The Rev. Erika Jackson

Using the framework of living between "almost and not yet," this Juneteenth

sermon explores the gap between freedom promised and freedom realized.

Juneteenth itself exists because enslaved people in Texas remained in

bondage more than two years after emancipation had been declared, revealing

that legal freedom and lived freedom are not always the same.

The preacher connects this reality to Scripture. The Israelites waited for

liberation after God promised deliverance. Paul envisioned a community

without hierarchy in Christ. Jesus proclaimed freedom for the oppressed

while ministering in a world still marked by injustice. In every case,

God's people lived between promise and fulfillment.

The sermon challenges Christians to recognize who still lives in that gap

today and to resist the temptation to settle for "almost." True Christian

hope does not deny unfinished work; it trusts that Christ remains present

within it. Until freedom is experienced by all, the work of liberation

continues.