History has a subtle way of obscuring some of the more salient features that lend significant meaning to a particular cultural demography. This is not a commentary that reflects a penchant by any group in particular. History is nondiscriminatory and leaves in its wake any people group, perspective, or opinion, that threatens to unravel the consequences of objectivity.
This past New Year’s Eve, I ventured into the often lost historical trivia of the tradition that has become entrenched into the Christian ecclesiology. This celebration is a global occasion, and in every culture one would discover a myriad of explanations for its genesis. Overwhelmingly, it is a time of both praise and hope.
In the Black community in the United States, particularly in the churched community, the gathering in churches is referred to as the Watch Night Service. Crowds convene in sacred edifices nationwide that reflect the socio-economic classification of the congregants. In large ornate buildings in suburban, rural, and urban neighborhoods Black people gather to worship and hope. In similar fashion, black Christians gather in storefront and less flamboyant buildings with the same objectives – to worship, praise, and hope for a prosperous new year.
However, it was only 146 years ago that African American slaves gathered on this night saddled with a great degree of uncertainty and hopelessness. There are two significant aspects of Black history that are often forgotten about the integration of New Year’s Eve with regard to African Americans.
- On December 31, 1862 more than 10 million slaves gathered on plantations in both the North and the South anxiously awaiting the decision that would be made on the next day about the fate of the slaves. They anxiously waited to hear whether the Emancipation Proclamation had become the law of the land. On January 1, 1863 they heard the news that it had become law. All through the land, on plantations and churches, enslaved Blacks were enthralled in gratitude to a God who had brought deliverance from slavery. The night has often been referred to as “Freedom’s Eve.”
- Another historical aspect of this New Year’s Eve celebration is the oft forgotten fact that on this day slave owners would gather to conduct a financial audit of their possessions. In many cases the slave owners ended the year with financial liabilities that far outweighed their assets. As a way of reckoning they would sell their slaves, along with land and furnishings.
This transaction would result in the traumatic separation of families. Parents lost children, siblings were separated, and families were left devastated by circumstances beyond their control. New Year’s Eve was spent as a time when they knew that it was possible that it would be the last time they would see their loved ones on this side of heaven.
Today, one hundred and forty six years later, the present and the future is glaringly more certain, hopeful, and optimistic for all people of color in these United States. But it speaks much more than that. It speaks of a God who indeed is a God of liberation for the marginalized and hopeless.
May we, as a Christian community, covenant with God who continues to exact liberation on a global scale. May we partner with God in this amazing adventure as we build communities of liberation where the SHALOM of God would become a reality!
Tags: Compassion, multicultural
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:32 am
Oliver:
Thank you for reminding us of the brutal facts of our history. We give God praise for the victories he has wrought for all people, beginning with his decisive victory on the Cross that ransomed lost sinners from the clutches of sin. We praise him for the victory of sacrificial efforts to win freedom for those enslaved. We praise him for his continuing message of hope in challenging times.
I too was raised in the “Watch night” tradition. It has been many years, however, since I’ve been in such a service. Thank God for the faithfulness of believers everywhere who close the year with prayer and invite the Lord’s presence and guidance as we embark on another year.
May God bless you and yours with peace, joy, good health, and every blessing.
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:41 am
You are so correct Dave! We need to be holistic in our doxology so that the unchurched know that we are not insular in our cocoon, but as a people of liberation we appreciate the salient contextual features of extra-church machinations.
The church must partner with the world and culture in which we are placed to be witness. As one missiologist remarked, “we must change the heart, not the culture.”
Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Great stuff Oliver.
It seems as if there is a pattern to associate liberation with New Year. The people of Israel were told that the night of their liberation from Egyptian oppression would be the beginning of a their new year, (Exodus 12:2). The pattern carries over to our eschatological hope. Hallelujah!!
Benjie
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Welcome to my blog Benjie! Yes, liberation is probably the most definitive characteristic of our God. It seems that the biblical references of God’s interaction with earthly beings has been for the purpose of liberation, e.g. Egypt, lion’s den, fiery furnace, incarnation, inaugural message in Luke 4, and the criterion for judgment in Matthew 28.
Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
January 5th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Dr. Oliver,
May God continue to bless you during this new year! He has great plans for you with mightier challenges and more grand opportunities awaiting you!
This New Years Eve, as we did last year, we recognized our need of the Lord on our knees… we cried, we laughed, we moaned, we sought mercy from God and one another. We also had a 24hr continuous prayer throughout the 31st leading into the new year… not a lot of participation, but quite powerful. I mentioned during our Watch Night service, the traditional aspect as we most often know as stated in your first point. However, the second point you made I had never thought of or knew about… but as I pondered it, it made so much sense and brought about deep sadness as well as a great respect in my heart for those who yearned for our freedom.
I see that there is much need for us all to make sure that we allow times such as these to be a springboard to bring us all back together and seek reconciliation amongst ourselves. We need to look at what our forefathers experienced… the tearing apart of our lives at the hands of others, and realize that they fought and prayed hard for freedom. Now that we are “free” let us remain free by letting down our personal pride and stop being bound up in selfishness… we need to let love and forgiveness flow within our families, churches, neighborhoods and communities. We used to cry at the thought of being separated from each other, now days we fight just to get away from each other.
Thanks for all you’ve meant and mean to me! Love you MUCH!!
Bro. Larry