Free At Last Pt. 2
 It was a fantastic journey preceded by a spectacular deliverance. Just over three months ago the Hebrews had been the perpetual slaves of the Egyptian empire. Though slavery had been part of humanity for at least hundreds of years this was one of the first instances where an entire people were enslaved solely based on ethnicity.
In Egypt God’s people were worked and treated ruthlessly. Hebrew slavery grew into a state institution which was supported by all aspects of Egyptian society. Moreover, slavery became an integral part of the Egyptian economy. Cities were built and wealth was made on the backs of Hebrew slaves. In describing Hebrew slavery Moses wrote “So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.�
Egyptian slavery was a brutal, dehumanizing, demeaning, life-dominating enterprise. Hebrews were viewed as no more than chattel to be used, abused, oppressed and then die. The king of Egypt fervently believed that these people belonged to him to treat and do with as he pleased. Yet, the Lord had not forgotten His people nor the promise He made to Abraham. Through Moses he rescued His people from the power of Egypt with a miraculous deliverance. And now the Lord had brought them to the mountain of God the place He promised to appear before them. What would He say to them? What words of comfort and encouragement would He declare to a people who could still remember the lash of the taskmaster as if it had happened yesterday? What words of healing and affection could they expect to now hear from their Covenant Lord?
I often think of this when contemplating the plight of my people in America. We too have emerged from an Egyptian like slavery (Exodus 1:11-14 accurately describes how enslaved Africans were mistreated in America) and in a sense wondered through a wilderness hoping to finally take our place in this land of promise. And I now believe we stand at a critical juncture in our history. Despite what some say we no longer live in a racist society. That is, ethnicity is no longer the sole, overwhelming, determinative factor in our lives. However that doesn’t mean we’re free. As a people we still have significant struggles with poverty, the loss of hope, continuing instances of racism, as well as a measure of collective anger, frustration and despair. Like all other peoples we long to be free and yet haven’t defined what freedom is or decided what it would look like.
So before we can have a substantive discussion of freedom we have to define what it is. We’ll do that by referring to the first words the Lord spoke to His church gathered at the base of Mt. Sinai. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.� Freedom therefore is the state of being where humans can willingly pour our lives into serving the true, living, Covenant Lord without restrictions. Freedom is not the ability to exercise total individual autonomy, chart your own private life course or decide what’s right and wrong for you.
For African-Americans freedom is not primarily the ability to fully live out the American Dream. We cannot measure our freedom by the number of black elected officials, the depth of integration within the dominant society or the percentage of black people who rise into the middle class. The day that black people bow our heads, lives and wills to the Covenant Lord of Scripture is the day we will experience true liberation. And unless and until we grasp that we will never, ever be able to say that we’re free at last.
For Christ, the Church and the Truth
Pastor Lance