Damariscotta Baptist Church

 

 

Have you noticed how this Corona Virus tends to bring out the worst in people? This has to be one of the strangest Fourth of July in history. It’s getting difficult to know what and who to believe. 

On Friday I experienced a “driveway moment.” The kind of moment when you are listening to something on the radio and you are so engrossed into listening to it, that even though you have made it home, you stay seated in your vehicle in the driveway in order to finish listening. 

I was listening to National Public Radio and five of Frederick Douglas’ descendants were reading portions of a speech he delivered on July 5, 1852. 

In case you need a refresher on American history, in an article by David M. Shribman, in the Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2020, I quote, 

Speaking in Rochester, N.Y., the Black abolitionist and statesman opened by asserting that he was “not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic.” Douglass, perhaps the greatest orator in our history, escaped slavery and in his freedom spoke across the country, assuring that Americans could not escape the moral questions inherent in human bondage nor the hypocrisy of Americans’ rhetoric about human freedom. 

In this speech he went on to ask the preeminent question of the age, and of ours: “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?”

Douglass’ speech came on July 5, not the Fourth, because he refused to celebrate American independence on the usual day until the enslaved were free. July 5 was not without meaning; on that date in 1827, 4,000 Blacks people had marched through New York to mark the end of slavery in that state.

As I sat in my van listening, the fact that a black man was arguing against slavery wasn’t the significance that hit me. The fact that what this black man had written 168 years ago, is so relevant today, sickens me. 

Rather than try to share my experience of my driveway  moment, I decided to share the actual broadcast with you. It is only seven minutes long. 

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/03/884832594/video-frederick-douglass-descendants-read-his-fourth-of-july-speech

I agree, with both Frederick Douglas and his descendants. There is hope. And the hope of Glory is Christ in us. 

This is my hope, my hope is that we as the body of Christ not allow any person, created in the image of God, regardless of color, race, gender, or anything that makes them seem or look different, to be treated less than. 

Unfortunately, in order to make sure that doesn’t happen, I believe those of us in the body of Christ need to be willing to speak out against racism, white supremacy and judgement. We cannot afford to sit by and do nothing. James, the brother of Jesus, warns us of this in chapter 4, verse 17, he wrote, Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for them it is sin. 

I couldn’t help thinking as I listened to the descendants of Frederick Douglas share a speech that I too am a 5th generation descendant, living in Woolwich, but of a privileged white man. And what makes me sad, is we still haven’t corrected things. We still haven’t learned from our mistakes. We still choose to allow the privileged white to prosper and still treat blacks as inferior. We allow it in almost every part of our lives, even our churches. 

I couldn’t get that speech out of my mind, so I looked it up on the internet, and read it in its entirety. I recommend you read the entire speech as well. 

By the time I finished reading it I too was angry with the Christians of that day. The church chose to follow the status quo. They did not follow God’s Word, but followed human’s word. Let’s not allow that behavior to continue. 

My challenge to you today is if it is within your power to change it, then change it. Speak up, take a stand for what is right. Christ in us, gives us the power and the wisdom to do the right thing. Telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear does not improve any situation. But this is what happens in government, in companies, in boardrooms and in families. Because the truth hurts. 

 

Truth also sets us free. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, during the protests in the ‘60’s, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” 

Because the Holy Spirit still abounds, because Christ is still greater than all of our sin, I too have hope. And like Frederick Douglas, “I do not despair of this country.” When Christians decide to do the right thing rather than the easy thing, or the prosperous thing then we will begin to see Jesus in action.  

It is fitting that we observe the Lord’s Supper today. This is a sacrament that reminds us not only what Jesus did for all people, but also what the disciples went through following Christ’s resurrection. 

Jesus knew the persecution He was about to experience and He also knew the persecution His disciples would experience. 

As they were observing Passover, Jesus created an observance the disciples have passed down to us. 

Jesus took the bread from the table and told them it was to remind them of his body. He told them to take it, break it, eat it, remember.

He also took the cup of wine, raised the cup and told them it was to remind them of his blood. He told them to take it, drink, remember. 

What are we to remember? The price Jesus paid, for our sins so that all who acknowledge this gift, accept it and then live by it, are free. He gave us hope.

We are free, may we live that way, and may we defend that freedom for all of God’s creation. 

Let’s pray.