The final sermon as pastor of First Congregational UCC, Brainerd, MN
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Day, January 20, 2012
Psalm 36 “In your light, we see light.”
I have told
you many times that Martin Luther King Jr day is my favorite patriotic holiday,
because Martin Luther King Jr was not just a great American—he was the Reverend Doctor King. It is the only
national holiday that honors a member of the clergy. I have always thought that
the church should make more of that. The Rev. Dr. King’s day should be a day
when people of faith throughout the country goad their pastors into danger,
provoke them to take courageous stands for love and justice. Pastors and
priests, rabbis and imams, shamans of every faith could rise up together and
march to whatever capitol is nearest and ask the tough questions of their law
makers. We could all join hands together and stand up for love and justice and
together be anti-violent, anti-racist, and anti-poverty.
Maybe
someday.
So when, in
November, I realized I would be announcing my resignation, and setting my own
expiration date as your pastor, I knew, I knew that I couldn’t choose better
than to have one more Rev. Dr. King day with you.
For you
children who might not yet know who I’m talking about, and for all of us who
may have forgotten some of the details of his too short life, here is a litany
of The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic acts.
1955-6 –
Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott
1957 –
Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
1958 –
publication of Stride Toward Freedom,
wherein he set forth the principles of nonviolent resistance.
1959 – 1963
Continued to work for voting rights, the integration of public schools and
continued to develop and teach nonviolent resistance.
1963 –
March on Washington, “I have a dream,” “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” and The Strength to Love.
1964 –
Nobel Peace Prize, and published Why We
Can’t Wait.
1965 –
Selma to Montgomery Marches, which preceded the introduction of the Voting
Rights Act.
1966 –
Moved to Chicago, to concentrate his efforts on fair housing
1967 –
Published Where Do We Go From Here, and
The Trumpet of Conscience. Delivered
his final speech as president of the SCLC.
1968 – After speaking in
Memphis, Tennessee, was killed.
Where did
he get these ideas about love and justice and non-violent resistance? His whole
life was steeped in scripture. He got it right out of the word of God and the
life of Jesus. He was called to rise to leadership by the convergence of events
and by the power of his own intellect and ability. But he was encouraged and
sustained by the unhistoric acts of people whose names are mostly forgotten,
except to those who loved them best. King was encouraged and sustained by his
congregation. He was provoked to love and good works by the people that he
served.
In The Strength to Love, King told us about
one of these ordinary persons, Mother Pollard, who, back in 1956 during the
Montgomery bus boycott heard him speak to an assembly. He greeted her after the
service and she challenged him. “Something is wrong. You don’t talk strong
tonight.”
Dr. King knew she was right. It had been “a tension-packed
week which included being arrested and receiving numerous threatening phone
calls. I attempted to convey an impression of strength and courage, although I
was inwardly depressed and fear-stricken.”
He tried to keep up appearances but Mother Pollard was too
wise for that.
“Now you can’t fool me. I know something is wrong. Is is
that we ain’t doing things to please you? Or that the white folks is bothering
you? I done told you that we is with you all the way. But even if we ain’t with
you, God’s gonna take care of you.”
King wrote, “As she spoke these consoling words, everything
in me quivered and quickened with the pulsing tremor of raw energy.”
Without
Mother Pollard, Dr. King might have gone home and written a letter of
resignation, reasoning that the road is too hard, the sacrifice too great. Without
the power of his congregations praying and walking together, where would we be?
MLK day
should be a celebration not just of a man, but of a movement, a celebration of
the power of faith in action, a celebration of the power of non-violent
resistance to unjust violence. Let it be for us all a day to double our
commitment to follow the way that Dr. King followed.
We stand by
non-violence.
We stick
with love.
We walk the
way of the crucified Christ.
We are the
congregation of the beloved community, the church, and we are called to shine.
We are not the source of light, but when we stand in the light of Christ we
shine. Like the moon lights up the night with the reflected glory of the sun,
we can shine the light of God in the darkness and banish fear. Let your light
so shine! Amen.
