Justice and the Biker

            I will be preaching on justice Sunday week. One of my favorite stories is a humorous one concerning justice. It is about a man who appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates:

"Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asked.

"Well, I can think of one thing," the man offered. "Once, on a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of high-testosterone bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground." I yelled, " Now, back off! Or you'll answer to me!"

St. Peter was impressed: "When did this happen?"

"Just a couple minutes ago."

            Unfortunately, the pursuit of justice DOES often come at great cost—even for those who seek it in a non-violent way. See Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. … and Jesus.

            Remember, it was God who said, “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24.) NIV 1984

       

Working for the Hosts of Heaven

Today is Martin Luther King Day. I consider Dr. King to be one of the most important human beings of the twentieth century.

Within the civil rights movement, Dr. King sought to motivate men and women to offer their very best to God. In that context, King declared, "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted and Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and Earth shall pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’"

Those words have inspired millions. From the day I encountered that quote, it, too, has motivated me.