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Sermon for Easter
7 2013
Acts 16. 16-25
John 17. 20 - 26
The appalling tragedy of the factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh
and the recent discovery of three young women kept imprisoned
in an ordinary suburban house in the United States for over 10
years, brings home to us all - and I guess especially to parents
and grandparents. Just how vulnerable all human beings, and especially
our children can be.
But the truth is that each
day hundreds if not thousands of children go missing around the
world. Each one of whom is someone's daughter or son, someone's
granddaughter or grandson. And many of them disappear without
trace.
For part of the fallen nature
of the world in which we live is that human life is treated as
just one more commodity. One more asset to be bought and sold
- traded to satisfy the greed and hungers of those who hold the
economic power to demand whatever they want.
It is sadly ironic that when
we marked a few years ago the 200th anniversary of the banning
of the trade in human beings in this country - so many thousands,
maybe millions, are waking this morning to another day of slavery
or bondage of one form or another.
And today in our first reading,
we hear the story of another slave-girl living in 1st century
Philippi - but representing for us this morning all those who
find themselves bound to work without proper reward or safeguards,
for the gratification of others.
This slave girl had probably
been captured during a period of imperial expansion. One of the
impacts of war (or indeed globalising capital), has been that
women, children and men can become enslaved, owned, vulnerable
to capture by in-coming power-brokers. Adam Smith, the liberal
economist and philosopher of the 18th Century (whose portrait
incidentally you will find on our £20 notes!), commented
on this at the height of the challenge to the transatlantic slave
trade:
The pride of man makes him
love to domineer, and nothing mortifies him so much as to be
obliged to condescend to persuade his inferiors. Wherever the
law allows it, and the nature of the work can afford it, therefore,
he will generally prefer the service of slaves to that of freemen.
The symptoms of abuse, neglect
and dehumanisation which Smith abhorred in the slave trade are
all present in the enslavement of women and children into prostitution
and sweated or indentured labour today. The 'pride of man - of
humankind' - still inclines many to domineer, and to prefer the
services of slaves to that of the personally challenging, evolving
relationship with another free human being.
The Slave Girl - used for the
private gain of her 'owners' was forced to tell the fortunes
of those who passed by; pimped by others for her gifts of foreknowledge.
Those who consulted her on their way to worship, business or
relaxation, will have given scant regard to her condition; an
enslaved foreigner in a thriving Roman city. Her 'owners' only
interest is in maximising her earning potential as they set her
to work each day.
Paul and Silas recognise her
bondage - eventually. "Very much annoyed" Paul breaks
the cycle of her abuse by liberating her from being the means
of economic gain for her owner. Her skill as a fortune teller
is jettisoned, and with it her journey to freedom begins. Of
course there are other steps along the way which have to occur.
What will her former owners do as retribution? Where will she
stay? How will she earn her living? These big questions are left
unanswered. The focus remains on the fate of Paul and Silas and
their missionary break-through in Philippi; the conversion of
the jailer - who also begins a journey to freedom of his own.
We can see in the story of
the slave girl very clear parallels with those of the young women
- many of whom come from overseas and often fondly imagine, at
the beginning, that they are coming here to gain well paid jobs,
and who are - from time to time - rescued from their brothels
and massage parlours by police raids. They have frequently suffered
appalling physical, sexual and mental abuse. They have often
had their identities in the form of passports and papers stolen.
So what happens to them?
Well, there are now charities
- operating under the title of Anti-Slavery - which exist to
help just this category of victim.
They provide immediate pastoral
and counselling care for the victims of trafficking, and seek
to provide places of immediate safety for those who are rescued.
They lobby those in political authority. They create networks
for the safe return and future jobs for those who have been liberated.
Today, we have a chance to
be part of a nationwide movement to raise awareness and to inform
the voice of Christians today. Paul and Silas were imprisoned
for their act of liberation - the vested interests of today also
try to silence those who would speak out.
Paul and Silas acted locally
in the city of Philippi. Their interventions promoted the growth
of the church, the welfare of those they liberated, and the understanding
of all those who saw and heard them. We need to learn to think
and act locally, nationally and globally; to pray for liberation
and courage.
We too need to speak out against
one of the malign spirits of our age - that abducts innocent
children and young people and which needs to be rebuked and sent
packing. And against any who would treat Human Beings as just
one more commodity to be traded or used and abused. We need to
speak out against those who tarnish the glory of God that Christ
shares with us in the love that he has shown to us....
There is a story that after
the Fall - when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were excluded
from the Garden of Eden, God decided that he would henceforward
hide from human beings. He asked his angels where he should hide.
"In the heights of heaven" the first replied. God thought
and then said, "No - for that is just where they would expect
me to be, and they will find me in their own high experiences."
The second angel said, "then why not hide in the depths
?" God replied, "Again, all human beings descend into
the depths from time to time and they will discover that I am
there."
One little angel then spoke up. He said to God, "why not
hide in the human heart? They will never find you there."
God smiled and said, "How true," and from that day
hid in each human heart. Yet there are so few humans who seek
his presence in their lives.
******
I light this candle so that
we may remember all mothers and fathers driven mad with grief
over the unknown fate of their children.
I light this candle as we pray
for all the women, men and children today who are used and abused
for the gratification or profit of others.
I light this candle as we pray for all those who struggle and
work today against human trafficking, especially for the work
of Anti-Slavery - today's fight for tomorrow's freedom ……..
God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer,
be present today with all those people who suffer this slavery
today
and all those who try to support them.
Stir our hearts that we may not sit lightly to this struggle
but give ourselves to this task.
Amen
I know that some of you may feel moved
to support the work of Anti-Slavery - and they, like most charities,
are urgently in need of money for their work - I am not specifically
suggesting we collect for them today as you have had no warning
- but please do look at their website and - if you are able -
contribute directly.
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