November 12, 2010
The End of the Fugitive's Flight
Katherine Britton, News & Culture Editor- Crosswalk.com
"God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14, ESV
Precious few of us have personal experience with chains and slavery, and I thank God for his grace in letting me enter a free world. But we're not so far removed from those times. America did away with her "peculiar institution" less than 150 years ago. A very short span of history divides us from American slaves, and many verified narratives of life in slavery are right at our fingertips. Living post-Civil Rights Act, what those pages contain - especially if the writer was a woman - will make most readers gag. It's a hard part of American history to swallow.
Harriet A. Jacobs, who left free Americans a staggering narrative, recorded her journey out of slavery with remarkable restraint considering what she endured. For one thing, she spent seven years confined to a shed attic while hiding from her master, who had made frequent advances on her despite being a married man. Small wonder she risked everything to flee.
When Jacobs eventually made to New York, the threat of slavery followed her. She refused to regard herself as chattel, but life after the Fugitive Slave Law forced that reality on her. She scoured newspapers for that day's social news of hotel arrivals, praying no white Southerner or obsequious Black who knew her would appear. On multiple occasions, she had to flee the city to avoid detection.
After one close call, a wealthy white friend flouted Jacobs wishes and purchased her freedom. After spending so many years looking over her shoulder, her legal status was no longer in question. She wrote,
"I had objected to having my freedom bought, yet I must confess that when it was done I felt as if a heavy load had been lifted from my weary shoulders. When I road home in the cars I was no longer afraid to unveil my face and look at people as they passed. I should have been glad to have met Daniel Dodge [her mistress's husband] himself, to have had him seen me and known me, that he might have mourned over the untoward circumstances which compelled him to sell me for three hundred dollars."
She knew how desperately important the law's demands were on her life. Her courage and human dignity could not negate the law of the land, no matter how terrible. Her legal status impacted every area of her life.
Spiritually, that's us.
Knowing that Christ fulfilled the legal obligations, we are free. That means free from condemnation, God's displeasure, and the power of sin. We don't have to keep looking over our shoulder, hoping sin and judgment won't overtake us.
Intersecting Faith & Life: Galations 4:7 offers this promise: "You are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Look how dramatically our fate changes! So why do act like we're still a slave to sin? Or that God is scowling at us? The papers are signed, and no one can take us back to life before our redemption. Are you living this freedom today?
