Today, we honor the life and
legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As we prayerfully ponder the ways his life and lingering message are
meaningful to our hearts, I remind you of a few quotes from Dr. King:
“I have decided to stick with
love. Hate is too great a burden to
bear.”
“Hatred paralyzes life; love
releases it. Hatred confuses life; love
harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life, love
illuminates it.”
“Power without love is reckless
and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the
demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that
stands against love.”
As those quotes simmer and stir
in your heart, read the words of Paul written to a contentious and cantankerous
community ~ where people hurt and harmed one another (sound familiar?) ~ where
people dehumanized and demoralized each other ~ where people did not dignify
the divinity of each other. Let Paul’s
words play with Dr. King’s words today in your sacred imagination:
I may speak in the languages of
humans and of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing
cymbal. I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may
understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith
to move mountains. But if I don’t have love, I am nothing. I may even give
away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don’t have
love, none of these things will help me.
Love is patient. Love is kind.
Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It
isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep
track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy
with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing,
never stops hoping, never gives up.
Love never comes to an end.
There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be
used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by
itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used. Our
knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is
incomplete. But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will
no longer be used. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like
a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used
childish ways. Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see
very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete
knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me.
So these three things remain:
faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.
What is God’s love calling you
to do right now? Where is love calling you to risk, reminding
you that love never guarantees success, fame, or fortune. Rather, our faithfulness is to the One whose
love radiates in life. How might God’s
love author your life today or just for a few minutes right now? May your ponderings on this day infuse and
inspire you to let God’s fierce and faithful love loose in the world. Amen.
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