On January 14th, 2007, then Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Shori said:
Our brother Martin had a dream, a dream born in the story of a people
led out of slavery and oppression. He labored mightily to bring that
dream to reality, to liberate a people still in chains and shackles 100
years after their legal deliverance. You and I know that nearly 40 years
after his death we still have not fully achieved that dream. Some still
live in oppression because of the color of their skin. Some still live
in oppression because of their national origin and heritage. Some have
arrived on these shores to work because we want their labor, but they
live in oppression because we are not willing to allow them to become
free and equal citizens.
The gospel is about the love God has for all of us. Week by week, we
promise to show that love to the world by the way we live and act. Dr.
King was a powerful witness to the ability of love to change the world –
that radically non-violent form of gospel love. It means loving
yourself and recognizing the image of God in yourself, and then doing
the same with others. It’s not rolling over and playing dead, it’s not
going along to get along. It is expecting the best of yourself and other
people, but doing it in a way that builds up that image of God, that
insists that we and others can grow up into the full stature of Christ.
Today, the gospel is still about God’s love for us as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. day on the 21st of January, 2019.
The Episcopal Church continues work towards racial reconciliation where more resources may be found at the Episcopal Church of the USA’s web-site here (opens in new tab).