WEDNESDAY'S WORD - REVOLUTIONARY - 04/11/18 Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

 

"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. ... A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just..." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just." 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

A REVOLUTIONARY is a person who works for or engages in political revolution - promoting or causing complete or dramatic change.  We just commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of one of America's greatest revolutionaries, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was killed at age 39! Now, documentaries and movies are made of his life, statutes are erected in his honor, streets are named after him, and his most notable speeches are quoted across the globe. Today, he is known as a unifying force and given posthumous adoration. Some call it a 'white-washing' of history because in the Civil Rights era, he was known as a trouble-maker and an agitator. He was hated by racists, envied and fought by some people of color, and deemed a threat to the status quo of the government and its systems. We see many more photos of King preaching and marching than we do of his arrests, wire tapping, or of his house being shot or bombed. We recite and hear more quotes and clips from 'I Have a Dream,' or "Mountaintop" than we do his speeches on the racial, and especially the economic injustice that many believe cost him his life.

A REVOLUTION is the forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. It is a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized. In history we were taught about the Revolutionary War and the Boston Tea Party, the US Colony's rebellion against British rule. "No Taxation without representation." The Founding Fathers felt fully justified to address the tyranny of their oppressors not just with words but with war. It's interesting that Dr. King philosophically decried violence and refers above to a 'revolution of values.' VALUES are ideals you regard as important, worthy and useful. They are principles and standards of behavior. Dr. King knew, as a Kingdom citizen and follower of Jesus, that you can legislate, and you can try to dominate, but ultimately how we treat one another is a matter of the heart. 

Revolutionaries are not usually popular. They are prophetic voices, isolated outcasts, pioneers and early adopters who hold insurgent perspectives. John the Baptist was a crazy looking, camel hair wearing, locust and wild honey eating prophet, crying out in the wilderness "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3) He had come to turn the religious system on it's ear, and to radically and forever change the way individuals interacted with their God. His command was at once a thought, heart and action issue. "Prove by the way you live that you have repented from your sins and turned to God." (vs. 8, NLT) Repent meant to not only feel regret or remorse about your wrong doing, but to think differently about how you'd behave in the future. Turn is intentional. You were headed in a certain direction, going about things a certain way. NOW you are to do an about face, go in the opposite direction and do things differently.  Just a thought, Isaiah's remorse (Isaiah 6), was not just about himself, but the people he dwelt amongst as well.

That my friends is a revolution...and the revolution will not be televised!  (ref. Gil Scott Herron) Jesus said, The Kingdom of God comes without observation, because it is within you. (Luke 17:20-211)  We are following and being ruled by the greatest revolutionary that was or ever will be - the LORD Jesus Christ.  He changed the game on socio-political, economic, religious, gender and ethnic systems and who held their power. He embodied the willingness to suffer and die for what He believed in and for those He loved. He didn't hold His privilege, but willingly gave it all up for our sake in obedience to His Father. (Phil. 2) Then He left us with a revolutionary call to do the same reconciling work He did on the earth. (2 Cor. 5) Now it's our turn to be revolutionaries. Songwriter Kirk Franklin asked a simple question, "Do you want a revolution?" Sadly, some of us really don't.

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