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July 4, 2010 Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 12-15
Galatians 5: 1, 13-15 “The Incomparable
Stephen Johnson” (1746-1786): Today, being Independence Day, I would like to take us back in time to the period just prior to the Revolutionary War and spend some time with the Pastorate of Stephen Johnson, the fourth minister of our church from 1746 – 1786. George Bancroft, in his History of the United States written in 1854, referred to Stephen Johnson as the “Incomparable Stephen Johnson” for his efforts “to nurse the flame of piety and for his love of civil freedom.” Johnson helped shape the course of history and influenced our congregation’s call to work toward peace and justice through non-violent resistance. Old Lyme, called simply Lyme in those early years, was a bustling and thriving town with a lot of maritime activity. The Lieutenant River, a tributary off of the Connecticut River, was deep and wide enough to be navigable for large sailing brigs and clippers used for the West Indies Trade. Wharves and warehouses lined the river all the way to the present day Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. There were many large homes built by sea captains, one being our Parsonage diagonally across the street from this Meetinghouse, built by Captain Samuel Mather. Slightly east of this church, approximately where Lyme Regis stands, was the Parsons’ Tavern, and this was a place where many travelers stopped by, socialized over a brew, and shared news with the leading men of the town. The Meetinghouse at this time was on Johnny Cake Hill Road, in back of the present day Old Lyme Country Club, about a mile from this present location. It was the third Meetinghouse of this congregation, which was called the First Ecclesiastical Society of Lyme. The Meetinghouse was much smaller than our present church. On the front yard was a stockade for parishioners in need of a little ‘correction.’ In those early years in New England, there was no separation of church and state, the whole culture was ‘religious,’ derived from the ideals of Protestant Christianity. For example, in order to serve in any official capacity, one needed to be a member of a church -- education and experience was second to church membership. Stephen Johnson was our fourth minister, and he followed the last few turbulent years of Jonathan Parsons, our third minister who was dismissed by the congregation in 1745 for his over-zealous evangelism. Johnson was ordained in 1746 at 22 years of age. A graduate of Yale College, earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he served as minister to our church for 40 years until his death in 1786. He is buried at the Duck River Cemetery, just up the street, not too far from the house where he lived, just prior to Johnny Cake Hill. Johnson was a good friend of Judge John McCurdy, a parishioner who lived across the street from the present Meetinghouse. McCurdy was a member of the inner circle of the Son’s Liberty. He traveled to New York City on a regular basis to secretly attend meetings with this group. We can imagine after McCurdy’s return to Lyme that he and Johnson would sit by the fire and talk politics and imagine the future for their young country. For the first twenty years of Johnson’s ministry, there is not much to report, other than a congregation adjusting to Johnson’s New Light (Calvinistic) theology, the increase in membership, and what appears to be a very stable church and ministry. Yet twenty years later in 1765, at the initiation of the Stamp Act, Stephen Johnson made his politics known. He began to publicly protest against the unfair taxation of the colonialists without representation. The Stamp Act was a tax on the transfer of all legal documents and licenses including even newspapers, pamphlets, permits and contracts. This tax was on top of many other acts of trade, which taxed all imports and exports, making trade difficult for the colonialists. In order to enforce these acts there were 20 regiments in the British standing army, an expense largely paid for by the taxes. The colonialists felt they didn’t need this standing army, nor should they have to pay for it. The colonialists had a history of being loyal subjects, and had assisted the crown dearly with their lives and service during the French and Indian War of the 1750’s. In the fall of 1765, with the encouragement of John McCurdy, Stephen Johnson wrote 5 anonymous papers that were published in the New London Gazette using the pen-name “Addison.” The papers called for an end to the Stamp Act and were an effort to secure the people in the rights that were due them as British subjects. Addressed to the “To the Freeman of the Colony of Connecticut,” Johnson writes: Colonists have the “inviolable right by God of nature as well as by the English Constitution to those privileges and immunities which by the execution of the Stamp Act, we shall be forever stripped and deprived……If the British Parliament have a right to impose a Stamp Tax, they have a right to lay on us a Poll Tax, Lard Tax, a Malt Tax, a Cider Tax, a Window Tax, a Smoke Tax, and why not tax us for the light of the sun, the air we breathe, and the ground we are buried in?” These papers were widely distributed by pony express from New Hampshire to Georgia to an enthusiastic audience. In these papers, Johnson was not striving for independence from British rule, but he wanted an end to unfair taxation and rights for representation. He wanted the same rights for the colonialists that were offered to the British citizens on the mainland, liberties, that Johnson argued, had been taken away from them. Without rights, Johnson argued, that they would soon slip in to the institution of slavery. In December of 1765, Johnson preached a sermon in Newport, where he said, “if you tamely part with your liberties you are [an] accessory to your own death and entail slavery on your posterity.” He likened the colonialists to the Hebrews, King George III to the Pharoah, and the New World in New England to Israel, the land of promise. Stephen Johnson compared the injustices that the Hebrews endured with the injustices with which the colonialist live. It was widely understood at this time that the colonialists in the New World were God’s chosen group, that this new world was a chance at a new beginning, and that God was on the colonialists side and desired their freedom. Johnson argued that once freedom was taken away, the bonds of slavery could interfere with their covenantal relationship with God, arguing that these civil and religious rights were natural gifts from God, and therefore were sacred. Thomas Jefferson echoed this same sentiment when he wrote, “The only firm basis of national liberty is the conviction that liberty is the gift of God.” This concept of freedom as a gift from God and desired by God is consistent with our scripture reading in Deuteronomy, where we hear about the Lord’s remission. In Deuteronomy God’s compassion and radical social spirit is expressed when the law declares that slaves should be set free after six years of labor. Not only are they set free, they must be provided for with some provisions meant to give them a good start and keep them out of poverty. Deuteronomy states: Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today. Here Deuteronomy justifies this generosity and compassion towards slaves as motivated by the remembrance of the Hebrew’s Egyptian slavery and God’s compassionate redemption. Hence we learn that we are to follow God’s actions and do likewise. We are loved and treated with kindness and justice, therefore we are to treat others with kindness and work towards justice for all people. There is a direct correlation between your gift of freedom and the freedom of others as God’s will. God is a just God, therefore we are called to be just and to seek justice for others. Johnson by comparing the colonialists with the Hebrew slaves was alluding to the fact that God desires freedom and this sacred gift cannot be taken lightly nor given up easily. Johnson’s sermon served as a ‘wake-up call’ to the sleeping colonialists who may not realize that their freedom was slowly slipping away. How could one so easily let go of a sacred gift from God? In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul states that Christianity is a gift of freedom, made possible by our faith in Christ. Because of this freedom and because of our commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, we should become as slaves to others. Our freedom and love should empower us to serve those who are not free. Basically it is the same principle as in Deuteronomy, if you understand that freedom is a gift from God and is God’s will, then it also would follow that God’s will is for all people to enjoy these natural gifts -- that our freedom is a call to work toward your neighbor’s freedom as well. We are called to work for social justice and basic human rights through non-violent resistance, as preached through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Stephen Johnson believed in non-violent resistance. Through his impassioned letter writing and preaching, he used his rhetorical powers of persuasion. In 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed, but many of the other trade acts were not. The Sons of Liberty protested the buying of all goods imported from Britain, in an attempt to become self sustainable. In March 1774, when a tea peddler from Martha’s Vineyard came to Lyme with 100 pounds of tea leaves, the citizens of Lyme had their own tea party. The citizens confiscated the British tea and built a fire on the street near not far from the Meetinghouse and threw the tea in to the flames, burying the ashes on the same spot afterward. When the guns fired at Lexington in 1775, Johnson rallied 100 men in three days from this community to join the sixth Connecticut Continental Regiment commanded by Colonial Samuel Holden Parsons, the son of our third minister, Jonathan Parsons, and a friend of Johnson. Johnson, 51 years of age, desired to go with the troops and serve as a military chaplain. At first the congregation did not want to give leave to their minister of thirty years, but after another meeting and seeing his express desire, they gave him permission to serve our regiments. Johnson may have reached the Boston area in time for the battle of Bunker Hill. He returned shortly after, to resume his ministry of our church and died ten years later. Johnson’s papers and sermons gave voice to the American people and their loss of certain liberties. He left a legacy in our church history as a man who fought for what he believed in, through non-violent resistance, even at risk to his personal safety. By understanding our freedom as a sacred gift from God and God’s desire for all people; it is easy to follow that lack of freedom and slavery are not God’s desire, and are abhorrent to God. The commandment to love our neighbor as ourself, is also a commandment to work towards our neighbor’s freedom as we strive to protect our own. Working toward social justice is our call from God, especially as we consider the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Our church certainly understands this call to mission, especially in the area of social justice. Since 1976, early in David Good’s ministry, when he called the congregation to put a major emphasis in the work of missions, our church has sought to live the ministry of Jesus Christ, to be more responsive to the needy here at home, in the broader community, in our nation, and around the world. Since then we have formed partnerships with our Lakota friends at the Green Grass community on the Cheyenne River Reservation, a partnership that just celebrated its 25th anniversary. We began our partnership with the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1989 and in Harlem New York with the Children’s Storefront School also in 1989. After 9-11, our church has moved beyond ecumenical partnerships to include and develop interfaith partnerships as well. Establishing a bond with the Islamic Center of New London and Temple Emmanuel in New London, we have been deeply rewarded as we learn to dialogue with other faith traditions and work together to address the conflict in the Middle East. With our yearly Tree of Life conferences on Israel and Palestine and trips to the Holy Lands, we have developed a wonderful partnership with a Christian community in Beit Sahour, Palestine. We have met many interfaith organizations that continuously work toward a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli occupation of U.N sanctioned Palestinian lands, which has caused the deprivation of Palestinian human rights. Like Stephen Johnson’s work centuries ago, our church gives a voice to those who struggle to be heard, those whose basic human rights are in jeopardy or have been lost. We would not stand by and watch our liberties be taken away, neither can we ignore the injustices and disregard of the human rights of our fellow brothers and sisters. God is a just God, therefore we are called to work in the field of justice. Today on this Independence Day as we celebrate our freedom, let us give thanks to God the Author of Freedom and for the men and women of courage that struggled so that we might enjoy this precious life and bountiful freedom in the United States of America. Let us pray too for our brothers and sisters around the world whose freedoms and basic rights are denied. For we know in our hearts that God desires all people to be free. Amen
Rev. Rebecca T. Crosby First Congregational Church of Old Lyme
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