Members, we are here today following the holiday celebrating the life of a great American leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 1929. He championed a movement of civil rights for a period of just over twelve years. He was assassinated on April 4th of 1968. Most of his accomplishments can be found online. He was in my view one of the most important leaders in American history. There is not much that can be said about Dr. King that has not already been said. Today, I want to focus on an often forgotten part of his life which he considered the most important - he was a Baptist minister. He considered his civil rights work a part of his ministry.
In his roles both as pastor and civil rights leader, Dr. King remained humble and selfless. In the New Testament Book of the Gospel, according to St. John, chapter 15:13 (New International Version) Jesus speaking to his disciples said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” That’s what Dr. King did.
On April 3, 1968, Dr. King gave his last sermon. Speaking to a group of striking trash workers in Memphis, TN, he gave what I believe was certainly his most prophetic, if not most important, sermon. Not simply because he referenced his own death, but because he drew a parallel to another biblical character with whom he would share a similar fate. The title of the sermon was “I See the Promised Land.” Before I read a portion of that sermon I want to illustrate the parallel.
Again reading from the NIV version of the Bible, I want to direct you to Deuteronomy 34:1-5,
“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land – from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea., the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, I will give it to your descendants I will let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’ And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab.”
Dr. King speaking in a church Memphis over two thousand years later:
“We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountain top and I don’t mind. Like anybody I would like to live a long life, longevity has its place, but I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy tonight I’m not worried about anything -- I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
And the next day he was gone. Thirty-nine years after he was born in Atlanta GA, this 20th Century Moses who led this nation away from Jim Crow segregation departed this Earth. Speaking to his friends Dr. King once remarked, “At my funeral don’t let them preach too long. Don’t tell them I won a Nobel Prize or any of those things. Sing just one song that sums up what I tried to do.”
If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody, with word or song,
If I can show somebody, how they’re traveling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain.
If I can do my duty as a good “Senator” ought,
If I can bring back beauty, to a world up wrought,
If I can spread love’s message, as the master taught,
Then my living shall not be in vain.
Members, as we grapple with some difficult decisions on the budget and the future of our beloved California, as the United States and the world come together to assist Haiti, in this time of great tragedy, may our living not be in vain.
May this be God’s will? AMEN.