Getting to the Heart of “Breaking Free From Slavery” by The Rev. Kaji S. Douša
I’ve been thinking recently about how difficult it is to shake off the effects of slavery. And as I’ve been reading the story of The Exodus, I look at what we call the “murmuring stories” of the people who had just fled slavery, and God’s chosen people were walking into the wilderness, at God’s command. The wilderness is a dry desert and, of course, they were murmuring and wondering, “Where’s our food, where‘s our water, we need it, God, we need it, Moses.” And these people, what you see in their experiences, that they were having such a hard time shifting to a place where they could trust God. Because back in Egypt, they have lived with overseers and people who had made them feel a sense of dependence and fear was that lodged all over their bodies, all over their psyche. And in the wilderness of that desert they didn’t know how not to live in fear. I think about The Exodus now, especially as I think about how my people and all the people who have inherited the legacy of slavery have such a hard time shaking the fear that overseers and owners would put into us. Who would make us think that violence was a solution, because that was their solution for controlling us. And now in this day and age, in 2017, I wonder how do we now shake the effects of slavery? And how do we keep the people who want to be our owners again from feeling like cheap labor, free labor is an option? We need to be considering this as Christians, as people of faith, as Americans. Amen.
Watch the full Sunday sermon video here: https://youtu.be/Pk0IpdcZLwg