Free At Last
 "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Those powerful words from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s speech at the March on Washington in 1963 were words to live by for a generation. Among other things Dr. King noted that “This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.�And yet… and yet.. As we approach what is sure to be another sweltering summer I ask are we free? There can be little doubt that Dr. King said what was needed to a nation and church that had offended and disobeyed God by locking millions of souls created in His image in the chains of perpetual injustice. And yet I ask again are we free? Granted we have gained the right to lodge in the nation’s finest hotels, won the right to vote, can attend the nation’s elite schools, elected countless mayors, congress people, and a couple of governors and senators. But are we now free at last? African-Americans have served on the Supreme Court, headed the joint chiefs of staff, served as Secretary of State and we’ve even gotten to the point where one is a serious contender for the nation’s highest elected office. And yet… are we free?
Perhaps yes, and perhaps no. One thing we can be sure of is the number of serious issues facing African-Americans today. In major cities across America black men are killing each other by the hundreds. An entire ‘music’ industry is built upon the premise that both black men and women are a sub-human species good only for killing and using for pleasure. It seems that many of us stand by while crisis after crises cripples Africa. The high school drop out rate for many black teens in our cities is over 50%. And it appears that millions of young black people merely languish in urban ghettos without the hope of ever participating in the promise of America. Many of us are wondering where we are and where our communities are heading. Many of us were shocked and saddened by the recent 60 Minutes story on the nihilistic destructive culture enveloping our young people.
While I certainly don’t wish to return to the segregated 60’s I doubt that this is what Dr. King had in mind when he envisioned a free black people in the land of our birth. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t fault Dr. King, his speech or the Civil Rights Movement. Frankly, those of us blessed to be born in the mid-sixties owe a great debt to those brave souls who risked their lives to secure a better future for their children and grandchildren. While we may have embraced a more accurate expression of overall biblical theology it must be remembered that this theology didn’t keep Reformed churches from barring black people from communion and membership simply because they were black. Before we jump big and bad over Dr. King and his generation let’s recall that neither he nor many of our parents would have been able to become members of Reformed churches even if they’d embraced the five points of Calvinism, grown tulips in their yards and traded their spirituals for the original Trinity hymnal.
My issue then isn’t with Dr. King nor his dream per se, but with the what his dream was rooted in. Many of you recall that Dr. King claimed that his dream was deeply rooted in the American dream. “I say to you today, my friends, 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.�
The challenge with the American dream is that it is the province of Americans. It follows then that in order for Dr. King’s dream to come true Americans must in some way welcome and openly accept African-Americans into this society. But it doesn’t stop there. African-Americans must want to become apart of this dream and not stand opposed to it. However as daunting as this is, inclusion in the American dream still isn’t the key to our freedom. For people no matter how well intentioned cannot grant ultimate freedom. To thus tie our freedom (whatever that is) to the American dream will inevitable fail to bring us true liberation.
So where does liberation lie? What is the path we should trod to arrive there? And if we reach it what will it look like? One this is for sure. Almost 44 years after Dr. King so eloquently uttered those powerful words few would stand today and with assurance declare that we are indeed free at last.
To Be Continued…
For Christ, the Church and the Truth,
Pastor Lance