January 19, 2025 MLK

Rex McKee

A Borderless Reign of Heaven

January 19, 2025

Rex McKee

We gather today to celebrate MLK and his invitation to participate in The Beloved Community—God’s reign, the reign of heaven, where there are no borders, walls, or divisions that separate us.

“The work of the church is to welcome the outcast, the stranger, and the refugee—not as a moral gesture, but as a witness to the living God who makes no distinction.” – Stringfellow

What does it mean to commit to, or even to claim membership in, a beloved community?

• Advocating for systemic change and policies that address poverty, racial injustice, and environmental degradation.
• Living the way of love in our daily relationships, showing compassion, patience, and humility.
• Building bridges across divides, engaging in difficult but honest conversations to foster understanding and healing.
• Staying hopeful and persistent, even in the face of setbacks or opposition, trusting the transformative power of love and justice.

Ultimately, our commitment to the Beloved Community is a commitment to embodying the way of love in personal, faithful, and systemic ways.

We seek to co-create, with God’s help, a world where “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

God’s reign of heaven, the Beloved Community, calls us to confront the realities of our modern world: a world where immigrants and refugees face rejection, violence, and exclusion, and where walls—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—divide God’s children.

The reign of heaven has no borders or walls. Its love is expansive, welcoming, and transformative. Today, as we listen to the threats of mass deportation beginning this week in Chicago, we are called to align our hearts, actions, and systems with God’s borderless love. The Gospel teaches something radically different.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community offers a practical and spiritual response to the challenge of living as citizens of God’s borderless kingdom. King imagined a world where love and justice triumph over fear and division, where everyone belongs, and where reconciliation replaces hostility.

The Beloved Community: A Vision of God’s Reign

Coined by theologian Josiah Royce, grounded by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and popularized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Beloved Community envisions a society rooted in justice, love, and peace, aligning with the way of Jesus and the reign of heaven.

The historical context of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together remains profoundly relevant today. Written during the rise of Nazi Germany, the book addressed the challenges of Christian discipleship and community amid political oppression and moral compromise.

Bonhoeffer’s emphasis on a shared life together, centered in Jesus, offers an antidote to a society fragmented by hyper-individualism and digital disconnection. His focus on mutual care, face-to-face relationships, and shared purpose resonates deeply in a world longing for meaningful connection. His call to humility, forgiveness, and self-giving service challenges communities to embody radical love and reconciliation. Bonhoeffer’s vision inspires us to confront injustice, resist authoritarianism, and uphold ethical integrity.

In a world fractured by racism, inequality, and violence, the Beloved Community provides us a framework for repairing broken relationships. It critiques societal injustices and points to the possibility of a transformed world where peace and justice prevail.

It calls Christians to work for systemic change, ensuring equity and dignity for all people. The Beloved Community reflects love—selfless, sacrificial, and redemptive.

It challenges Christians to live out Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” even amid conflict or opposition.

 

 

A Shift in Perspective: In September 2024, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman led the Polaris Dawn mission, marking significant milestones in private space exploration. The crew reached a peak altitude of approximately 875 miles above Earth, surpassing the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. Upon return, each crew member described a profound encounter with something overwhelming and captivating.

 

Astronauts who have seen Earth from space describe a profound shift in perspective—a recognition of the planet’s unity and the artificiality of human borders. Michael Collins, Apollo 11, reflected, “I believe that if political leaders saw their planet from 100,000 miles, their outlook would fundamentally change. The all-important border would be invisible, the noisy argument silenced.”

Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut, echoed this, saying, “Wars are fought for territory or disputes over borders; from space, the arbitrary borders on Earth cannot be seen.”

These reflections challenge us to acknowledge how much we cling to the illusion of separation—nations fighting over lines invisible from above, humanity fractured by walls meaningless in God’s eyes.

 

From heaven’s perspective, there are no “us” and “them.” There is only “we,” the children of God. Our divisions are not inherent to creation; they are choices contradicting the unity God desires for us.

Living the Vision

Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community transcends borders, systems of oppression, and discrimination. It focuses on the unity and interconnectedness of all people. Built on inclusivity, it aligns with the scriptural call to recognize all humans as integral members of the human family.

Walls and borders contradict this vision. King taught that barriers such as race, nationality, and class are human-made systems of exclusion. These systems are reflected in the borders and walls we see today—whether physical walls to keep out immigrants or invisible walls of prejudice and fear that isolate people.

The Beloved Community dismantles exclusion, replacing fear with love, isolation with hospitality, and injustice with equity. This is Gospel work. Nonviolence invites us to respond to migration challenges not with hostility but with dignity, reconciliation, and mutual understanding. Seeking justice addresses both immediate needs and global inequalities that force people to flee.

 

The Beloved Community is not a utopia but a call to action. It is a reality made visible whenever human beings live as if the Word of God is true in every moment and encounter. (Stringfellow)

Living into the Beloved Community requires concrete action to uphold the dignity and rights of all people, emphasizing the principle of Migration with Dignity without exception:

• Freedom of Movement: Every person has the right to seek safety, to move freely, and to find refuge.
• Freedom from Exploitation: Immigrants, the poor, and BIPOC communities are often the most vulnerable to trafficking, forced labor, and violence.
• Equality and Opportunity: In the Beloved Community, there is no hierarchy of worth based on wealth, nationality, or status.
• Access to Basic Necessities: Housing, food, water, healthcare, and education are essentials for life, not luxury items.

 

 

 

Scripture frequently reminds us of this truth:

• In Leviticus 19, God commands the Israelites to treat the alien among them as a citizen, for they were once strangers in Egypt.
• In Revelation 7, John’s vision of heaven reveals a multitude from “every nation, tribe, people, and language,” standing together in worship.
• Matthew 25 reminds us that when we meet these needs, we are serving Christ himself: “I was hungry, and you gave me food… I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”

Jesus quite literally sees himself in the poorest and most forgotten people; they are not objects of charity or hospitality—they are him! These are not political talking points; they are Gospel imperatives.

The Eucharist as Witness

As Episcopalians, we have already made a promise to live into this vision. The Baptismal Covenant invites our solemn commitment to:

• Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves: Christ is present in the immigrant, the poor, and the homeless. To welcome the stranger is to welcome Christ.
• Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being:
• We cannot sit idly by while policies and attitudes harm the vulnerable. We must work for justice and advocate for systems that uphold dignity and peace.
• Persevere in resisting evil: Evil manifests in systems of exclusion, xenophobia, and dehumanization. As people of faith, we are called to resist these evils with courage and love.
• Continue in the breaking of bread and the prayers: Every time we gather at the Eucharist, we glimpse God’s borderless kingdom. At this table, there are no walls or divisions. All are welcome, fed, and equal in God’s sight. This table is a foretaste of the Beloved Community, transcending race, nationality, orientation, and status.

 

 

If we believe what we proclaim at the Eucharist, how can we justify closing our hearts, creating walls, and separating ourselves from those in need? How can we partake of the bread and wine, the body and ood of reconciliation, while supporting systems that divide?

The Eucharist challenges us to live as if God’s reign is already here, growing communities reflecting Christ’s love, justice, and inclusion—even with those we disagree with. How we pray shapes what we believe.

 

 

Action Steps

• Embrace the Stranger: Open our homes, churches, and communities to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and those who need sanctuary. Build relationships that bridge divides and celebrate our shared humanity.
• Advocate for Justice: Challenge unjust policies and support organizations protecting immigrant rights. Write to lawmakers, join advocacy groups, and educate neighbors about refugees’ realities.
• Transform Hearts: Confess and release our fear and prejudice. Welcome God’s grace to deepen compassion and understanding. Recognize Christ in those seeking refuge. Love our enemies.

From space, the human borders we fight over are invisible. They are not of God. God’s reign is borderless, uniting every tribe, race, orientation, faith tradition, class, and nation in love.

Let us go into the world proclaiming and living the truth: In Christ, there is no east or west, north or south. There are no walls, only one humanity bound by God’s love.

With God’s help, we shall overcome!

 

10am Service