Why I am Celebrating Juneteenth

 Happy Juneteenth!  Today, June 19, 2021, is the first time the United States officially celebrates in the form of a new national holiday the end of slavery in the United States.  It happened by means of a rare overwhelmingly bipartisan show of support in the United States Congress, and it was signed into law by President Biden, in what he describes as one of the greatest honors of his life, and Vice-president Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the United States Senate. The official name of the day is Juneteenth National Independence Day. 

Why should the people of God observe and celebrate Juneteenth? Allow me to suggest three reasons among the many reasons we should support this new holiday.

First, the story of the Bible is about the end of slavery for human beings.  The story of the humanity in its relationship to God is about the Exodus, where we leave our individual and collective ‘Egypt’ and march toward the freedom of the Promised Land.  The people of God oppose slavery in all its forms, especially the slavery caused by our sin. The people of God celebrate freedom in all its forms, and in the United States that means celebrating the end of one of the darkest chapters of U.S. history. 

Second, the unique story of Juneteenth, in which the celebration was delayed two and one-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, is representative of the story of salvation. Jesus Christ won the war over the slavery of sin at the Cross, but the battles over sin’s influence continue until Christ returns to proclaim final victory.  We are free, but not everyone yet knows that truth.

Third, it is a day we can use to reflect on our progress in achieving true independence and equality for all races.  The final scenes of God’s Word pictures a great gathering of a multitude ‘from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne’ of God.  When we pray ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’, what do you think that means? That we, the people of God, strive on earth to set all people free and to celebrate our liberty until that day when we all stand as equals, the redeemed of the Lamb, celebrating our final freedom in heaven.