Selma and I Have A Dream

Many years ago I had heard and read many things about Nelson Mandella and Martin Luther King Jr. Those things were inaccurate and skewed with subtle racism that minimized their impact upon millions of oppressed people.

Thankfully, years later while in seminary I read deeply moving personal slave narratives that were for the most part never publicized. My heart was deeply saddened over how humans can treat their fellow man with such brutally and injustice.

Recent movies like Selma, nominated for The Academy Awards Best Movie in 2014 and 'Twelve Years A Slave' (Best Picture in 2013) and Mandella: Long Walk to Freedom have helped to vividly remind us all of the past human atrocities of our broken fallen world.

I have been greatly inspired by British parliament member William Wilberforce’s (watch movie trailer) story of his conversion and his exhausting, yet successful forty-five year campaign to abolish slavery in England.  Abraham Lincoln (watch movie trailer) continued Wilberforce’s courageous British victory and confronted the evils of American slavery in the face of a civil war that took a half million lives. Injustice always costs lives.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandella continued that same fight, but not with vengeance and violence, but with peace and reconciliation. In light of MLK Jr. Day I'm re-posting a blog below from a few years ago about the real reason why Martin Luther King Jr. inspired millions. 

What about your hopes and dreams? Do they seem distant and unattainable, maybe even impossible? Extreme disappointment has brought some to such a place of desperation that they feel like giving up.  Does anyone care about this situation or about me? Will anyone stand up for justice? Yet, in the midst of all our brokenness there is always hope! It’s not over for you or me?

We can all learn much for our own hopes and dreams from King’s life.

King grew up in middle class surroundings and his father was the highly respected pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. He was accused of being a card carrying communist, a Marxist agent merely posing as a minister. At the beginning of his calling to bring equality King was afraid for his family and his own life. In a sermon, he prayed,

“Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now and I’m losing my courage and it seemed I heard a voice saying, Martin Luther stand for righteousness. Stand up for justice. And lo I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. He promised never to leave me, never leave me alone. No never leave me alone.”

Three nights later a bomb exploded on his front porch. Though not injuring anyone, King a man of fierce determination took it in stride. 

In the book ‘Bearing the Cross’, King said, “I am tired of the threat of death. I want to live,  I don’t want to be a martyr. There are times I doubt if I’ll make it through. I’m tired of getting hit, beaten, tired  of going to jail. But the important thing is not how tired I am, the important thing is to get rid of the condition that lead us to march.”

Here is an excerpt from King’s famous ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’ to fellow church leaders in Alabama.
“I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”  To read the whole letter in context click here:
 
“How long will it take? However difficult, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long. Not long, because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long, because you reap what you sow. How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. How long? Not long, because my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…” 

When the march in Selma was over King addressed the weary marchers from the steps of the capital.

What strikes me the most was not his personal sacrifices or his incessant non-violent marches, nor even his eloquent speeches? It was his firm grounding in the Christian gospel that motivated him to inspire others!

These are King’s words night before his assassination in Memphis. “Like anybody, I would like to live long. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will…I’ve looked over and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the coming of the Lord.”

King was committed to the cause despite its cost. He carried his hopes and dreams everywhere he went. So here’s the deal. His hopes and dreams were for others and not just for himself.  He tenaciously persevered through all his trials and like you and I had times of doubt and felt like giving up, but he didn’t! King was a man of focus who inspired many to re-consider the cultural norms of injustice. Though exhausted from years of steady plodding he remained resolute.

He knew he wasn’t alone and my friend, neither are you! So, if you feel discouraged or even feel like giving up then reflect on King’s extraordinary life, but may we never forget the real King of the universe who gives us a living hope that will last forever! If you’re a Christ follower please know that He WILL be with YOU and WILL hold you in His hands while your life story unfolds.

Things might be out of your control, but not out of HIS! He has a plan for you and it is not over, so hold on! He will be with YOU! It’s not over – there’s still time. He will see you through and ultimately to the Promised Land!