Sermon - A Tale of Two Letters

'A Slave's Plea for Freedom' - 4th August 1723 (Lambeth Palace Library)

A sermon given at the Sung Eucharist at St George’s Bloomsbury on Sunday 22nd October 2023 (Year A) based on readings from Isaiah 45.1-7, 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 and Matthew 22.15-22 and resources prepared by the Church of England marking Black History Month.

Receiving a handwritten letter is a rarity – at least for me - these days. When one does land on the doormat, I’m reminded what a powerful and deeply intimate form of communication it is. Bearing the image of its author not just in the choice of words but in the selection of stationery, ink and in the form of each letter on the page. Today’s sermon is something of a tale of two letters.

I think it’s rather marvellous – and inspiring - that the earliest surviving piece of Christian literature is a letter from a friend. 

This morning we heard the opening sentences of it. 

What we call St Paul’s First letter to the Thessalonians is thought to have been written within twenty years of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the earliest text in the New Testament. Dating from long before the gospel was written down.

In this letter, the love Paul has for his friends in Thessalonica abounds. He writes to encourage the fledgling church there. Made up of those who have turned away from the pagan feasts, festivals and rituals which were the bedrock of socially acceptable life in the City. In doing so, they faced isolation – ostracised by friends and family and lived under the threat of violence. Because they proclaimed Jesus – rather than Caesar – as their King.

Paul praises them for their faith, hope and love in the face of this persecution. For turning away from the worship of Caesar and becoming ‘imitators’ of Christ. Bearing his image in the world. 


In our first reading, from Isaiah’s prophecy, it is the Emperor of Persia who appears as the bearer of God’s saving grace – his anointed one. Cyrus – whose right-hand God grasps, leading him to subdue nations and open doors - is certainly not someone who worships God. Nevertheless, he is portrayed as an instrument of God’s purposes, working for the sake of His chosen people. 

The empire Cyrus ruled defeated the Babylonians - who had captured Judah, enslaved the Israelites and destroyed the temple. 

Tradition records Cyrus as allowing the Israelites to return from Babylon and supporting the reconstruction of Jerusalem. Acts which Isaiah’s prophecy attributes to God. A rare incidence in the scriptures in which imperial power is seen in a positive light. 

 

The passage concludes by reminding us of the source of that power. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God.”


In the gospel reading, Jesus is confronted in the temple by two unlikely bedfellows. The Pharisees sought a strict observance of Jewish law and saw any interaction with their pagan rulers as sinful. The Herodians however - supporters of the Jewish King Herod Antipas, whose authority came from Rome - had a vested interest in ensuring taxes were paid. Not for the first time, groups with apparently divergent views unite against a common enemy. In this case, Jesus. 

They ask him whether it is lawful to pay tax to the Emperor. They know that if Jesus says no, siding with Pharisees rather than the Herodians, he will be arrested as an enemy of the state. But if he says yes, siding with the Herodians and therefore the Empire, he will make an enemy of his own people. 

Jesus requests sight of a coin used to pay the tax and asks whose image is upon it. ‘The Emperor’s’, they answer. ‘Then give to the Emperor the things that are the Emperor’s – and give to God the things that are God’s’, Jesus replies. 

The Pharisees are rendered speechless.

 

Jesus’ response acknowledges that there are things that are due to the state - the coins bearing the image of earthly power. But we owe much more - our whole lives, in fact -  to God, whose image each of us bears. 

 

 

Our readings offer three different illustrations of the relationship between God’s people and earthly powers. In the Letter to the Thessalonians, the church is subordinate to - and being persecuted by - the prevailing regime. In Isaiah’s prophecy, that power is deployed by God as an agent for the salvation of his people.  In the gospel reading Jesus acknowledges the limitations of that power.

 

The most destructive periods in history have been when God’s people have forgotten what is common to each passage. When we fail to acknowledge whose power is supreme. 

 

 

The second letter in our tale is from such a time. On display in Lambeth Palace Library, it dates from three hundred years ago and is addressed to the then Bishop of London.  

 

The paper is covered with blotted out words and phrases - as if this was the only page that the author had to hand. The lines of text are not regularly spaced and the size of the words varies. Perhaps sections were written in haste, at different times - or in less than ideal conditions? 

 

The letter was sent to London by one or more anonymous slaves in Virginia. Anonymous, they explain, for fear of being hanged if the letter was discovered by their owners. 

 

The letter reverently appeals to the Bishop as a friend – a fellow Christian. Asking that he might intervene to release them from this cruel bondage and educate their children in the teachings of Jesus. They compare their plight to the Israelites in captivity. Worked so hard that they do not know which day of the week it is, by task masters who look upon them as if they are nothing but dogs. 

 

A letter from desperate, faithful people in the midst of persecution. Crying out for encouragement and support. 

 

But unlike the church in Thessalonica, no response was sent. 

 

 

In fact at the time, the Anglican Church itself was a slave-owner, having come into possession of several large sugarcane plantations on the island of Barbados, through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. 

 

The SPG claimed it ran its plantations in a humane way - as a model for others to follow. Yet death, suicide and runaways were high. So much so that its own slaves were branded with word “society” on their wrists, to help trace them should they escape. 

 

A film released by the Church of England as part of Black History Month, explains that through its connections to the Anglican Bishops in Parliament, the SPG helped to introduce laws that stated there was no link between the divine freedom through baptism and legal freedom. Limiting the scope of the Holy Spirit on the statute book in this way allowed the church to grow numerically, by baptising slaves – but without antagonising their wealthy owners with the threat of rebellion. 

 

Here the interests of church and state appeared to be aligned. But, unlike the prophecy of Isaiah it was man - rather than God - calling the shots. 

 

 

We now know that for centuries the church has been rendering to the Emperor things that are Gods - by continuing to benefit from financial returns as a result of investments made from the proceeds of the slave trade.

 

Earlier this year the Church Commissioners revealed that they had tasked accountants with quantifying that return. As a result they have allocated one hundred million pounds in reparations, to be invested in communities affected by past slavery and in research and engagement related to the links between slavery and the church. The film “After the Flood” – on the Church of England website - is part of that investment and is worth watching. 

 

Jesus’ engagement with the Herodians and Pharisees in the temple reminds us that the relationship between God, his people and earthly power is not just played out at a geo-political scale - but in the one to one encounters we have each and every day. 

 

We all fail to recognise the supremacy of God when we privilege certain people and groups over others in the way we live our lives. 

 

Our readings today help us to recognise the scope of the power we have each been given – and encourage us to be more intentional in our use of it. The language we use in our speech and writing; the choices we make about which earthly authorities we give our allegiance - and the way in which we decide to spend our money. 

Inspired by the example of the Thessalonians in that first piece of Christian literature - may we reply to that unanswered letter in the Lambeth Palace Library by using everything in our power to make this church a true bearer of God’s image in the world.

Links
'A Slave's Plea for Freedom' - 4th August 1723 (Lambeth Palace Library)
A translation of the slave's 'Plea for Freedom'
'After the Flood' - The Church, Slavery and Reconciliation - a film released by the Church of England for Black History Month 2023