It makes me wonder what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say if he had any idea how his passions for justice, equity and peace were being appropriated in the 21st Century by current political pundits. Today, in local area newspapers, civic leaders were asked to comment on how they perceive MLK's life continuing to impact current social and political arenas. Suffice it to say, nearly all of them expressed belief that MLK's life and vision powerfully continues to transform our culture's understanding of how the world is to be ordered, how equity is to be achieved and how peace might possibly be experienced. But, what was amusing - and disturbing - was how many of the people also confidently asserted that MLK's life and vision included whatever part of the world they, personally, happen to occupy, as though begging the blessing of a saint for the work they do. Much of it was political pandering at best, personal harlotry at worst. It makes me sad for the Rev. Dr. King, for he who dared to stand at the forefront of injustice and cry out in the wilderness for redemption now, in the words and claims of publicity hounds and ladder-climbers, becomes little more than another step on the way up, another name to be dropped, another legacy to be usurped for personal gain . . . and maybe that is the worst sort of injustice.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. accepted God's call in his life, he followed the Spirit's leading in his ministry, and he carried the mantle of prophetic orator in his soul. He looked into the bowels of the hell that racial, ethnic, social and economic injustice inflicts upon every every man, woman and child on the face of the earth, and he called forth the good which God plants in every human soul to act in solidarity for change. Where others imposed oppression, he saw the makings for liberty. Where others inflicted fear, he saw the windows of hope. Where others worked to institute segregation, he saw the doors of the heavens opened for inclusion and welcome. The Rev. Dr. King dared to go to the mountain and share the vision - while the rest remained in the valley and questioned what it was he was seeing. The Rev. Dr. King stood before the Pharaoh's of the world and said, 'No more bricks!', while the very mass of humanity he sought to free continued to say, 'How many? And, for how long?' Not unlike the very Lord and Savior he worshipped, Rev. Dr. King saw the good in others, even in the oppressors who most violently challenged him, and he did not relent his faithfulness in serving for the good of all humankind . . . even unto death.
We would do well, today, to remember his simple and profound example. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not our Savior, but he lived that we would know Him. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not our Lord, but he served that we might be touched by Him. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not the Messiah, but he gave his life that we might be transformed by Him. To appropriate his legacy for anything less than introducing the Kingdom of God here on earth is to disgrace the very Spirit of God alive in those who continue his work in so many places around the world. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not live for himself, but for others, so we, too, would be well served to remember the very commandment his life embodied: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two are based all the law and the prophets." In our so living, his legacy is honored and remembered in the righteousness for which he lived, respect is given for his accomplishments, and his dignity stands upon the faith he claimed: in the One Lord of all.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died giving you and me 'a hand up' from that which would pull us down. How could anyone ever consider using his memory as a step on their own personal ladder of success? Thank you, Rev. Dr. King, for your witness, for your service, and for your passions. For, in who you continue to be, we find the strength to live into what God has created all people to become.
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