Gratitude for MLK Jr.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. It’s nationally recognized as a day of service to the community. There were some folks that occupied the sidewalks in front of banks, there was graffiti removal, and parks were cleaned. All this was to celebrate the memory of a truly remarkable man.

My son Elijah is in Kindergarten and this is the first year that he was taught about Martin Luther King Jr. When my wife and I picked him up from school he was wearing a crown with the words, “I have a dream that…” emblazoned on the front. The rest of the crown were lines that each kindergartener was able to write about what they dream about. Elijah wrote, “that people would help each other up.” My son and his friends fall down…a lot! Watch the speech below...

Early on Monday, we took a trip to Costco to buy some much needed house supplies. We were successful in getting all that we needed…and, of course, a trip to the food court. On the way home we tuned in to National Public Radio (NPR). My wife and I listen to NPR most of the time that we’re in the car to keep abreast of what’s going on in the world and in our country. It was not surprising then, that NPR was airing Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream speech.” We all listened intently – including Elijah.

I cried three times while listening; my wife was in tears too. What made me most emotional was the reference that Dr. King made from the book of Amos in the Old Testament, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). He says this just after saying that he will “not be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.”

I became emotional because I realized that weaved into the fabric of Dr. King’s passion for racial justice and equality was the goodness of God and the justice of God. It was Dr. King’s majestic view of the glory of God that inspired him to call people everywhere to a higher view of humanity because of the intrinsic value they possess, which derives from the image of God and all humanity bears that image.

We see this when Dr. King tells of his dream that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’" Self-evident truth means that the truth of a thing needs no argumentation because that thing is itself, true. What is this “self-evident” truth? It’s that all men are created equal.

Dr. King appeals to reality and necessity of a Creator if there is ever to be a notion of justice and a sense of fairness. If there is no objective good, then fairness and justice are merely arbitrary. It is precisely because there is a God, and the fact that we have been created by Him and for Him that we can make such demands for racial equality and justice. 

I think Dr. King’s biblical foundation is what made him such a dynamic leader. He spoke of a truth that many knew, but maybe in an odd, strange sort of a way. What I mean is that he spoke of a justice and fairness that seemed impossible and yet so natural; a condition of fairness and justice that we have never seen – even today – and yet it was something we were well aware of and could almost describe although we have never experienced it fully. It’s like a dream, or the rumor of a dream where you’re not sure whether it was your dream, or a dream you heard about, or a dream you were hoping to dream. Nonetheless, it was indeed a dream and Dr. King talked about it. And yet it is reality; or at least it should be.

When Elijah learns about Dr. King, he’s learning about more than the civil rights movement. He’s learning about humanity and the relationship we have with the Creator as the created. He’s learning that the color of our skin is not to be used as an excuse for inequality because we all bear the image of God and to Him we are held accountable. But in that same vein, we are not to treat others inequitably because of their socio-economic circumstance. If skin color is an unjust method of determining a person’s value, so is wealth. Elijah is learning that God has given humanity His image and that image alone is what makes a person valuable; and the value demands justice.

There is much talk about justice in today’s society. Many bring up Dr. King as an example and yet the foundation from which Dr. King built his ethic of justice and fairness is mocked and jeered. At the foundation of Dr. King’s ethic for racial equality was the reality that we exist because God exists. Our value is rooted in the image we bear. There will be no justice and fairness if there is no firm foundation from which we can build our ethic. The second half of Amos 5 is that in addition to justice rolling down “righteousness [would flow] like an ever-flowing stream.” It seems that this is a “both/and” situation. We hope for both justice and righteousness. Justice without righteousness is capricious; righteousness without justice is ludicrous.

Thank you Dr. King for demonstrating your commitment to the Creator. Because Christ was glorious to you, you lived fearlessly as an advocate for justice.