MLK Day

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot. Mark 3:7-19a

Today we celebrate the life and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He answered the call of Christ and brought the message of love and inclusion during troubled times. He put his life on the line, day after day, and lost it at a young age. None of us, who follow Christ, are promised an easy, comfortable life. We are promised the love and strength of God, in times of terror and weakness, and in times when the world seems against us.

Creator, you gave us saints like Dr. King

to show us the true way of your love

the way of sacrifice, and solidarity

with a heart of love for the poor and outcast.

We want to be safe and warmly coddled

but you went bout with the people

you saw their pain and their suffering

and healed every one who came to you.

Help us to be your disciples today

following the example of Dr. King

let love be our beginning and end

and let the world see your love here and now. Amen.