Today’s
Scripture Reading (July 13, 2019): Psalm 97
One of my favorite quotes of Martin
Luther King, Jr. is that “darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do
that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” (Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and
Speeches). Light drives out darkness; it creates a space around
it that the darkness cannot penetrate. No matter how dim the light, there is at
least a small darkness free zone around the source of the light. It is
something that darkness can never do. The only way to make an area dark is to
cover up the source of light. There is no source of darkness and can disperse
the light.
Dr. King argues that hate functions in the same way.
Hate exists only in the negative. It is the absence of love. If love exists,
then hatred cannot fill that space. The only way to allow hatred to expand in
an area is to cover up the source of love. So, in the Christian Church, hatred
should not exist, unless we are willing to reject the teachings of God through
Jesus Christ. For hatred and bigotry to live in the church, first we have to
cover the source of love.
The Psalmist says that “light shines on the
righteous.” Most Hebrew manuscripts have “light is sown” on the righteous, and
there is a bit of a debate over which rendering is the best. My preference is
to stick with the majority of Hebrew Manuscripts. Light is sown on the
righteous. And my choice is not just based on the idea that this is the
majority reading. I love the idea that light is planted in us. God is light,
and he places his light like a seed in our lives so that, if we will let that
seed grow, we become the sources of the Light of God. To carry Dr. King’s
analogy a little further, God also plants his love in our lives so that we
become the sources of the Love of God. Darkness and hate can never take root in
a place where God has planted his love and his light.
And maybe this was exactly what Jesus was trying to
tell us when he said, “You are the light of
the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Psalm 98 & 99
No comments:
Post a Comment