Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Moses, the prince of Egypt turned reluctant deliverer, boldly took on the power of Egypt to call for the liberation of an oppressed people, his people. He could have lived luxuriously in Pharaoh’s palace but chose to object to the brutal oppression around him. After escaping from Egypt, Moses could have stayed in the land of Midian, tended to his father-in-law’s flock, and lived a quiet existence away from the world stage. But he responded to the call on his life to serve in the office of liberator to a nation of people under oppression.
For over 40 years, Moses led a rebellion of peaceful resistance to Egypt and dealt quietly with detractors from the house of Pharaoh, his own people, even his own family who questioned his message, his leadership and why he should be the one to lead the nation to the Promised Land. In spite of all he faced, Moses steadfastly spoke truth to the power of his day and refused to accept that any person should live under the domination and oppression of another. Moses became the instrument of God to force Egypt to recognize their obligation to liberate an oppressed people.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the American Moses, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Like Moses, King accepted the call to speak an unpopular but essential truth to power and institutionalized oppression. King faced detractors from within and without who questioned his motive and methodology, and pressured him to compromise from his approach. Both men accepted the calling from a life of relative obscurity, safety and comfort to devote themselves to the cause of justice and equality. Each walked a lonely road to enable freedom for a people and a nation.
It was a matter of national liberation that Dr. King struggled to achieve. He not only sought to liberate a race of people from American apartheid, he wanted to liberate America from a mindset that overtly and tacitly endorsed institutional racism. King didn’t simply call for an end to economic oppression of certain socioeconomic groups, he challenged the status quo to allow all people to compete for the same opportunities. He dared to call for peace in a time of war, to seek a negotiated end to international hostilities, even if it prompted some to question his patriotism.
King engaged in the activity that is most disturbing to a person or a nation; he raised a mirror before us and asked whether we should be satisfied with what we saw. Even more, he asked if God was satisfied with what He saw in the nation. Dr. King raised the consciousness of a nation. He not only sought to liberate a segment of the nation, he relentlessly pursued the salvation of America’s soul.
After gazing over into the Promised Land, Moses died on Mount Pisgah. It was God who closed his eyes and laid him in a burial place known only to God. Perhaps God kept that location secret to ensure the nation didn’t idolize the man, but worshiped the God who sent the man. We recognize, honor and respect the King legacy and his immense contribution all poor, alienated, oppressed people of all walks of life. Greater still, we exalt the God who sent him to be our American Moses. Rest in peace Brother King. America still pursues its search for the Promised Land.
Question to Ponder: What have I done to pursue the cause of justice, equality and liberty for the oppressed?
“But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land.”—Deuteronomy 34:10-11
