Weekly Message
LET US MARCH ON TIL VICTORY IS WON
...When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. (Joshua 3:3)
As we celebrate Black History Month, I am reminded of the song that we know as the Negro National Anthem. "Lift Every Voice And Sing Till Earth And Heaven Ring." It was written by James Weldon Johnson. He was an author, a lawyer, a poet, a professor, and a song writer. The song concludes with the words, "Let us march on til victory is won." Perhaps Dr. Johnson could look through the tunnel of history and see that victory for Black people would be a long time coming. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included in a letter written March 25, 1965 the phrase, "How long, not long." He said later in another speech that "he may not get there with us, ... but he had seen the Promise Land." Perhaps he could see through that tunnel of history that Barak Obama would be elected as the first Black President of the United States. Truly there has been progress made as our people have continued to march toward justice and equality. The question is: "Has victory been won yet?" If not, there is still more marching to do.
In the passage above, Joshua was preparing the people to cross the Jordan river and enter the Promise Land. The preparation included: 1. learning from the past; 2. realizing that they may have to march in a new direction; 3. Reverencing God; and 4. Consecrating themselves for the journey. We can learn from their experience. As we continue the march to the "Promise Land" we should never forget where God has brought us from. Our past is significant. We should be willing to try new things and go places we have never gone before. More than that, God must be in front of our march. We need to keep our eyes on Him. Finally, we need to consecrate ourselves by living our lives in a way that God will be pleased.
I suggest to you that there has been great progress in the experience of Black people since James Weldon Johnson wrote the Negro National Anthem. However, the last line of the song is still appropriate because there is still a way to go before the goal is reached. Until that happens, "Let us march on til victory is won!"
