Thought for Today
Numbers 9:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 Let the Israelites keep the passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its regulations you shall keep it.
John 13:1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
My denominational planning calendar tells me today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. So too does my These Days devotional guide. The calendar on my computer doesn’t indicate anything special about today. Only the calendar on my smartphone notes that today is both Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. For what it’s worth, the only thing we’ve seen this morning on the television news is coverage of the Inauguration.
Holidays and commemorative days are very culture-specific, nation-specific and sometimes even faith-specific. They also vary with time and circumstances. From the beginning of the U.S.A., Inauguration Day has remained a particularly important day for our country. Since WWII, it has had significance for much of the rest of our world. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was not made a U.S.A. federal holiday until November 2, 1983. It is rare for Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to fall on the same day. It has only previously occurred for the inaugurations of Presidents Clinton and Obama.
Neither Inauguration Day nor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day are liturgical holidays. Neither are days people of any faith tradition are commanded by their scriptures to observe or commemorate. Both observances are, however, days of which most faith traditions should be especially aware. Both observances involve basic issues of human rights and human dignity.
The U.S.A. Constitution is not a Christian document. It is not a Jewish document. It is not an Islamic document. It is not a faith-specific document; although, most of the concepts of human worth and value enshrined in that Constitution are elemental to all faith traditions. Irrespective of whether the history of our nation reveals consistent, persistent or diligent adherence to those concepts, our nation has always held them as our ideals.
One of the more notable things about our nation is that since our founding, every transfer of power from one administration to the next has occurred peacefully. We came close to breaking our streak on January 6, 2021; but, the inauguration took place peacefully on January 20, 2021. In human history, in the history of nations and civilizations, this is truly a rarity. Our history is not free of assassinations and attempted assassinations. It is not free from plots and attempts to affect coup d'état. We fought a tragic, deadly Civil War. We still have regionalism and all manner of arguments and disagreements. In my entire lifetime, every session of Congress has been accused of being paralyzed by partisanship. But, every transition of power has been accomplished peacefully. May it ever be so.
Today, as we observe both Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I am mindful of another conflict that has influenced and marked my own lifetime. I was not an active combatant in the Civil Rights Movement. I never attended any demonstrations or marched in any parades . . . for either side. But for everyone in my generation, whether living in the North or the South, that movement changed our lives and our country.
In seminary, I read some of the writings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If you have never read any of his works, I encourage you to do so. He posed a question in the epistles included in Letters from the Burmingham Jail. It is a question which should echo in the mind of every Christian, “If not now, when?”
Today, I will pray for our nation and for a peaceful transition of power and a peaceful administration. I will also say a prayer of thanksgiving for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and for that question he asked and still asks us all. Maybe we should ask that question every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Especially when we say, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If not now, when? When we ask that question, maybe we should also ponder what we can do individually to make it so.
Stay safe, do your part to make it so, trust God,
Pastor Ray