“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 NIV
Yesterday we celebrated the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. As I listened once again to his “I Have a Dream ” speech I wondered what he would have thought of our nation now. What has become of The Dream? Has his hope for a nation where “all men are created equal” fallen by the wayside?
In a nation where racism still spreads its evil through our streets, has his prayer that his children would “…one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of the character” gone unanswered?
Has his vision that one day “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” been trampled under the feet of white supremacists marching in the streets, been rendered obsolete by the widening gap between economic classes, or been drowned out by the racist rhetoric spewing from the mouths of those pledged to protect the very freedoms for which they show such disdain.
In 2018, does Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream live or was it dead on arrival, a mere fantasy, with no hope of coming to fruition in the face of racism, economic injustice, and the general indifference of the American public?
While some may say “The Dream” was a pipedream from the very beginning, I disagree. I believe the dream lives on and finds fulfillment every day in the lives of men and women who put aside their own self-interest for the good of others, who reach across the aisle to shake the hand of a rival, and who reach into the gutter to lift up their fellow man.
This dream will never die as long as there are men and women of good conscience willing to stand up for rights of others, people who take to heart the command of Isaiah 58 to “loose the chains of injustice and untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and break every yoke”. The Dream lives as long as there are those who “refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt” and who are “able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together to, to go to jail together, to stand for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
In 1903, Ellen G White, said in the book Education, “The greatest want of the world is the want of men–men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”
Martin Luther King Jr. was such a man, but he was not the only one. There have been men and women in every period of our nations history have shared his dream, who have willingly given up “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that others might share in the bounty of a nation build on the creed that “all men are created equal.”
I believe at this critical time in Earth’s history God is raising up a new generation will embrace this dream. The world is in desperate need of men and women “…who will not be bought or sold, who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name…” If you are one of these people, then now is the time for you do your duty and “…stand for right though the heavens fall.”
We need men and women who will strive to make Martin Luther King’s dream “a reality for all of God’s children.” This includes not just Negro, but Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, and the poor and disenfranchised of this great nation. We can never “Make America Great Again” until we, the American people, live out the true meaning of the creed upon which this nation was founded that “we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”, regardless of the color of their skin or the nation of their birth or their economic status.
Unfortunately, because we live in a fallen world where evil and hate too often reign supreme, we must face the fact that Martin Luther King’s dream will never be fully realized until sin is vanquished and all things are made new. It is only when Jesus comes again that will finally experience what true freedom is, for when “The Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 NIV
This is why we who call ourselves Christians must remember we have an even greater commission which goes far beyond the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.. Our commission does not just end with America, for we are citizens of a greater kingdom, a kingdom founded by a crucified and risen King, a kingdom founded on love, a kingdom established not just for Americans, but for all people of all nations.
It is time for Christian men and women to take up the Great Commission and carry this gospel to the ends of the earth as a witness unto all men. It is time for us to stand for what we believe and speak up for the rights of others. It is time for us to choose to live lives filled with love and compassion, beating back the forces of hate and evil which assail on every side. It is time for us to take seriously Christ’s admonition to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is time for us to lift up Christ before the world, to show them there is a better way, to spread wide the good news that Jesus is coming soon, that there is hope for tomorrow and a better world is just beyond the horizon.
When we do this, when we take The Great Commission seriously, then The Dream will be fully realized and freedom shall finally “…ring from every city and every Hamlet, from every state in every city.” On that great and awesome day, when Christ glory fills the sky, wars shall cease, hatred will be banished forever and then , and only then, “…all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, free at last, free at last, great God Almighty we are free at last.”
May that day come quickly is my prayer. Have a good day and God bless America!