Still Dreamin'

Naturally, courageous people inspire me. That's why ever since, oh, about second grade I found something so gut-wrenchingly powerful about Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the variety of people who stood side-by-side that day to hear.

Tonight I reflect on some of the statements he made that day, statements which follow the precepts of God's Word, the Bible, and are therefore good:

"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." -MLK

Soul force.

Matthew 22: 34-40

"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 Love God. Love your neighbor. That is God's will. MLK stood on August 28, 1963 for a cause that was--right. And he reminds me of my responsibility to do and live with confidence and to confidently act according to God's will.

"I have a dream." I'm no longer talking about MLK (although the reminder of his courage is one of the reason's I'm soul searching this evening). I'm talking about the dreams God has given me--namely to overcome my cowardliness. How quickly I cower in the moment of opportunity, decision, or just plain criticism! But I'm sick of my sin of passivity. I'm sick of NOT loving my neighbor through passivity. I'm sick of being afraid to do something that makes me look "too different." I'm sick of being afraid of criticism. But what do I do about my sin? I've been discussed by my passivity for years. I've tried a more abrupt approach of being courageous that resulted in me being "a clanging cymbal." God says to love (love the way He defines it--not relativistically). God says to love. Love wants to obey God; love speaks the truth humbly; love is concerned for the well-being of the person confronted; love is not intimidated with being confronted; love can only come through Christ.

So I echo MLK's dream for all children when he said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." And I'm dreamin' today too--a dream just as lofty but a bit more personally introspective:

I have a dream:

• That I will love people when they hurt me.
• That I will spit out bitterness of the heart and refuse to ingest self-pity.
• That I will repent and apologize when I hurt others.
• That I will speak against injustice...even when those to whom I speak are deafened by their own prejudices and fear.
• That I will look my own prejudices and ungodly fears square in the face and repent of them with mourning. (James 4)
• That I will take no part in gossip OF ANY FORM as it tears down those made in God's precious image and for whom Christ died. And because gossip and slander is not why God gave me a brain and a mouth.
• That I will not be a complainer. Yes, I have a dream that I will obey God's word and "do everything without grumbling or arguing." Philippians 2:14
• That I will not succumb to fear of obeying Christ because of people's unsolicited contradictory advice.

I have these dreams because at the end of the day...if I lie on my death bed or should I be granted the knowledge that I'm about to die...to leave this world...and meet God face to face, I will care only about whether I loved God and loved my neighbor. Not because my salvation hinges upon my acts of righteousness (for my acts are as filthy rags before Him) but because the love of Christ and for Christ is in me. I am joyful. I am content knowing that my life is pleasing to Him.

If I won't be faithful in the little things, I won't be faithful in the big things. I had a dream (a literal...sleeping dream) one night a few weeks ago. My children were grown. We were dropping them off at college. I was contemplating about all the good God did in my life during college and was hoping the same for him. Suddenly a horn resounded. Everyone was commanded to bow down and worship something other than Christ. Everyone around me bowed. Some of the people I knew. One familiar face cried to me "What are you doing. Get down. You have your children to protect." Just before I awoke.......I started to bend my knees."

I lay awake in bed for a while, then finally went into the living room and sat in our recliner. I was nauseous over the very idea that I would even reflexively bow the knee for anyone or thing other than Christ. I know it was a dream and you can't always control your actions in a dream, but the sight of my knees bending haunted and haunts me. May I never forget the moment. And in my life may the reality of minor and major persecution for righteousness and for Christ be faced with obedience. Holy Spirit please empower me to be obedient. That is my dream. That is my goal in life. For that matter that is my only dream and aspiration for my children...that they will love God and love their neighbor.