Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Forum, First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, Feb . 19, 2017

Feb. 19, 2017 Forum,

First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech 

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

December 10, 1964

When Laura approached about what I’d like to do with this series, it didn’t take me long to choose this piece of it, with its focus on two remarkable prophets, and how two “simple” verses were woven into Dr. King’s acceptance speech.

The Peaceful Kingdom

Isaiah 11

¹      A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

      and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

²      The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,

      the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

      the spirit of counsel and might,

      the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

³      His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

      He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

      or decide by what his ears hear;

⁴      but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

      and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

      he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

      and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

⁵      Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

      and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

⁶      The wolf shall live with the lamb,

      the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

      the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

      and a little child shall lead them.

⁷      The cow and the bear shall graze,

      their young shall lie down together;

      and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸      The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

      and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

⁹      They will not hurt or destroy

      on all my holy mountain;

      for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD

      as the waters cover the sea.

Peace and Security through Obedience

Micah 4

¹      In days to come

      the mountain of the LORD’S house

      shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

      and shall be raised up above the hills.

      Peoples shall stream to it,

²      and many nations shall come and say:

      “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

      to the house of the God of Jacob;

      that he may teach us his ways

      and that we may walk in his paths.”

      For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

      and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

³      He shall judge between many peoples,

      and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;

      they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

      and their spears into pruning hooks;

      nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

      neither shall they learn war any more;

⁴      but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,

      and no one shall make them afraid;

      for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

⁵      For all the peoples walk,

      each in the name of its god,

      but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God

      forever and ever.

*The film clip …*

Both Isaiah (the text for today) and Micah (737-696 bce) are 8th Century Prophets, a time wherein the Judean Kings were at their greatest level of power in a kingdom now divided.

After Solomon’s death, his son, Rehoboam, assumed the throne and issued a number of mean-spirited “executive orders” (1 Kings 12.6-11) and so the Kingdom split into Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) … ultimately the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria (722 bce) and the Southern, or Judah, fell to Babylon (587 bce) and led to the “Babylonia Captivity.”

The Northern and Southern Kingdoms were often enemies and combatants. After Israel’s fall (the remnant of which was know in the New Testament as Samaritans (treated by the Jews {Judeans} as half-breeds and spiritually defective). 

Jesus, himself, from the “northern” area, while not a Samaritan, was still considered an outsider to the true land of Judah that saw itself as the pure expression of faith and blood.

By the time of the 8th Century, Israel was gone, so the prophets in our purview are directing their thoughts to the Southern Kingdom, i.e. Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem. 

The prophets grew in influence as the kings/queens grew in power, along with their religious support staff (ha!) … the prophets challenged the kings/queens and the priestly guild of Jerusalem, with all of its pomp and circumstance and its enormous wealth (certainly the case which Jesus addresses time and again). The prophets were bold, frequently in trouble, accused of treason and heresy, suggesting that if Judah continued on its way, it would all end badly.

Yet the prophets also looked to better days … days of peace and prosperity … the peaceable kingdom wherein opposing realities would come together and people were no longer prepping for war, but for peace, and would thus experience a great sense of safety and comfort - not just psychologically or spiritually, but materially, with everyone enjoying their own figs and vines.

All of this and more was in the mind and heart of Dr. King, a man of the Bible, engaged intelligently (as opposed to ideologically, or literally) with the text, and with theologians who tackled the vast social questions and systemic systems of the day, as well as the personal matters that so occupied evangelicalism (i.e. swearing, drinking, dancing, smoking, card playing, theater attendance) … on these good thinkers, like Paul Tillich, Dr. King built his ideas, his resistance and his blueprint for a just society, upon their work, and that of the Prophets, and the Prophet we honor in life and faith, Jesus of Nazareth.

Gandhi, and others, too, were influential … those who worked for peace, but never at the expense of justice, those who saw life in all of its wholeness … and for his work, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and for his work, his faith, his vision, we honor him today.

All the Free Lunches

"When I look back on my life, what jumps out is how many variables had to fall in place in order to give me a chance" (J.D. Vance, "Hillbilly Elegy," p.239.

Many years ago, a man of considerable success and wealth said to a group of Rotarians, "Life is full of free lunches."

He went on to list so many things and people that simply came to him as gift, out of the blue, if you will, or from the hand of God, as some might say.

A loving home and the wisdom of mindful parents.
Teachers who cared and encouraged and challenged.
The network of family and friends who looked after him.
His own ambition and good health.
His dreams and energy.

Professors who never let him get away with shoddy work.
Folks who helped him get his first job.
The banker who loaned him money, on his word.
And all along the way, people, even strangers, who showed up at the right time.
And all of those fortuitous moments, too numerous to mention, and mostly unknown.

All of these, and more, the free lunches of life.

Here was a wise man who understood that his life was a gift, not a achievement of his own doing, and as such, there was only response, and that was gratitude, immense and all-consuming, gratitude, and the promise, the pledge, to be a free lunch for others.

How it should work, who knows.

Some have the opportunity, but something gets in the way.
A crummy family life.
Poor health.
Bad choices and no one around to cushion the fall.
Who knows?

A spectrum of variables, bits and pieces.

But this much I know, for those who "make it," there's only one legitimate response, gratitude. And maybe a huge amount of humility, as well.

Too many people walk around these days with their arms in a sling, broken arms, for patting themselves so vigorously on the back.

But for the woman or the man who truly understands the millions, even the billions, of variables that had to come together at just the right time so they could make, there is no back-patting, but only open arms and open hands to everyone around them.

And the best we can do is give and keep on giving free lunches.

Government programs, of course.
Personal engagement, you bet.
Financial support for aid organizations, all the way.

And many more moments and variables in which we can play a part for others.

I Like My Kindle, But ...

I like my Kindle.

I use it a lot ...
The Daily Lectionary and the Poem of the Day.

Lots of books, which take up no space;
An important truth when living in a tiny apartment.

If I'm doing the liturgy, I put my prayers on it.
And the many weddings I do.
It's a great tool; I like my Kindle.

But ... (and you knew this was coming).

My wife gave a hardcopy of "Hillbilly Elegy."
And with pen in hand (needed item for me to read),
I'm enjoying this very good book.

Having spent nearly two years in West Virginia,
With the West Virginia Mountain Project, a
Presbyterian Mission started by some women who
Came into the Mountains on mules.
At the turn of the century.
The last century. Ha!

The book touches on so many levels. Describing
Behaviors and values that I encountered in them thar Hills.
And have never forgotten.

But, all that aside (this isn't a book review).
It's fun reading hardcopy.
Underlining easily, making margin notes.
Flipping pages back and forth.

Am I old fashioned?
Who knows.

But this I know for sure.
I like my Kindle.
But ...

I love the feel of a book.
It's heft, it's substantiality.
The way it looks setting on the counter.
And seeing what I've underlined.

In purple ink, no less.

Evangelicals Have It All Wrong

Evangelicals complain a great deal about being mistreated.

Well, what do they expect?
Seems to me, Jesus makes it clear:
"What they did to me, they'll do to you."

So, why not be grateful for the mistreatment?
It's proof, is it not, of faithfulness?
Should it not be a joy for evangelicals?

I mean, "blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad."

So, what's the evangelical beef?
Well the beef is this!
They expect this nation to be theirs.
They expect to be in charge of the sandbox, king of the hill, and Commander in Chief.

This is a "christian nation."
And not just any brand.
But their brand.

But it doesn't go their way.
Except for now.
When the Orange Crush is in the Oval Orifice.
And folks like Franklin Graham and Paula White have his ear.
Because he wants their votes.
And they want his power.

What the evangelicals understand is power.
Control and dominance.
One nation under god.
Under god's heel.
Their heel.

On the throat of the nation.
No more bad people.
Well, at least poor people.
Who are lazy and no good.

And no more abortions, because it's murder.
And there will be no murder in their land.
And if bad guys die, well, that's not murder.
That's god's justice.

Bad guys.
Bad women.
Refugees who are only a cover for Islamic Terrorists.
All those children.
You bet.
Evil to the core.
Sinners for sure.
They believe in foreign gods.
Idols.
Alah.
And all the other gods of all those foreigners.

So, fly the bombers and launch the drones.
Build the fences and ban the Muslims.
Because we lub je-e-sus.
And je-e-sus lubs us.
Uh huh ...

So, no more mistreatment of us.
We take no joy in it.
We hate it.
And we hate you, too.
For mistreating us.

Put us in charge.
And it'll end.
And so will you.
You piece of unbelieving shit.
Oh excuse, I mean, you reprobate.
God loves you, and so do I, but let me warn you: don't believe a word I say.
You minion of hell.
You servant of Satan.
Lost piece of scum that you are.

Woo hoo ... I can feel the spirit.
Power flowing through my limbs.
Guns and the smell of napalm in the morning.
Good for a soul weary of being mistreated.

Well, that's the evangelical beef.
I think they've got it all wrong.
They've been wrong for a long time.
And the wronger one is, the more war monger one becomes.

War against everyone.
Who will not see it their way.
Who will not bow down to their little tin gods and phony miracles.

Oh well ... what does any of this mean?
I know they're wrong.
Seriously and dangerously wrong.

No One's Gonna Hush Us Up

As you may know, I'm reading a new bio on Martin Luther, the birther (hee hee) of the Reformation, 500 years ago.

Folks were always telling him to hush up and work it out.
Glad he didn't.

Was he perfect?
Heaven's no. Or maybe
Hell no.

But who is?
Yet, in our imperfections, can we not hope that
Some will show up who can beat the odds?

Luther did, for good and for ill.
And more for good than not.
And the ill remains anyway.

We fight the ill.
We faith the good.
And no one's gonna hush us up.

And we'll not work it out.
Because in such out-working.
The good is lost.

We will work, nonetheless.
But not for a sham piece of the pie.
But for the peace that surpasses all.

Thank you Martin Luther.
Thank you Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you John Lewis.

Driving Etiquette???

On a recent post, someone noted that
Folks don't say thanks all that much
Anymore.

Driving these days, I let someone in.
A wave, a nod?
Nope.

Of course, some do: a nod, or a wave.
I like that ...
Indeed.

Evangelicalism, Violence and Abortion

Evangelicalism is a violent expression of faith.

Whether it be the conversion of others and the subsequent condemnation of their religion and life, or waving the flag in heated hyper-nationalism and cheering on the dogs of war, or threatening children with hellfire and brimstone unless they quickly receive Jesus as their personal savior and be baptized, there is violence in the heart and soul of evangelicalism.

But violence demands compensation.

Even the most violent of people create for themselves some kind of an honor code to compensate for their otherwise sad lives.

Evangelicalism has crafted its honor code with a stance against abortion.

In its own backward and upside down way, evangelicalism portrays itself as kindly and faithful, loving and wise, and obedient to the gospel of god.

It's compensation ... and oddly enough, even here, evangelicals cannot escape their inclination to violence.

Even as they defend the "unborn," they threaten violence to the mothers who choose abortion, and to those who offer the procedure.

Ever here, rather than perhaps hanging their heads in sorrow and fleeing to the throne of mercy, evangelicals do the evangelical thing: violence.

Because of evangelical violence, this bizarre honor code is maintained with its own forms of violence - "You see how good we are? How loving of the unborn we are?"

Even as Second Amendment rights are touted from pulpit and podium, the flags of war waved against others who not of their own kind and the social disease of racism maintained as an expression of purity.

Violence on every hand is the evangelical way, and to compensate, evangelicals have crafted an illusion for themselves, that they love and protect the unborn.

And in so doing, unwittingly, have fled from God and turned to the task of their own justification - a decision that never ends well.

Those who live by the sword die by the sword ... those who embrace violence do violence to their own soul, and what's left is a ragged and angry human being who can't shake his or her own condemnation, no matter the honor code they self-create to compensate for their willful and deadly violence against others.