Pastor Melvin Boone urges ‘Time to Wake Up’ during BUSS Rev. Dr. MLK celebration

As United Methodists from the Bold United Soul Seekers (BUSS) gathered on Saturday, Jan. 17, at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the Rev. Melvin Boone, senior pastor at Vanderveer Park United Methodist Church (UMC) in East Flatbush, delivered a clear message: it’s “Time to Wake Up.” He called on the congregation to reflect on the prophetic ministry and enduring legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., urging them to recognize the urgency of continued action today.

The seven churches in the Brooklyn South Parish, now known collectively as Bold United Soul Seekers (BUSS), comprise St. Mark’s UMC, Ghana Wesley UMC, Fenimore Street UMC, Vanderveer Park UMC, Kings Highway UMC, Premiere Eglise UMC, and St. Paul’s UMC.
A large number of BUSS parishioners are Caribbean, African, and African American.

In delivering the sermon on “Time to Wake Up”, based on Romans 13:11-12, Pastor Boone told “beloved siblings in Christ” that “it is with a spirit of celebration and, if I keep it real, a little trepidation that I stand before you today.
“I celebrate because I believe that the celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin L. King means more this year than any time since its inception,” he preached, noting, among other things, that, on Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Regan signed the bill establishing the Rev. Dr. Martin Juther King Jr’s birthday as a US federal holiday.

“In the years that followed, America made significant progress in its attempt to live into its value of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),” Rev. Boone added. “We struggled as a nation to become more inclusive and just and representative of the cultural/racial mosaic that we call America.

“As we embraced the ‘Dream’ so eloquently memorialized in Rev. Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, many of us were convinced that the dream was on the way to becoming a reality,” he continued, stating that, by 2008, the nation had even elected an African American president, Barack Obama, who served two full terms, eight years ending Jan. 20, 2017.

Pastor Boone said Obama’s presidency produced several major legislative achievements, most notably the Affordable Care Act, a comprehensive overhaul of the US healthcare system, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a large-scale economic stimulus package enacted in response to the “Great Recession.”

“Despite the great strides we’ve made since Dr. King, including vital reforms by leaders and legislators, we now face forces that threaten to undo this progress,” Rev. Boone lamented. “This is why, as we celebrate, I also feel trepidation. We must recognize these threats, which is exactly why I urge us all: it’s ‘Time to Wake Up.’”

Close

Stay Connected to the Caribbean

Get the latest news and updates delivered to your inbox.

Email

Sign Up

“As I center myself in prayer and God’s word found in scripture in an attempt to find peace, I am reminded that the prophetic voices throughout the bible, and the ministry of Jesus, tell us and teach us to pay attention to the times, to number our days, to be mindful of the seasons and the signs,” he added.

“I have come this morning to blow the trumpet and to sound the shofar; to get your attention and encourage you to pay attention to the times,” Pastor Boone continued. “I’ve come this morning to stir up that prophetic gift inside of you – that you, too, might discern the time and seek God for wisdom and answers to the challenges we face today.

“Most of all, I have come in the words of Apostle Paul to say, ‘Wake Up’”, he urged. “Turn to your neighbor and with urgency say, ‘Wake Up!’”
In turning to Romans 13:11 – 14, Pastor Boone said Paul warns believers in Rome that the time for clarity in their faith beliefs and practices had come, “’but make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.’

“For us, that means, even as we continue to fight for justice, we must find and be open to those effective modalities that do not compromise our faith walk,” he said. “It requires that we first and foremost wake up.
“Be aware of the schemes of the enemy,” he added. “Study and let the Holy Spirit reveal truth. Take action or be still according to divine guidance.
“I don’t have all the answers, but I do believe it is gospel time, it is the accepted time, it is working time, it is high ‘Time to Wake Up,” Rev. Boone continued.”

Noting that a Bantu proverb translates, “’When the beat of the drum changes, the steps of the dance change,’ he said, “drums give us rhythm and set the pace of the dance.

“They shape the way people move and foster a lively atmosphere,” he added. “Drums are also used to communicate. The rhythm of the played music corresponds to the message being communicated.
“The current (Trump) administration is controlling the drumbeat,” Pastor Boone declared. “It marches to the beat of a different drum than you and me. “It is ‘Time to Wake Up’ to the fact that the drumbeat we see in today’s society is not the drumbeat of those who follow Christ’s teachings.

“It is ‘Time to Wake Up’ to the fact that even in our Godly resistance against unjust laws, there may be consequences,” he continued. “But it is ‘Time to Wake Up’. We must resist!
“It is Time to Wake Up, so God can show us how to resist, so God can show us how to do justice, so the Holy Spirit can guide us while we agitate and advocate for those who are being terrorized,” he said. “Let this celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. be the start of your spiritual and civic alertness. Honor his legacy by staying spiritually and civically woke. It is Time to Wake Up, get prayed up, and stand up.”

Rev. Morais G. Quissico, pastor of St. Mark’s UMC and BUSS parish coordinator, told Caribbean Life afterwards that the annual MLK Service brings together the clergy and lay members of United Methodist congregations – seven from BUSS and an additional two from the Good News parish – in the Long Island West District of the New York Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church.

“Personally, I find great joy and spiritual revival when United Methodists and Christians across the board come together to learn and seek a new inspiration from the late Rev. Dr. King’s ministry,” he said. “The service today called us as Christians to awaken and discover afresh the power and societal impact there is, when we unite and rise against all forms of injustices, oppression, discrimination, and marginalization of people in the basis of race, religion, place of birth, language spoken, or one’s social or economic status.

“For me, Dr. King’s ministry, calling us to see sacred value in all of God’s children, sets a perfect example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,” Pastor Quissico added. “Dr.  King has set an example for us today to follow, in spite of the price to pay.

“Christ did not only preach Good News from a place of personal safety and comfort, inside a church building, but practiced what he preached,” he continued. “Christ was constantly leading masses of people from places like Bethlehem, all the way to the big city of Jerusalem, fulfilling what the Prophet Isaiah had prophesied about Christ, saying: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ (Luke 4:18-19 NIV).

“So, I am convinced that if we are to be relevant as disciples of Jesus Christ today, we have no choice but to awaken, intentionally unite our hands and live out our calling, pushing back against all forms of oppression and injustices of our time,” Rev. Quissico said.