Celebrating Justice on My First Earring-a-versary
Today is the one-year anniversary of getting my ears pierced. At 16 years old, I wouldn’t have considered it; at 39, I assumed my parishioners would frown on the decision; at 59, the only opinion that mattered was my wife’s. So, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2024, I had my ears pierced.
When I was a pastor and first considered piercing, I knew I would be expected to justify my decision to my congregation. I would have taken my justification from Exodus 21:5-6, wherein a servant has his ear pierced to show his love for his master and family and his willingness to serve the master for the rest of his life voluntarily. I imagined people would still be offended, but I knew my heart.
Given my motivation, it only made sense to have a cross earring to proclaim that the Master I serve is the Master who died on a cross to serve me. While waiting for my ears to heal, I occasionally shopped for cross earrings. Tina beat me to the punch. For my 60th birthday, she bought me a pair of hoop earrings with a cross dangling from one of them. (There’s a statement I never thought I would make!) They have become my “Sunday go-to-meetin'” earrings.
Let Justice Roll Down
Naturally, I wore my cross earrings to church this morning. As I drove in, I heard the song, Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. He offers praise when the blessings flow; I wondered what it would be like to live in a land where blessings flow equally to all. He summons praise to God in the desert place and on the road marked with suffering; my heart ached as I thought about the experiences of people of color in this country. Compared to their lifelong and profound suffering, my experiences of grief seem tame.
By the time I arrived at church, the pump was primed. So, the tears began to flow when my pastor beautifully explained how Jesus’ vision of justice and righteousness were two sides of the same coin. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision is the same as Jesus’ mission! As King wrote in Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community,
Justice, at its best, is love correcting everything that stands against love.
That sounds very much like Jesus’ mission.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Still Dreaming
Many people today point out the irony that Donald Trump will be inaugurated as President of the United States on MLK Day. Their visions, they say, are polar opposites. I would say their visions are the same, but they’re looking in different directions.
Martin Luther King Jr. and President-elect Trump proclaimed a desire to Make America Great. For Trump, he looks to the past and promises to Make America Great Again. Martin Luther King Jr. looked to the future and called for our nation to become what we have never been – one that lives up to our lofty ideals. MLKs dream to Make America Great used the language of the Constitution upon which our country was founded to express the Biblical vision for the kingdom of God. My heart soared as I read King’s I Have a Dream this morning. I have the same dream and don’t want to wake up!
There’s the rub. Some people say you’re Woke when you share MLKs dream. Others say you’re Woke when you envision reality through Trump’s eyes. I would rather stay asleep if Woke means that the poor hear bad news, those on their way to prison are beaten or prisoners are put to death, the blind are mocked or overlooked, and oppression is ignored or celebrated. I like my dream for when the year of the Lord’s favor will arrive for all people.
But sleep is not an option. When I was in Nicaragua in 1987, the Sandinistas sang, “Yo no puedo callar, No puedo pasar indiferente. Ante el dolor de tanta gente.” That is, “I cannot remain silent, I cannot remain indifferent, given the pain of so many people.” It may be better to say, “I can’t stay asleep, simply dreaming a noble dream, while others are roused from their sleep or have nowhere to lay their head.” The dream that MLK described requires work, not rest.
Self-Conscious
I’m still self-conscious about the earrings, but that’s fading. I’m becoming comfortable in my skin and my adornments. I’m also keenly aware that pursuing justice is a “road less traveled” for many Christians. But I like my identity and am confident I will get approval from those whose opinions matter the most.
