Monday, January 19, 2009

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today my country honors Martin Luther King, Jr., and I join in honoring him. I think he is probably the greatest American of the 20th Century. I admire his courage, his willingness to die for the cause of justice, his unwillingness to kill or commit violence to achieve his ends, his following of the way of Jesus Christ, his radical living out of the Sermon on the Mount.

It is serendipitous timing indeed that the day after we honor Dr. King, our country will inaugurate President Obama. In 45 years, we've gone from segregation to a black president. I wish that Dr. King were still with us to see it. But he did see it, as Moses saw the promised land from Mount Nebo, and as the heroes of Hebrew Scripture saw and welcomed the promised Messiah from a distance, and as we look toward the coming of God's Kingdom.



May we be as faithful in our Kingdom work as Dr. King was in his. Not many of us will be called to a role of such great leadership; perhaps not many of us are capable of such a role. But whatever work God has called us to, may we do it as wholeheartedly.

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