The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” This is what people of vision do. They believe in something bigger than themselves and they begin to act as if it is so.
Members from Redeemer and Redeemer Center for Life participated in a process at City Council that resulted in the approval for housing and employment goals for neighborhood residents in the development that will extend from downtown and into the Harrison Neighborhood. This success did not happen overnight; it involved a process of meetings, planning, and overcoming significant opposition. We held on to a vision.
Pastor Wyvetta Bullock tells a story about a pre-civil rights African American community in Florida. The story says that during times of political elections, this community would rent a voting machine and go through the voting process. They knew that their votes would not be counted, but they voted anyway. When asked by members of the white community why they did this every year, they replied, “Oh, just practicing. Just practicing.”
The capital campaign also begins with a vision. We want to involve our entire congregation, neighborhood and partners in our effort to speak powerfully to what God has in store for Redeemer’s future. We believe that God has a purpose that is compelling and we want to begin practicing now for Redeemer’s next one hundred years.
When I think about the witness of that African American community in Florida it reminds me that we cannot wait for reality to come to us. Let’s create our own reality and put our faith into practice now. Let’s begin by taking “the first step even when we don’t see the whole staircase.” This is not new to Redeemer, you are the congregation where after surveying the neighborhood established the non-profit Redeemer Center for Life, established a building to keep Milda’s Cafe in the neighborhood, acquired the block of property surrounding Redeemer, Peace Palace, block party, JUMP Hip Hop, Christmas Store and partnerships with Harrision Neighborhood Association and ISAIAH.
Faith is taking the first step even when we don’t see the whole staricase and believing in what is not yet seen means we practice or behave as if it isalready exists.
