ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
January 10, 2023
This Saturday, Cypress Creek Christian Church will host Ebony’s 38th Annual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday. The event will be held in the Centrum at 5pm. I have participated in this event most every year since arriving in Spring. In preparation for the event, along with another speaking opportunity the following week, I have been rereading some of Dr. King’s lesser-known speeches, including the sermon he gave at the National Gathering of the Disciples of Christ in Dallas, Texas, September of 1965. Yes, our denomination risked what many others were unwilling to do and invited Dr. King to speak. To no one’s surprise, not everyone was thrilled, yet King did not hold back too much. He said,
“Honesty impels us to admit that religious bodies in America have not been faithful to their prophetic mission on the question of racial justice in the midst of a nation rife with racial animosity, the church too often has been content to mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. Called to combat social evils, it has often remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows…”
Sadly, I feel as if King’s words remain relevant even today. The church continues to struggle with hard conversations. The church has been unwilling to confess its sins of omission, allowing its silence to become a blessing of the ongoing injustice in our nation. So much energy is expended on what is meaningless, at the expense of real lives being harmed for no other reason than an unwillingness to risk the truth. I write those words acknowledging my own complicity, including my own fears of taking a risk, even when it is pretty clear what is right.
O God of the Prophets, Priests and Pastors, we often need the weight of your Spirit — leaning on us when our apprehension leaves us hesitant. We most often know what is right, so give us the courage to do what is right. Amen.
