Daily Dose of the Word of God - MLK Day

Kara Hackert, Director of Children & Family Ministries

Transcript

Kara Hackert  0:12 

Good morning, friends. I'm Kara Hackert. Today is Monday, January 20th - or, Martin Luther King Jr Day as we take our faith Beyond Sunday. I would like to read to you from a new devotional I just received. It's called "Only Light Can Do That. 60 Days of MLK Devotions for Kids." Let's read together.

Kara Hackert  0:34 

Dr Martin Luther King Jr's life was soaked in light. As the son and grandson of pastors, young Martin learned early about God's light. Even before he could read the bright commands and promises of the Bible, he saw Jesus shine through the love of his parents - both for him and for others. His father and mother taught him that hatred had no place in God's family. Martin treasured the words of his mother, Alberta. "You are as good as anyone." And the actions of his father, who fought against segregated elevators in the Atlanta courthouse. But young Martin's knowledge of God's light highlighted the sting of racism in his home state of Georgia. In his autobiography, he remembered a trip to the shoe store with his father. A store clerk said to Martin's Dad, "I'll be happy to wait on you if you just move to those seats in the rear." Dad immediately replied, "There's nothing wrong with these seats. We're quite comfortable here." "Sorry," said the clerk, "but you'll have to move." "We'll either buy shoes sitting here," my father retorted, "or we won't buy shoes at all." Whereupon he took me by the hand and walked out of the store.

Kara Hackert  1:45 

I still remember walking down the street beside him as he muttered, "I don't care a lot how long I have to live with this system. I will never accept it." As he grew up, Martin learned that following the light of Jesus didn't mean becoming blind to injustice, but challenging it. Following Jesus meant fighting darkness. Young Martin studied knowledge and truth intensely. He skipped a grade in elementary school and completed high school by age 15. By age 25, he had earned a doctoral degree in theology (the study of God). Throughout his life, Martin Luther King, Jr made decisions to follow Jesus' light. This commitment led to his job as a pastor and his role as an activist, then to a position as the leader of the National Civil Rights Movement.

Kara Hackert  2:36 

Shall we learn more about Dr King's work as an activist? First, we need to understand that his actions were based in this Christian faith. Christians believe that the way to walk in the light is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Believe that Jesus died as a payment for the wrongs of all people in order to bring them back to God. Believe that Jesus came back to life and now lives in heaven. And they love God and love others. The light of Jesus is no ordinary light. Jesus' light not only shines truth to make us aware of our wrongs, it shines forgiveness for those wrongs. Jesus' light shines to bring us close to God and close to each other. Jesus' goal was reconciliation. He didn't come to punish the world, but to bring the world back to relationship with the God of light. Jesus shared his light generously. He offered rest, healing and truth to all people: women, men and children, thieves and traders, leaders and poor people, brown, black and white. Jesus never used violence to defend himself when people were angry with what he said. He did everything with peace and love and he invited people to follow his example. He even remained peaceful when he was unfairly accused and condemned to die by leaders who saw his light as a threat. The leaders - both religious and governmental - liked things the way they were. They plotted to put out the light of Jesus by killing him, but they failed. Jesus rose from the dead and his light shines to this day. Because he followed Jesus, Dr. King devoted himself to studying and preaching God's Word, to caring for his community and fighting the darkness of racism and injustice. Dr. King believed the Bible's promise that God's loving light held the power to transform oppressors into neighbors. Dr. King said, "We hope we can act in the struggle in such a way that we will see the air of their approach and will come to respect us. Then, we can all live together in peace and equality. Though Dr. King died, his light still shines. It still shines because it wasn't just Dr. King's light - it was the light of Jesus. And if we follow Jesus, his light shines in us too.

Kara Hackert 5:07  

Let's pray. Dear Father, thank you for the work of Dr. King. Help us to be a light as well that shows your love to others. Show us peaceful ways to create change. To you be all the glory, amen.