Sin & Slavery

In part four of our Love Thy Neighbor series, we explore the bold witness of Phineas Bresee, before he ever founded the Church of the Nazarene. As a young Methodist pastor in the tense years before the Civil War, Bresee stood in a pulpit draped with the American flag and called slavery what it was: sin. To him, it wasn't about politics, it was about the gospel.

This sermon challenges us to see that God's holiness is not passive. It names sin, confronts injustice, and calls us to live with integrity and compassion. From ancient laws in Leviticus to modern struggles like human trafficking, economic injustice, and exploitation, we discover that holiness isn't about staying "clean" by avoiding messy situations, it is about stepping into them with redemptive love.

Join us as we ask: Where is God calling us today to stand for the vulnerable, confront systems of sin, and reflect the radical love of Jesus?

Other Episodes in this series:

1. Leftover & Left Behind
2. Honesty & Hospitality
3. Love & Loyalty
4. Sin & Slavery 
5. Foreign & Friend

Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.

Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472

Transcript

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

#4 SIN & SLAVERY

     Before the Church of the Nazarene ever existed, the denomination’s future founder, Phineas Bresee, was a young Methodist pastor in Iowa during the tense years before the American Civil War. During this time, Bresee was known for speaking boldly when it mattered.

     One of those moments came when he was appointed to a church with many Southern sympathizers, people who were openly against abolishing slavery. Bresee’s sermons condemning slavery were already stirring tension. And then came the day he draped the American flag over the pulpit and preached directly against the sin of slavery. To many in the congregation, it felt like a confrontational mixing of politics and religion.

     But to Bresee, it was not about politics. It was about the gospel. He believed the church could not stay silent in the face of injustice. He once declared, “The church should be radical on every question that has in it human [good]. The gospel is so intensely radical that it is making the church so.”

     Bresee’s courage reminds us that God’s holiness is not passive. It confronts sin and brokenness, no matter the cost. Holiness is easy to talk about when it is personal and private. But it is much harder when it challenges public and socially acceptable sins.

     What does God’s holiness have to say to a world that still benefits from these types of sin? Sometimes, without even realizing it.

Leviticus 19:19-22 (CEB)

19 You must keep my rules. Do not crossbreed your livestock, do not plant your field with two kinds of seeds, and do not wear clothes made from two kinds of material.

20 If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave engaged to another man, who hasn’t yet been released or given her freedom, there must be a punishment. 21 The man must bring as his compensation to the LORD at the meeting tent’s entrance a ram for a compensation offering. 22 The priest will use the ram for the compensation offering to make reconciliation for him before the LORD on account of the sin he committed. Then he will be forgiven of the sin that he committed.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     We have been camped in this chapter of Leviticus for four weeks now. This section is at the heart of Christ’s words later in the gospels, when Jesus calls us to “love God and love others.” Love, the holy love we are called to embody, is not passive. It is love that is noticeable through our actions. Not that action saves us, but it is evidence that we are being transformed by it through God’s grace.

     Verse 19 is weird. It says, “Do not crossbreed your livestock, do not plant your field with two kinds of seeds, and do not wear clothes made from two kinds of material.” What does this mean? If we take the clothing rule literally, most of us would be breaking it right now. However, this is not God being the fashion police; there is a deeper truth behind it. The phrase “two kinds” is a symbol of keeping integrity and wholeness. This is an object lesson about God’s people avoiding corruption or compromise.

     Believe it or not, verse 20 is connected to this same thought. It is about a slave woman who is engaged to another man. This is a woman who had no independence and was completely at the disposal of her master. Culture viewed her as property, not a person. She is vulnerable to abuse. God’s law here acknowledges her dignity as a person and situation. Even in an unjust system, God calls out exploitation and defends her dignity.

     Verses 21 and 22 highlight this boldly. The sin is named clearly, and God holds the one with power accountable. “The man must bring a compensation offering.” “Then he will be forgiven of the sin that he committed.”

     Sin requires restitution, because it not only hurts God but also other people. To make it right, God commands the one with power to give a “compensation offering”. This offering was given for that reason, to make things right. It was the punishment for the man, but not for punishment’s sake. It was to make reconciliation.

     God is holy. His holiness refuses to ignore sin. He names it, confronts it. But the purpose behind it is not for punishment’s sake. That is important, sin’s debt must be paid. However, God’s aim is to provide a way for the guilty to repent and the broken to be restored.

     What does this mean for us? God’s holiness calls His people to live with integrity, confront sin, and puruse restoration. Why? Because this is how He loves us.

     I said a minute ago, sin never just hurts ourselves. It grieves God’s heart because it separates us from Him. And it also hurts other people. God is not okay with the hurt caused. He wants to bring healing and unite people.

     We may not live in a time where the sin of exploiting a slave for sex is common practice. But at this time it was. A sin that even Abraham and Jacob were guilty of committing. However, we live in a time when people are still exploited. Sometimes it is hidden, others it is through socially acceptable practices. Human trafficking, economic injustice, pornography, and emotional manipulation are all ways this takes place today.

     Holiness is not abougt staying “clean” by avoiding these messy situations. It is about stepping into the mess with redemptive love. Jesus did this for us. God became flesh and stopped into the mess of humanity. A world with slaves and owners, conquerors and conquered, full of systemic issues that kept people trapped. Why? To set people free. To hold those in power accountable. To provide a way for reconciliation and healing. How did Jesus do it? By taking on the cost of our sin and paying for our freedom with His own blood.

     We need to ask God to reveal the areas in our life where we benefit form systems or habits that harm others. Cheap labor, gossip, and pornography are ways we are complicit with these ingrained patterns of sin. As a Church we should be safe haven, but more than that a holy people offering protection for the vulnerable, repentance for the guilty, and restoration for all.

     God does not want anyone trapped. He does not want anyone used as an object for someone’s pleasure, power, or prosperity. He wants us to live in freedom, from sin and oppression.

     God’s holy love sees the broken, confronts the unjust, and calls us to be people of compassion, not compromise. Jesus’ holiness is not cold or condemning—it is protective, restorative, and unafraid to speak truth for our good.

     Invite the Holy Spirit to both search your heart and give you the courage to step into the mess. His light can shine in the darkness, it will shine even brighter from your life. Where do you need God’s lvoe to confront sin in your life? Where is He calling you to stand for the dignity of someone else?

     Come pray for freedom—whether for yourself or someone you know, or for our community. The Kingdom of God is not distant for the messy human systems, it is right in the middle of it offering a better way.