Juneteenth and the Gospel by Erin Perkins

Today is Juneteenth- a holiday that is widely unknown. As I have been studying the history of race in America, and I would love to share with you what I’ve learned, and a little bit about the work I believe we still have ahead in relation to “carrying one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).  

Juneteenth finds its origins in the public reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas in 1885, when after two and a half years of emancipation, on June 19th, 1865 Major General Gordon Ranger was able to deliver this decree known as General Order Number 3:

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere” (Thomas 2018).

Despite some flaws in the definition of freedom, formerly enslaved persons who were able to become free since this declaration began celebrating Juneteenth as soon as the following year.

 Timothy Thomas’ article shows us why Juneteenth matters to Christians: 

“Juneteenth marks the beginning of America’s self-actualization of its foundational principle of freedom…If anyone understands this concept of freedom in America, it should be the Christian. Christ died for us while we were yet his enemies (Romans 5:8). We were in bondage to sin and forced to serve the flesh (Romans 6:17–20). But thanks be to God for the person and work of Jesus, who freed us from sin and saved us to God for a future that ends and begins in eternity with him (Romans 6:22). When Christ saved us, he redeemed the whole of us. He didn’t just save the clean parts of us. He didn’t only accept the parts of us that we can easily manage or the parts of us that are morally acceptable. He accepted the dark, vile, disgusting, lustful, racist, and secret parts of us, and redeemed all of it for his glory”.

Juneteenth is a celebration of liberation and this year especially I hope it can be a day where we can come together in the unity that binds us together as one in Christ. I hope it can be a day we can rejoice in His redemptive work in us. It’s also a time we can admit where we went wrong in our past and acknowledge and lament the ways in which we have benefited from systems around us at the expense of our black brothers and sisters. And I hope we can better know that the God of justice, redemption, love, and hope cares about the whole of the body He created. And He forgives us our iniquities. He “changes the narrative” (Bryan Stevenson).  

In his talk “Grace, Justice and Mercy: An Evening with Bryan Stevenson and Rev. Tim Keller”, Mr. Stevenson said, “There is this path towards redemption only when we acknowledge our sins. There is something better on the other side of acknowledgement than punishment, and that is liberation”.  Since God’s intended design was that we would all be one, and since through redemption He has made us all one in Christ, we know that we “do not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but to love and serve one another”( Galatians 5:13). 

Let’s be one today. Let’s celebrate freedom together because of the hope we share in Christ. 

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Erin Perkins came to Trinity Park Church in 2017. She lives in Cary with her family. She is passionate about racial justice and the gospel.