Remembering MLK

On January 20 I attended St. Luke’s Columbia, where the focus was the Christian message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For your reflection I share here the homily given that day by St. Luke’s rector the Rev’d Calvin R. Griffin.

Epiphany II, January 20, 2008

I speak to you in the in the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Almighty God … Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” … “Words from the appointed collect for Martin Luther King, Jr., as found in the Episcopal Church’s Book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. There, too, we find the following biographical sketch of Martin Luther King’s life and work: Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta. As the son and grandson of Baptist preachers, he was steeped in the Black Church tradition. To this heritage he added a thorough academic preparation, earning the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Divinity, and Doctor of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Boston University. In 1954, King became pastor of a church in Montgomery, AL. There, Black indignation at inhuman treatment on segregated buses culminated in December 1955, in the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man.

King was catapulted into national prominence as the leader of the Montgomery bus boycott. He became increasingly the articulate prophet, who could not only rally the Black masses, but could also move the consciences of Whites. King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to spearhead non-violent mass demonstrations against racism. Many confrontations followed, most notably in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama and in Chicago. King’s campaigns were instrumental to the passage of the Civil Rights acts of 1964, 1965, and 1968. King then turned his attention to economic empowerment of the poor and opposition to the Vietnam War, contending that racism, poverty and militarism were interrelated.

King lived in constant danger: his home was dynamited, he was almost fatally stabbed, and he was harassed by death threats. He was jailed 30 times; but through it all he was sustained by his deep faith. In 1957, he received, late at night, a vicious telephone threat. Alone in his kitchen he wept and prayed. He relates that he heard the Lord speaking to him and saying “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness, stand up for justice”, and promising never to leave him alone –“No, never alone.” King refers to his mission as his “mountain-top-experience”. After preaching at Washington Cathedral on March 31, 1968, King went to Memphis in support of sanitation workers in their struggle for better wages. There, he proclaimed that he had been “to the mountain-top” and had seen “the Promised Land,” and that he knew that one day he and his people would be “free at last.” … On the following day, April 4, he was cut down by an assassin’s bullet.

“Almighty God … grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin, may resist oppression and secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel” … You’ve heard me tell the story, the story that is told of a great disturbance that erupted in Heaven. It will soon become obvious why once again today I’m sharing this story as we commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. King.

Again, it is a story of a great disturbance that erupted in Heaven. Hitler, and yes perhaps somewhat surprisingly, but nevertheless, according to this story, Hitler is in heaven, and was shouting, creating a ruckus about unleashing the so-called ruling regime. Khrushchev was pounding his shoe on the table, and King was threatening to take it to the streets. Suddenly, St. Peter called out “Brothers! Gentlemen! Peace! There’s no need for you to argue here, not here in heaven. For we have a person here who knows the answer to any question you might have … ‘Pardon me, Jesus’, said Peter … ‘can you come over here for a few moments? Some of your people have a question to ask.’

Jesus complied. ‘Yes Adolph, what is your question?’ Adolph said, ‘How long will it be before Germany will rule over all?’ Jesus said ‘about 10 million years.’ Hitler wept. ‘And, you, Nikita, what is your question?’ And Nikita asked, ‘how long will it be before the dictatorship of the proletariat will arrive?’ Jesus answered, ‘about 30 million years.’ Nikita Khrushchev wept. Finally, looking at Martin, Jesus said, ‘And, you Martin, what is your question?’ Martin asked, ‘how long will it be before my country treats my people like brothers and sisters?’ … And Jesus wept.”

What an insightful story for this 2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord and as our nation celebrates the life, work and legacy of one of God’s great 20^th century prophets, the Rev’d Martin Luther King, Jr. As I’ve said before, perhaps designed by Divine Providence, but then again, perhaps not, but certainly, certainly not insignificant is the fact that our national observance of King Day always occurs during the Church’s observance of Epiphany, the season celebrating light, celebrating the light of Christ, the season celebrating freedom and liberation, liberation from the bonds and chains of darkness and degradation. …

Light … Freedom … Liberation … Not simply for a select group or select groups of people, but light, freedom and liberation for all people … for all God’s children, regardless of race, nationality, color, creed or religion, gender, gender orientation or class - for all people. The message, the message not only of the Church’s feast of the Epiphany, but the message of Jesus, the message of St. Paul and the message Brother Martin is this: “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; no longer is there male or female; for all - all are one - one in Christ Jesus.” And we, therefore, are admonished, “to stand firm, to stand firm in that blessed liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.”

Certainly, Martin Luther King, Jr. was first and foremost, a churchman, a Christian, a prophet, a witness to the Good News of God in Christ Jesus. In other words, Dr. King was that to which we too, in holy baptism, have been called and commissioned. We, you and I, are the Church. We are the body of Christ. In our Book of Common Prayer’s an Outline of the Faith or Catechism we find that the Church pursues its mission … How? … as it prays and worships, as it proclaims the Gospel, and as it promotes justice, peace, and love.

The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members, not just through the ministry of the clergy, the ordained, but through the ministry of all its members - through you and through me … - through all its members. … Beloveds, we are the Church. In holy baptism we promised to strive for justice and peace among all people - among all God’s children. In holy baptism we promised to respect the dignity of every human being - for all are precious in God’s sight. Dr. King’s life and work exemplified these traits, these characteristic of a true, true child of God.

Again, we are the Church. We are the Body of Christ. You and I and all who are baptized into Christ. We must keep the dream alive; Martin’s dream that all be brothers and sisters; Martin’s dream that all be free; Martin’s dream that all may experience justice; that all may experience peace; that all may experience equality. We must keep the dream alive. … The message of Epiphany; the work and the mission of the Church; the work and the mission of each of us baptized into the body of Christ. …

“Blessed Martin, pastor, prophet…”

As the Rev’d Dr. Harold Lewis often reminds the Church, “Martin’s heart still beats in the breast of this nation, because the blood of this modern-day martyr has truly proved to be the seed for a movement for the liberation of every oppressed segment of this society. Martin Luther King laid the groundwork for racial equality, to be sure, but the struggle for liberation on the part of women, the struggle for liberation on the part of homosexuals, and the struggle for liberation on the part of other minorities could not have taken place when they did - or to the extent that they did - had it not been for Martin’s witness”.

Light - Freedom - Liberation for all God’s children.

In this season of Epiphany, celebrating the coming of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, and today, as we commemorate the life, the work and the legacy of Dr. King, may God grant that we, God’s people, illumined by God’s Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that Christ may be known, worshiped and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bishop Henderson’s Christmas sermon

“The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light”; I speak to you in the name of God who made light to shine in the darkness, and who calls us to live as children of the light: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Beloved, it is dark outside—it is very dark.

Darkness can be a blessing—if one is in love, and walking with one’s beloved under a clear, moonlit, star-bright sky. Or if one is snug and warm—and safe—at one’s fireside hearth or in one’s bed.

But darkness is not always so pleasant. Often it is the very symbol of evil. “In the beginning”—in the very beginning—the “earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep….”

Darkness can be fearful. As a young child, lying in bed in the dark, I was afraid of creatures I knew were under the bed, waiting to “get me”—whatever “get me” might mean to a young mind. Maxfield Parrish, an art deco artist of the last century, caught this common childhood fear illustrating a poem entitled, “Seein’ Things”. In his painting several fearsome specters lurk, suspended in the dark, surrounding a frightened youngster sitting upright and oh so tense in his bed. “Mother tells me ‘Happy dreams!’ and takes away the light, An’ leaves me lyin’ all alone an’ seein’ things at night! …I woke up in the dark an’ saw things standin’ in a row, A-lookin’ at me cross-eyed an’ p’intin’ at me—so! Oh, my! I wuz so skeered that time I never slep’ a mite–…I see things at night!”

Fear of the dark can follow us into adulthood. You know the evil things that happen, so often in the dark: assaults, robberies, in the dark…break-ins, drive-by shootings, in the dark…and for all of us, some place—some place—where we do not want to be in the dark, where we fear evil deeds happen most.

Because we are all human, I’m confident that there have been dark times in the past of each of us. Some of that darkness was due to circumstances beyond our control—some of our own making. There are dark times in our present, in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, in the life of our nation and our world. And there will be dark times in our future. What is it “they” say—“Only two things in life are certain: death and taxes”? To borrow from an obsolete radio serial, “Who knows what evil lurks….” Afraid of the dark—literal darkness, figurative darkness—past, present and future darkness? You bet we are!

But with Christmas we celebrate the light which is Jesus. “In him was life,” St. John writes in the Gospel, “and the life was the light of people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Is it only irony that many of the significant occasions in our Lord’s life occurred in the dark? Apparently he was born in the dark, while shepherds kept watch over their flock “by night”. On the cross, Jesus died in the dark, for as we are told, “darkness covered the whole earth”. He arose in the dark: “Early in the morning, while it was yet dark, Mary Magdalene came.” Jesus Christ came to us in the dark, gave himself for us in the dark, and arose from the dead in the dark. In his life and in his death, Jesus shared our darkness. Holy Scripture affirms it, and we declare it in faith: He came “to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us….” He’s “been there”—in the dark—so he knows our darkness from personal experience. To borrow from Isaiah, he has walked with “the people who walked in darkness….” Darkness in our past, darkness in our present, darkness in our future—Christ has been there, is there, and will be there—for us! “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us….”—again, “to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us….”

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined”. Nevermore need we be afraid of the dark. Oh, there is darkness now, and there will be more darkness—but Christ is in the darkness with us. To borrow—this time not from Isaiah, but from a personal friend, a mentor, a guide[1]: “Christ came in the dark so that we should not fear what is dark to us ever again”. No fear at birth or in life, where he has been, where we have been—and are. No fear in the present or in the future, where he is—and we are. No fear during death, where he has been, and where we will all be, one day. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Let me conclude with a portion of my friend’s sermon, the concept I have borrowed generally, but which I now shamelessly plagiarize, word-for-word: “Says the Bible, in the beginning, darkness covered the whole earth; says the Bible, near the end, Judas went out, and it was night; he went out from the Upper Room; he went out from the last supper; he went out from the lighted table of the Lord. Judas went out ‘and it was night’. For him, night was welcome, because the night covered his dark plans. But it was in that darkness that Judas lost his heart and his life and his soul”

We will not lose our heart or soul in any dark time. For God himself went through the darkest hours of all, for no reason except to help us. Christ is in the dark, any dark, forever, always to be the Light of the World. There can be no real fear in our darkness, past, present or future, because Christ is always in that darkness with us. St. Paul expresses the overwhelming nature of this gift when he writes to the Christians in Corinth that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”—the Lord which is the Light that shines on everyone who walks in darkness. That, Beloved, brings the “endless peace” which Isaiah prophesied—that is the joy which is Christmas—that is the Light that shines on us this night and evermore.

Merry Christmas! During these Twelve Days of Christmas and beyond, may you and your loved ones know joy and share it, find peace and live it, understand love, and give it—in the Name of God who made light to shine in the darkness, so that we might live as children of the Light: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

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[1] The Rev’d Dr. Donald O. Wiseman, in my opinion one of the greatest preachers of the Church; who prepared and presented me to receive Holy Confirmation; guided me—with great patience—in a discernment process which led to my ordination—and without whose presence and influence in my life I might not be a Christian at all!