Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 18, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Text: Luke 20: 9-19
I
Amazing Grace (How sweet the sound)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Last week I saw the movie, "Amazing Grace," which is about the struggle to eliminate the slave trade in Great Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The film takes its name from the hymn written by John Newton, who was a ship captain in the slave trade for many years. The trade had a triangular route bringing slaves from Africa to the West Indies and North America, then bringing rum, cotton, sugar cane and coffee to Great Britain before heading back to Africa laden with firearms, gunpowder, metals, alcohol, cotton goods, beads, knives, and mirrors. Because of his slave trading days, Newton always thought of himself as a wretch and truly lost and blind before God found him and gave him sight.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
The hour that Newton first believed was a terrifying moment at sea when he almost lost his life. Spared from death in the ocean and spared also from the despicable slave trade, Newton studied for the ministry and was ordained an Anglican priest. He devoted the second half of his life trying to undo the harm he had caused in the first half.
Thro' many dangers, toils and snare,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The priest John Newton influenced young William Wilberforce, who was elected to Parliament at age 21 and became the driving force to eliminate the slave trade in Great Britain. For 20 years Wilberforce submitted bills in Parliament to outlaw the slave trade, but each time he was defeated. With his allies the Quakers he sparked a popular movement and gathered 390,000 signatures opposed to the slave trade. One year, it looked like he had enough votes, but when the vote was about to be taken, his opponents had given tickets to the opera to four of his followers, causing them to miss the vote. Wilberforce lost again. Then the war against Napoleon intervened and abolishing the slave trade was somehow seen as unpatriotic. He lost again.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
All of these defeats took a toll on Wilberforce's health. To relieve the pain he took medications and became addicted to pain-killers. With the help of his wife, he overcame his addiction. Finally, he submitted his bill again and it passed overwhelmingly in March 1807 - 200 years ago this month - and the slave trade was eliminated. However, slavery itself was still legal in the British colonies. Wilberforce would fight another 26 years and he did live to see Britain eliminate slavery from its colonies in 1833, just days before his own death.
When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we'd first begun.
II
William Wilberforce devoted his whole life to eliminating slavery and reforming society. At times he was ridiculed and marginalized. The stress took a toll on his health, but he persevered, and he is a model for us and how we can live our lives.
Today's Psalm 126 might have been a psalm that Wilberforce and those Quaker abolitionists prayed daily: "Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves." For twenty years he carried the seed of truth to Parliament, battling to eliminate the slave trade. Finally, he saw victory and the fruit of his hard work and he came back with joy, shouldering his sheaves.
III
In today's Gospel passage from Luke Jesus tells a parable about the vineyard where the owner's servants are mistreated and the owner's son is put to death. It is a parable about Jesus himself. Jesus is the son who is willing to face rejection, suffering, and even death to be faithful to his call. He is the stone that the builders rejected who has become the cornerstone.
God is calling us to work for justice. There is still slavery in the world. One website I looked at said that today there are 27 million slaves. You may have read the reports by Nick Kristoff in the New York Times about young women in poor families who are sold by their parents into prostitution - in order to earn money for their families to survive. Slavery is still a problem. We still need to work to eliminate it.
Some of you may be aware of the "interfaith walk for climate rescue" that took place this week. It was organized by our own Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. Hundreds of people walked from Northampton in the Berkshires to Boston - to call attention to global warming and what we need to do to save this "fragile earth, our island home." Yesterday I attended the interfaith service that celebrated the walk's conclusion. It included Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists - all drawing on their faith traditions to work together to counteract global warming and safeguard our environment.
God is calling us to leave the world better than the way we found it. John Newton and William Wilberforce battled to eliminate the slave trade and to abolish slavery. They made a difference. In our time, God is calling us to battle slavery and whatever would rob God's children of their dignity.
Amen.