The Deciding Factor Is Jesus
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who came as the fulfilment of God’s promises. The one who gives us confidence that God is faithful still.
On this date in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. learned that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. King had been the leader of one part of the Civil Rights Movement, one that preached nonviolence even as it struggled against the hatred and cruelty of racism in America. In his acceptance speech later that year, he said these words:
I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.
You would be hard-pressed to find a paragraph more deeply rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the warnings of the Old Testament prophets.
I share this today because our society is battling against itself on so many fronts—most of you track the news and understand the tension in this country. As your pastor it’s not my job to talk about partisan politics, but as your pastor, it is every bit of my job to help us all reflect the Christian faith—the real Christian faith—in the ways we live and work and spend and vote. And so I leave you with the words of Dr. King 62 years ago.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
I really do believe that. Winning, for the follower of Jesus, might not look like vanquishing our enemies and establishing our control. Winning, for the follower of Jesus, might just mean that our witness to the love and grace and mercy of our savior is what people see and feel when they meet us and get to know us.
It’s going to be a tough final stretch of 2026. Meet it with unarmed truth and unconditional love, and let’s see together what happens.
Blessings to you and yours,
Pastor John