The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By F. A. Bolden & other members of Christ Church
January 14, 2001
day's
service is in remembrance of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., who gave his life in the battle for racial equality and
social justice. Both before and after
King, there were countless acts of heroism, including that of Claudette Colvin,
a high school student who refused to give up her seat on a bus nine months
before Rosa Parks. But it was King who
gave voice to the movement, and so it is his voice we hear today. Throughout the service there will be several
King readings, gleaned from his speeches, essays and sermons. The offering has been woven into one of many
musical interludes, so it won't be formally announced. As we listen to these words from the
mountaintop, let us be mindful that the evils of poverty and racism are not
simply of historical interest; rather, but pressing issues still haunting us
today.
1st Reading: After Rosa Parks' Arrest
2nd Reading: From a Birmingham Jail
3rd Reading: Final SCLC Address
4th Reading: The Night before His Assassination
Reflections on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
FIRST READING
NARRATOR:
The first reading is
an account of a mass meeting at the outset of the Civil Rights Movement,
occurring in the aftermath of Rosa Park's arrest in December of 1955. Parks' arrest had galvanized the African
American community. The large gathering
that night back in 1955 was the first of its kind. Here's the story as recorded by Taylor Branch in his Civil Rights
classic, Parting the Waters…
NARRATOR:
The hostile
press later estimated the crowd at five thousand people… Whatever the exact number, only a small
fraction of the bodies fit inside the church, and loudspeakers were being set
up to amplify the proceedings to an outdoor crowd that stretched over several acres,
across streets and around cars that had been parked at all angles. “You know something, Finley,” said King as
he prepared to abandon the car. “This
could turn into something big.” It took
him fifteen minutes to push his way through the crowd. Shortly thereafter, the Holt Street pastor
called him to the pulpit.
King
stood silently for a moment. When he
greeted the enormous crowd of strangers, who were packed in the balconies and
aisles, peering in through the windows and upward from seats on the floor, he
spoke in a deep voice, stressing his diction in a slow introductory
cadence.
KING: “We are here this evening—for serious
business.”
NARRATOR:
When he paused, only
one or two “yes” responses came up from the crowd, and they were quiet
ones. It was a throng of shouters, he
could see, but they were waiting to see where he would take them.
KING: “We are here in a general sense, because
first and foremost—we are American citizens—and we are determined to apply our
citizenship—to the fullness of its means.
But we're here in a specific sense—because of the bus station in
Montgomery. The situation is not at all
new. Just the other day—just last Thursday to be exact—one of the finest
citizens in Montgomery—not one of the finest Negro citizens—but one of the
finest citizens in Montgomery—was taken from a bus—and carried to jail and
arrested—because she refused to give up—to give her seat to a white person.
“And since it had to happen, I'm
happy it happened to a person like Mrs. Parks, for nobody can doubt the
boundless outreach of her integrity.
Nobody can doubt the height of her character, nobody can doubt the depth
of her Christian commitment.” And just because she refused to get up, she was
arrested. And you know, my friends,
there comes a time, when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron
feet of oppression.”
NARRATOR: A flock of “yeses” was coming
back at him when suddenly the individual responses dissolved into a rising
cheer and applause exploded beneath the cheer—all within the space of a
second. The startling noise rolled on
and on, like a wave that refused to break, and just when it seemed that the
roar must finally weaken, a wall of sound came in from the enormous crowd
outdoors to push the volume still higher.
Thunder seemed to be added to the lower register—the sound of feet
stomping on the wooden floor—until the loudness became something that was not
so much heard as it was sensed by vibrations in the lungs. The giant cloud of noise shook the building
and refused to go away. One sentence
had set it loose somehow, pushing the call-and-response of the church service
past the din of a political rally and on to something else that King had never
known before.
—Taylor
Branch, Parting the Waters, pp. 139-140
SECOND READING
NARRATOR: While incarcerated for civil
disobedience in 1963, King penned his now famous “Letter from a Birmingham
Jail.” King took advantage of the time on his hands to respond to a published
request by eight, white “progressive” clergy to let the issues work themselves
out on a local level, ceasing his non-violent active resistance. Their assumption was that political
direct-action was inappropriate for a Christian Minister. King's response is a now considered a
classic not just of religious literature, but world literature. We join the letter midway into the text,
where King is defending the creation of tension in order to call attention to
issues of justice.
KING: …I just referred to the creation of tension
as part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking.
But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against
violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is
necessary for growth. Just as Socrates
felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals
could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of
creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having
nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help
[humanity] to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic
heights of understanding and [community].
NARRATOR:
Later in the letter,
King mounts a scathing criticism of the main-line churches, showing how they
pale in comparison to the more radically subversive approach of the early
church.
KING: …In deep disappointment, I have wept over
the laxity of the church. But be
assured that my tears have been tears of love…. Yes, I love the church…. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being
the son, the grandson and the great-grandson of preachers.
There was a time when the early
church was very powerful. It was during
that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to
suffer for what they believed. In those
days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and
principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores
of society. Wherever the early
Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately
sought to convict them for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside
agitators.” But they went on with the
conviction that they were a colony of heaven, and had to obey God rather than
man. They were small in number but big
in commitment. They were too
God-intoxicated to be astronomically intimidated. They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and
gladiatorial contest.
“Things are different now.
The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an
uncertain sound. It is so often the
arch-supporter of the status quo. Far
from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the
average community is consoled by the church's silent and often vocal sanction
of things as they are.
“…Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo
to save our nation and the whole world?
Maybe I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within
the church, as the true ecclesia and
the hope of the world. But again I am
thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have
broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active
partners in the struggle for freedom.
…Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true
meaning of the gospel in these troubled times.”
THIRD READING
NARRATOR:
The following excerpt
is from King's final Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential
Address. It is one of his most radical
speeches, revealing the direction he was moving intellectually and
spiritually. King's sense of the unity
of all people and his dedication to love propelled him into a series of
penetrating questions concerning the suffering of those at the bottom of the
ladder.
KING: “I want to say to you as I move to my
conclusion, as we talk about “Where do we go from here,” that we honestly face
the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring
the whole of American society. There
are forty million poor people here. And
one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in
America?” And when you begin to ask
that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a
broader distribution of wealth. When
you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more,
we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged
beggars in life's marketplace. But one
day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
restructuring. It means that questions
must be raised. You see, my friends,
when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, “Who owns the
oil?” You begin to ask the question,
“Who owns the iron ore?” You begin to
ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world
that is two-thirds water?” These are
questions that must be asked.
Now, don't think you have me in a
bind today. I'm not talking about
communism.
What I'm saying to you this morning
is that communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of [God]
is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism,
but in a higher synthesis. It is found
in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society,
it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic
exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are
interrelated.
NARRATOR:
Near the conclusion of
this his final address to the SCLC, King's social analysis gave way to his
prophetic voice. Listen as his deep
lament for the victims of this world gets transformed into a glorious vision of
justice and peace.
KING: “So I conclude by saying today that we have
a task: let us go out with a ‘divine dissatisfaction.' Let us be dissatisfied
until America will no longer have high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia
of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until
the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the
inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the
forces of justice. Let us be
dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into
the metropolis of daily security. Let
us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and
every family is living in a decent, sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated
schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality, integrated
education. Let us be dissatisfied until
from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like
a mighty stream. Let us be dissatisfied
until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every
man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. Let us be dissatisfied. For then we will recognize that out of one
blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when
nobody will shout “White Power!”—when
nobody will shout “Black Power!”—but everybody will talk about God's
power and human power.
FOURTH READING
NARRATOR:
In his last sermon the
night before he was assassinated, King recalled an earlier attempt on his life
and a letter he received afterwards, while recuperating in the hospital.
KING: You know, several years ago I was in New York
City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a woman came up [to
me]. The only question I heard from her
was, “Are you Martin Luther King?”
I was looking down writing, and I
said yes. And the next minute I felt
something beating on my chest. Before I
knew it I had been stabbed…. I was
rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a
dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade
had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the
edge of my aorta, the main artery. And
once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood—that's the end of you.
It came out in the New York Times
the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed
me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been
taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail
that came in from all over the states and the world, kind letters…. I read a few, but one of them I will never
forget. I had received one from the
President and the Vice-President. I've
forgotten what those said. I'd received
a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what the
letter said. But there was another
letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the
White Plains High School. And I looked
at that letter, and I'll never forget it.
It said simply, “Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White
Plains High School.” She said, “While it shouldn't matter, I would like to
mention that I am a white girl. I read
in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you
would have died. And I'm simply writing
you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze.”
NARRATOR:
King went on to say he
was glad he didn't sneeze, too. For if
he had, he would have missed all the landmark Civil Rights victories, and
he would not have been able to dream with
the nation back in August of '63. At the
end of this his final sermon, he shows how aware he was of the risks he was
facing and revealed the depth and breadth of his faith and courage.
KING: I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got
started on the plane, there were six of us.
The pilot said over the public address system, “We are sorry for the
delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were
checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to
check out everything carefully. And
we've had the plane protected and guarded all night.”
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to …talk about the threats
that were out. What would happen to me
[because of] our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will
happen… We've got some difficult days
ahead. But it doesn't matter with me
now. Because I've been to the
mountaintop. And I don'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.
And 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.
Reflections on The Life of
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By F. A. Bolden
January 14, 2001
e
words of Dr. King we have just heard
are nearly 50 years old but like fine wine they seem to get better with
age. Each time I hear his words new
messages and new possibilities come to mind.
Dr. King was a southern black Baptist
preacher with a Ph.D., all significant credentials for his life's work. He happened to be in the right place at the
right time to help our nation confront the evils of bigotry, bias and
racism. And what an interesting time
and place that was.
Most of you, at least those of you over 50,
can remember how different our country was then. Those of you born after 1945 probably have not seen the sad
sickening effects of legal segregation.
You may have heard about the separate facilities for whites and
coloreds, as African Americans were called in those days. You may have even heard stories about how
Blacks couldn't attend certain schools, eat in restaurants, get certain jobs,
play on professional sport teams, go to the movies or even worship in some
churches.
Those are all true reflections - not only
in the South, but also in other parts of the country, but they don't begin to
portray or explain the immensely harmful effect of racial segregation. Segregation was an evil wicked dehumanizing
system.
Those of you under 50 probably have not
felt the oppressive weight of overt racism, you probably have not experienced
the devastating news of the despicable
lynching of a teenage boy, the cowardly
bombing of a church resulting in the death of three young girls or the
malicious murder of three civil rights workers - and you probably don't fully
understand the tinderbox, the powder keg, the bomb waiting for a spark to
ignite the fuse that was the United States in the 50's and 60's because of the
treatment of African Americans. In the
midst of that volatile environment of hatred, hope, chaos and confusion Dr.
King emerged preaching a philosophy of love, non-violence, responsibility and
persistence. He helped lead the country
to the acceptance of full citizenship for blacks.
To fully understand the greatness of Dr.
King you have to know that the Black community had just about had it with the
political, economic and social disenfranchisement that was our plight at that
time. "Burn baby burn",
"black power" and "an eye for an eye", were other routes to
freedom strongly favored by some Blacks.
The riots in Newark, Detroit, LA and other places around the country are
proof of how close we came to a real explosion. Dr. King with his leadership based on dignity, respect and
non-violence, even after his own home was bombed, saved the country from a
catastrophe.
That Dr. King was a man of god gave him the
passion to do his work; that he was the son and grandson of Baptist preachers
gave him the sense of pride in purpose required to help rid his people of the
debilitating yoke of oppression; that he was a highly educated person gave him
the power of conviction required to eloquently present the rationale for
justice, equality and freedom for his people for all the world to hear,
understand and support.
For me seeing Dr. King in action was, and
by the miracle of television still is, similar to being at an opera where it is
easy to be greatly touched by the total experience-the music, singing, acting,
staging, lights, etc.-even if you don't understand the words.
Of course with Dr. King the words are
always understandable. His big booming
voice, captivating presence, clear messages and outstanding delivery often
leave me misty-eyed. He was such a
great orator that I don't just hear the words but rather I feel the message
through every nerve of my soul. And
when he finishes, I am both drained from the emotional roller coaster-like
effect of the harangue and at the same time refreshed and energized from the
poignancy of the message. I always feel
like rushing out of the room to do something good for somebody, somewhere, some
how. Such is the magic of the man.
Dr. King had the uncanny knack of planting
powerful one liners in the middle of very moving passages. From the excerpts this morning, did you
hear?
"There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the
iron feet of oppression."
or
"There is a type of constructive
non-violent tension that is necessary for growth."
or
"They were small
in number but big in commitment."
or the ultimate sound
bite
"God is
Love."
Had he not been a Black preacher, he probably could have earned a fortune in
marketing or advertising.
Although the life of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. was truly remarkable, his death had an even more profound effect on
the United States. There are many
people who can still tell you exactly what they were doing on April 4, 1968
when they learned Dr. King had been killed, gunned down in a motel in Memphis,
Tennessee. It was the third senseless
assassination of a dominant figure in our society in less than a decade and
like the other two, the cowardly act of violence brought the country to a
complete stand still. Businesses and
schools closed, people both blacks and whites cried openly in public and all
the networks - all 3 of them - were filled with coverage of the subsequent
period of bereavement.
There was a fear that Dr. King's philosophy
of non-violence would lose out to cries for revenge and blood shed. Thank God that did not happen. The death of this man of peace who taught
that love will triumph over hate resulted in changes that have made our country
a better place for us all.
For Blacks the death of Dr. King opened the
doors to opportunity in education, business and politics, doors through which
women and other minorities have also flowed in ever increasing numbers since
1968.
There have been a lot of changes in our
country in the area that brought Dr. King to the spotlight as the preeminent
advocate for civil rights through the use of non-violent confrontation. And yet
racism, bigotry and prejudice are still formidable obstacles in the pursuit of
the American dream for blacks in our country today.
In our community, here in Summit those evil
forces do not appear to be as prevalent as in other communities with greater
diversity. Where they do exist in our
community, and I can tell you from personal experience, they do exist here,
they are not as visible and open as in other communities. We have purchased two homes in this
area. When we moved into the first one
our immediate neighbor built a stockade fence to prevent his daughter who was
three years old at the time, from playing with my 4 year old son because he was
afraid she might grow up and want to marry a black man. When we signed a binder to purchase the
second home, some of the neighbors held a meeting to see what they could do to
keep the house from being sold to a Black family. I was told that at the meeting someone suggested I might be able
to help solve the problem since I was a corporate lawyer with some
understanding of legal matters.
At the dawn of this new millennium, fire
hoses, dogs and Jim Crow laws are no longer the means used to prevent African
Americans from seeking the pursuit of happiness. Today there are other more pernicious vehicles employed to
prevent minorities in general and Blacks specifically from participating fully
in the great promise of America.
These barriers are so deeply rooted in our
society that they are almost invisible.
They are so effective that they operate automatically in a manner that
facilitates their defense by a denial of their existence. They are usually discernible only through a
careful review of the results of their effects.
Throughout every fiber of our society be it
education, housing, employment, healthcare, religion, sports, politics and so
on, racism, bigotry and prejudice are at work preventing us from being all we
can be as children of God. Dr. Kings'
work and life were dedicated to helping us eradicate those evil forces in order
that we can love one another as Jesus loved us all.
I think it is wonderful for Christ Church
to celebrate Dr. King's legacy of tolerance, critical self analysis and non violent
tension. Not because we need another
icon, but rather as a reminder that his dream of one day, "seeing little
black boys and little black girls joining hands with little white boys and
little white girls as brothers and sisters" is worthy of pursuit. That goal can only be accomplished through
vigilance and hard work. Today as in
the past that work must be done by us.
The Church must in Dr. King's words, be "the thermostat that
(transforms) the mores of our society."
To that end, a group is working on a
program to help us review why we celebrate African American history. During the month of February, we will look
at that question in the context of four different scenarios education,
healthcare, employment and justice. The
group has not found any answers, but we have discovered a lot of questions to
share with you.
What answer would you give today to Dr.
King's question "is organized religion too inextricably bound to the
status quo to save our nation and the whole world?"
And wouldn't it be great to
be able "to do God's work," to "see the Promised Land and the
glory of the coming of the Lord?"
© 2001 .
All rights reserved
