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A week later after Martin Luther King Day, many of us have already put the work of racial reconciliation on the back burner once again. It is good to take time to celebrate past successes, but the satisfaction of progress should not distract us from the work still ahead.
Every year on the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day, the three congregations that worship separately in our church building have a tradition of coming together for a joint service. Our smaller groups merge into one big body that fills the sanctuary to the rafters (well at least the balcony).
Our congregations are different. First Church of the Brethren is a largely African-American congregation, with many worshippers coming from the surrounding neighborhood. The church has been present in the community for decades, serving as a hub of civil rights activities in the 1960s. Chicago Community Mennonite Church is a commuter congregation, with people coming from all over the city and nearby suburbs for worship. Our third congregation, Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Esperanza (Rock of Hope Christian Church), is the youngest, formed in the past couple years. It is a Spanish-speaking church.
The service involves a little bit of each of us — the drum set and electric bass, four-part harmonies, rousing spirituals, some English and some Spanish. We celebrated King’s dream by reading some of his words and by the diverse makeup of the church that was gathered together. We received a glimpse of a kingdom yet to come.
Yet we lose sight of that vision unless we continue to confront the things that divide us.
I am convinced that the church is called to the work of reconciliation. We are a people who confess one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God of all (Ephesians 4). And this confession is not just for one Sunday each year. So how do we begin again this task to which we have been called? I am not sure, but a first step might be to confess our uncertainty and ask for guidance from the one God of all.
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