Suits and Dresses For Down Here

"It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all its symbolism, But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher much talk about the New York, the New Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis. This is what we have to do."


Martin Luther King Jr. 
From his speech, I See The Promised Land, delivered in 1968 in Memphis, on the eve of his assassination. 


Yes, it is true that the final redemption and restoration of the world won't come until Jesus returns. Yet, Jesus came inaugurating his kingdom in the here and now, and we are called to participate in this redemption in the here and now.