A couple of weeks ago, my family attended our first Juneteenth Celebration at Lake Junaluska. We met in an outdoor pavilion and worshipped with a diverse congregation of brothers and sisters in Christ. Sponsored and directed by the United Methodist Church, the worship leaders invited the large crowd to sing well-known songs and to hear passages from scripture that we’ve heard time and time again.
But while the worship service felt familiar, the stories that the African American leaders shared were not. We heard stories about enslaved people that many of us had never heard before. And we learned the stories of the daring individuals who participated in the Underground Railroad. We listened attentively to the stories of abolitionists who courageously championed the rights of enslaved individuals. And we heard stories of joy when individuals learned of their freedom and independence from slavery at the end of the Civil War.
Even though Juneteenth celebrations have been held in African American churches and communities for more than 150 years, I have only recently become acquainted with Juneteenth. Observed on June 19 and now recognized as a national holiday, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in Texas. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in the Confederacy free (on the condition that the Union won the war), many in the Deep South did not know that they had been freed until well after the war had ended.
“As the story goes, some 250,000 enslaved people only learned of their freedom after Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and announced that the president had issued a proclamation freeing them (Sidney Combs, as reported in the article, “Juneteenth Is the Newest Federal Holiday. Here’s What It Celebrates” and published online in The National Geographic).”
General Granger further announced that “This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
Call it Independence Day.
Therefore, for decades, African American communities have celebrated Juneteenth by reading the Emancipation Proclamation and holding commemorative worship services at churches and at parties in parks and backyards.
I was deeply moved to be a part of the Juneteenth celebration and to learn more about the experiences of our brothers and sisters of color. The stories that I heard at Lake Junaluska had natural entry points for greater understanding and empathy. Indeed, the stories of our faith gave strength to those who experienced unspeakable horrors and injustices over the centuries. Without a doubt, the hunger for righteousness of those who suffered enslavement and discrimination taps into a universal desire for freedom and equality. And unquestionably, Christ’s commandment for us to love our neighbor becomes the call to action that we all need to hear.
Jesus knew the power of stories. He personalized God’s Good News so that his hearers could understand it. Jesus incarnated God’s love in parables and in the breathtaking way that he became part of other people’s stories of liberation from disease, demons, and even death.
But Jesus also made time to listen to other people’s stories. At a watering hole in the middle of a stifling summer day, Jesus risked drawing the ire of onlookers by pausing to hear the story of a woman who had a host of difficult stories to tell. Jesus had found himself on the other side of the tracks, so to speak, in neighboring Samaria. Jesus was thirsty but not dismissive of a woman who strikes up a conversation with him. Instead of ignoring her, Jesus allows for their stories to intersect so that a cup of cool water becomes a cup of salvation.
We love our neighbors by listening to them and hearing their stories. The stories that we share about ourselves, our family, and yes, even our ancestors testify to how God has worked in our lives and wants to work further, still. These stories have power, of course, for they become real and validated when spoken aloud. But the process of telling and hearing our stories does even more than that. Swapping our stories builds trust and generates empathy. We all have a story to tell, and all of our stories have value. Jesus teaches us this to be true.
So, the next time you find yourself at a watering hole, whether a gas station, checkout line or neighborhood park, take a moment to listen. Hearing one another’s stories is a powerful way to love our neighbor.