Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in honor of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. King. This weekend also is when SueJeanne Koh begins her work with St. Mark and New Hope Presbyterian Churches as our Director of Adult Education and Resident Theologian. So, today’s missive includes reflections from Rev. Chineta Goodjoin, pastor of New Hope, and Dr. SueJeanne Koh, and Rev. Mark Davis about this weekend and how each of us can approach it in a way that genuinely honors Dr. King’s legacy and ministry.
Chineta: When we remember and reflect upon the life and sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King, we are affirmed in our commitment to seek justice, peace, and freedom in the world. This one weekend is a motivating reminder that the work of reconciliation and peace is not to simply be memorialized, but more so actualized by the ways in which we choose to see the humanity of God in others. We are responsible to God and each other in building the Beloved Community in which Dr. King envisioned as a society based on social, political and economic justice—a place of equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow human beings. Luke 4:18 reminds us that Jesus was a radical liberator who came to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. This weekend is a prophetic booster shot for long suffering in the continued fight for freedom. I pray that our spirits are awakened to God’s promise and our potential to be the change agents who embrace the dream of freedom and equality for all people. MLK weekend means that the work of reconciliation is not finished and that we have the opportunity to work together for a new peace and a greater unity. New Hope has created a resource website that allows people to participate in a variety of virtual lectures, prayer gatherings and book studies centered on love, reconciliation, non-violent resistance and the Beloved Community. There is also a Jamboard on this site in which you can interact with others and share ideas about how we can help to build the Beloved Community. Click here to access MLK events and opportunities.
SueJeanne: To remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend is to reread and be challenged by his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” which you can find here. King writes that he is not afraid of “crisis” or “tension”—“Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” Reading this causes me to reflect on the particular social crises and witness that helped create that kind of creative tension in myself, that spurred me to act and think differently about my faith. Nonviolent action isn’t passive inaction but rather a challenge and call for transformative justice.
What does nonviolent resistance look like for you? This is an ongoing question with no one answer. Given Dr. King’s enormous impact, it may feel like an impossible task for us to step into. I know that I am, we are, tired. But there are small ways that we can start. To resist reminds me that we are mutually interdependent rather than politically divided along racial, social, and economic lines. I believe that our congregations coming together to collaborate on racial justice is a creative act of resistance. Community service, too, can be an act of resistance—resisting the notion that our time is too precious, or that such a limited act can do anything in the grand scheme of things. To that end, one such opportunity is One OC’s MLK Day of Service, which includes a socially distanced food bank drop off as well as a dinner and dialogue reflecting on King’s legacy. Signing up may feel challenging, but also coming together in this way can be a small but powerful example of nonviolence resistance. You can register here to participate.
Mark: Whenever MLKing Day approaches, I remember something that Allan Boesak once said. Dr. Boesak argued that while some White Christians joined alongside Dr. King because they shared his theological vision of “the beloved community” and racial justice, many White Christians only hesitatingly and reluctantly turned to Dr. King because he offered them a safe alternative to the more radical vision of Malcolm X. Boesak’s insight continues to be true. Many White Christians love to quote Dr. King’s words about nonviolence and love, but seem to have forgotten his prophetic words about resisting the “giant triplets of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism.” Nonviolence and love require a radical dedication to truth, or else they descend into platitudes that merely salve the conscience of those who benefit from injustice. So, this weekend is an appropriate time to lean into some of the more pointed words that Dr. King spoke, the kind that put him on an FBI watch list and led to his imprisonment, beatings, constant harassment, and ultimately to his assassination. No one is so ill-treated because they speak gentle words of loving and getting along – Jesus is the prime example of that. Prophets are killed because their critiques require us to either repent or silence the critiques. As we remember Dr. King and honor his legacy and ministry this weekend, I hope we can do so with integrity and not simply romanticize his work in a way that misses the point.
In service to the love and justice of Jesus Christ,
Chineta Goodjoin, SueJeanne Koh, and Mark Davis
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