Long Way Here

Dr. King was considered a threat to political power. A poll was conducted and he was marked as the most hated man in America. When read in context it isn’t hard to imagine why.

Dr. King’s Christian faith led to him to speak eloquently about the deepest truths of Jesus’ teaching, namely love of neighbor and enemy. But his commitment to the concrete expression of love is what often caused him trouble. He didn’t speak in abstraction or generalities, but in the particular, both past and present.

Here’s post # 2.

The same Dr. King that said:

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

In his 1957 sermon, “Loving Your Enemies”

also said this in 1964:

“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.”

Why We Can’t Wait,” pp. 119-20

We need Dr. King in context.

In honor Martin Luther King Day one week from today, I’ll share various excerpts and quotes from his speeches and books. I’ll post once each day. My hope is that all who read will see Dr. King in context. Let’s begin with two familiar excerpts.

The same Dr. King that said this in August of 1963,

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“I Have a Dream” Speech

first said this in April of 1963:

“First I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

Letter from Birmingham Jail

We need Dr. King in context.

Okay, he didn’t say that, but close to it.

One of my heroes, Oscar Romero (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), knew extraordinary political social upheaval. He experienced significant blowback due to the social implications of the gospel demanded of Christ-followers. He faced judgement from inside and outside the Church, contending with delusion, conspiracy theories, blame shifting, and alternative facts every day. He was branded by some to be a heretic. Many decades later his words and work would prove his critics unwise. I read him often.

I imagine I’ve shared this on my blog before. I imagine I will share it again. It’s a word I resonate with. It’s a word I wish I would’ve written with such eloquence. It’s a word I’ve needed to share with folks who’ve accused me of the same. Plainly, it’s just a strong word. Heres his word.

“Those who have listened to me here in church on Sundays with sincerity, without prejudices, without hatred, without ill will, without intending to defend indefensible interests, those who have listened to me here cannot say I am giving political or subversive sermons. All that is simply slander.

You are listening to me at this moment, and I am saying what I have always said.
What I want to say here in the cathedral pulpit is what the church is, and in the name of the church I want to support what is good, applaud it, encourage it, console the victims of atrocities, of injustices, and also with courage disclose the atrocities, the tortures, the disappearances of prisoners, the social injustice. That is not engaging in politics; this is building up the church and carrying out the church’s duty as imposed by the church’s identity. My conscience is undisturbed, and I call on all of you: Let us build up the true church!”

~ Oscar Romero, September 10, 1978

Today is Epiphany on the Christian calendar. One year ago today was Epiphany. As a Christian living in these United States, Epiphany will likely never be the same for me. The Sunday following last year, known as Epiphany Sunday, I spoke to January 6th for 15 minutes at the end of my message to my church family. It was my pastoral responsibility to do so. I reread the manuscript and this small portion echoes in me still today.

“What we witnessed is about a generations-long ideology and belief that arises straight from the pit of hell that the true Church has named as such for 1900 years. Nationalism in all forms is a sin against God and is anti-Christ, no matter who promotes it. White Superiority, in all forms, is a sin against God and is anti-Christ, no matter who promotes or tries to explain it away. Actions speak louder than words. And when either one of these is wedded to Christianity, implicitly or explicitly, you can be sure it is anti-Christ—it is heresy.

So beloved, here is where the feet hit the pavement in our current moment: our baptism is our declaration of allegiance to and solidarity with all that aligns with heart of King Jesus. This form of Nationalism and the misguided allegiances and misplaced hopes it promotes, along with the paranoid deceit it brings, breaks the heart of King Jesus. Christians cannot support what breaks our Lord’s heart. Christians should not follow the Nationalism put on display January 6 in our nation’s capitol that was proudly accompanied by racist symbols, antisemitism, and White supremacy highlighted by Christian apparel, signs, and banners. If someone chooses to support it, they can call it what it whatever they want, but they cannot call it Christian. If it does not reflect Christ-like love, make for peace, uphold Jesus’ truth, show mercy, promote what the Scriptures teach as justice, and point to what Jesus says is holy, then it is not of God, no matter what it says on the t-shirt.

Remember your baptism, beloved. And as Paul said to the young pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11, “flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.” Remember your baptism.

~ Sermon preached at Williamsburg Christian Church, January 10, 2021

I imagine that with every Epiphany of my lifetime there will remain one meaning and at least one concrete application. The meaning of Epiphany will go unchanged. Jesus alone is King and the true light unto the nations. The application will be that when Christians forget the meaning of Epiphany the heresy of Christian Nationalism can strengthen, and if forged together with a sense of aggrieved entitlement and White superiority it can become death-dealing.

Today I remember Christ the King as the Light unto the nations. Today I remember the shaky pillars of this democratic republic, the people who died and almost 150 Capitol and Metropolitan police officers injured. Today I remember how the Reign of Sin and Death’s promotion of idolatry and misguided allegiances can make anything possible in a post-truth society and post-truth Church.

May the Light of the World liberate our consciousness and set us free.

When there is a failure of prophetic imagination in the Church the Christian’s mind goes up for sale and Jesus is put up for lease. Christianity in the USA has a long history of leasing Jesus out for the cause of freedom, nationalistic aspirations, and party-political ideology.

But Jesus is Lord and King. He will not be contracted to waive another kingdom’s flag. Any version of Jesus that does is the product of a diseased imagination and isn’t Jesus at all.