Today is Juneteenth. It was on this day, in 1865, federal troops marched into Galveston, TX and General Granger read General Order Number 3 to the people there. The order said:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
With those words slavery in America was officially outlawed, effectively bringing to an end this shameful institution which had caused untold suffering to millions and taken a bloody Civil War to finally abolish.
Two days ago, 156 years after the fact, June 19 was finally declared a federal holiday. However, Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1866 by African-Americans. Called by various names, including Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day, and Emancipation Day, Juneteenth is a day of remembrance and of celebration. It is a day for hope and for recognizing there is still much to be done before we fully realize the promise of General Order Number 3 of “absolute equality of rights” for all people.
About 2000 years ago Jesus Christ came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” (Luke 4:18 NIV). That freedom was bought for you and I through Christ’s precious blood, spilled on Mount Calvary. When we accept his death as payment for our sins, He sets us free from slavery to sin and declares we are His brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God.
The slaves in Texas had actually been set free 2-½ years before by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but they did not know it. So too, many today remain in slavery of one type or another. Addicted to drugs or alcohol, weighed down by despair and grief, they struggle through each day “without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12).
If only they knew Jesus paid the price for their sins! If only they realized they’ve been set free! But, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14)
It was General Granger’s duty to inform the slaves in Texas they had been set free. In the same way it is your duty and mine to spread the Good News to all we meet that Jesus has set them free. They are no longer slaves for “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
How can we stay silent any longer? How can we stand idly by and let our friends and family struggle under the weight of sin, under chains Christ broke on the Cross. Like Jesus we too are called ““to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…”
This week let’s lift our voices at work and at home, in-person and on-line. Everywhere we go let’s share the Good News with everyone we meet. Let’s let the whole world know the price has been paid – “all slaves are free!”