a quick historical note on Juneteenth

St. Moses the Black of Ethiopia

With all due respect Happy Juneteenth!
Morning readings include Psalm 137

Please remember the people of God really can relate to the plight, and so can many Christian faith groups from the beginning of the church until now (globally) who fell under persecution.

Why do you think many of the church fathers who were driven into hiding deep in Africa were called desert fathers?

There are various reasons, but scholars believe there is an obvious common reason among many of the narratives as you may guess.

for ex. 4/5 of the portraits above do not really look caucasian, including St. Moses

As a caveat: Let it be known very early church history does not have much evidence of the church persecuting her own. Others persecute the church. In fact, early Bishops are Theologians often writing letters to each other personally (not just to the church or to society, or against heretics). Some are the forerunners of commentators or systematic Theologians. However, the practical letters and correspondence of many Bishops serves as collaborative evidence that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and for possibly 3-4 centuries afterwards. To clarify, the church maintains level ground at the foot of the cross. It’s on us. So do not dismiss what we read from the fathers, even if we only have a few letters from some of them.

consider the digression of groupthink that can possibly lead one group to persecute another

Is it fueled by one group elevating itself over another?

If we can’t speak of persection in our common narrative as Christians (when martyrs have always been considered instant saints) then we are fools because we do not believe in God who sees everyman with no respect for any man above another. Psalm 14.1; Romans 2.11 (NIV)

The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

For God does not show favoritism.

Favoritism is a compound noun from a root noun transliterated respecter of persons. It can be transliterated word-for-word in this way, or with the general thoughts favoritism or partiality.

we might even venture to say God doesn’t show bias

So this is a little note today from our common heritage, because I consider many of the early church fathers to be my mentors, just as much as I do those who set the stage for the Great Reformation and beyond.

I’m grateful America has come to recognize what the people of God and the church has taught. I pray we keep days like Juneteenth in front of us continually.

By the way, as far as I can tell, St. Moses the Black from Ethiopia has a tremendous life change when he becomes an adult Christian. He commits to pacifism to engage in societal change. Perhaps he and someone like Martin Luther King, Jr. would love to have a conversation.

I wish I could take more time to compare writings and speeches from two or three world changers, but this is just a quick note, especially when there are so many other teachers to tune in to. I just want to point out from my vantage point on history, it’s the same conversation at times (maybe even the same newsreel every week or weekend) if we don’t learn from history. On the other hand, praise God for days like today when we can remember as a nation, times have changed. Again, may we keep it in front of us.

GIF credit (and it’s quite an iconic, unique GIF I think) | Pastor Josh Pennington, M.Div., D.Min., PCG Central Assistant General Bishop