Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:57-62)
Accused of having acted in an “unchristian manner” by a team of clergy, Brother Dr. Martin Luther Jr responds from the Birmingham Jail. This is an excerpt from “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” “Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the eighth-century prophets left their little villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.” Brother Dr. Martin longed for the “church to be the dream, team” and not the “little foxes.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr further reiterates in his letter from “prison” an example of such a “Holy Defiant Team.” “…there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was seen sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.” Seeking Soul, it is inevitable to conclude that when those of us who have been relegated to hold the Gospel plow, the “DREAM TEAM,” sleep on the job, we join the “little foxes” club by default.
Dear Seeking Soul, as my heart was disturbed by these “little foxes,” I remembered that God, too, desired a “Team.” Through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, God appeals for a fox catcher. Thus says the Lord:
The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 22:29-31)
God Calls this Fox Catcher, A man to make a wall and stand in the gap between God and his people. In ancient times, the kings built the walls of a city to safeguard their people, and a priest mediated between the people and God. Ezekiel envisioned a ruler who would be a “Prophet, Priest, and King.” God looked for such a man, but he found none. For such a man can never be found except in Christ, who qualified as Prophet, Priest, and King.
God is still searching for a people, He says… “When I shut up heaven, and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:13,14)
Seeking Soul, as I listened to the prophetic dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Reminding us that we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior) I realized that this “dream” needs a “team” to realize. A people who will stand in the Gap.
During this season of prayer and fasting, I believe we are the people God calls to stand in Gap. Dear Seeking Soul, Today I call on all of us who dare dream to have courage and stand. Let us stand and join our Martyrs in the past who stood and spoke for what was right. And knowing that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
I ask those listening here today and many out there, those who dare Hold the gospel plow and dig straight, Who will stand in the gap? Who will dare stand up in the gap for the family, in your marketplace, and the community?
- Who will stand in the gap and remind the world that all men and women are created equal and that God created them, Male and Female? Who will stand in the gap?
- Who will stand in the gap and erect the table of brotherhood, where God prepares a table even before the enemies? Who will stand in the gap?
- Who will stand in the gap to see Dr. Martin Luther’s Oasis of Freedom and Justice become the flowing river of righteousness?
- Who will stand in the gap to see our Children enriched in their Character in what they see, read, and touch? Who will stand in the gap…
- Who will stand in the gap and PRAY:
- That every valley shall be exalted,
- That every hill and mountain shall be made low,
- The rough places will be made plain, and
- The crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
We pray that through our Lord Jesus, the Prophet, Priest, and King may this dream come true:
- The coming of a new heaven and a new earth where evil and wickedness are completely eradicated.
- Establishment of the holy city, New Jerusalem the aboard of God where the rule of righteousness shall spring forth.
- The Continual dwelling of God with all humanity. “
- That tears will be wiped, complete annihilation death, sorrow, and crying.
- The riddance of pain, and the eradication of the Old order of wickedness to usher the new reign of righteousness.” (Rev. 21:1-6)
- Who will stand in the Gap?
Seeking Soul, while my brother the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned the day when the dream of “Freedom, Justice and Equality” would come true. The time has come to rally those of us, who work the “Gospel Plow” to “Hold ON” until the “Team” is raised to realize the “Dream.” We need a “Team” to realize the “Dream.”
Will you be the “DREAM TEAM” and Stand in the Gap?