Reflections on Juneteenth
Jun 15, 2024
May grace, hope and love empower our walk of faith together, dear siblings in Christ.
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” These words were spoken by civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer in 1971 in a speech given at the founding of the National Women’s Political Caucus. They remind me of St. Paul’s words in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free.” We, as Americans, cherish the value of freedom as one of the essential founding principles of our nation. We are taught as school children (or, at least, I was) that one of the reasons Europeans left their homes was to find freedom, significantly freedom to practice their religion.
Reflecting on those early “pilgrims” (very much a religious word) and their own hopes and dreams in comparison to the intervening history up to our own day, we can see that the goal of freedom is a work in progress. America has had to and continues still to define not only what freedom looks like but also who the “us” is, in Paul’s words in Galatians. As sinners, we tend to draw the circle of “us” more and more tightly around ourselves. Luther defined sin as “being curved in upon oneself” to the exclusion of God, creation, and all others. It is the chain of blame that we see in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve attempt to put the responsibility for the brokenness of creation and relationships on the other and, ultimately, on God: “The woman that You gave me…”
That is why I so respect the way Ms. Hamer defines “us” to mean “everybody.” Freedom is not just for me or my family or my church friends or any other in-group I belong to. “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” I see this truth in the mutuality of suffering caused by the oppression of others. Oppressors have always to be looking over their shoulders, lest those they are oppressing seek liberation and a re-balance of power that turns oppressor into oppressed. This paranoia, played out repeatedly throughout history, societies and cultures, I think you’ll agree, is not freedom! Nor is it just. Nor is it godly, recognizing the image of God in the other.
In this understanding, Juneteenth – a day that celebrates the news of freedom brought to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 that resulted in immediate and joyous celebration, including prayer – is a day we all can and should celebrate. The freedom of our enslaved Black siblings represented a significant step to the realization of that value of freedom, though certainly not the end of the journey, as we have seen in the almost 160 years since that day. We have a long way to go.
As I read those words of Fannie Lou Hamer, they reminded me of Jesus’ words about the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love, as Jesus defined it, is also a work in progress. But this love of God and neighbor (the all-inclusive “us”) knows no limits. It didn’t in Jesus’ life and self-giving on the cross and, as disciples of Jesus, it cannot in ours.
My dear siblings, I, too, am a work in progress, as are you. But, by the grace of God, may our lives be progress!
Happy Juneteenth, as together we walk toward a better understanding of “everybody” and the hope of the beloved community.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Egensteiner