Dr. King Was Tested
A Sermon by Deacon Intern Daphne Roberts
On The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist
Luke 6: 27-38
27 Jesus said “ But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Good morning Church,
Can you picture this, non-violent protesters with signs peacefully walking down a street? Now picture the same protesters being cursed by hating bystanders. Immediately you see the police striking them with clubs, and savagely abusing them with snarling unleashed police dogs. Next you see the protesters and their children being sprayed with high-pressure water hoses or water cannons. Then you see them dragged into police cars and taken away.
Now picture Jesus in our text today saying love your enemies. Harsh words were used to describe what your enemies can do to you. Those words are hate, curse, abuse, strike and take away. An enemy is a person who actively opposes someone or something, it can be a hostile nation or a thing that harms or weakens. Why is it important to love your enemies? It is important because of the second commandment, to paraphrase Matthew 22:39 to love your neighbor as yourself...and that includes your enemies. We know the first commandment is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. But it’s that second commencement to love your enemies can sometimes put you to the test.
That was the core of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's., philosophy, to love your enemies. But he was certainly put to the test. Luke 6:30 says if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again because those items are no longer yours. To me that sounded like...I am washing my hands of them, as Jesus says in Matthew 10:14, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave. But that is not exactly what the text is saying. It says, go back and face your enemies and show them the power of God and that is what Dr. King did in the 1950s and 1960s.
The intentions of his enemies were to strip him of his dignity so; he let them try. They put him to the test by arresting Dr. King over 20 times. Their intentions were to gang up on him. He let them try. He was put to the test because he was the mutual enemy of President Lyndon Johnson but only after he denounced American involvement in Vietnam; he was the enemy of the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, who had him placed under surveillance as a communist; there were battles against blatantly illegal state and local racial practices with the likes of Birmingham’s Sheriff Eugene “Bull” Connor; he was the enemy of the white business community by supporting strikes and boycotts, and the enemy of unions with his expansive, aggressive, and unsettling socioeconomic and political agenda.
He also knew that when you pray for our enemies, several things happen. First, we submit our desires to God, so he can determine the best course of action. Second, by sharing our concerns with our loving Father, He comforts us. Third, Dr King said, we turn our focus from injustice toward God and His actions. Then we watch God act by drawing our enemies to repentance or bringing them to justice. He knew by showing the priceless power of God’s love, you can change enemies into friends. But his persecutors did not want to hear that so, with humility and love in his heart Dr. King, like Jesus, faced his enemies.
Dr. King said in order to love your enemies you have to begin by analyzing yourself. This may help determine "the what" of the situation. You may not be liked because of the way you walk, talk, or the job you hold. They may not like you because of what you have and own or because you are liked by other people. It may be your hair, your skin, the way you live your life or any number of items. All those things are jealousy which is part of human nature, but we must look deeper.
In his speeches, Dr. King found weaknesses and evil in international struggles, with democracy and communism, the U.S. and Russia. As I said he was talking about this in the 1950’s. Where is the U.S. now and what is Russia doing now?
He stated, “The U.S. has taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to classes." He examined how our democracy oppressed its own citizens by the perpetuation of colonialism and imperialism and he continued to say, we must consider all these things as we look at Russia. In verse 41 which is beyond our reading today Jesus says, 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? It is because we are hypocrites. That might be "the what" we must analyze first in ourselves.
In his sermon last week Fr. Peter referenced the Magi and the fact that outsiders knew the importance of what the baby Jesus meant. These men were skilled in astrology, magic, interpreting dreams, and the like. But they were still outsiders that could have traveled from as far as Babylon, Persia, or the Arabian Desert to seek information from Herod about the whereabouts of the newborn king of the Jews and the Prince of Peace. But Herod was frightened and knew this child could rock the boat and destroy everything he had in place with those he ruled and with the Romans that put him in power. He was known as a man willing to kill anyone to protect his own power, look at what he did to the little boys two years old and younger.
It makes me wonder about Dr. King and the Nobel Prize. These outsiders were The Norwegian Nobel Committee. We do not know who the three Wise Men were, but we know the Nobel Committee was a small group of Norwegian scholars with broad expertise in subject areas with a bearing on the Peace Prize. It took these outsiders to search for the peacemaker.
Dr. King dreamt that all inhabitants of the United States would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. The Committee saw the importance of his work and what he meant. Their inquiry as to the whereabouts of the peacemaker frightened and shook up our Herods with concerns of Dr. King continuing to rock the boat and even more, destroying everything they had in place with those they ruled and those who put them in power.
As I said earlier, harsh words were used in our reading and harsh things were done to Dr. King. He was hated, cursed, abused, beaten, things were taken away and he was certainly put to the test. Four years after he received the Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign against racism he was murdered by a white racist.
So, with humility in their hearts and non-violence as their practice Dr. King, like Jesus, died for the sake of love and peace. As we see that second commandment to love your enemies can sometimes put you to the test, they both passed. Will you pass your test? Amen.