On Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, the United States of America will experience the juxtaposition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) and Inauguration Day for the second time in our country’s history. Both are federal holidays: one serving as a ritual of power transfer between presidential administrations, and the other serving as a national recognition of one who spent his life speaking truth to power. This unusual confluence of events brings some challenges for those who have the task of preaching the Gospel.
Lament and celebration
For some, it will be a day of lament as they are reminded that their candidate, whom they may have truly believed was ordained by God to lead, will not be sworn in. That lament may be magnified by those who dreamed of the first Black woman president being sworn in on MLK Day, thinking in advance that this would be a tangible realization of what Dr. King fought for. Instead, they will gaze upon a candidate they believe opposes that dream and who will actively work toward bending the arc of the universe away from justice.
For others who sit in our congregations, it will be a moment of celebration. Those with a more celebratory posture may also believe that they are celebrating one whom God ordained for this position and that this election is a kind of declaration and reclaiming of “Christian” values.
And even others will understand these two holidays as separate, with little attention given to the seeming ironies and tensions present. Regardless of our congregations’ political leanings, this day of double ceremony challenges us to proclaim a Gospel that de-couples our sense of God’s sovereignty from any particular political candidate. There is an opportunity to help congregations wrestle with the political version of the classic theological question, “What is God’s role in elections? Does God anoint presidents?”
The blessed inadequacy of political institutions
In this moment we are also called to preach the blessed inadequacy of our political institutions to bring about God’s will. Regardless of how we feel about the candidate being inaugurated, the overlay of these two events calls us to clarify exactly where we put our hope and what Kingdom we are proclaiming. While our country’s political parties and systems provide means for enacting policies and laws that we believe will make life more just for our communities, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God proclaims something that could never be fulfilled at an earthly inauguration.
MLK Day on Inauguration Day reminds us that the Good News we proclaim is beyond any earthly political structure. The Kingdom of Heaven does not rely on partisan politics to be enacted, and this situation serves as an opportunity to offer that sanctified clarification. MLK Day on Inauguration Day is a moment where we can boldly proclaim the futility of our earthly systems to enact and bring about the Beloved Community that King called us to and charges us to continue to work to reveal God’s Kingdom.
The challenge of properly sharing King’s legacy
Another challenge for preachers is to proclaim the legacy and teachings of Dr. King properly. I often lament MLK Day because every year it is an exercise in taking quotes out of context. So many people who would not support anything that Dr. King stood for, many of whom are politicians, use this day as an opportunity to cherry-pick quotes from King’s legacy to prooftext a version of King that bears no resemblance to the man who was killed for his radical positioning. This tendency will undoubtedly be amplified as many will use the opportunity to claim King’s legacy.
It is especially important for preachers to offer a real picture of King’s teachings and the revolutionary nature of his work. Our country has a way of celebrating King without acknowledging what he said that mirrors how many preach Jesus without preaching what Jesus said, namely the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. We cannot allow this, and must use this as a chance to share King’s actual words with our congregations.
Dr. King’s daughter, Bernice King, when asked about what she thought about MLK Day being on Inauguration Day said: “I’m glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr. King is still speaking to us.” She continued to say, “We cannot retreat or recoil … We have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of my father.”And maybe this is the best advice that we can receive as preachers; just as Dr. King’s words continue to speak to us, this day calls us to continue to use our voices to speak truth to power. To lament, yes, but to move through our lament to continue the prophetic proclamation that is desperately needed.