Thought for the Month - December 2019
"Swing low, sweet chariot" by Barry Adair
(England and slavery)
I can see that someone else thinks that "Swing low, sweet chariot" is a strange choice of anthem for the England Rugby team…
I will never, I mean never, get over the audacity of
England - one of the biggest perpetrators of slavery
throughout history - using Swing Low Sweet Chariot (a
song about freedom from slavery) as their rugby
anthem
I read the above on Twitter around the time South Africa were due to play England in the final of the recent Rugby World Cup. This, together with recent 'people trafficking' stories in the news, had me looking at slavery this month, and I wanted to add what I had unearthed as our Thought for this month.
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was written by a former slave named Wallis Willis in Oklahoma State (USA) around 1860. Most think that his inspiration for this Negro Spiritual was the sight of the Red River, where Wallis was working as a slave. It seems that this reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah being taken up to heaven by chariot…
As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
We cannot truly imagine the suffering these slaves went through - kidnapped in Africa, taken across the Atlantic in chains, tortured and beaten by slave managers and owners. To them, the thought of being snatched from their present life of pain and suffering was a constant theme. Many knew of Jesus and His suffering. Many knew of God's plan of salvation. Many knew of the promise of heaven. Many knew of the promise of a pain-free eternal life. Many longed for Jesus and home. No wonder Wallis called Elijah's 'chariot of fire' a 'sweet chariot'. And it is no wonder that he longed to see it himself!
The trade in slaves, prior to abolition, was very big business. This obscene trade made many people rich and in the UK alone it lined the pockets of 46,000 slave owners. Yes, 46 thousand! We know this because, prior to actually banning slavery in the UK, vast sums of government money were used to "recompense" all these slave owners for losing their "property". So vast was the sums paid out (equivalent to £15 billion pounds today), that the British taxpayer was paying for this right up to 2015!
England has effectively managed to cover up its slave-owning and slave-trading past. One fact that helped this was that British slavery took place 3,000 miles away in the Caribbean. Whereas in the US, the numerous cotton plantations were on US soil. England was a huge player in this sickening trade of human beings. It may have been largely airbrushed out of UK history but thousands of British families grew rich from the slave trade or from the sale of slave-produced sugar. And it is estimated that around 12 million people were transported as slaves from Africa to the Americas and to the Caribbean between the 16th century and the start of Abolition!
Coming back to "Swing low, sweet chariot" then, the only reason to sing this song would be in remembrance of the millions of black slaves who died as a result of English greed. It is not an English song. It is not a rugby anthem. It should not be an English Rugby anthem. But what it is, is a simple reminder that Jesus will come for His own - those whose sins have been washed away…
The brightest day that ever I saw,
Coming for to carry me home.
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.
Jesus IS coming again.
We don't know when but we know He IS coming…
So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. (Hebrews 9:28, ESV)
Jesus is coming again.
Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home!
Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home.
I looked over Jordan and what did I see,
Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.
If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I'm coming too,
Coming for to carry me home.
The brightest day that ever I saw,
Coming for to carry me home.
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.
I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home…
(Wallace Willis)
(All Bible quotations are from the NASB, unless stated)
Until next month (DV)…
Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!