January 15, 2018 we once again commemorate the legendary Civil Rights leader, preacher/pastor, and beloved child of God, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
April 4, 2018 will mark the fifty years since the assassination of this great spiritual leader of our nation.
For a great number of us, a growing number in fact, Dr. King is a figure in history - seen through the eyes of social studies textbooks, theological books, and documentaries. For others, there is a more concrete memory of this man - they were alive during the Civil Rights movement...and some may have even marched or seen with their own eyes this monumental figure.
But, does Martin still matter?
After all, some may point to the fact that we have had some rather significant strides forward for the African American community. “We had a black president,” one blogger remarked, “so that means racism is gone.” That, however, is a fallacy.
Racism is alive and well throughout our nation AND our world! The work of King matters perhaps even more now than ever before!
His work has opened our eyes and hearts to a possibility of a world where equality is not something that is simply a history lesson, but actually a daily practice. A devotional to God in its very essence...a devotional that honors the work and lessons of Jesus Christ himself.
Equality without exception should be the expectation of not just institutions and businesses, but of our very church and faith.
King noted that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
While we live in the ‘between’ moment (between Christmas/Epiphany and Lent) I wonder how we can use our own lives to be devotionals to God and one another? I wonder how we can live into a promise of a brighter tomorrow and make that beloved community a reality today?
We will have a chance to enter deeper into this question on Sunday when we commemorate the namesake of our church - St. Stephen. Stephen, too, was a martyr for the faith. He believed in a world where poverty was no more. Where hunger was no more. He, like King and the rest of us, believed in a God of justice. How, then, do we live our lives as we grow closer to this God we so dearly love?
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jason
