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Martin Luther King Day January 20, 2008
Luke 6:27-38
Rev. R. Arrington Chambliss
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord our rock and redeemer. Amen. Yesterday afternoon I played Capture the Flag. This is not my usual Saturday afternoon activity but a friend invited me to her birthday party. She is turning 42 and yes she wanted to play Capture the Flag . . . mostly because she wanted a birthday activity that would engage adult friends and her children, 9 and 7 year old boys. We met at the Arborteum and faced off 12 adults on the red team against 23 children on the blue team. . . . As the game began, I felt a feeling rise up in me. . . . Now I don’t know how many of you have that competitive spirit . . . or perhaps will experience it this afternoon at 3 p.m., but put me on a team facing my opponents — even if they are all 5- to 10-year-olds . . . and I want to win. . . . The other team was the enemy. . . . As I ran through the snow and trees, I tried to ignore the fact that the next day I was preaching on Luke’s gospel. . . .
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you. . . .
Now we know that Jesus was talking about a different kind of enemy than a capture the flag game but when I crossed over into the territory of the young people to try capture their flag, it was not love that I was feeling. . . .
BUT Jesus says, I say to you that listen, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you. . . .”
This Gospel is difficult. BUT if you are looking for a comfortable religion that:
then you probably shouldn't try to be one of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus is demanding. He has the crazy ideas that his followers should:
Jesus expects you to love your enemies. And we should not follow him unless we’re ready to experience some discomfort.
The Blessings and Woes at the beginning of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, part of which we hear today, are radical. The poor, not the rich, will be rewarded. Then Jesus says to be happy when you are persecuted. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” (6:23).
AND he goes even further. . . . We are to love our persecutors.
This kind of love in the Gospel is called agape (the Greek word for it). It is the kind of love that transforms. It is not sentimental or purely a feeling. It is the kind of love that brings dignity into relationships. The kind of love that redeems. The kind of love that creates the kingdom of God on earth when we experience it. . . .
Now what we understand about turning the other cheek is that it means to not respond, not retaliate. Many people can hear this Gospel and think it is telling Christians to be a doormats. And certainly in abusive relationships or relationships where the power is unequal it can cause a problem. There is a deeper meaning and context in Jesus saying turn the other cheek given the social customs of the time. In Matthew’s version of his Gospel we hear a little more. He says when someone hits your right check — turn the other cheek. Because of the social customs to turn the right cheek a superior would have to hit you in a way that established you as an equal. Another saying in Matthew’s Gospel is if someone asks you to carry their bags one mile carry them a second mile. The Roman laws of that time allowed the soldiers to have civilians carry their bags for just one mile. So if you insisted on carrying it another mile — #1 they were violating a law; #2 it made the soldier have to face their oppression. So . . . seemingly mindless sayings like these are potent ways to confound and expose justice.(Walter Wink) I also have a handout for you after church that explains this more thoroughly.
Echol Cole and Robert Walker, two African American garbage collectors for the city of Memphis, in 1968 were sitting inside the back of the garbage truck to stay dry on a rainy afternoon when an electrical short caused the compressor to crush them to death. They did not need to die. The Public Works Department had ignored for a long time their requests for updated equipment. In response to the tragedy, the city’s sanitation department gave each of the grieving families one month’s pay and $500 for funeral expenses. Just one month’s pay and $500. No one from the city government attended the funerals.
They were invisible . . . along with the other 1300 black garbage collectors. When Echol and Robert died, that was enough. No longer could the dignity of these workers be assaulted; their lives devalued. These deaths enraged the community with the kind of rage that starts riots. But they didn’t riot. Instead they faced their enemy . . . but not with guns or weapons . . . but with a clear resolve to reclaim their lives by listening to the still small voice of God rising up in them giving them the strength and the courage to stand together, to walk together in the streets in front of their enemies with signs that simply read, I AM A MAN. 1300 men marched one after another holding these signs. . . . And the Spirit of God rose up in each one of them telling them to lift the sign higher. And with each step hold your shoulders back. . . . I am with you. . . . Your reward will be great.
You see to love our enemies, we have to find self respect and love for ourselves. We have to let in the words “You are my beloved son and daughter . . . with you I am well pleased.” To love your enemies you have to know that no hatred is too big to be washed away by the love of God. No resentment. No hurt. No pain. And nothing will separate you from the love of Christ. For those days that they marched the Spirit of God rose up in them and blessed them . . . with a power and peace that passes all understanding for they were facing their enemies.
You see Jesus’ statements about loving your enemy — doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you — may seem crazy at first. But Jesus understands the nature of violence. He knows that hate begets hate, violence begets violence . . . and leads us into a spiral into deep darkness. Jesus knows that “darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that.” He knows that it is only the light of love that can brings us back home to ourselves, to our families. It is only love — a love that recognizes the human dignity of all living beings in our country and countries far away — that sets our world on a path to peace. He is not inviting people into a passive resistance but instead into active resistence that preserves dignity and creates the kingdom of God on earth.
Everytime we cross the boundaries of anger, alienation and estrangement. Each time we do this the kingdom of God blossoms even more fully.
These words of Jesus have fueled movements. . . . They have grasped the attention of a small Hindu man named Gandhi and fed his peaceful defiance of England breaking the hold of English colonization. These words have formed the heart and strategy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s nonviolent civil disobedience for human rights. They were the foundation of movements of Francis of Assisi, and Bishop Desmond Tutu, and so many other people who are trying to do God’s will by creating the kingdom of God on earth.
On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., flew to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of a strike for higher wages and better working conditions by black garbage collectors. That day he delivered his “I've Been to the Mountaintop” speech, in which he talked about threats to his life. He said:
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.
The next day, April 4, 1968, King was shot while standing on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, surrounded by friends and associates. As he lay dying, he spoke his last words to his friend and musician Ben Branch, who was to perform at the event King was scheduled to attend that night. King said, “Ben, make sure you play ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.”"
In the spirit of that faith and belief that God is with us to embolden our journeys, I invite you to stand and sing together “Take My Hand Precious Lord.”
AMEN. |