Martin Luther King and the Inauguration

On this holiday weekend I will be skipping the inauguration celebrations and observing Martin Luther King’s birthday. For years the church I served here in New Hampshire had the custom of reading King’s “I Have a Dream” during the morning worship service on MLK weekend. When I served this congregation, I mixed it up a bit. I chose a different sermon by King each year for the congregation to hear.  

King’s sermons tend to be a bit longer than most sermons these days. So, I would edit the sermon to fit the traditional one-hour worship format. I would condense one of his sermons to 15-20 minutes. Then I would divide it into three to five minute segments and have a few people in the congregation stand in the pews and read the sermon during the service. It was a nice way to honor a great preacher and observe a national holiday. 

I am not in fulltime pastoral ministry any longer, but I thought this year I would share one of King’s sermons in case anyone is looking for something to listen to on Monday. This sermon is entitled “The Drum Major Instinct” and was preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on February 4, 1968, just a couple of months before his assassination.   

Like all sermons from the 60’s, it is dated. Yet the central themes are relevant to what our nation is facing today. His scripture text is the gospel story of James and John asking to sit at either side of Jesus when he rules in his kingdom. Jesus’ response tells us what it means to lead, what it means to be first, and what it means to be great. These are appropriate themes for this momentous day. 

I have included here a link to both the transcript and an audio version of King’s message. The audio is 38 minutes. That is not too long to listen to the whole thing. If it seems too much, you can just listen to a sample in order to hear the cadence of King’s voice before turning to the transcript.  

It is not necessary to read every word of the transcript to get the gist of what he is saying.  There are portions that are relevant to the 1960’s but not to the 2020’s. You may notice an occasional typo. For example, Jesus is quoted as saying: “But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your servant, and whosoever of you will be the cheapest shall be servant of all.” Jesus obviously did not talk about being the “cheapest” but the “greatest!” 

Much of his message holds up surprisingly well after 57 years. Of special interest is a section near the end that seems to be a premonition of his imminent death. He says, “And I think about my own funeral, and I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, what is it that I would want said when I leave the word to you this morning?” Then he shares what he wants to be said – and not said – about him after his death.  

This sermon “The Drum Major Instinct” is appropriate to read as we celebrate this day dedicated to King’s memory. His words are also important to ponder as we inaugurate a president on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Here is the link: 

https://singjupost.com/martin-luther-kings-sermon-the-drum-major-instinct-transcript/?singlepage=1 

Living in Prophetic Times

There is a time for pastors, and there is a time for prophets. This is a time for prophets. The present religious and national climate is different from any in my lifetime. If you believe the figures concerning how Christians voted in the last election, then it is clear that Christians are responsible for electing the incoming president.  

George Barna, director of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, wrote: “Among self-identified Christians, President Trump won a 56% share of their vote. And because Christians represented 72% of the voters who turned out, their support for the re-elected Republican made the difference in the race.”  

If that is true, then most Christians are patting themselves on the back for their role in the election. But many other Christians are mourning the fact that the Church is responsible for electing the most unchristian and immoral man ever to hold the highest office of the land.  

The contrast was abundantly evident as we buried one president and prepared to inaugurate another. One was the most faithful, spiritually minded and moral man ever to occupy the White House. The other ... well even his defenders know what he is. Let us remember the words of Jesus: “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” 

This is a time for prophets. It is the time to live authentic spiritual lives. We live in an age when popular Christianity has abandoned God for Caesar and forsaken the Kingdom of God for Babylon. When the Church blasphemes the Holy Spirit, then faithful followers of the Crucified One must stand up and speak out. 

Yet pastors who preach like prophets in this spiritual climate will soon find themselves out of a job. Churches do not want a prophet in the pulpit, generally speaking. It does not pay the bills or fill the pews. Churches want shepherds to minister to the flock and grow the congregation. Whoever speaks like a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, just like Dietrich Bonhoeffer received his reward.   

I would not call myself a prophet, but I foresee the church going through dramatic changes in the coming years. While popular Christianity will continue to embody the political culture, I see a movement of countercultural spirituality. I see this happening on two fronts. 

One front is spiritual. There is a return to the gospel OF Jesus. We have had enough of the secondhand gospel ABOUT Jesus, which idolizes the Bible and pledges allegiance to church tradition. We need the gospel that Jesus preached, which had nothing to do with believing the right doctrines, much less the right politics. 

Jesus’ message was the Kingdom of God, better translated the Spiritual Realm. It was the experiential core of his spiritual life, a mystical awareness of the Divine. In Jesus’ words, we are to be one with the Father as he is one with the Father. Long ago this message was abandoned by the institutional church in favor of transactional religion.  

The other front is ethical – both personal and social ethics. The majority of Christians apparently consider the gross immorality and criminal behavior of the incoming president as of secondary importance compared to achieving their political goals. That is the problem.  

There was a time when Christians made personal decisions and advocated for social policies by asking “What would Jesus do?” No longer. Now they consult their preferred news commentors and internet influencers. Look who Jesus advocated for. Not the billionaires and oligarchs! He sided with the poor, immigrants, prisoners, the social outcasts and misfits. Look who he spoke against: Bible teachers and religious authorities!  

That is the gospel John the Baptist preached. It is what Jesus preached. It is what got both of these prophets killed. It gets pastors fired and preachers blacklisted today. That is the way it has always been. True Christianity thrives when it is out of power. True Christianity is out of power now. That is a good thing. We see the world more clearly from the catacombs. It is where we remember who we are.