As we enter this weekend it is a long weekend with Monday as a holiday commemorating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

At 33, King was pressing the case of civil rights with President Kennedy. At 34, he galvanized the nation with his “I Have a Dream” speech. At 35, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. At 39, he was dead.
 
Dr. King was many things but he was first a pastor. He came to Montgomery and the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church with a 34-point plan. One of those was to purchase a new pulpit – and he knew how to use it. The man known for a famous speech was a preacher first and foremost. He called on everyone to be a servant. In his address, “The Drum Major Instinct” he is quoted as saying,
 
    ”Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to have your subject and verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second Theory of Thermal Dynamics in Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant.”
 
Dr. King’s call to service is a good word to the church today. There is plenty to do. As you find the banks closed and the mail not running on Monday, I suggest you reflect on the message of service and social justice. We can all find someone to lift up.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 10:43 am.
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