JUNETEENTH & THE MARTYRS

​In this next week, two commemorations take place that should remind us, once again, that among the many sins and evils of our age, racism is still far from dead. The violence, hatred, and inhumanity wrought by racism don’t need to be detailed or debated, though there are still people who claim that racism is a fiction or a thing of the past. They are woefully wrong. 

​On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War. “Juneteenth” is a portmanteau of the month and day that slavery ceased in the Confederate States that seceded. In 2021, Juneteenth was declared a national holiday. An ugly and malicious page of US history was named and declared illegal and invalid. The page, however, remains unturned.  

Fast forward one hundred and fifty years, almost to the day, to June 17, 2015, and a white supremacist who still clung to treasonous Confederate symbols, attended Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in the southern United States, and the shot to death nine people, including the pastor/state senator, Clementa C Pickney, a graduate of Luther Southern Seminary.  The gunman’s sole motive was hatred of black people. One hundred fifty years after slavery’s defeat, its hatred and evil still live.  

It never ceases to amaze (and anger) me when I encounter the pure evil of racial hatred. I confess that I am a racist because I have lived with the privilege granted to every white person. I confess that I am a racist because I am part of a system that continues to discredit, disqualify, and discriminate against people because of the color of their skin. If you are white, you must come to terms with this same truth. 

However, I will not, and cannot because I claim to love Jesus Christ, participate in the evil. There is no room in the reign of God for hatred, violence, or racism. You may not be able to root it out in the world, but you and I can certainly work to root it out of our own hearts and minds.  

On Saturday, June 23rd, Ankeny will celebrate Juneteenth from 3 to 9 PM at the Bandshell at Wagner Park, 410 W 1st Street, Ankeny. Other celebrations will take place in the Des Moines area. Be part of the celebration. Learn the story of the day because this is OUR history as citizens, not just the history of a segment of the population categorized by color.  

Our mission as a congregation is to Share God’s Love with all people. We are charged to love our neighbors no matter who they are or what beautiful shade of brown they may be.  

Remember Juneteenth. Remember the martyrs. Love one another. 

Pax Christi,  
Tim Olson – Lead Pastor