This unique sermon is a challenge by four individuals who reflect on different aspects of being God’s unified people in the midst of diversity—a reality that is a gift of God—and divisiveness—a reality that is a mud pit of Satan. The four perspectives call us to put our weight into the dream of God’s gloriously diverse, but unified, kingdom where all live in love, even when circumstances stand against it. 
As we reflect on God’s call to be the one beloved community, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt, this sermon is a reflection on that dream in four parts. It’s like four legs of a relay race, with four different perspectives.
Jason Li began this relay sermon by comparing two ways of dealing with issues that cause division. In the first, things like racism become the central cause and focus, as it is elevated to the status of an idol. It then consumes every interaction and becomes the lens through which the world and others are viewed. He contrasts this with putting Christ at the center, which makes room for the Spirit to empower us to deal with issues that cause division, but to do so in love. Even more, it allows us to follow the Spirit in creative ways so that we can engage others and tear down walls of hostility.
The next leg of this relay is brought to us by Rhouth Wei Zhou. She shares a story of how love overcomes division, as she talks about her rejection as a young girl in China after her brother was born. Rhouth opens up about her own healing and reconciliation with her parents and her brother and explains how this broke the cycle of hatred and unforgiveness.
Cedrick Baker picks up the baton and speaks to the ways that he is living the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on a daily basis. Cedrick quotes Provers 31:8-9. He highlights the need to “learn to do.” We have to learn to act out the dream. He also points out the fact that it’s about action. It’s about what we do for others, how we are acting for others who cannot act for themselves. Cedrick challenges us to ask what we are doing for the sake of others.
Greg brings home the last leg of the relay by speaking about hope. MLK once said, “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” Not only must we be realistic in the short term because we live in the real world, but we also must put our ultimate hope in the dream that God has for the world. Dr. King also said, “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” We must learn to hold on to God’s infinite hope and the fact that God is working in this world, even when we cannot see it. Actually, we need to hold on to this hope even more when we cannot see any reason for hope in the short term.
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