For Me Today is a Day Off Not a Day On
Happy MLK Day
Today is MLK Day—a day to remember the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A popular saying accompanying this day is “a day on, not a day off.” That saying is meant to encourage people to spend the day in service of others. To go out and remember the legacy of Dr. King by doing a service project or giving back. It originates from the late Congressman and Civil Rights Leader John Lewis, who believed that we should strive to remember Dr. King with acts of service that bring us together. Because of the long, arduous fight to get MLK Day recognized as a national holiday and to celebrate improving race relations, the belief was to use this day to advance the Dream of Dr. King. I wholeheartedly respect that because if anyone knew anything about how far we’ve come, it was John Lewis.
While I understand the desire to push people towards service in the inspiration of Dr. King’s life, something about that has always felt off to me, and I think I finally know why.
I’ve spent much of my adult life learning from Dr. King, reading his books, studying his sermons, and seeking to imitate parts of his life. His desire to serve the church, his people, and the nation. Since I was a teenager, I’ve sought to represent my people. Since encountering Jesus at age 20, I’ve sought to proclaim the gospel as the only power to transform the human heart and society. Since 2014, I have believed that we could do government and service differently in a way that respected people’s diverse ideas and dreams for their lives but upheld the dignity of all life from womb to tomb.
Dr. King preached, labored, and crusaded against what he called the triple evils:
1) Racism
2) Materialism
3) Militarism
Dr. King was on the front lines of all these fights, fighting for Black people to receive their full civil rights, speaking out against the Vietnam War, and organizing the Poor People’s Campaign. Dr. King saw his life as a life to be lived in pursuit of God and the dignity of every person. He advocated for equal access to education, fair housing laws, and a basic universal guaranteed income.
All this to say, his life represented more than just taking one day to do service opportunities.
I’ve spent a few MLK days doing service projects. I enjoyed serving because it allowed me to connect with more of my neighbors. It’s an excellent way to clean up a school, neighborhood, or playground. Thousands of people join local and regional volunteer organizations and do good work to serve their neighbors and community. That is beautiful, and we need more of it.
Dr. King worked tirelessly to build coalitions of leaders of good faith and goodwill toward freedom, dignity, and equality. He also took time away to pray, reflect, and write.
But I’ve also spent a few MLK days feeling guilty that I took the day off to either enjoy a long weekend, recover from a full weekend, or rest from the hard work God has called me to. Instead of reflecting, I spent it looking at people posting pictures of themselves smiling and serving on Instagram or Facebook. I felt guilty because I didn’t have it in me to pick up trash or attend the symposium.
I love the memorial programs and services celebrating King’s life. I love the emphasis on his dream. I love people coming together to serve, but I think, at least in some ways, we have gotten King wrong.
Dr. Jemar Tisby, in his latest book, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance, has a chapter entitled Beyond The Quotable King. Dr. Tisby focuses on the parts of Dr. King that society has seemed to erase. He says, “While his statements preserve his legacy in the present, they also truncate it. Reducing King’s life and mission with a few short phrases and oft-repeated excerpts diminishes the expansiveness of his labor and thinking.”
I think the same thing is true of reducing King’s legacy to just one day of service. Let us serve, celebrate, and reflect, but let’s take it a step further and integrate acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God into every day of our lives.
Remembering Helps Us Rest
Dr. King worked tirelessly to build coalitions of leaders of good faith and goodwill toward freedom, dignity, and equality. He also took time away to pray, reflect, and write. I am often anxious about resting until I remember the labor and work I have done and the work I have yet to do.
I remember the church plant I led and how we would pick up trash every Sunday morning before having an outdoor service and inviting our neighbors to join us. I remember the mentoring program I ran in the neighborhood where we planted the church and the young men and women I built deep, meaningful relationships with—the hours spent laughing, playing, hooping, serving, and laboring.
I remember the education and mentoring organization that I served as director of. I remember the hours spent with team members, students, and community leaders. I remember praying and working for God to bring beauty into our schools. I remember seeing kids give their lives to Christ and gain hope for their futures. And I remember two truths that I often forget.
Jesus often rested, and He invited us to rest.
28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30, CSB
Listen to the words of Bruce D. Strom from his book Persevering Power: Encouragement For When You’re Oppressed by Life as he reflects on this passage of Scripture.
Have you ever seen a yoke? A large wooden crosspiece is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to a plow. Most often these animals are oxen. Oxen are strong…They really have a kind of their own—and so do we. Left to our own devices we will go our own way. But Jesus asks us to put his yoke on.
Wehn oxen are yoked together, their strength is harnessed. Direction is given. Jesus is not the farmer cracking a whip behind the plow; He is yoked with us. He provides his strength and direction. He teaches us. A farmer will yoke an experienced ox with one that is less experienced, making the work light for the new ox. The ox can look neither right nor left but must press forward.
Jesus is like that. In humility and gentleness, he teaches us to put aside our wants and join him in his work. No striving. No burden. Only a steady, persevering path forward.1
I’m learning to rest. To slow down. To enjoy the moments of quiet. To reflect. To quiet my loud heart and mind and bask in the presence of God. To take it all in. So, today will be spent resting and recovering. I’ll drive back into town from a time away to pray and seek the Lord. When I get home I’ll hug my family and spend time with them. Then, I will get ready to continue my journey of pursuing Jesus, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God.
I hope you can rest today, even if it’s a day on for you!
Happy MLK Day!
Strom, D. Bruce, Persevering Power: Encouragement for When You’re Oppressed by Life. Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press, 2023. (pg.84-85)