who they are and who
they love. The world wants to be free of warfare and pillage, and people want
to live in peace and tranquility instead of terror and desperation.
I know I have to read the word "slave" in this
passage, but my mind rejects it even as I realize that slavery is real and
present. I can wish, hope, and pray for a time when people will read "slavery"
and ask what that means. I doubt I will live long enough to see the total eradication
of slavery, but I can pray to see more steps in the right direction. In God's
sight, we are all equal. The sooner we realize that the better off we will be,
at least IMVHO.
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