Civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. compared hate to “an unchecked cancer,” saying it “corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity.” Unfortunately, the destructive force of hatred is often evident in nations, communities, families and even churches. The obvious — though not always easy — antidote to hatred is love. As The Message translation of Proverbs 10:12 states, “Hatred starts fights, but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.” The image of a comfy quilt symbolizes the soothing impact that loving words and actions can have on enemies as well as friends. Plus, it’s tough to share the gospel without showing love, which social reformer Elizabeth Cady Stanton called “the ‘open sesame’ to every soul.” From NewsletterNewsletter January 2016
“The Magi teach us true faith,” said Martin Luther. Given the obstacles they encountered, we would understand if they had given up altogether! First, the travelers were “off the mark,” coming to Jerusalem to seek a newborn king in a “royal palace.” Then, directed to Bethlehem, the wise men found a sight “so utterly out of keeping with a king” — a poor young woman and child, in a “poor hut” — that one might expect them to head straight home. “But,” declares Luther, “with a great, strong and full faith they ... follow the word of the prophet and the witness of the star in all purity of heart,” bowing to worship and honor the Savior. —Based on Luther’s sermon for the Festival of the Epiphany (1522), Luther’s Works NewsletterNewsletter January 2019