Committed to Christ (08/04/2025)

Over the years, I’ve heard the call to commit to Christ from several priests, preachers, homilists, authors, and believers. I’ve been blessed to see it in action many times. One of the best examples, though, of being committed to Christ occurred in Savannah, Georgia over the course of many decades in what many claim is the oldest established congregation of African Baptists. It’s called the First African Baptist Church and it began in 1773.

The membership was small at first, but it grew. It started under the pastoral leadership of George Leile, himself a slave, who was licensed by the Baptists to preach in Georgia to the slaves along the Savannah River. But under Leile and other pastoral leaders over the years, it grew with faith, hope and love from a handful in 1773 to over 2600 in the 1830s. And they knew they needed to build a church to hold the faithful and support the community of Christ. But how would slaves do that?

They worked on the construction of the building after they had worked all day as slaves. And the money? How did they pay for this construction? They gave the precious money they’d saved to buy their freedom. They volunteered to remain enslaved longer so that they could build a church for their Christian community.

I knew of the First African Baptist Church since the 1960s. I knew its history, but I had forgotten it until I was reminded of it this week by my niece and her husband in a letter detailing his ongoing studies for his Doctor of Ministry degree. Martin Luther King visited this historic church in Savannah before his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.

When I was reminded of the First African Baptist Church this week, I thought again of the level of commitment those faithful followers of Christ displayed in first establishing a congregation and then in growing the body of Christ in their community and, finally, in building a church building to house the real and living church – the members. It is amazing what they were able to accomplish in less than a century despite their personal hardships. It should inspire us all as we consider how much we are personally willing to commit to the building up of the Body of Christ today in our own communities.

Let us hold up the example of this community of faithful and faith-filled believers. Let us aspire to be more committed to our faith, to not only believing in our LORD and loving our LORD but also to believing in the LORD’s power and presence among us. Let us be willing to roll up our sleeves, give of our time, contribute our resources and gifts in loving service to building and strengthening the living Body of Christ in this world. Let us consider the example of the apostles who tirelessly labored for Christ in the world and realize that we are called to labor for Christ in this modern age, in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities.

The gospel reading for today is from Matthew – Matthew 14:13-21 – and it recounts Jesus’ feeding of over 5000 men plus uncounted women and children in a deserted place with a paltry five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples that day felt it was “insufficient”; they recommended that Jesus send the people away to find their own food. Jesus invited the disciples to “give them some food yourselves.” The disciples declined because they were convinced that what they had was “insufficient.” But Jesus knew better and demonstrated to us the power of faith, hope and love combined and spent – Jesus blessed the food, giving thanks to the Father for the food and in doing so, turning it over to the LORD for the LORD’s use (that’s what we do when we bless things, you know) and then sharing it.

How would the world be different if this day we took what we had, gave thanks to the LORD and turned it over to the LORD for His use, for the loving realization of His will, and then willingly shared it with others?  How would the world be different if we did this every day?

We who call ourselves Christians cannot miss the fact that Jesus was fully committed to expressing His love for the Father and us on the cross of Calvary. As Christians, Christ calls us “pick up your cross and follow me.” Commitment must be part of our journey.

On difficult days, as I mentioned before, we have the examples of Christ, of the apostles, and of the saints. And we have the examples of the members of the First African Baptist Church in Savannah.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.