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| Absalom Jones, 1st African American Priest |
"Above all things,
let us instruct our children
in the principles of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ
whereby they may become
wise to salvation."
+ Absalom Jones
1746-1818 A.D.
During the beginning of Black History Month, this post features an excerpt from Our Church Speaks so that you might discover with us how the Light of the world shines through our brothers and sisters of color.
Absalom Jones
What Is Freedom For?
Since before the founding of the United States, the African American church has been a prophetic voice in American culture. Absalom Jones was an eminent founding father of this Christian tradition. He was born enslaved in Delaware and, in his youth, witnessed his family sold away. As an adult, he purchased freedom for his wife and children and, eventually, for himself. Jones befriended Richard Allen, also a freed slave. The two became lay ministers at St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, a church with both white and black congregants, where black ministers were allowed to preach. Together, they founded the Free African Society in 1787, an organization that championed the rights of free black citizens.
In the late eighteenth century, segregationists took control at St. George and forced African Americans to sit together in the balcony, separate from the white congregants. This change came abruptly. In the middle of a service, Jones was kneeling in prayer when he was approached by an usher and told to sit in the segregated section of the church. When Jones did not immediately comply, he was pulled to his feet by the usher, who was unwilling to wait until the prayer was over. Jones and Allen led a historic church walkout in response to this mistreatment.
Soon after,
the city of Philadelphia was hit
by a devastating plague of yellow fever.
Ten percent of the city died.
Jones, Allen, and the members
of the Free African Society
courageously ministered to
the sick and dying,
including those segregationists
who had oppressed them.
Jones rose to prominence as an influential Christian leader in the city of Philadelphia. He established the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, a church with a mission "to arise out of the dust and shake ourselves, and throw off that servile fear, that the habit of oppression and bondage trained us up in. And in meekness and fear, we would desire to walk in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." Richard Allen, likewise, established the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (known as Mother Bethel AME), the first independent black church in the Methodist tradition. St. Thomas and Bethel became two of the most significant congregations in Philadelphia, and Jones and Allen became two of the first officially ordained African American pastors of any church in the United States. Jones preached antislavery sermons ever New Year's Day, a tradition he faithfully continued until his death in 1818.
Scripture
"Thus says the LORD,
the God of Israel,
'Let My people go,
that they may hold a feast
to Me in the wilderness'."
+ Exodus 5:1
Meditation:
What is Freedom For?
There is a lot of talk about freedom these days. Most people use the word to mean unconstrained, unlimited, uninhibited, able to do as we please, to follow our desires, so long as they do not harm someone else. Within this construct, bondage is anything or anyone who keeps us from living the kind of life we would like to live, and freedom is simply the removal of the bonds of oppression.
Exodus is the original liberation story, if there ever was one. All freedom fighters are riffing off Moses. What is interesting is that this original freedom story is not only concerned with freedom from bondage, but freedom to something entirely new and different. "Let my people go" is a famous phrase, but the second half of that sentence "that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness" is far less well known. God (not Moses) set His people free from slavery not so that they could do as they please, but so that they might celebrate His provision, even in the midst of desolation. After plagues, parting of the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, the golden calf, the Ten Commandments, and more, that is exactly what they did.
The manna that fell from heaven
became the feast of God's provision
even in their forty years
of wandering the wilderness.
This feast points forward
to the new Moses, Jesus,
who not only sets us free
from enslavement to sin
but also provides a new feast
in the wilderness,
also called the Eucharist.
This simple meal reminds us not only
what we have been set free from,
but what we have been set free to.
Our freedom in Christ is purposeful —
that we may worship Him,
be nurtured by Him, and
continually draw our life from Him.
Absalom Jones not only knew this,
but he lived it.
He not only sought freedom
from slavery for himself,
but he used his freedom
to serve as a pastor,
administering the bread and wine
(the feast in the wilderness).
What kind of person
would use their freedom to serve
in such a way?
Only someone with
the mind of Christ.
Prayer
Our God, in whom we trust, who empowered Your servant Absalom Jones to become a beacon amid the darkness of prejudice and fear, strengthen us not to regard overmuch who is for us or who is against us, but to see to it that we be with You in everything we do. Amen.
pgs. 30-32
The Celebrity & The Saint
The celebrity demands,
"Look at me!"
The saint whispers,
"Look at God."
The celebrity says,
"Try to be like me,
but you'll never be like me."
The saint says,
"Why would anyone want to be like me?
Who has God made you?"
The celebrity is ever ascending,
climbing the tower of Babel
to the double-platinum throne.
The saint is ever descending,
saying, "Please have my seat, I insist."
The celebrity offers you everything
you want but can never have.
The saint offers you the thing you fear
but will redeem your soul.
The celebrity is a Ferrari
screaming down the highway
with music blaring.
The saint is the freshwater creek
beside the highway
that almost nobody ever notices
and is nearly impossible to hear
over the roar of traffic.
Yet the water murmurs
as it wanders over stones
and around oak roots.
It is not silent.
+ Ben Lansing & D.J. Marotta,
Our Church Speaks
Our Church Speaks
Bonus Song
Sho Baraka
2015 A.D.
Clouds will come, the rain will fall.
Sometimes the sun won’t shine at all.
From pain inside, cries will soar.
But I’m hoping that You
Hold all things together.
(I'm on my)
Son of Adam,
I’m just lookin for the pardon.
A vegan avoidin' the beef
That started in the garden.
(I'm on my)
Oscar Grant and invisible children,
Jena Six, Rakeem Boyd,
I am Bobby Tillman.
(I’m on my)
Thief on the cross,
The prodigal son,
I was the sheep that was lost.
(I’m on my)
Mover and shakers,
A student of the panthers,
Also learned in the quakers.
(I’m on my)
Zora Neale,
Absalom Jones,
Harlem Renaissance
With a Paul Robeson poem.
(I’m on my)
George Washington Carver,
A humble servant
Who gave all glory to the Father.
(I’m on my)
Rembrandt with a fitted cap,
C.S. Lewis if he would ever rap.
(I’m on my)
Lord touch down,
I love life
But You can come back now.
(I’m on my)
Son of a king, a fresh prince,
Diverse being, the talented 10th.
Wade in the water,
Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water,
God's gonna trouble the water.
Bonus Podcast:
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