10/22/15 Reflection - Slavery

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102215.cfm

Romans 6:19-23
Luke 12:49-53

St Paul's letters frequently tell us of his spiritual insights. The selection for this morning is a prime example, but it is probably better understood when heard in conjunction with the paragraph that preceded it. There he writes:
"Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." (Romans 6:16-18)

From there he continue with this morning's text: "Brothers and sisters:
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature."

I find it curious that Paul would make such a comparison. Slavery doesn't seem obviously appropriate to the Christian life. After all, slavery, by its very nature, is a demeaning position; and it doesn't seem to make much difference whether we are enslaved to another human being or enslaved to our own addictions. Yet, Jesus himself used the image of the slave when speaking of his disciples. ". . . whoever would be first among you must be your slave." (Matthew 20:27)
So let me tell you what little I know about being a slave.

When I was about eighteen I began smoking dope. It wasn't the kind that was legalized a year or so ago in Colorado. It was the kind which had been legal, and quite common for centuries. No one thought to identify it as a 'weed;' after all, it was a cultivated plant --- called that, I suppose, because it was in ordinary use among so-called cultivated people. No matter what it was called or how legal it was, it was still dope. I smoked tobacco for the next twenty-five years of my life, walking around like Charlie Brown's friend, Pig-Pen, enveloped in a cloud --- except my cloud was made of smoke, not dust. 

It was not unusual in those days for smokers to claim that they could quit at any time. I was one of those. And, of course, the claim could hardly be contradicted since any failure to quit was justified with the declaration: "I've decided that I'll quit later, not now." But the words rang hollow, empty of truth; and, in spite of my claim, my slavery to cigarettes continued. The fact was, I had become addicted to tobacco and escaping from my slavery was a difficult task. 

Smoking didn't seem like a big deal then. Looking back, however, the details of my behavior tell me otherwise. I would walk into a room and immediately look for an ashtray. If smoking was forbidden in certain buildings, I would stand outside in the cold or rain to get in that last drag. If my to-do list included shopping, my stash of cigarettes was always checked. When I collected keys, wallet and coins before leaving the house, I also automatically collected my pack of cigarettes and a lighter. If the choice was between money for food or cigarettes, cigarettes always won. Such were the consequences of addiction. Such are the results when you live in slavery.

Not all addictions are obvious, at least not when first started. Nor are all addictions intrinsically evil like gossip or pornography or alcohol abuse. Some we take up simply to satisfy an unspoken or unconscious need. When I took up smoking it carried with it the aura of fitting in. Everyone smoked, including most of my family. By the time I actually quit, the need had subtly shifted.

My father died of lung cancer. He had been a heavy smoker all his life. A few months after his death my brother, who also smoked, suggested that we attend a stop-smoking class held at the local hospital. I agreed. Over the next several weeks I whittled away at the number I smoked each day. Then I advanced to a specifically allotted number for each day. One evening, towards the end, I was sitting on the fireplace hearth, smoking a cigarette --- the last one for the day. I asked myself what there was about smoking that made it so psychologically hard to quit. And then I started thinking about the times I really wanted a cigarette, trying to look past the times I would just light one out of habit. In a few moments I had arrived at what should have been an obvious conclusion. I had begun to see cigarettes as my friend --- lighting one, deeply inhaling one at the social events of my life, the stress points in my life, the highs and lows in my life. From there it was not hard to say: These cigarettes are not my friend. And from that point it was not nearly so hard to quit.

Paul may have been writing to the Romans, but their enslavement to their addictions was just a snapshot of addictions people have today. And they likewise image the same troublesome consequences. Start with the condition of slavery itself: it's demeaning enough to be enslaved to another human being; but it's even more degrading to be enslaved to an inanimate object or a type of behavior. Then as Paul acknowledges, old enslavements are hard to break. These are the influences that bring about that behavior from us where we have to say: "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." I find it interesting that my own addiction, as innocent as it seemed at the time and as useless as it seems to me now, should fit Paul's words so perfectly: "For the end of those things is death."

But while Paul talks in terms of slavery, there are more subtle things that can misguide the true direction of our lives. I might identify them as entanglements. Political ideology, the pursuit of possessions, and even sports, whether active or passive. The seemingly innocent activities like playing games or even an involvement with the behavior of others can create entanglements that keep us from our singular necessity of serving the Lord.

You will recall that I just spoke about the behaviors that followed from my dependence on cigarettes. The obsession with an ashtray. The tolerance of bad weather when I wanted to smoke. The obsession with having the pack with me as if it were truly important. The persistence in making sure I have enough packs readily available. With that kind of narrow focus it is evident that it's quite difficult, if not impossible, to be a slave to two different masters at the same time, especially when the two are in direct opposition to one another. That's why Paul would conclude that the old master should be set aside, forgotten; and the new master, Jesus himself, should be the focus of our lives. He's the one we should look for whenever we walk into a room. He's the one I should stick with in fair weather and foul. He's the one I should promise not to do without. He's the one I should routinely include as I pick up my wallet and keys. There's no room for a second master of any kind.

"The end of those things [all other forms of slavery] is death.
But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God,
the benefit that you have [in your new slavery is that it] leads to sanctification,
and its end is eternal life."