In Memoriam....

Pastor Jim read these words of Dr. King's in church yesterday:

"...A religion true to its nature must...be concerned about man's social conditions. Religion deals with both earth and heaven, both time and eternity. Religion operates not only on the vertical plane but also on the horizontal. It seeks not only to integrate men with God but to integrate men with men and each man with himself. This means, at bottom, that the Christian gospel is a two-way road. On the one hand it seeks to change the souls of men, and thereby unite them with God; on the other hand it seeks to change the environmental conditions of men so that the soul will have a chance after it is changed. Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion. Such a religion is the kind that Marxists like to see - an opiate of the people."

An incredible paragraph, that has implications with my last post, but not what I am thinking about right now.

What is the proper way to remember someone? To me, volunteering on MLK day is a lot like working in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. Its a nice gesture, but if its something you do once a year, then it isn't reflective of a heart-attitude, and likely is done more to make you feel good, than a deep desire to help the brokenness around you. I suppose a little is better than none at all--and help that is at its core selfish is still help, but I really would rather "volunteer" the other 364 days of the year rather than on MLK day, just because its perceived as the day you go help people. Most people don't really know who he was, or what drove him to do what he did, they just have a vague sense that he wanted racial equality, he was assassinated, and so we should help those in need. That's not how you remember someone.

Joshua 4 is about the memorial stones that the Israelites placed after they crossed the Jordan into Canaan. He tells them to place 12 stones at the place they crossed, "that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'what do these stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them ..." Memorials are a very Biblical concept, the most famous being the Lord's Supper. I also think to Jeremiah 31, "set up road markers, make yourself guideposts" so as to not go back down that road. He had to continually remind Israel what He had done for them, and where they had come from. I think He knows how prone we are to forget, to live in the immediacy of now (or in fear of the future) and forget the past, all that He has brought us through, and all that He has done for His people throughout history.

Its for that reason that I think it is good to honor them memory of Dr. King, but only if it is actually tied to who he was and what he said. It is good to read the words of some of his speeches, and glean from his wisdom and insight. I think though, he would be more honored by a lifestyle of service and reconciliation, rather than a few hours once a year...