Psalm 40:1-11 God heard my cry.
Isaiah 49:1-7 You are my servant.
John 1:29-42 Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God
that has been given you in Christ Jesus.
I.
Over the course of human history, God has raised up men and women who have extraordinary gifts and graces to lead people out of darkness into light. Moses, David, Isaiah, Amos and the other prophets gave leadership, courage and strength to dispirited people. Later Jesus, whom we Christians believe to be the most complete revelation of God yet seen, Mohamad, Ghandi- all helped folks find a way out of no way, as is said by some Southern churches.
We pause this weekend to honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. another such leader. It is sobering for some of us to realize that for younger people, Dr. King’s story is the stuff of history books. Because for many of the rest of us, he lives within us, his words still fresh in our hearts; words like these-
I refuse to believe that humankind is so tragically bound
to the starless midnight of racism and war
that the bright daybreak of peace
and sisterhood and brotherhood can never become a reality…I believe
that unarmed truth and unconditional love
will have the final word.
We proclaim the saving peace of Almighty God.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929, the year of the Great Depression, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the son of a preacher. His father was the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Though this gave Martin a rather comfortable life within black society in segregated America, his soul-waters would be stirred to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He graduated from Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), and Boston University (Ph.D., 1955). King was ordained in 1947 and became (1954) minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. Early on, he was recognized by his clergy colleagues as an exceptionally able young pastor. Early on, King also as deeply troubled by the oppression of the black people in the U.S. society. His Christian conscience would not let him rest in the face of protracted injustice. Though civil rights laws had been passed, Southern cities arrogantly ignored them. Soon, he was tapped to lead the black boycott (1955-56) of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis.
The Montgomery experience drew others to King and with them, he organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. Adopting the principles of nonviolent resistance, he and his colleagues were arrested on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. A severe test came in 1963 when his group was asked to help with the ugly situation in Birmingham, Alabama, a city notorious for its brutal repression of blacks and flagrant disobedience of federal law. His letter to clergy colleagues from a Birmingham jail is famous for his witness:
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given
by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet
to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well-timed” in the view of
those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation…Justice
too long delayed is justice denied.
Having gained worldwide attention, Dr. King spearheaded the August, 1963 March on Washington, which brought together more than 200,000 people. Many from Rock Spring Church were among those in attendance. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
His leadership in the civil rights movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. As source of concern was Dr. King’s growing understanding of the linkage between discrimination, poverty and the Vietnam War. His sermon at Riverside Church in New York City inspired and troubled the nation. The sermon was variously titled, “Beyond Vietnam” or “Breaking the Silence.” According to Vincent G. Harding, historian, scholar, and assistant to King in writing the sermon, (Sojourners, April 2007), the sermon,
named the sickness eating the American soul as “the giant triplets of racism,
extreme materialism, and militarism.”
Among King’s points in this controversial sermon were these, paraphrased:
-the Vietnam discriminated against the poor because the children of America’s poor were doing most of the fighting and the dying; The war was an enemy of the poor.
-the war was racist because the front lines consisted of mostly America’s minorities, thus further enslaving those it had tried to free;
-the war fueled our materialist hungers because it was good for business;
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann wrote,
Hope is the refusal to accept the reading of reality which is the majority opinion,
and one does that only at great political and existential risk. (Sojourners, Ibid.)
For Dr. King, it was indeed an “existential risk,” says Harding.
He raised up previously silenced voices. He named names- indentifying the
shackles on the soul of America and who held the keys. With the (Riverside sermon),
he delivered a prophetic witness of the sort described by Brueggemann, one that
“created a future quite different from the one that royal domination intended to
permit.”
One year later to the day, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis while working to support the striking sanitation workers.
II.
Dr. King left a legacy of hope that night. A legacy based on a rock solid Christian conviction that extends far beyond earth’s bounds. Recall these words from his sermon that night before the bullet took his body down:
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats- or talk about
the threats that were out. Or what would happen to me from some of our sick
white brothers.
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult
days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the
mountain top. I won’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m
not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.
And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve
seen the promised land.
I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people
will get to the promised land.
So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
A legacy of hope…for our time! Gospel-based conviction that gives of his very self that we might know we are loved to every hair on our head- all of us, each and every one, black and brown, white and yellow-skinned, Iraqi and Chinese and North Korean and Arab and all. Enemy and friend.
Legacy of hope…for our time…of war…our Vietnam? Our Memphis? God help us to recall that our mountaintop remains for us to gain vision, perspective for these days. Our faith reminds us that John the Baptist had not Messiah but pointed the way…as he felt called to do…and recognized him when he saw him. In so doing, others followed…and still do…Brother Martin… you…and me…in hope…even joy.
Legacy of hope…All times are tough in their way…the psalmist hundreds of years before Jesus knews tough times…and a God who saw him through…and would again. Tough times were on Isaiah’s mind…as he speaks the voice of the people who felt called as the chosen ones for their time, to be joined one day in the New Covenant by all, even us, who accept the the challenge…
the challenge to address injustice and evil of all kinds with love and nonviolence and the ability to call all people sister and brother, in prayerful recognition of one another’s sickness in heart.
The night that Dr. King was murdered, I sat with Bob on the back ally steps of my field work church near Yale Divinity School. Bob, the black son of the church’s pastor, was a furious fifteen-year-old, angry over the assassination. He turned to me and asked why white folk always kill black people when they try to do good. I gave a fumbling reply about some people being very sick and evil being in the world. Bob shot me a hateful look, jumped to his feet and took off at a gallop down the ally. I never saw or spoke with him again. Nor can I find anyone who knows what happened to him.
If I could speak with Bob today, I would have to offer…
III.
Today, this long weekend, is not about the tragic death of a leader in his prime.
It is about a legacy of hope based on a God who loves humankind so much that he dares to become involved with us even unto death …before hope triumphs…
That’s cause for joyful celebration!
Because this kind of hope changes things. The mountain top gives new perspective on life’s days and hours, sorrows and joys. Remember, this kind of hope… (Brueggemann)
is the refusal to accept the reading of reality which is the majority opinion…
as great political and existential risk.
But knowing that, in living this kind of life, this hope-filled legacy (King at Memphis),
We will be deeply happy…not worried…not fearing…
our eyes …seeing the glory of the coming of the Lord…
Amen, and Amen.