Enforcing the Law of Love

Life on the Pasture

Imagine living in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and having Union soldiers marching into town and the general making an official proclamation on behalf of the government of the United States that all slaves were to be freed immediately. The Civil War had been over for a few months, but lack of Union troops in Texas also meant lack of enforcement.

Unfortunately, years after the Civil War ended and the army was no longer present to enforce the law of the land, "Jim Crow" laws started to become common. Almost a century later, the Civil Rights Movement fought for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all as the sin of racism continued to go unchecked in a large portion of the United States. Consider the events in Arkansas in 1957 involving African American high school students known as the "Little Rock Nine" who enrolled in an all-white school only to have the Arkansas Governor and others try to stop them. And still today, dreams of true equality are shattered by those who insist on judging "based on color of skin rather than content character," to quote Dr. King.

Nor is it only one group with a particular skin color that has endured injustice in our country. Decades before the Civil War, President Andrew Jackson was strongly in favor of the Indian Removal Act which would forcibly remove Native American tribes from their land. The Cherokee resisted, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court, which sided with them. President Jackson is quoted as saying, "[Chief Justice] John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” And so, despite previous treaties and the ruling of the Supreme Court, the Cherokee tribe lost its land. Even in our day, there are some of Asian descent being harassed for causing COVID-19. Prejudice and injustice (or shall we simply say a lack of true love of one's neighbor) continues.

So imagine on this Juneteenth Day being a person whose family experience in the United States has not always included the Law of the Land being equally enforced. What would your reaction be to the words of any politician or other with the responsibility of making sure your rights were preserved? For me, there would be skepticism, as well as a desire to shout out the words of St. John: "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:18, NIV)

According to Wikipedia, celebrations of Juneteenth Day date to 1866, "at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas." If, indeed, the Church is to continue (or rediscover) our God-given role of loving our neighbor as oneself, we must embrace Jesus' words in John 8: "If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32, NIV) That truth includes the basic fact that God so loved the world with an equal love for all, and that the heaven He came to open through the shedding of His innocent blood includes "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language." (Revelation 7:9, NIV)

Unfortunately throughout history, there have been many empty words spoken. Actions backed them up for awhile, but then people moved on to some other cause, abandoning those still in need. Juneteenth Day is a wonderful opportunity for all followers of Jesus to celebrate the freedom we have in Him and resolve through the power of the Holy Spirit to go beyond words or symbolic actions to living lives of true love. And when that is not happening among God's people, we must be the ones who enforce that law of love. As we see from history, we can't rely on others to do it for us.

– Pastor Schmidt