01/14/2011 - Daily Prayer

Members and guests, this morning we are looking forward to the annual celebration of life for the American Civil Rights leader, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 1929. He championed a reform movement for a period of just over twelve years. He was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, in Memphis TN. He was married to Coretta Scott (King) and together they had four children. He was the second African American and youngest winner of a Nobel Prize in 1964; the first being UCLA alumnus Dr. Ralph Bunche in 1950. Dr. Bunch, by the way, attended Thomas Jefferson High School in South Central Los Angeles. Most of Dr. King’s many accomplishments can be found in history books and online.
There is not much that can be said about Dr. King that has not been said a thousand times. Last year we focused on what he considered the most important part of his life - he was a Baptist minister doing God’s will. His civil rights work was very much a part of his ministry. His heart would be heavy today as we mourn the lives lost and carnage in Arizona. As a disciple of the peaceful protest and the Christian faith he would be praying for all the victims, including the perpetrator.
Last year we studied the correlation between Dr. King and Moses, specifically Deuteronomy 34:1-5 and the saga of going to the mountain top. This morning I would briefly like to draw another parallel. Today in political discourse we overuse two words: reform and protest. Dr. King was named for the German monk Martin Luther, known as the father of the Protestant Church and the Christian Reformation which are derived from reform and protest. Martin Luther’s protest and reform were expressed in his “Ninety Five Theses,” which he posted on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg Germany on October 31, 1517 in protest. Martin Luther was the first person to translate the Bible into a language other than Latin (German). Remember, Dr. King was a Baptist (Protestant) minister.
Students of Dr. King’s work often draw a parallel between Martin Luther’s “Ninety Five Theses” and Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, dated April 16, 1963. Dr. King was being jailed in Birmingham because he was “protesting” Jim Crow laws in the Alabama city. Specifically, they were seeking reform from the policies of the notorious segregationist Eugene “Bull” Conner, the Commissioner of Public Safety of Birmingham.
The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is regarded by many scholars as one of the finest pieces of advocacy/protest writing ever done. Ironically it was written to other Clergyman concerned with the need for protest and the speed of reform. Two of my favorite quotes by Dr. King come from this great letter: “Injustice anywhere is a threat justice everywhere.“, and “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’ It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.” If you have not already done so, I would recommend everyone read “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 82 years old this year. We wish him a happy birthday. Members, as we grapple with the budget and the future of our beloved California, I would like to go back to basics.
In the New Testament Book of Matthew when the disciples were asking how they should pray, Jesus responded:
Our father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done,
In earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.
Amen