Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
Yesterday we had a joyful Easter celebration online and in the parking lot at Trinity Lutheran Church. Easter is a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and to claim our promised resurrection.
It was 53 years ago yesterday that the pastor, prophet, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated. Dr. King would no doubt be troubled and encouraged by the continuing struggle for freedom and equality in our country. King famously said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” That is most certainly true, but there are no straight lines in human history; progress is painful, slow, riddled with detours, sometimes hidden in the midst of chaos.
What we are seeing with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Me-Too movement and the Green Environmental movement, is progress. It is not always pleasant, in fact, sometimes it is downright troubling, but the long arc is bending toward justice.
Each and every one of us has a role to play in bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. We are called to work for justice, to care for our most vulnerable, and to confront all forms of hate and prejudice. On April 4, 1968 Dr. King died as a martyr, but he did not die in vain. It is up to us to keep the dream alive. As King said, “Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter – but beautiful – struggle for a new world.”
Thanks Dr. King — we may not see it, or feel it, every day, but every day we are one day closer.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Pastor Jim
