Woman of Freedom

This sermon was originally preached in a student body chapel service at Point Loma Nazarene University in 2004. It has been revised and updated to be included in the upcoming book Beyond Gender.

WOMAN OF FREEDOM

On Tuesday November 4, 2008 well over 200 years of oppression began to end in America. Americans voted for the first African-American President. We must acknowledge that there is still much to be done to battle and overcome bigotry, but something remarkable happened on that Tuesday. I am so very glad that I was alive to see this and experience it. I am so very glad to see what sacrifice and struggle can bring. It can bring freedom.

We have so many freedoms and so many that we take for granted. We have freedoms many people around the world do not have. We have freedom to worship in whatever manner we wish. We have freedom to buy what we are able to buy. We have freedom to go wherever we are able to go.

What we need to do during times such as these is to remember by Whom that freedom has come. In our nation we have faced troubles and trials that have stretched the human spirit to lengths we hardly would conceive possible today. And in our nation we have historically called on the Name of God to save us. We have historically acknowledged that it is God who brings true freedom.

In the 2003 PBS series This Far by Faith the filmmakers "examined the African-American religious experience through the last three centuries . . . This Far By Faith explored the connections between faith and the development of African-American cultural values and how it related to freedom.

One story in particular was deeply moving to me. Her name was Isabella. She was born a slave in rural New York in 1797. She was raised speaking only Dutch. As a younger child her grandmother taught her the ways of God, establishing in her life pattern the practice of prayer.

"Separated from her family at age nine, she was sold several times before ending up on the farm of John and Sally Dumont. As was the case for most slaves in the rural North, Isabella lived isolated from other African Americans, and she suffered from physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her masters."

While growing up a slave and while serving on the Dumont farm Isabella had been taught by her white masters that slavery was just a way of life, that this was the natural order of things, that what they did to her was acceptable because they were her masters. With very little stretch of the imagination, some most likely even concocted a Biblical justification for this heinous activity.

But Isabella had something that her masters did not have. She had a very personal relationship with God. From the teachings of her grandmother she had learned to make a unique place of prayer. In the moments she could steal away she made for herself a tabernacle in the woods near the Dumont farm. It was there that her relationship with God drove down deeper and deeper into her heart. She began to understand that the treatment that was normalized by her masters and the slavery culture was not what God intended for her or for others.

The filmmakers related, "Even though she had worked hard to please her master for sixteen years, Isabella listened to God when he told her to walk away from slavery. With her baby, Sophia, Isabella left the Dumont farm in 1826 and walked into freedom . . . Like thousands of slaves, free blacks, and poor whites in the early nineteenth century, Isabella was swept up by the tide of the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant evangelical movement that emphasized living simply and following the Holy Spirit."

We need to understand that walking into freedom for these slaves was in many ways more treacherous than staying with their abusive masters. An African-American woman walking the country roads looking for work and food was subject to great danger from those who would oppress her as well as wild animals. This however did not dissuade Isabella. She had found freedom in her spirit and hope from God more alluring than living under the oppressive and abusive life she had been born into. But the road to freedom was even more fearful and lonely than slavery.

The filmmakers recounted a particularly important event. In 1827, newly-freed Isabella was tempted to return to the Dumont farm, “[but] she was saved from joining her ex-master by a frightening vision of God, followed by the calming presence of an intercessor, whom Isabella recognized as Jesus. With Jesus as her 'soul-protecting fortress,' Isabella gained the power to rise 'above the battlements of fear.'"

From that moment on, Isabella was a committed all-out freedom fighter for Jesus Christ. She began to preach and teach about the God she knew and loved. She spoke freely and boldly about the corruption of slavery and the fact that Jesus Christ can save everyone from their sins.

“In 1843 she was 'called in the spirit' on the day of Pentecost.” The Spirit instructed her to leave New York to preach and lecture in other parts of the country. It was in these moments that Isabella asked God for a new name. As she cried out in prayer, she asked God to give her a new first name, and in the midst of that cry she heard God call her “Sojourner.” She cried out to God to give her a new last name and she heard God call her “Truth.” If you know anything about the Abolitionist movement, the great struggles during the Civil War, and the struggles for true human freedom in our nation, the name Sojourner Truth must be familiar to you.

We must recognize today that God had that name for Sojourner long before she heard it in 1843. He called her out of great trouble, persecution and abuse to become a great preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a great agitator for freedom in our nation. Sojourner Truth never stopped preaching and took up the banner of women's suffrage and the right of African-Americans to vote as well. On November 26, 1883 she died of old age with these words on her lips, “Be a follower of Jesus.”

We need to trace back and recognize the source of Sojourner Truth's drive and power. We need to be careful to acknowledge what Sojourner acknowledged. It is God through Jesus Christ who brings true freedom.

It was the presence and power of God within that young Isabella that transformed her into a powerhouse of truth. It was the presence and the power of Jesus Christ that gave her the courage to walk away from that Dumont farm. It was the presence and power of Holy Spirit that freed her soul from the fear of other human beings and launched her into a life of telling others about Jesus and seeing that they acted like him.

It is the voice and the Word of God that always brings true and lasting freedom to individuals, to nations, to churches, to families, to you and to me. The Bible stories that Sojourner learned about and that she preached about were just another testimony to the freedom that God brings.

I hope you know the story of the Israelites in Exodus. For 400 years their entire nation was held captive and worked to the bone by Egyptian slave drivers. For 400 years they had lived under oppression and darkness, toil and suffering. Four hundred years of crying out for God to release them from this horrible plight, crying out wondering why God had deserted them.

Don't you ever wonder why God waited 400 years? Sojourner knew the answer. It was that God was always with them—no matter what their circumstances. Someone like Sojourner must have penned these words:

Though trials come, though fear assail

Through tests scarce understood,

One truth shines clear; it cannot fail—

My God is right and good.

(Anonymous)

God had promised to never leave or forsake them. He is the God who said he would sustain them no matter what happened to them. He is the God who says to you and me today, “No matter what trials and troubles you face, you will make it, if you stay close to me.” That's what Sojourner had learned in her forest sanctuary. He never failed to meet her there. He never failed to help her through another night of abuse or another day of back-breaking labor. On her death-bed, at 86 years of age, what were the words she said? “Be a follower of Jesus.” She said that because she knew that to follow Christ was to walk the path of true freedom.

And this is what every person all the way back to the Israelites needed to learn as well. In Exodus 13 and14 we read the remarkable story of God's personal delivery into freedom. God had caused numerous plagues to overcome Egypt. The Egyptians had become so grieved and troubled by these plagues that they finally let the Israelite slaves go. But the Egyptians regretted their decision. Read Exodus 14:5-31

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians —all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops —pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still,"

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen —the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Just as the anti-abolitionists pursued the freed slaves in our nation during those dark days, the Egyptians picked up their weapons of fear and intimidation only to be met by one mighty Force—God himself stepped between his people and their enemies. This is what Sojourner Truth had learned during her 86 years on this earth. If God is for you who can be against you?!

From the moment sin entered into this world God has been working his freedom in and over and through us. This is the God Sojourner knew—the God who loves the whole world and sent his only Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save it. (John 3:16-17)

This is our God who gives you and me, Sojourner, Moses, the Israelites, your neighbors, your family members, your children and your spouse true freedom that will buoy us up in the face of trouble, that will lift us out despite the heavy foot of oppression, that will carry us through the awful storms of life.

In John 8:31-32 Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." For most of her 86 years Sojourner Truth held to the teachings of Jesus Christ. She knew freedom and she fought for it through the preaching of God's Word and the working out of her salvation into acts of justice.

For most of her 86 years Sojourner Truth held to the teachings of Jesus Christ. She knew freedom, and she fought for it through the preaching of God's Word and the working out of her salvation in acts of justice.

As I watched a 47 year old African-American man accept the challenge of presiding over our nation I was moved. But I have been more deeply moved by Sojourner's story over these many years because her story in right on the heels of Jesus' who brought true and lasting freedom — not just to slaves, not just to the oppressed and the poor — but to every person who calls on His Name. It is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection that we can know this kind of freedom.

This brings us to some challenging questions. What parts of my life am I permitting fear and oppression to rule, instead of the truth of Christ? What parts of our church are we still giving over to the prevailing culture of lies, deceit and abuse? What parts of our families and our world are we permitting to be absorbed into darkness because we do not go to that sanctuary of prayer on their behalf? Have we become so focused on the trouble in our lives and our work that we cannot or will not see the Truth himself?

It is God through Jesus Christ who brings true and everlasting freedom. Do we want Jesus and his freedom to be the ruling factor in our lives, in the Church, in our nation, in our world?

If we do, we will know the Truth and the Truth will set us free.

Amen

Copyright M.R.HYDE 2011

“This Far By Faith” series, pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/about/the_series.html with reference to the article on Sojourner Truth. June 2003.

Rhoda's Story

A long time ago a little girl lived in Jerusalem. Her name was Rhoda. Now in those days people had servants of all ages. Some people became servants because they were poor and could not make enough money on their own. Some people gave their children in exchange for paying off deep debt. The children would live in the home of the masters and do what they were told, when they were told, no matter what they really wanted to do. If a man, woman or child was lucky enough they got placed into a good home. Some homes were horrible and the masters were cruel. But some masters were wonderful and the homes were good places to work.

Rhoda was lucky. She lived in a good and wonderful home. She heard stories in the market place from other servants who were mistreated in awful ways. Every time she heard one of those stories she was grateful for the masters she had. They seemed so different than most of the other masters she heard about. She always felt safe around them even as she worked very hard.

One of her masters was named Mary. Mary had a son named John Mark. They were such good and kind people. Sometimes Rhoda would daydream that they were her family. But she always remembered that they were not when she missed her own mother and father at night.

Although Rhoda was a servant she was treated with honor and respect. She got to meet many interesting and wonderful people. Mary and John Mark had many meetings in their homes. When Rhoda first came to work and live with them she watched from behind a curtain as people would come to the home. These were not parties like she had heard of in other homes. And although they laughed and had a good time together they did some other things that were very interesting to her.

As in most Jewish homes they would read Scriptures together. That wasn't so strange. And as in most Jewish homes they would pray together. That wasn't so strange. But they would always talk about a man named Jesus. Now that was kind of strange. She had never heard about this man before. The way they talked about him made Rhoda think that they thought he was a god. And even then it was different than the way people talked about the gods of the temples in town. Others talked about gods like they were very distant and you had to be afraid of them. But when these people talked about Jesus their faces would glow. Some of them would cry and talk about how much they loved Jesus and how thankful they were that he had taken away their sins. Then they would all sing, sometimes until all hours of the night. They were beautiful songs and everyone seemed so happy when they got together.

Rhoda did not understand all of the things they did—particularly in light of all the dishes she had to do every time they came over. But she was very impressed with how kind every one treated her—a little servant girl. Some of them would pat her on the head and thank her for her work. This was unheard of in some of the other homes where her friends worked! Sometimes they would be beaten and abused. But she had never been treated in a bad way in the home of Mary and John Mark.

Rhoda had some favorites among the guests that would come. One of her favorites was a man named Peter. He was kind of a loud man. When she first met him she was terrified of him because he seemed to blow in like a great storm. He was always joyful, funny and loving. His big voice would boom throughout the halls of the house and she looked forward to any time she could see him. When he saw her he would scoop her up in his arms, give her a big kiss on her check and ask how “his little Rhoda” was doing that day. Every once in a while he would sneak into the kitchen and help her do a few dishes while trying to make her laugh. He would tousle her hair on his way out and declare, "Jesus loves you, Rhoda." With a song in her heart Rhoda would finish her dishes. At night she would lay on her mat wanting to know more about this Jesus that Peter and Mary knew.

The Jews had many feast days throughout the year. And every time one of those came around Rhoda had to buckle down and work until she was nearly exhausted. Mary and John Mark would be bustling around getting more and more excited, making sure they had just the right kinds of foods and decorations. She would scurry here and there at their commands trying to keep up. Rhoda would look forward to seeing all those wonderful people again, hoping that Peter would come in and help her with the dishes at least for a couple of minutes.

One morning Rhoda was going to the kitchen and noticed that Mary was at the table with her hands covering her face. She was crying and she and John Mark were talking in very hushed tones. She was trying to figure out what was wrong. The words were muffled. Her little heart was greatly troubled because she had never seen Mary or John Mark so distressed. John Mark's face was white and his eyes burned with anger as tears rolled down his cheeks. Something terrible had happened. Rhoda just knew it.

This was an imaginative approach to a very real story. Rhoda was a very real girl. Her situation was not just something I made up—even though some of the details are. She did live in Jerusalem. She was a servant of Mary and John Mark and she did know Peter. Luke, the author of Acts, brings us Rhoda's story. Really it is God's story with Rhoda and Peter and Mary and John Mark in it. We find this story in Acts 12:1-4.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

Herod was a Jewish King working for the Roman government. But he behaved unlike a good Jewish king would. He loved praise. He loved power. He loved pleasing the people. He was perfectly aware that the Jews were a dominant force in his kingdom and he lived in constant fear of an uprising. So he made a guinea pig out of one of them named James. He had his head cut off in a very public display of ill-used power. Herod set out to prove to these people that he was not afraid of them and that he would do to the rest of them what he just had done to James.

Herod knew the recent history of this group called the Way, these people now called Christians, and he was afraid. So he took the awesome powers given to him by the Roman government and set upon persecuting the Christian church as he had heard many others had done.

Herod's fear is rather comical here, isn't it? He takes in one man and puts him under guard with sixteen highly trained and capable guards—the best that the military could offer. He was not about to lose this one. This Peter was a ringleader and he had plans to humiliate him in a public trial after the Passover feast had ended.

So, there sat Peter.

And there sat Mary and John Mark. I imagine that they sent Rhoda out with messages to all their friends, "Come quickly! We must pray together for Peter's release." I'm sure that death of their fellow Christian James and the sudden imprisonment of Peter sent waves of fear through everyone in the Christian circle. But their first reaction was the best reaction. Luke records it in verse 5: "So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him."

Did you know that it is part of God's plan to set prisoners free? Through one of God's great prophets we hear this truth. Isaiah had a holy and profound encounter with God and he came out saying this.

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

I would not doubt that that very Scripture was read by many Christians that night as they prayed for their brother Peter and grieved for their brother James. And perhaps it was that night that Rhoda first prayed to Jesus to protect her friend Peter.

Luke records what happened next in this riveting description found in verses 6-11.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.

Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.

I think I know part of the reason Rhoda was would have liked Peter. He had unstoppable faith in God. Which one of us would be sleeping through the night in a prison when we were wrongfully accused? I think that every time I would turn over the sound of the chains would make me realize my dire situation. But not Peter! Even though he had a hateful king breathing down his neck, even though he had guards hovering over him and even though he could die very soon, he rested in the Lord. He was so sound asleep that the light in the cell didn't wake him! The angel had to strike him on his side. "Get up man, it's time to go!" He had been sleeping so soundly that he did not realize that he was not dreaming or seeing a vision. At least he was obedient in his vision!

When that fresh air filled his lungs Peter knew what had happened. The prayers of the people had been heard by Almighty God. And one of God's servants was released into the cold night air. Maybe Peter just stood there stunned by the silence and the stars. Dogs were barking and there was barely any movement in the streets. Then, being the man of action that he was, Peter made a decision.

Verse 12 reads: When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

Where is Rhoda in all of this? Look what happens next in verses 12-16. I just love this part of the story.

Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"

"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.

Do you remember this kind of excitement when you were young? You were so out of your mind with joy that you completely forgot what you should do! All night long Rhoda had watched people praying fervently for Peter. The house had been tense and sad. All night long they had prayed for Peter's release.

Do you remember the kind of astonishment when as an adult you heard that an urgent prayer request had been answered? The first reaction often is disbelief. You check in with your senses, making sure that you heard it right. You could hear the distant knock on the door, but you were so busy trying to connect your prayers and desires with reality that it took some time to register what was really happening. The knocking grew louder.

I imagine Peter started to get a little anxious. He did not want to be found in the street that night! Then everyone rushed to the door. Oh, the jubilation! Oh, the joy! They probably flung their arms around Peter weeping and crying out in relief. Indeed God had answered their prayers. That little servant girl Rhoda was not out of her mind!

In the still of the night perhaps the neighbors heard the commotion. Peter was quick to silence them and relay his message. Tell another James, this one the brother of Jesus, that he was alive and that the others should hear this great story of God's release of one of his own.

Peter quickly left the gathering, needing to find safety and shelter for the remainder of the night. I wonder if he saw little Rhoda in the comer by the door? I wonder if he didn't tousle her hair one more time and say to her, "Remember Rhoda, Jesus loves you." Then off into the night he went.

Perhaps it was Rhoda who added her information to Luke's record. I imagine Luke sat down with several of those people years later as he prepared to write this account. It is likely that he was seeking the most accurate information to tell the story of the power of God to release the captives and to answer the prayers of good and kind people who loved Jesus. Luke did not overlook the important place that a trusting and good child had in the story of the power of God.

Perhaps it was Rhoda who helped fill in the details of what happened to that wicked king as well. Luke writes about the sordid news in this way in verses 18-23.

In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food supply. On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Rhoda and everyone in that Christian circle learned some powerful things about God.

1. He can set captives free.

2. Prayer is a vital part of God's great work.

3. God brings his vengeance upon the wicked.

4. And he will work through children to spread the Good News.

Luke wanted to be sure that we remembered number 4. In 12:24 he wrote: "But the word of God continued to increase and spread."

Aren't you thankful for Rhoda's story—which is really God's story?

What's your story of God's great work? Is it like Rhoda's? Is it different, but just as powerful? I want to challenge you to tell one person this week your story. See if they will come to know the love of God when you tell them what God has done for you.

Copyright M.R.HYDE 2011