Happy MLK Jr. Day
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Today is an opportunity to look back and thank God for blessing our county and time with a man such as MLK Jr., and a time to look forward to what would lie in store for peace-keeping, equality for all people, and the flourishing of the black man in America to the rightful place God has established for him.Dr. MLK Jr. was, first and foremost, a sinner... like us all. He fell short of the glory of God in word, thought, and deed. He was without a doubt doctrinally deficient, and no theological friend to evangelical Christianity, much less the orthodox, historical Protestant kind. His lifestyle was not always exemplary nor to be emulated. And while the things he was saying was head and shoulders above what others - and the Church - was saying at the time, he did not speak as if to parallel our Lord.
Nevertheless, despite these faults, we have much to give thanks to God for and celebrate in the person of the good doctor. My pastor's sermon yesterday (link forthcoming, 01/19/06)
highlighted the marvelous grace and wisdom Dr. King displayed in containing, channeling, and manipulating the rage that so evidently boiled in so much of the South, and in so much of the Union. His vision, passion, and method were unmatched by any of his contemporaries, and who knows what the cultural landscape would look like currently had another man arisen to lead the Movement.So I give thanks for God's grace in very flawed people, and pray that He would be so kind as to use me - far more flawed than Dr. King - in a fraction of his service.
On a far less serious note, I loved the break it gave to our schedules! My wife and I enjoyed sleeping in, and I accomplished much in the extra time. How much there is to be thankful for, and how it pales in the light of Christ...
Labels: City of Man, Events, theology
