MLK, the Beloved Community, and the Gospel Unhindered

“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like, anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

These words are the familiar words Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke the night before his assassination. Dr. King was a man with a dream. His dream was to see true integration. He dream was to see what he called “the beloved community.”

Nearly forty-one years later, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first African-American President of the United States and many declared that Dr. King's dream was fulfilled. The day Barack Obama was inaugurated was certainly a glorious day and for those who have suffered and been oppressed because of race, this day was even much more meaningful than it was for me, I'm sure. But there is even a far more glorious day coming when the beloved community where oppression ceases and justice becomes reality.

Because the work of God empowering people like Dr. King, the beloved community indeed has been inaugurated, but it is not yet fulfilled. We've still got difficult days ahead. See, King's dream, the beloved community, is rooted in a larger, more comprehensive, more vivid dream, than I think we can even imagine. His dream was fundamentally rooted in the kingdom of God. King's words speak of this grand reality,

“But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends... It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.” (from “The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma,” 1957)

His dream was for true redemption, a dream perhaps similar to the Apostle Paul's dream. The Apostle Paul had a dream that is a dream shared by all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. It is the dream of the day when all things will be made new. Paul new that with the first coming of Jesus Christ the kingdom of God was inaugurated. But while Paul suffered, he was still awaiting fulfillment, full redemption, a day where all things would be made new.

Sometimes when I see the famous photograph of Dr. King looking through the bars of his Birmingham, Alabama jail cell, I think about the last chapter of the book of Acts and more specifically, the last words, “without hindrance.” The whole book of Acts depicts the redemptive and reconciling work of God going out unhindered in spite of overwhelming opposition. Indeed the work that Dr. King lead goes forth in spite of opposition. In Acts, we see that there is a great deal of opposition to the work of God, to the gospel. The opposition to the gospel that we see in Acts and indeed the opposition to the gospel today is disheartening. We know that in our own lives we face opposition of all kinds. Even today too many people around the world remain in situations where there is fierce oppression. Much of this oppression is based on race, gender, and social class. Today we also live in a world where the majority of Christians are also facing a great deal of oppression.

Acts however has good news for us! At the end of the book, the Apostle Paul is under arrest and imprisoned for his proclamation of Jesus Christ. And yet even with such a barrier like Paul's imprisonment, the work of God is still going forth and is going forth unhindered! Regardless of those barriers, those things that stand in opposed to God and God's people, the transforming of the beloved community goes forth! God is making all things new!

The kingdom of God and the beloved community was inaugurated when God pursued us in the coming of Jesus, who came to dwell among us, to die for all our wrongs, and to be raised from death to new life. God's work is going forth. The beloved community is, in the words of King, “the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.” After all, it is this love of God so powerfully at work that not even death itself hindereds Christ's life and the life of all those who are united to him in faith.

The book of Acts clearly reveals that the transforming work of God goes forth without hindrance. until the glorious day when “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will stand before our God and cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God...” (Revelation 7:9)

But Acts also leaves us with the question of whether or not we will be a part of this transformative work in the beloved community. It is impossible to experience a renewed life, a life resurrected by ourselves. We need to be connected relationally with the very one who was unhindered by death, Jesus Christ.

It is also impossible to follow Jesus by ourselves. Christians are called to love one another and are called into the beloved community. Robert Gelinas in his book, gets at this from the stand point of Jazz. He states,

“Most instruments used in jazz do not sound good by themselves. It is only when they are blended with others that they become compelling...the gospel is about the individual and the group...to follow Jesus is to become part of God's chosen people, the body of Christ...It is a beautiful challenge to be part of Christ's community, realizing that in the garden of Eden there was perfect relationship with God and each other and that as God restores a right relationship with him, he also restores those around us. Jesus' death on the cross broke down every barrier that could keep us from God and from each other. So much so that when the Apostle John gets a glimpse of heaven, he points our that there are people there from every tribe, language, people, and nation.” Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith, pg. 90-91)

What about you and I? Where are we in relationship to the dream? Are we recognizing the extent of the dream? Are we participating in God's transforming unhindered work or are we reluctant to participate and to join this beloved community?

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