Redeemer Lutheran & St. Theodore’s
By Lisa Rotchford
Reverend
One Bible verse to remember is: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).
The words from Scripture help us to remember not to fear, but to trust in the power of God while living uneasily through a pandemic and a period of national unrest. We are called as God’s people to love one another in the midst of community; out of that love, we can come to a place of peace.
The words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ring across time to us especially this week as we honor his birth and we renew our democracy with the inauguration of a president. Below is a quote from the speach titled “The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation’s Chief Moral Dilemma,” at the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations on April 25, 1957, in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Our motto must be, ‘Freedom and justice through love.’ Not through violence; not through hate…but through love…the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. …It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.”
This week especially, when we remember his legacy of non-violent response, we pray for peace. We know of the difficulty King faced, even among his own followers, as they resisted hatred and physical violence with prayer, song and marches for justice. We are called to not be fear-filled or fearful, but to reach out to one another, embracing loving, peaceful words and actions that are non violent.
In our Christian Baptismal Covenant, we vow to “respect the dignity of every human being.” We remember that each person we meet is someone’s child, someone’s beloved, God’s creation. As the events of the week unfold, may we pause and pray not in fear, but knowing the power of God’s love and ways of peace as we practice mutual respect for one another in our beloved community.
