For some reason, and for that reason or reasons I am not quite sure, my mind has drifted off and on back to Frederick Douglass' July 4th speech which was actually delivered on July 5, 1852. In that lengthy presentation he lined out the history of freedom and all it surely means to Americans as they had escaped tyranny of the British. Against the celebrations that occur on July 4th, he posed the question, "What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?" He proceeded to answer in no uncertain terms: "To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery." For the entire speech, you'll find it here.
What, you may ask is the point of that paragraph? Good question.
I have been pondering of late this particular Monday in January as the day of celebration for the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And I ponder how it is celebrated by whom. Likewise, I ponder who thinks favorably of Dr. King in this day and age, some 56 years after his assassination and 61 years after his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" there on the mall in DC.
Back in those days, as I recall, from my childhood, which can certainly be flawed, people saw him as a liberal, a communist, a social gospeler, and a trouble maker. Nowadays, his ratings continue to climb such that most of America seems him favorably, even to those on the right in this division of the country, and more so over on the left.
What do I do if I revere the man and his message? Do I close my office if I am a church leader or a business owner? Do I take the day as a day of service, unlike any other national holiday? Do I speak of him on the Sunday prior to the national holiday on Monday? Who is most likely to speak of him from the pulpit and who is least likely to speak of him on that preceding Sunday? As an aside, I wonder if attitudes toward these questions could in some way be consistent with how individuals and churches approach Juneteenth. Just wondering.
So, thinking a tad more personally now, I want to do something meaningful today. I want this day to be a different day than all other Mondays.
And so, you might ask, "What did you do today that is in keeping with Dr. King's birthday?"
Thank you for asking.
I did five things: 1) I listened to quite a few speeches and sermons of his. 2) I listened most intently and even found the manuscript to his sermon entitled "Guidelines for a Constructive Church" and read through the text. 3) I pondered the application of those words and ideas from that sermon to today's church, the church broadly speaking and the local church that I'm still a member of. 4) I did some editorial work for a promo that will soon be used to spotlight a transition that we are making for a Thursday night broadcast on blog talk radio, a program called "Seeking Truth and Justice," led by Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, and Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group. And 5) I am now putting things onto the cyberpage of "blogspot" in order to share with you my reflections.
Dr. King preached the sermon "Guidelines for a Constructive Church" on May 29, 1966, and according to the historians, at that time he was a marked man. He had about 700 days left to live. As many of commented, he had a sense of knowing about his early departure from this earth, and he was not afraid
So, on that particular Sunday, as he preached to Cornerstone Baptist Church, and now to us, still, in 2024, he was eerily prophetic. His words are captivating, how he can turn a phrase, and how he is able to draw illiterations from the words as they proceed from his vocal cords. A side bar curiosity is this: if you follow the text of his sermon while listening to him speak, you'll get lost. He ad libs a lot.
For the most part, his sermon is drawn from Luke 4, Jesus' appearance in the synagogue at the beginning of His ministry as He quotes from the prophet Isaiah 61. Dr. King has three distinctive movements from this text, all woven with current political events paralleling with words for the church. First, Jesus' words are spoken such that the Church must know that its mission is to care for the brokenhearted, the exhaustion that comes from living, an exhaustion he knew all too well. Second, he encourages the Church to preach the gospel to the poor, to the marginalized of the world. The audience is challenged to see the gap between the haves and the haves not. Third, the Church is to "preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Every year, and in every moment in time, that moment falls within the "acceptable year of the Lord." He perpetually faced "history stoppers," but he was a "history maker," and we are to do and be the same.
For a look at the transcript of his sermon, look here, but be prepared for his ad libs. They are oftentimes the best. At those times, in my opinion, he is most prophetic and eloquent. If you want to listen to his sermon, you can find it here.
Dr. King's words seem to be rather prophetic. Spoken in 1966 and here we are in 2024, and how far have we come? If you are a Black American, you'll say not far enough. If you are a white American, you'll say that we've come pretty far.
My concern is for the church and for us who make it up, how well are we doing with applying Luke 4:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
How are we doing with preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, preaching deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, setting at liberty those that are bruised, and at preaching the acceptable year of the Lord?
And I hope some sister is over there on the first or second or third row calling out, "Make it plain! Make it plain! Make it plain!"
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