Dr. King's Dream and the Fatherless

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today we are reminded of how far we have come, but yet how far we still have to go.  Dr. King was a principled man and a deeply devoted follower of Christ who had a simple dream, that the Word of God would be realized and that the Glory of God's reign would be seen on earth as is it is heaven. 

The truth of the matter is that Dr. King’s dream is the echo of scripture and a reiteration of John's prophetic vision in Revelation.  While that fateful day, August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C. will be entrenched in the annals of American History, and rightfully so, let us not ignore that Dr. Kings message should not become antiquated in secularism, but be praised as a call to seek the Lord of Hosts. 

John says in Revelation 7:9-10, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

And then the words of our Lord in Matthew 24:14 resounds, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Watch how those themes reverberate through these 2 sections from Dr. King’s message:

"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..."

"From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Dr. King understood that no matter the inexcusable inequality here on earth and specifically in the segregated South, God's rule and reign would be of all people and that God's adoptive family isn't colorblind, but a beautiful tapestry of skin tones and melanin.

One day we all will bow a knee to our creator, one day we will all praise the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and one day we will truly join hands with brothers and sisters who might not look like us, but are more apart of us than if we were born into the same family. 

In Genesis after the terrible flood that covered the whole face of the land, God told his people to once again be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth, and go forth making the Glory of God known. It was a fresh new beginning and an opportunity for God-fearing man to make the glory of God known. Instead they collaborate to build a tower that will reach heaven.  They scoff at God's command and the first true undertones of our racist and prejudice heart is discovered.

Genesis 11:4 says, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."

Someone who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat its mistakes.  Let us not fall into the trappings of the past but seek to take God's glory and Gospel to the uttermost parts of the Earth. And how can we see this accomplished, "Adoption!"

How can one follow James 1:27 and experience pure and undefiled religion if they don't embrace the beautiful landscape of all the people God has created? How can one love orphans around the world or foster kids at home if they judge them by the content of their character or the tone of their skin?  To love orphans as God loves orphans, to adopt a child, meams embracing the sanctity of every human life.

To adopt or foster or support those families who do, means throwing away old ideas, mis-conceptions, or prejudice about inter-racial marriage and inter-racial families.  It means that embracing the notion that if you are in Christ you have more in common with the believer in the bush in remote Uganda than with your lost suburban next door neighbor - because you have the same Abba, Daddy, Father.  Our skin may be different hues, but we are all created equal, not because the preamble of the US Constitution says so, but because our God says so.

So on this Martin Luther King Day, will you consider doing something for the fatherless?  Will you consider seeing Dr. King's dream and that of John, while on the isle of Patmos, realized in your family as you seek to adopt, foster, or support someone who is on the journey?  Has the Lord put your family in a place where you could adopt or foster a precious child in need and in so doing meet their biggest dream?  Has the Lord burdened you with his command in James 1:27 to care for orphans in distress?  If so, partner with Lifeline today. Visit LifelineAdoption.org to donate to the cause, to apply to adopt, to sign up for a trip through our (Un)Adopted ministry by visiting orphans in need, to apply to be a foster parent for a child in US foster care, to volunteer in one of many ways for the sake of orphans, and ultimately to partner with us as we seek to meet the dream of the fatherless.

"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in."  Psalm 27:10

Oh beloved, will you allow God to use you to impact the life of a child? Please do not hesitate to give Lifeline a call because we are here...

On behalf of the orphans and fatherless.

Herbie Newell, Executive Director