The Work of Dismantling -- Amos 5:18-24 (MLK Day Observance)

First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo

This Sunday, we observe Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as we continue our Epiphany series -- "The Work of Wonder." This sermon considers the Amos text that Dr. King often quoted, "But let justice roll down like the waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream," and listens to how it announces God's steely determination to dismantle all systems of oppression. We then turn to the persistent systems of American racism, and trace how they flow from the US Constitution as originally written and historic resistance to every attempt to set it right. Then, we think some about how white Americans continue to benefit from those systems, and our responsibility to join the work of dismantling, with a move toward reparation and healing of the continuing harm.