This is an edited version of a sermon preached at Christ Church and St. Michael’s, Germantown, Philadelphia on February 12, 2023.

On the wall in the back of the church is a quotation from Dr Martin Luther King Jr. It says, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” I thought of this quote as I was researching the life of the Reverend Absalom Jones, whom we are celebrating today.

His portrait - the only one we have of him - hangs in the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. His intelligent and sensitive gaze rests upon the viewer, not in a self-reverential way but in a spirit of inquiry. He appears to be sizing up whoever is looking at him. He comes across as direct, as someone who sees things clearly and without illusion. As we will learn, he was an eloquent advocate for his people.

It is not difficult to imagine him as the first ordained African deacon and priest in the Episcopal church. When we speak of the hand of God in someone’s life, that is seldom more apparent than in the life of this former slave. Absalom was possessed of a strong faith, which served him from his beginnings in slavery to his liberation as a freed man. During his lifetime, the long campaign to end slavery was gathering momentum, and Absalom was one of the strongest voices for its abolition.

As a young man, he must have stood out from his peers since, according to his own account, he was taken from the fields in Delaware to attend to his master in the house. Absalom used the money saved from tips to purchase books, one of which was the Bible. Despite the long hours working as a slave, he spent whatever spare time he had reading and gaining insights into the world around him.

Absalom was married at age 24 to Mary, also a slave. By saving and borrowing money, Absalom eventually bought his wife’s freedom. He had to wait another fourteen years for his own freedom to be granted. By then, he had also bought a small plot of land for himself.

I mentioned at the beginning of my sermon the words of Dr King, and how we are judged by where we stand in times of challenge and controversy. We find out where Absalom stood, along with his friend Richard Allen, a Methodist preacher, during the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793. But before this, we need to know that the two friends, Absalom and Richard, had founded the Free African society in 1787, and then the African Church in 1791, which became in 1792 the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas.

In 1793 the city of Philadelphia experienced an outbreak of yellow fever, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. This disease was to claim the lives of 10% of the population. The mayor of Philadelphia, Matthew Clarkson, asked Absalom Jones and Richard Allen to organize the African Church to assist the city in caring for those afflicted by the virus, and to take out the dead for burial. At the beginning of the epidemic, it was believed - wrongly as it turned out - that black people had special immunity from the disease.

The account of the epidemic is contained in the pamphlet that Absalom and Richard published the following year. Here is an extract.

“Early in September, a solicitation appeared in the public papers, to the people of colour to come forward and assist the distressed, perishing, and neglected sick; with a kind of assurance, that people of our colour were not liable to take the infection. Upon which we and a few others met and consulted how to act on so truly alarming and melancholy an occasion. After some conversation, we found a freedom to go forth, confiding in him who can preserve in the midst of a burning fiery furnace, sensible that it was our duty to do all the good we could to our suffering fellow mortals. We set out to see where we could be useful. The first we visited was a man in Emsley's alley, who was dying, and his wife lay dead at the time in the house, there were none to assist but two poor helpless children. We administered what relief we could, and applied to the overseers of the poor to have the woman buried. We visited upwards of twenty families that day - they were scenes of woe indeed! The Lord was pleased to strengthen us, and remove all fear from us, and disposed our hearts to be as useful as possible.”

This early account is a taste of what is to come. At times the pamphlet makes for harrowing reading, with death a constant shadow over their lives. Many people fled the city, but not Absalom Jones and Richard Allen. They were among those who stayed and helped organize the relief of the suffering and the dying.

When the epidemic was over, 5,000 people had died out of a total population of 50,000. Stories of the epidemic made their way into print, including an account by a Philadelphia printer named Matthew Carey. According to Carey, during the epidemic some of the black nurses had charged high fees and even stolen from those they had cared for. When Absalom read Carey’s account, he and Richard Allen fashioned a rebuttal of these claims.

The pamphlet which they published is titled "A narrative of the proceedings of the black people during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793; and a refutation of some censures, thrown upon them in some late publications.” It’s a long title, but the book is short. I recommend it for what it tells us about that time, and about the men who wrote it. They are writing to correct an injustice - that is to say, they are wanting to put the record straight. Their commitment to telling the truth means that they do not deny that some black people behaved badly, but point out that white folks were doing the same thing and that, overall, the black community had borne more than their fair share of relieving the city in a time of crisis. The pamphlet also directly tackles the unpleasant racial slurs contained in Carey’s account. There is this revealing passage in the pamphlet.

“We have many unprovoked enemies, who begrudge us the liberty we enjoy, and are glad to hear of any complaint against our colour, be it just or unjust; in consequence of which we are more earnestly endeavouring all in our power, to warn, rebuke, and exhort our African friends, to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and man; and, at the same time, would not be backward to interfere, when stigmas or oppression appear pointed at, or attempted against them, unjustly; and, we are confident, we shall stand justified in the fight of the candid and judicious, for such conduct.”

In other words, we will own up if we have done wrong, and admonish our brothers and sisters for their sins. But if you accuse us unjustly, we will defend ourselves, and fight for the dignity of our race. To support their rebuttal, they include a letter from the mayor of Philadelphia, written expressly to exonerate them and the efforts of their assistants. It says,

“Having, during the prevalence of the late malignant disorder, had almost daily opportunities of seeing the conduct of Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, and the people employed by them to bury the dead--I with cheerfulness give this testimony of my approbation of their proceedings, so far as the same came under my notice. Their diligence, attention, and decency of deportment, afforded me, at the time, much satisfaction.”

Absalom grew up in unjust times, yet his own story tells us something about his character. He lived in hope that one day he would be free, and his hope was not in vain. When granted manumission, he worked for pay in the Philadelphia store owned by his former master. Absalom, if he was ever angry about the injustice of his life, never allowed that to make him bitter. His great friend Richard Allen, himself a former slave, once gave a speech in which he said that “we think it a great mercy to have all anger and bitterness removed from our minds. We appeal to your own feelings, if it is not very disquieting to feel yourselves under the dominion of a wrathful disposition.”

Richard Allen and Absalom Jones knew that slavery comes in many forms. We can be a slave to another person, or we can be a slave to our own passions, including anger. Absalom knew that, whether master or slave, we are all under one master, who is God, before whom all are treated as equal. Absalom drew strength from his Christian faith. The stories of the Bible, especially that of Exodus, convinced him that God would deliver him from slavery. The end of slavery did not mean the end of racism but, by his example, he showed that racism does not have the final word. It is God who has the final word, working through his faithful servants, who offer their lives for the good of all humankind, regardless of the color of their skin. 

As Rector of St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, Absalom became famous for his oratory. On January 1, 1808, he preached a Thanksgiving sermon that left such an impression that the Vestry asked for a copy so that it could be printed. It outlines the sufferings of Absalom’s people and God’s participation in their liberation. Novice preachers wishing to learn how to preach would do well to study this wonderful sermon, which is sprinkled with Biblical quotes, rhetorical devices and, in the end, delivers an uplifting message.

Absalom Jones died at home in Philadelphia on February 13, 1818. When I think back to the words of Dr King, about the measure of a man being where he stands in times of challenge and controversy, Absalom Jones can be measured among the greats. In imitation of our Lord, he rose to the challenge of helping the sick and the dying. When an unjust account of the epidemic was published, Absalom did not turn away from controversy, but set forth a different account of what happened, being prepared to take his stand for the truth and defend his people. 

Blessed Absalom Jones shows us how the human spirit, with God’s strength, has the ability to overcome adversity. He was tested by God and proved worthy of his calling. He remains an inspiration for me today.

Father David