This week in the US we celebrated the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Mr. King was slain in the prime of his life as he stood up for freedom, justice, unity, and oneness of all people. Mr. King had a dream, a dream I will let his own words portray:
“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’ — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
“I have a dream today!
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; ‘and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.’”²
What an awesome dream, a dream of unity, a dream of oneness, and a dream of unparalleled love. A dream that springs from the heart of God, for Jesus said:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23
Do you share this dream? Are you reaching out to your neighbors in love? Are you ridding your heart of sectarianism, nationalism, egotism, and divisions of all kinds? The only power in the universe that can bring about such a dream is the power of love – love which transforms the heart and recreates the character. No government can stamp out hate, no legislation can root out bigotry, no enactment can purge prejudice, and no law can eradicate hardness from the heart and ignorance from the mind.
Only the truth about God as revealed in Jesus can set minds free – free from ignorance, free from fear, free from prejudice, bias, racism, tribalism, free to love others more than oneself. Only in the kingdom Jesus offers – the kingdom of love – will we find our dreams of unity have become reality. Do you share the dream? Then welcome to the kingdom of love!