January 26, 2009

I have to tell you that one particular Sunday each year has an extra significance for me. That is because I have devoted so much of my life and my soul to work that we celebrate on that Sunday, which The United Methodist Church calls Human Relations Day, but which I designate in our church bulletin as “Beloved Community Sunday.”

On that day, preceding the national observance of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we recognize, more than most Sundays that river of prophetic words and actions which has shaped who we are, what we believe and how we act. It is on that day that we remember the call of the Hebrew prophet Amos, echoed by all the prophets down through the millennia: the call to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

The issues around racism and white privilege in the [U.S.] are even to this day the key to forming a more perfect union.

If you could see our library at the parsonage, then you most likely would notice there is an entire bookcase devoted to books on slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, and what is generally called “Black history.” That’s a strong clue about one of my great passions. And it is not just about my love of history.

I have always been passionate about social justice. More specifically, ever since I became conscious of the social world at around age 12, I have been determined to work for racial equality.

The beloved community

I firmly believe that the issues around racism and white privilege in the United States are even to this day the key to forming a more perfect union in the United States. They are also key to building the beloved community, which was Dr. King’s favorite term to describe the kingdom of God.

If we can solve these issues of justice, then many other social justice concerns will fall into place.

If we can solve these issues of justice, then many other social justice concerns will fall into place.

“Beloved Community Sunday” fits well with the vision statement of our conference, which states: “The New York Annual Conference, through the grace of God, embodies a beloved community of hope, building up a healthy Body of Christ, with heart-warmed United Methodists in mission for the transformation of the world.”

I think that captures the message of the prophets, as well. We want to transform the world, building a beloved community in which everyone is welcome and has an equal place at the table.

Easy to take for granted

So we take up an entire Sunday each year to remember and celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and what he stood for. Especially for younger people, it would be easy to take many things for granted: things like all citizens having the right to vote, or folks of all races riding a train, or going to school together, or being able to drink from the same water fountain or swim together. We regularly remember Dr. King’s contributions and the movement he led so that we will not forget the pain and struggle and sacrifices it has taken to get to where we are today.

God pays special attention to the demands and suffering of the poor, oppressed and exploited.

Dr. King was, above all, a Christian minister, who believed that God pays special attention to the demands and suffering of the poor, oppressed and exploited, and calls God’s people to be in solidarity with the least of these. He believed that Jesus took the side of the downtrodden in his own ministry. The Rev. Dr. King believed that striving for freedom, justice, and equality for all was at the core of the gospel message.

That is a model and inspiration for us. And in these beliefs, he stood in the long line of prophets from Isaiah to Amos to Jesus and beyond. Therefore, what we celebrate on a Special Sunday in January and as Black History Month in February is also the ever-flowing stream of persons who have devoted themselves to working with God to build the beloved community among all humankind.

Stream of justice

That stream of justice has often gotten dammed up or diverted. Along the way, many women and men have been beaten, lost jobs and families, or given their lives trying to keep the stream flowing. As then-Sen. Obama said in his speech on race last March, it has required generations of Americans “who were willing to do their part — through protests and struggles, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience, and always at great risk — to narrow the gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.”

That stream of justice has often gotten dammed up or diverted.

Ultimately, the mighty waters of justice have continued to move forward, although often at a terribly and painfully slow pace. If we had the time, we would raise up the names of so many who did their part before us: of abolitionists, both black and white, who fought against slavery; of brave men and women who fought against lynching and the rise of Jim Crow segregation; and of all of those determined folks who fought to integrate unions, transportation, schools and housing from the 1930s through the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

In all of these struggles for justice, we can find Methodists playing important roles. I want to lift up just one of their many stories.

It is the story of a white Methodist minister named Ed King, who was raised in the oppressive atmosphere of the segregated South in Vicksburg, Miss. King began to question his upbringing as he saw the hypocrisy of his parents and other whites who taught about love of all humanity, but renounced that love in fact in their actual treatment of black people.

King also was strongly influenced by statements in favor of integration and equality that were coming from the national Methodist Church. After seminary in Boston, he returned to the South to work against segregation. He organized students, participated in protests, and was arrested on many occasions.

Integrated team church visits

Ed King organized a series of “church visits” by integrated teams to all-white churches in Jackson, Miss., in 1963 and 1964. One of the first churches they visited was Galloway Memorial Methodist Church, a large, imposing Greek revival structure with a well-established congregation. On a Sunday morning in June 1963, a group of five black students from Tougaloo College went to Galloway to join the worship. They were turned away at the doors.

On learning of this, Galloway’s pastor of 19 years, Dr. W.B. Selah, cut his sermon short and declared to the parishioners that he could not serve in a congregation where anyone was turned away because of the color of their skin. He never returned.

The “church visits” campaign went on for many months. It included visits by Methodist bishops and many clergy, including the Rev. John Collins from New York Conference. The “church visits” did not accomplish much that was tangible at the time. They did highlight the terrible spiritual contradiction that confronted the white churches, though. It became clear that these white churches valued the “Southern way of life” over the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ed King’s efforts eventually bore fruit, but only after the Civil Rights Movement had subsided. Galloway Memorial Methodist Church adopted an open-door policy. Other white churches followed. Ironically, Ed King later became a member of Galloway and still helps to teach and lead worship and prayer.

Dr. Joseph Lowery

Many black Methodist clergy joined the Civil Rights struggle, too, including the Rev. Joseph Lowery. He helped Dr. King found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 and led the organization until 1997. Lowery organized and led the famous march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965. He also was on the podium with Dr. King at the 1963 March on Washington. It was fitting that Dr. Lowery gave the benediction at the inauguration of our first African-American president.

I am proud that Methodists have always had a significant role in the struggle for black equality in this country.

We would not be where we are today without the hard struggles and sacrifices of people whose lives were tributaries connected to the ever-flowing stream of God’s vision for humankind. I am proud that Methodists have always had a significant role in the struggle for black equality in this country. From the beginning of our movement, Methodists have believed that personal holiness must be joined inextricably with social holiness.

Of course, it is not only the leaders whose names make it into the history books who have kept the stream of justice flowing. It is not only those on the podiums, but also those in the crowds who make history. We have our own proud history at Community UMC (CUMC), here in Massapequa, NY. A group of six members accompanied Pastor Hal Miller to the 1963 March, where Dr. King delivered his famous speech. Vi Knowles, who is still an active member of our congregation, was among those who participated in that historic event.

We can also be very proud of those who stood guard at Margaret and Jesse Washington’s house in 1964, when they were the first black family to move to Massapequa. Members of CUMC and others kept the home from being burned to the ground or vandalized as the family prepared to move in. The Washington family joined CUMC soon afterward.

Poison of hate

It was Martin Luther King Jr.’s greatest genius and contribution to create a movement based on love and non-violence that could respond to the poison of hate without falling into hatred itself. He understood and taught, as Jesus did, that means and ends are connected, that the beloved community must be built by love. He knew that love has the power to overcome hatred and oppression. He, like Jesus, gave his life to make that gospel message come alive in the hearts of millions of people.

Barack Obama’s election does not mean that Dr. King’s dream is fully realized.

Barack Obama’s election does not mean that Dr. King’s dream is fully realized. It does not mean that racism is dead in our nation. But it is a huge symbolic step forward in the history of race relations in the United States, and race relations really represent all human relations in a microcosm.

As Dr. King once wrote: “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

The struggle for justice and equality is not over. God’s command and the prophets’ declaration still call out to us: Don’t be complacent. If you want to truly worship me, then let yourself be found at the side of the vulnerable and oppressed. Let justice roll down like mighty waters.

Not all of us are equipped to be marchers or public advocates for justice. We will not all be found on the streets or writing letters, but all of us are called and given gifts by God to work and act for justice, righteousness and for the beloved community of hope. Sometimes we may have to leave our places of comfort and we may be challenged in various ways. Some of us may be called to speak out. Others will work through outreach ministries or social concerns groups in our churches.

But each of us can participate in large or small ways, in everyday acts of mercy, love and kindness to those in need, often reaching across barriers of race, ethnicity and citizenship status. Each of us can do our part, joining with all those who have come before us, to make justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Editor’s note: Jeff Wells is pastor of Community United Methodist Church in Massapequa, N.Y. He also chairs the N.Y. Conference Board of Church & Society.

This reflection is drawn from a sermon Wells preached on Jan. 18, “Beloved Community Sunday — A Celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” Scripture readings for the service were Isaiah 58:1-10 and Amos 5:14-15, 21-24.

Black History Month

February is Black History Month. The observance grew from Negro History Week, which was established in 1926. In 1976 Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month, expanding the time in which people are encouraged to learn more about and celebrate the contributions of blacks.

In the effort to fight the sin of racism, the United Methodist General Commission on Religion & Race (GCORR) encourages congregations to observe this special time by learning about the leadership and contributions of blacks and sharing this history with others. By increasing understanding of the black experience and teaching younger generations this rich heritage, we begin to actively overcome the ignorance and bigotry that fuel racism. The Commission offers the resources in an effort to assist in planning church activities during this month and throughout the year: Black History Month.

The United Methodist General Board of Discipleship has Black History Month worship resources available on its Web site at Discipleship Resources.