Prayer petitions honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

Pastor Steve Springer, Dove of Peace, Tucson, reminds us that January 15 is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the day he’s on our Lutheran calendar. As Dr. King is a martyr, the liturgical color for today is scarlet red.

Pr. Springer shares five petitions, each beginning with "We remember" and a verbatim citation from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." Also available in a PDF version.

I'm sure you are aware that he is listed as a martyr, making the liturgical color for today scarlet red. Most saints and martyrs are commemorated on the day they died (‘entered eternal life’), e.g., Katharina von Bora on December 20 or Augustine of Hippo on August 28. But our calendar follows the modern kind of birthday in this special case.

I want to share this resource with you, which I found in the print edition of This Far by Faith. It is attributed to two leaders of our full communion partner, the United Methodist Church. We at Dove of Peace will use it this Sunday as our Prayers of Intercession. (If you want to see how I adapted it, you can look at this PDF.)

There are five petitions. Each begins with "We remember" and a verbatim citation from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." After recalling "Martin's" words, the petition continues "Therefore let us pray..."

We remember the conviction of Martin Luther King, Jr. that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

Therefore let us pray for courage and determination by those who are oppressed.

We remember Martin's warning that “a negative peace which is the absence of tension" is less than "a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

Therefore let us pray that those who work for peace in our world may cry out first for justice.

We remember Martin's insight that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Therefore let us pray that we may see nothing in isolation, but may know ourselves bound to one another and to all people under heaven.

We remember Martin's lament that “the contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”

Therefore let us pray that neither this congregation nor any congregation of Christ's people may be silent in the face of wrong, but that we may be disturbers of the status quo when that is God's call to us.

We remember Martin's hope that “dark clouds of prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not so distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”

Therefore, in faith, let us commend ourselves and our work for justice to the goodness of Almighty God.

Litany by W. B. McClain and L.H. Stookey, ©1986 Abingdon Press