Embracing Peace

This last Wednesday, August 28, 2013, marked the the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his now iconic “I Have A Dream” speech. For me the most memorable part of the speech is his dream that young children of every color will hold hands and play together. It is a beautiful dream with implications far beyond the issues of racial equality, as important as those are. I would like to apply his dream to the gospel.

This week I read this Twitter post by Jonathan Martin.

“The gospel is so bent towards the outsiders, the very moment we get too secure being gospel insiders we start to resist the gospel itself.” (August 23, 2013)

Martin_Luther_King_-_March_on_WashingtonDr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw that when the children of different races came together to play, they didn’t see one another as outsiders, but rather together as one. The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is a message that God is near. It is a message of relationship and inclusion into the people of God. The Apostle Paul refers to it in Ephesians 6:15 as the “gospel of peace” for which we must be ready to carry with us wherever we go.

We will always be tempted to accentuate our differences to the exclusion of others. May we not resist the gospel in this way, but as agents of the gospel of peace, let’s pursue peace to the inclusion of others, who will then no longer be other.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9

Grace and peace,
Brook

One thought on “Embracing Peace

  1. Pingback: Embracing Peace at Advent | The Way Beyond

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