The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is deeply important to me. His theology, ethics, politics, writing, and action have genuinely changed my life. Dr. Cornel West wrote in Prophetic Fragments that King “was the most significant and successful organic intellectual in American history.” I’m inclined to agree.
It was Dr. King’s prophetic voice that set him apart. The courage, conviction, and clarity of his prophetic messages about America in the 50s and 60s are unparalleled. At the risk of his life, he denounced the white supremacy of the Jim Crow south and the economic racism of the north. He faced the violent nature of our society with nonviolent resistance. He preached against nationalism in the early 50s. To American militarism, he said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” King called our greed what it is – idolatry – and spoke of economic rights as human rights. King countered our individualism and hatred of the “other” with a vision of the Beloved Community and the Great World House.
To sum it up, I would suggest that King was America’s greatest prophet about the social application of agape love.
I also want to highlight King’s Beloved Community as an example of redemptive imagination at work. King’s imagination was formed by various sources (Christian theology, the prophetic Black Church tradition, Gandhian nonviolence methods, a personal encounter with Jesus in his kitchen, socially conscious democracy, etc.) and that imagination developed a compelling and redemptive vision of what America could and should be. Today, we are still far from realizing this vision. King acknowledged that integration ended up being mere “de-segregation,” and it failed to achieve a true and just community. He told Harry Belafonte, a week before his assassination, “I fear I may have integrated my people into a burning house.” Like any prophet, King uttered a vision that was too beautiful to achieve, but I believe that we should not give up on it. The beauty of King’s redemptive imagination should continue to lead us forward, while his practical realism should keep us grounded and strategic.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2023, consider how you might observe this day as much more than a “day off work.”
Today is a day to practice love. Find a way to serve the poorest people in your community, and then reflect on how you can make more permanent changes in your life to care for the “Other.”
Today is a day to listen to King’s prophetic voice and allow it to make us uncomfortable. Consider listening to some of King’s more radical sermons and speeches, like A Time to Break Silence or Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution. Read an excerpt from his final book where he writes of the “Great World House.” Much of King’s work remains unexplored today. King was far more than feel-good quotes and the “I Have a Dream” speech. He was a prophetic voice who was rejected and killed. True observance of MLK Day will involve moving beyond a sanitized version of King.
Finally, today is a day to cultivate the Beloved Community. Imagine what it would look like for you to embody agape love today. To treat every person like they were your brother or sister. To unlearn violence and create a community of peace, provision, and appreciation. To divest yourself of idolatries and take up the humble task of love. To fight against racism, greed, and violence in your community at your own expense. Once you’ve begun imagining it, allow it to spill over into real life. This, I believe, is a fitting remembrance of King.
To Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a prophet of agape love, nonviolence, social action, and justice.
thank you.
Hallelujah and Amen!