Martin Luther King, Jr. / "I Have A Dream" speech, August 28, 1963

Transcription

1 Dr. King: Contemporary Prophet Sermon for Human Relations Day 2017, January 15, 2017 Psalm 41; Micah 6: 6 8; Philippians 1: 12 18a; Luke 6: McCormick United Methodist Church, McCormick, SC Paul A. Wood, Jr. "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." 1 Famous words. Those are famous and moving words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born eighty-eight years ago, today, January 15, 1929, just a hundred and fifty miles from here in Atlanta. I decided a few weeks ago, to preach about King on his birthday. It s the first time I have ever done so, despite having preached regularly for almost thirty-seven years. I am not a good person to preach about him for several reasons. One is that this is my first attempt. But the key thing about me that will weaken this sermon is the way I was raised. I am a native South Carolinian, yes. But I am white, and I was raised in a well-to-do home. That meant that I had little exposure to the realities of racial prejudice. Yes, I saw it right before my very eyes in the fifth grade when a handful of African-American students started attending my white elementary school. One of those students who started the year in my class was a dentist s daughter named Tonya. She was taunted cruelly and viciously by my classmates of both genders. From the first day of school something which my parents had instilled in me took hold, and I never joined in with the racist harassment. But that didn t make me a ten-year-old saint or prophet. Also, I never had a close friendship with a person of color until seventeen years ago when I became fast friends with an Episcopal priest who is black. He is Rev. Dr. Wilmot Merchant. But to be honest, my friend Wilmot is not African- American. Now an American citizen, he was born, raised and went to college in Liberia in West Africa. So, pardon me for the next few minutes if I come across in an academic way. I cannot speak as someone who has lived as a victim of prejudice, or as someone who has fought hard and taken great risks to establish racial equality and reconciliation. The experiences of Martin Luther King, Jr. are foreign to me. But obviously, 1 Martin Luther King, Jr. / "I Have A Dream" speech, August 28, 1963

2 Page 2 of 7 I think he is a Christian who warrants our attention. And yes, he was a follower of Christ, no doubt about it. We have just heard the words of our Savior and Lord. Love your enemies, he taught his disciples. do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Dr. King lived out those words in courageous and sacrificial ways. He never struck out at his adversaries. For a while, he was pressured by some younger African-Americans to use force to attain their objectives, but he refused to do so. He was reviled around the country. His house was firebombed; his family threatened; and eventually, at age thirty-nine, he fell to an assassin s bullet. But Dr. King lived by a strong and never-bending code of nonviolence. King s style of leadership resembled that of Jesus in several ways. Jesus was never afraid to take on his adversaries. But he refused the desires of some that he lead an armed revolt against the religious leaders who opposed him or against their common oppressors, the Romans. Jesus courageously spoke truth to those in power; truth to those who cared little for the poor; and also truth to those who wished to keep unacceptable people out of sight and out of mind. Jesus demonstrated God s devotion to the poor and beaten down. Jesus lived out God s compassion for the suffering and neglected through his healing ministry; with the time he gave to them; with his words; and with his very presence with them. We see parallels with Martin Luther King, Jr. whose whole life and ministry came to focus at an early age on freedom and restoration for the oppressed. He held a Ph.D., but he never spent time in some ivory tower. Another parallel between Jesus and Dr. King was their love for the prophets of the Old Testament. King s most famous speech is the I Have a Dream speech delivered at the Jefferson Memorial. He quoted Amos (5:24) who had so profoundly spoken of the day when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. In that same speech in Washington, he quoted the prophet Isaiah who wrote: (40: 4 5) Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed. His I Have a Dream speech hit its high point echoing those words of the prophet. So, think with me of Jesus entering the Temple in Jerusalem and turning over the tables of the money-changers. He called them thieves. The money-chang-

3 Page 3 of 7 ers loud voices and the noise of the animals ready for sacrifice made it next-to-impossible for anyone to pray in that part of the Temple. Yet, Gentiles could go no closer to the Holy of Holies. The Gentiles who wished to worship God in the Temple had to do so amidst the commercial clamor of the money-changers and the bleating of goats. So, Jesus ran them off while quoting the prophet Jeremiah: My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers. (Luke 19: 45 46) We can easily see how Jesus ministry became a model for Dr. King, and we can also see how Jesus love for the prophets fell upon Dr. King twenty centuries later. We have also heard the words of Micah the prophet this morning. He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) I can t think of any biblical words which better summarize Dr. King s life and ministry than those of Micah who lived and died twenty-seven centuries before Dr. King was born. For some of us who love Jesus, the words of Micah might as well be a personal motto. In the end, what does our God expect of us? Why not this: to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Dr. King was not only a student of the Bible but also of the teachings of the Indian leader Gandhi. King even traveled to his birthplace. Gandhi gave King a model for non-violence, and he had successfully led the people of India through a non-violent struggle for independence from Great Britain. King s non-violent ways are, I think, frequently forgotten. A hallmark of the boycotts and demonstrations which King led was the common commitment of the participants to not fight back. Yes, they were frequently arrested. Yes, they were frequently abused verbally and cursed and spit upon. Yes, they were often hit and struck and much worse. Think of the fire hoses and police dogs in Birmingham. But King and his associates put their fellow participants through rigorous training so that when the abuse came they were ready to respond as Christ would have them to respond. Dr. King once said: Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit. Almost fifty years after King was shot and killed, we should ask ourselves: How often do we prefer a violent solution over a solution which will entail restraint and personal sacrifice on our parts? We might even ask why our country is always so eager to resort to warfare. Dr. King was blessed with enormous intelligence. He skipped both the ninth and eleventh grades and started college at age fifteen. He finished college at age

4 Page 4 of 7 nineteen and went to seminary where he was valedictorian and president of the student body. By the age of twenty-five he had received his doctorate and become the pastor of a church in Atlanta. The following year, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Civil rights leaders there recruited the young minister from Atlanta to lead the bus boycott which followed. For more than a year the African Americans of Montgomery declined to ever get on a bus. They walked to work and school and everywhere else. They were abused. Homes were bombed. But the protestors won. The city ended its ordinance mandating segregation and white privilege on its busses. And as a result, Martin Luther King, Jr. became the primary face and voice of the civil rights movement. The hallmark of Dr. King s ministry was non-violent resistance. To this day, I cannot fathom what it took to resist taking up arms against the white supremacists who treated Dr. King and thousands of others with horrific violence. Some of you have heard me speak of an incident which occurred in my hometown in the late fifties. The high school band teacher began giving his time after school hours to teach African American youth how to play musical instruments. One day members of the KKK met him outside of the band room and savagely beat him. He survived, but he chose to leave the South and return to his place of birth in Upstate New York. I had the privilege of meeting him when he returned to Camden, South Carolina, in the early 70 s. It was only after he died that I learned about his commitment to civil rights. A few reminders: It was a time of segregated water fountains, segregated restrooms, segregated busses and maybe worst of all, segregated schools. My minister friend Angie Simmons helped me to understand part of the significance of that situation. The textbooks which she read in school had been worn out through use in the white schools before being passed down to Angie and her classmates in the colored schools. Let s recall the freedom riders who were savagely beaten as they attempted to travel from Washington to New Orleans. One of the most violent episodes during their courageous journeys took place in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in the Greyhound bus terminal. The white supremacists were ready and savagely attacked the riders. The police were, on orders from above, absent. Do I need to remind us of the murders of civil rights workers; of the complacency and sometimes full support of mayors and governors; of the open defiance of

5 Page 5 of 7 federal laws and court rulings; the silence of almost all white churches and their pastors? Dr. King maintained a commitment to confrontation but also his commitment to non-violence. He served this country very well. We did not fall into a race war. Eventually, people of color could freely go to the polls. People of color could buy or rent a dwelling in any part of a community. The schools were finally desegregated. And white folk like myself could grow up without the racist boundaries which had kept us separated from everyone else. You see, freedom for African Americans also brought freedom for those in places of privilege like myself. I think of Rosa Parks who decided not to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. I think of the students in Greensboro who sat down at the segregated lunch counter at the Woolworth s store. Eventually, 70,000 African Americans took part in lunch counter sit-ins around the country. They pressed for the desegregation of swimming pools, parks, beaches, transport facilities and so much more. With the Civil Rights Act of 1964, they won. I think of Dr. King who was jailed numerous times for participating in nonviolent demonstrations. And I think of the Apostle Paul who was also jailed, imprisoned and beaten many times because of the gospel. He began his letter to the Christians in Philippi by telling them that Christ was proclaimed through his imprisonment. He wrote: I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel He wrote of how other followers of Christ has begun to speak the word [of Christ] and dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. No doubt about it, Dr. King and many others have a witness to share with us today. It is not acceptable to sit idly by while injustice occurs. It is not acceptable to look the other way when immigrants, minority groups and the poor are treated unjustly. We have a story to tell and a message to proclaim. Christ died for all. God loves the poor. God is a God of justice and mercy. God made us all one people. And Christ his Son died that we might be all be one in him. Or as Paul the Apostle put it, There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. So, for people like you and me, one of our challenges is to speak for and act for what is right and just. We cannot sit on our hands while others suffer unjustly. A second challenge for us is to act in ways that demonstrate our conviction that we are all one in Christ Jesus. We have opportunities right here in this small town to meet one another, have meals together, chat about things we have in common and

6 Page 6 of 7 chat about things that make us different. We are all so terribly ignorant of one another. Our encounters with each other are often brief and superficial. Paul calls us followers of Christ to see ourselves as ambassadors for Christ. He tells us to have a ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5: 18, 20) So how can we do that? We can start a ministry of reconciliation by meeting, encountering, and eating with and talking with people of other races. To be an ambassador of Christ is to have face-to-face relationships with each other. The racial divisions in our country are worsening. Yes, I know, the young man who massacred Christians in a church Bible study failed to set off a race war. Yes, I know, South Carolina has made progress in race relations. But all in all, racial divisions have gotten worse. Having an African American as our president encouraged many of us. But the color of his skin angered millions of other Americans. I am convinced, though, that eventually the kingdom of God will come in. I am convinced that we will someday be one people and that love, justice and mercy will prevail. I anticipate and pledge to work for that day when justice shall roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5:24) I hope to do more in my retirement. I don t plan to be complacent. I want to be part of it. How about you? Let us pray: Thank you, O God, for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and people like him. They have done so much for us. Keep us ever thoughtful of Dr. King and of the Savior and Lord whom he served. Amen. Micah 6: 6 8, NRSV SCRIPTURES With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Amos 5: 18 24, NRSV

7 Page 7 of 7 Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. 20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Philippians 1: 12 18a, NRSV I want you to know, beloved, [f] that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard [g] and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; 14 and most of the brothers and sisters, [h] having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word [i] with greater boldness and without fear. 15 Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. 16 These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; 17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. 18 What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Luke 6: 27 31, NRSV 27 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.