Dear St. Lukers,
What a great start with our new pastor, Rev. Corey Jones, this past Sunday. So many people attended worship that we ran out of our Epiphany Star Words. You can still use this link to spin the wheel to find your word or pick one up from the front office. Each word is connected to ways LOVE is defined or embodied in us and through us. We are hoping these words will guide us through our new year theme of Love University, learning to love like Jesus. We will kick off our core class of Love University in two weeks.
But first, on this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, we are thrilled to be hosting Bethune-Cookman University Concert Chorale to lead us in worship this Sunday at 10 a.m. Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) began in 1904 as the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for girls, founded by educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune. This outstanding woman started this school with 5 little girls, $1.50, and faith in God. (Her statue can be seen in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall, and she now has a special exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture)
This Historically Black College and University (HBCU) has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1941 and connected with St. Luke’s for decades through students, alumni, and board members. We are excited to have these amazing students lead us in our first combined service of the year at 10 a.m. After worship, we will gather together for lunch in Founder’s Hall to welcome Corey, Carol, and the boys to St. Luke’s. You won’t want to miss this special day of celebration.
As we come into this weekend of celebrating the life, ministry, faith, and work of Dr King, it’s hard not to see the growing division and violence and wonder how far we are away from his dream. Maybe it’s time recognize the need for the nonviolent work of peace and justice. I invite us to consider these words of Dr. King spoken on Christmas Eve in 1967 from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. His prophetic, gospel-centered words are no less useful now than in 1967.
“Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and goodwill toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God. And so when we say ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ we’re really saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the battlefields of the world. Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be fighting wars. One day somebody should remind us that, even though there may be political and ideological differences between us, the Vietnamese are our brothers, the Russians are our brothers, the Chinese are our brothers; and one day we’ve got to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. But in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. In Christ there is neither male nor female. In Christ there is neither Communist nor capitalist. In Christ, somehow, there is neither bound nor free. We are all one in Christ Jesus. And when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won’t exploit people, we won’t trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won’t kill anybody.”
As we enter this weekend, may the dream of Dr. King, which was and is the vision of God’s Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven, be a dream once again for all who claim Jesus as Lord. May his words be our prayer and center as we ask God how to respond or what we can do. May these words be a catalyst for how we interact, speak, relate, and act on behalf of others as an outpouring of God’s love in us.
Grace and Peace –
Pastor Jenn
