Invited to preach at the MLK Memorial Service at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, this sermon is wrapped around Romans 12:9- and following:
A couple of questions:
How many renewed their baptism when entering the chapel?
How many of
you were born after 1968?
How many of
you have taken the January trek to the South and to Atlanta? Especially the King Center?
In the past,
earlier sermons focused on the work of Dr. King, his history and his legacy. Every time I go to Chester, PA to a soccer
match, my son and I park on the property of the church he served while
attending Crozer Theological Seminary. I
have, with some degree of envy appreciated your delaying the service of
memorial from a January date when students may be scattered to the four winds
and placing it closer to the date when he was taken from us. For if he were still alive he would be
83. For those of you born after 1968 he
has only been an historical memory. You
may have listened to his words, seen clips of him from Black and White
television, and read the reviews of many political stripes who have praised him
or taken him apart. And as of this year
the “Activist” is now cast in stone, that in some ways notes his unfinished
business.
For the last
month and more recently in the last few days we have heard of another Martin,
first name Trayvon. His death will be
examined, but it has raised some other critical questions from folks close to
me and closer to you in age. “Day,
didn’t the Civil Rights Movement address issues like this?” My answer isn’t sufficient for the questioner
or to me. “Civil Rights was an issue of
laws which compelled behavior modification, but it did not address attitudinal
modification.” I have even wondered out
loud whether we will remember Trayvon a year from now.
Last week at
the Preaching with Power event, the Tuesday Lecture was given by Eddie Glaude,
Professor of Religion and Chair of the Center for African American Studies at
Princeton University, gave a lecture to a relatively large crowd. Many had gathered to see if he would address
his Huffington Post article from a year ago which stated, “The Black Church is
Dead”. He teased us by walking around
his central theme that the Black Church is no longer the CENTER of Black
Community Life. He did say that we have
three issues that need to be address in our communities and they are not based
upon color, ethnic background or religious affiliation. 1. We
need a Livable Wage. 2. We need to
affirm quality education for all with a subtext of Public Education and 3. We
need to address the Incarceration Industrial Complex, where we have privatized
prisons which uses public funds for a profit making enterprise. These three issues seriously affect 90
percent or more of our population.
Now when I
place those elements along side the Romans passage that was given to me for
this memorial, there is a substantive challenge given to all of our churches,
no matter where we live in this complex society that is America. Here those words again:
Romans
12:9-21 Let love be genuine; hate what
is evil, hold fast to what is good;
10 love one another with mutual
affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent
in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be
haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you
are. 17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in
the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on
you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave
room for the wrath of God; for it is
written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No,
"if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them
something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their
heads." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.
Frankly I
don’t care where any of starts, if the Gospel is the foundation for our agenda,
then we have some definite challenges before all of us no matter where we are
in our educational process. The
challenge is to seminary students and seminary professors. The challenge is to parish pastors both urban
and rural. The challenge is how do we
live out our calling as the body of Christ in a time and place that may need
wise counsel as much now as it did from a thirty-four year old priest, who in
the midst of teaching his students, used the blog of his day, a church door, to
create some interesting discussion about the context of his day. A twenty six year old minister who was new to
the community had the church that was the closest to downtown in small city as
some community members discussed how to address seating on the bus system.
We received yesterday a letter from
our presiding Bishop offering wise counsel in the context of our day. In a “Message on
Racial Justice in the wake of Trayvon Martin's death,” Bishop Hanson offers the
following words, “Let us
together courageously engage in God’s work of restoring and reconciling
communities. Let us together pursue justice and work for peace no matter how
long the journey or wide the chasm. Let us tear down the walls we erect to
divide us and turn those walls into tables of conversation and reconciliation.”
In the
context within which we all study, we are to be about the task of Community
building. In our communities there seem
to be increasing amounts of incivility.
We live in a season of political challenges that uses words to demonize. Every news reports speaks of winners and
losers. In the midst of that we are
called to do something different with the communities that call us and train
us. We are called, maybe even summoned to
share the experience of love we have received.
Our lives as leaders in the Christian community compels us to “love one
another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”
The
challenge is to confront. Even Romans
uses the word “Hate” when addressing Evil.
In many ways the living in community here may have some benefits in
learning how to offer hospitality even when every one of the students seems to
be in need. Living in a commuter
environment, hospitality has to be worked at and planned. Yet that is a central part of who we are as
the Body of Christ. Most importantly we
are called upon to offer that gracious hospitality to the stranger.
In this
service in memory, can we commit ourselves to not only to the Dream that is too
often referred to when speaking about Martin Luther King, Jr., but to the
capacity to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” As people who are called to a myriad of
situations. I pray that we are capable
of learning to “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but
associate with the lowly.” Maybe we can
even find the ability to work together as congregations to make some of the
critical changes that may be needed to address the three issues that affect all
of our communities of faith. For the
three items lifted up by Eddie Glaude, could just as easily be lifted up again
as they were 44 years ago by Martin. To see that all have access to a liveable
wage. That education be available to all
as a part of the public building a future.
That we find ways to decrease the level of incarceration and seek
rehabilitation rather than retribution.
That second
lesson from Romans may also have a final piece of information for those of us
who remember their baptism each and every time they enter the church. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says
the Lord." 20 No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed
them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you
will heap burning coals on their heads."
21 Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good. May we
continue to walk in the shoes of the saints who have preceded us.
AMEN.
