Today’s Reading is from Amos 5:24 - “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
In the hallway of our home hangs a picture of my spouse’s paternal grandfather, the Rev. Bernard White, who was at that time the pastor of St. John Baptist Church in South Bend, Indiana. He is standing with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The two of them met on the occasion of Dr. King’s visit to South Bend on October 18, 1963, when Dr. King gave a speech at Notre Dame University. Rev. White and his wife Clara hosted Dr. King at their home and Bernard served as master of ceremonies at that event.
Less than two months after his “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. King rallied for a strong civil rights bill, saying: “The law can’t make you love me, but it can keep you from lynching me. Laws can’t change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.”
In this speech and in the many writings of Dr. King, we hear an echo of the prophet Amos’ call to the ‘external’ work letting “justice roll on like a river” and the ‘internal’ work of tasking our hearts to seek “righteousness like a never-failing stream”.
The prophets Amos and Martin call us to the work of fighting the erosion of civil rights for which they fought. We are beckoned to the protest march and the voting booth. We are to expose systematic racism in our public places. We are called to the work of justice.
The prophets also call us to the work of righteousness. We are to seek loving, compassionate, and thoughtful relationships with our siblings. We are to listen first, learn what we haven’t seen, soften our hearts, and make apologies when necessary.
On this MLK Day, we must listen well to the prophets Amos and Martin, reaffirming our commitments to do God’s work of justice and righteousness.
Let us pray:
On this MLK day, we give you thanks, O God, for the prophets of old and the prophets within our hearing. Move our bodies and our hearts to the work of justice and righteousness. Amen.
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