Juneteenth

As a Christian, I support making Juneteenth a national US holiday.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.  Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19^th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

Later attempts to explain this two-and-a-half-year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which, or none of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question.  Whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory. (From Juneteenth.com)

Interesting reading, The African Americans – Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Life after Slavery for African Americans, from the Khan Academy.

Remembering Juneteenth is humbling.

For whatever the reason really was, (What is Truth? John 18:38) over 250,000 human beings discovered they had been freed from slavery, over two years before they heard the announcement! Many of the freed, formerly enslaved people, remained in the south.  

As a Christian, I remember the spiritual, intellectual, and unbelievable shock of when a new reality set in – Jesus Christ died for MY sins over 2,000 years ago.  And I was just finding that out. I can’t help but see a comparison in our nation’s history with my own person life.

“I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.” – attributed to Harriet Tubman.

“Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want.” – Martin Luther

It really is my choice where and how I live: do I continue in the spiritual bondage into which I was born or in the spiritual freedom offered to me, by God’s grace, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Recent headlines should be screaming at our hearts, we should be hearing God’s call of “Where are you?”, from Genesis 3:9. Don’t you know you are free to walk with God?  Don’t you know that you can NOW give your burdens to Jesus?  Isaiah 10:27 – In that day the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders. And, Matthew 11:29-30 – Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Who doesn’t want rest?

We read in Romans 1:18-19 – The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Paul begins to describe what we see in the world around us.  This is NOT the active wrath of God from the Old Testament; this is passive wrath where God allows us to wallow in the filth that we create ourselves. 💔 (If you think this is just a characteristic of the Roman empire, think again and scroll through some world news headlines.)

We live in an incredible time in history right now, although it is not unique!  Families that are torn apart… communities fighting… nations fighting other nations… starvation… homelessness… undrinkable water… severe poverty… wildfires… storms – Humanity that is lost and can’t seem to find any sort of loving relationship with each other.  In addition to these broken personal relationships we see a global health pandemic, political disorder, economic, ecological, and educational chaos, and justice systems full of hypocrisy. Apparently, all our organizations that were supposed to deliver solutions, are collapsing.

Where are you?  When thinking about the relationship being offered by our Creator, we need to consider in whom or what, are we placing our trust.  Are we looking to politicians for answers. Are we looking to medicine, personal wealth, science, education, religion, technology, or even ourselves, to deliver the answers.  We are being misled.  We should never place our trust in created things only in our Creator.

Dear Christian, when you have recognized that repentance is a gift from God – a means by which we can confess our sinful behavior and turn away from what we once thought was the correct way to live, we can draw near to God and place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only then that He truly helps us to start living for eternity. 

God loves us 💖 THAT 💖 much to have sent Jesus to redeem us.  Have you embraced that reality – that you are genuinely loved that much?  You are a beloved child of God! (1 John 3:1)

Matthew 11:25 – At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.

It is time to embrace that identity as a child of God.  And like any child, it may be time for you to grow.  You can grow into the person God created you to be!  He equips us with the Holy Spirit to guide us, strengthen us, energize us, and keep us aligned with Him – don’t ignore Him.  Pick up your cross… lay your old life down… and lead others to this amazing gift of salvation.

Matthew 9:37-38 or similarly in Luke 10:2 – Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

If you are thinking that you are being kind, loving, and good by withholding your faith from others, consider where that belief comes from.  It was Jesus, see Luke 7 with the Roman Centurion, and John 4 with the Samaritan woman, and the early Christians who called others to inclusivity, (see Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10).  No one was more surprised at God’s love for all humanity than the earliest followers of Jesus.  Apparently, salvation was not going to be the assumed privilege for righteous, religious Jews, but an invitation to all humanity, all sinners… men and women, the physically disabled, the diseased, the foreigners, the poor, the political enemies, the political rebels, the corrupt workers…

I thoroughly reject the current trend in culture where we twist the meaning of words. I struggle to ask, why in the name of ‘tolerance’, would I ever withhold the offer of salvation from another human being – another Child of God – my own brother or sister? 😔

I can only share my understanding and experience with this great offer; I cannot make the choice for anyone else. And while I struggle with my next steps, I pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth. Lord,
by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy his consolations, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.