Obviously, from verse 49 in this passage, we aren’t talking about
the same sort of slavery as was typically practiced in America in the 19th
century. “If he (the slave) grows rich”
certainly rules out that type of slavery.
There was to be one law in the land for natives and strangers alike but
the way to treat a brother in financial straits was different from the way you
could treat an alien. That didn’t mean
it was fine to mistreat a foreigner who was a slave, it simply meant that the
brother was to be treated more gently, there were some duties that were off-limits
for natives that slaves could be asked to do.
The basis was always fear of God, remembrance that they both served the
same God, neither was in fact God. The
fear of the Lord is meant to be a restraining force on our lives, we are
ultimately accountable to Him for all that we do. Even as Christians we will be required to
give an accounting of our lives, not for judgment concerning eternal life, but
as stewards of the life we were so graciously given.
As I have commented before, I think differently about this
parable than I did for a long time. I
focus now on the soil’s receptivity. I
know that there are seasons in my life when my heart is unprepared to receive
God’s word and be fruitful and there are times when I receive it and it bears
fruit in my life. The soil needs
preparation and that sometimes includes difficult times when the soil is being
turned and churned, times when it is being enriched and then finally is able to
be productive. Living in western North
Carolina it is easy to see that many generations were required to make the soil
of this region productive. It had to be
cleared and then worked into fruitfulness.
We don’t start the Christian life able to receive all things, for
instance the passage from Leviticus above, but as we allow Him to improve the
ground of our hearts and minds and we cooperate with that activity, we are able
to live into the more difficult demands the Gospel places on our lives. The forty years in wilderness prepared them to
be the kind of people who could perhaps keep the Sabbath and Jubilee years and
who could practice slavery in a godly way, but later generations were not so
humble.
We begin with the understanding of what God has done for us,
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” From there we move on to being “filled with
the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” The purpose is to “walk in a manner worthy of
the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God.”
There is a progression there called spiritual growth and it requires
both the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of “mortifying the flesh.” We participate in the preparation of our
lives for fruitfulness by leaning less on our own understanding and strength
and more on God’s wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit working in and
through us. Our lives are always work in
process.
The God of Abraham praise,
at whose supreme command
from earth we rise, and seek the joys
at his right hand;
we all on earth forsake,
its wisdom, fame and power;
and him our only portion make,
our Shield and Tower.
at whose supreme command
from earth we rise, and seek the joys
at his right hand;
we all on earth forsake,
its wisdom, fame and power;
and him our only portion make,
our Shield and Tower.
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