1. In our previous post we tried to utline high points of Mother Dorothy King‘s Black Church legacy of serving Reformation African American Lutheran Church of Chicago’s Far-Southside

2. During our Q&A discussion Sister Linda Thomas, former care-giver serving Mother King, shared that Mother was such a devoted Black Church participant that she was unfamiliar with many of the leading personalities of Chicago’s Sunday mornings and afternoons gosprl music radio market. Mother King was reported to have said she always religiously preferred advancing the services at Reformation Church instead.

3. Moreover, Deconess Marsha, Mother King;’s former daughter-in-law, reported that Mother King took the lead in insuring that both Reformation’s Fellowship Hall Kitchen and rest rooms where sparklingly cleaned and refreshed as a precondition for effective congregational hospitality.

4. BTW, we might add, Deaconess Marsh’s training and ordination as a Black Lutheran clergy person was instituted under Mother Kin’g’s Reformation Chrch’s joint Council leadership. So when we say we are continuing Mother Dorothy King’s Far-Southsice Black Church legacy, her leadership model and life style is what we have in mind and refuse let be lost as our ministries’ identity, purpose, and direction,

5. In this post we want to focus on Jesus‘ social and spiritual (eternal} gospel that are combined in the Lord’s Prayer.

6. According to Google, then, :The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the “Our Father,” is a prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples and is found in the Bible in both Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. The longer version, Matthew 0f 6: are a part of the Sermon on the Mount, while a shorter version is in Luke. Both versions share similar content, emphasizing trust in God, asking for forgiveness, and protection from temptation. 

7. In the “Our Father” prayer, the so-called line between social Christianity and spiritual Christianity is non existent. They are seamlessly combined.

8. Thus, Matthew 6: 9-13 says: ⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors...

¹³ And lead us not into temptation,^[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’

9. Moreover, Luke: 2-4 says: ² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

10. The point here is that we are challenged to confront the tensions between social Christianity and spiritual or eternal Christianity seeking a healthy balance between the two dimensions of the faith.

11. Accordingly, our ministry invites the solidarity of LIVE FREE ILLINOIS. It also invites the solidarity of the Oakland based LIVE FREE USA to which it is affiliated.

12. Given the above, we invite the solidarity of LIVE FREE ILLINOIS’S OFFICE OF FAITH-BASED ENGAGEMENT on the one hand and on the other their CLEAN SLATE ACTION COALITION.

13. Because this is Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian Calendar, we conclude this post with a Palm Sunday Reading of Our Lord’s Passion for the Procession With Palms according to Luke: 19: 28-40.

Luke 19:28-40

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Rev. Joel Washington, Kunanpu Sangoma, Senior Pastor/Executive Director Missionary Control, 4/15/23

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