05-11-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 11, 2024
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “I am many things to many people: civil rights leader, agitator, trouble-maker and orator, but in the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher… The church is my life and I have given my life to the church.”

When Dr. King wrote those words, I do not believe he was suggesting that he gave his life to an organization, institution, or bureaucracy. When he referenced giving his life to the church, I hear the voice of one who gave his life to an idea that sought enfleshing within a community that had its origin and power through the Holy Spirit.

Have we given our lives to such an idea? That kind of commitment was the pretext for Dr. King’s assassination. There are moments when I wonder just how much of my life I have really given to this magnificent idea that we call the church.

I arise every morning seeking to serve you, O Holy God, but that desire can so easily find distractions and interruptions that have my life-energy and resources supporting ideas that do not reflect the love and mercy of Jesus. Reignite that desire within me as your grace remains patient with me. Amen.