Each year at this time, I reach for a book I read in seminary, a collection of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermons titled Strength to Love.
We’ve come to identify King as the remarkable leader of the civil rights movement – a master strategist, a national and international political influence and the charismatic inspiration of both black and white. But do we ever forget that he was first and foremost a preacher and an aspiring theologian before God called him at the age of 26 to change history?
King’s sermons read as strongly as they sounded. Rather than taking up this space with my thoughts, I wanted to share some of King’s with you. As we look out on our many opportunities in 2010, King’s voice reaches forward from when he first spoke these words in 1963. So, take your time with these excerpts, the wisdom of a King, taken from my dog-eared book of King’s sermons.
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Preaching on Matthew 10:16 ….
“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of a dove ….. The softminded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new …. Softmindedness is one of the basic causes of race prejudice ….
“But we must not stop with the cultivation of a tough mind. The gospel also demands a tender heart …. The greatness of our God lies in the fact that he is toughminded and tenderhearted. God has two outstretched arms. One is strong enough to surround us with justice and one is gentle enough to embrace us with grace.”
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Preaching on Romans 12:2 ….
“Nowhere is (humanity’s) tragic tendency to conform (to the ways of the world) more evident than in the church, an institution which has often served to crystallize, conserve, and even bless the patterns of the majority opinion.”
“We need to recapture the gospel glow of the early Christians, who were nonconformists in the truest sense of the word and refused to shape their witness according to the mundane patterns of the world .…
“Gradually, however, the church became so entrenched in wealth and prestige that it began to dilute the strong demands of the gospel and to conform to the ways of the world. And, ever since, the church has been a weak and ineffectual trumpet making uncertain sounds. If the church of Jesus Christ is to regain once more its power, message and authentic ring, it must conform only to the demands of the gospel.”
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From King’s imaginary letter from the Apostle Paul to America ….
“For many years I have longed to see you. I have heard much about you and what you are doing. News has come to me regarding the fascinating and astounding advances that you have made in the scientific realm ….”
“But, America, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It appears to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress, your mentality outdistances your morality, and your civilization outshines your culture.”
“American Christians … you have a dual citizenry. You live in both time and eternity. Your highest loyalty is to God, and not the mores or the folkways, the state or the nation, or any man-made institution. If any earthly institution or custom conflicts with God’s will, it is your Christian duty to oppose it.”