The Journey: Forty Days of PromiseCelebrating the Legacy of African American Christianity
Day Twenty-Three: Praising the Lord
Day Twenty-Three: Praising the Lord[1]
When sharing the Word, African American believers heard from the Lord through one another. In praising the Lord, they spoke to the Lord with one another.
Praying, singing, and shouting, were not items on their “to do” list, nor were they lines on an “Order of Worship” in a church bulletin. They were opportunities to encounter God together. As with sharing the Word, praising the Lord provided the occasion for everyone to participate in the life of the congregation at a significant level of personal and communal involvement.
It Takes a Community
Ex-slave Alice Sewell seamlessly intertwines praying, singing, communal ministry, and sustaining empathy in her depiction of the Invisible Institution.
“We used to slip off in the woods in the old slave days on Sunday evening way down in the swamps to sing and pray to our own liking. We prayed for this day of freedom. We come from four and five miles to pray together to God that if we don’t live to see it, to please let our children live to see a better day and be free, so that they can give honest and fair service to de Lord and all mankind everywhere.”
Sewell’s vignette contains precise theology—prayer requests were for God’s glory (“give honest and fair service to de Lord”) and for the good of others (“and all mankind everywhere”). It also speaks of personal commitment—walking five miles for prayer meeting!
Slave Spirituals
The slave spirituals were a communal enterprise. Jonas Bost of Newtown, North Carolina, reminisces about one such song. “I remember one old song we used to sing when we meet down in the woods back of the barn. . . .
Oh, Mother lets go down, lets go down, lets go down, lets go down.
Oh, Mother lets go down, down in the valley to pray.
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying about that good ole way,
Who shall wear that starry crown?
Good Lord, show me the way.”
Most significant is his concluding memory.
“Then the other part was just like that except it said ‘Father’ instead of ‘Mother,’ and then ‘Sister’ and then ‘Brother.’”
They mutually cared for one another as an extended family with concern for every member, whether father, mother, sister, or brother.
The Drama of Redemption
The slaves often transformed their sung narrative into a dramatic acted narrative. The community became participants in historic deliverance events such as the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea or Joshua’s army marching around the walls of Jericho.
Their bodies chained in enslavement, their spirits soared like eagles through the Holy Spirit and through the communal spirit of joint worship.
Learning Together from Our Great Cloud of Witnesses
1. Regarding praising the Lord, within your worship context and cultural setting, what might further enhance your corporate glorification of God?
2. What could you learn about worship from the African American legacy?
[1]Excerpted, modified from, and fuoted from Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Purchase your copy at 40% off for only $10.00 at www.rpmministries.org.
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