Rev. David Holwick Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 15, 1995
Revelation 5:9-10
THERE IS STILL A DREAM
I. Leading of the Spirit.
A. He had a dream.
It was the evening of August 27, 1963.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was pacing the floor of
the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The next day he would be standing on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial addressing a crowd of 250,000 people on the issues
of equality and justice.
The event was in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Abraham
Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The dilemma which confronted King was how to adequately express
himself in the eight minutes he would be permitted to stand
at the podium.
All through the night King worked on his speech, writing one
draft after another.
He demanded that his aides remain awake with him, so they could
comment on each new effort.
His friends tried to convince him to throw away the manuscript,
and just allow the Holy Spirit to carry forth the words from
his mouth.
King would not entertain such a thought, and the vigil
continued.
By morning the speech was completed, typed, and distributed to
the media.
Later that day King ascended the platform.
There was great expectation among the audience as this awesome
orator stood before them.
Slowly and deliberately King began to read his carefully
prepared text.
After a few short paragraphs, he suddenly realized the words were
not adequate.
Pushing the manuscript aside, King spoke from the heart,
proclaiming, "I have a dream today."
What is considered King's most noted address did not come from
a prepared manuscript, but from the soul of a man moved by
the Spirit of God.
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B. A personal perspective on racial relations.
1) Me as a Kindergartner in Georgia, 1960-1.
a) Mom gets in wrong line at Drivers License Bureau.
b) Taking maid out to shack in boonies.
2) Earliest TV memories are protests and riots.
a) Entire cities burned.
b) Some adults told me Rev. King was the cause.
3) Trying to sit at a cafeteria table in Junior High, and told
by a black that I wasn't allowed there.
C. Race still divides our nation.
1) Yet there can be no turning back.
2) Even Newt Gingrich admitted that liberal Democrats can
be credited with desegregation, a good thing.
3) One of the primary movers of this revolution was a young
black preacher.
II. The man who dreamed.
A. Young Baptist minister, affiliated with ABC.
1) Pushed to the forefront unwillingly, only 26 years old.
B. His personal flaws are well-known.
1) King had a weakness for women and lashed out when frustrated.
a) It is a dark tarnish on him. Christians must condemn
it.
b) King himself was aware of the contradiction even when
those around him ignored it.
2) Many of those who criticize him are just as bad.
a) Growing up in the Watergate generation, I have become
jaded.
b) Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, even Hoover
have been shown to be deeply flawed.
c) Which of us would survive such scrutiny?
C. Yet King, like Abraham Lincoln, called nation to its moral center.
1) Surrounded by violence, he answered with prayer.
a) Not just a tactic - he really believed in it.
b) He held up Jesus as his example.
2) His dream was for judging people for who they are, not
what group they belong to.
Rebecca has memorized the key line in his speech:
"I have a dream, that one day my four little children
will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character."
3) His dream was for a united America, not a divided one.
III. Barriers and bigotry.
A. People have always divided themselves.
1) Race.
2) Class and money.
3) In some ways divisions are getting wider.
B. It's nothing new: Bigotry in Bible. Judges 12:6
1) Shibboleth episode.
2) Nathaniel: "Anything good out of Nazareth?" John 1:46
3) Well-known hatred between Jews and Samaritans. Luke 9:52-56
John 4:9
IV. Does God approve of barriers?
A. The non-distinction between races.
1) Ammo in slavery debate: Curse of Ham (Canaan).
2) Israelites ordered not to mix races. Deut 7:1-3
a) But religion is key, not race. Deut 7:4
b) Note Ruth, a Moabitess.
c) In NT, don't marry outside faith. 1 Cor 7:39
B. "Chosen people" may imply others are not chosen.
1) Sometimes taken this way. But Jews were chosen
for a purpose, not because they were deserving.
2) God has no favorites. Acts 10:34
3) God's goal is to bless all nations.
a) Told to Abraham.
b) Fulfilled at Pentecost.
c) Every nation represented in heaven. Rev 5:9f
C. The only valid distinction is based on our relation to Jesus.
1) We have a choice on whether to accept him, or reject him.
2) If we accept him, we must accept his commands for how
to live.
3) Hatred and bigotry should have no place in a Christian's
heart.
V. Jesus came to take down barriers. Eph 2:14
A. All are one in Jesus Christ. Gal 3:28
1) America has ended up with an emphasis on groups, with
victim focus. Divisive.
2) New movie "Higher Learning" about divisions on campuses.
a) Students have re-segregated themselves.
b) They look on each other with distrust.
3) We should reach out to all people.
a) Potential visitor to our church:
"I am not white. Would I be welcome in your church?"
Not said accusingly, but sheepishly.
b) The only thing that matters is the condition of our heart.
c) We have more in common than in differences.
B. People have to change from the inside out.
1) Jesus says that's where our real troubles lie.
2) It is also where our strengths lie.
a) The Holy Spirit can change hard hearts.
b) Some have argued civil rights would not have succeeded if
southern Christians hadn't felt guilty about segregation.
C. The ministry of reconciliation.
1) Jesus tried to bring people together.
a) Note outreach to Samaritans.
b) He continues that ministry through us.
2) Examples of those with reconciling vision.
a) John Perkins, Voice of Calvary in Mendenhall, Miss.
Founded in 1964, V.O.C. deals with real issues of life
from a Christian perspective.
They have started a school, a clinic, nutrition classes
and small businesses.
It is not just for blacks, but anyone who is poor.
When a policeman was shot during a disturbance, Perkins
put on a festival to rally support for the police.
This was from a man who had been beaten in jail for
his protests for civil rights.
John Perkins believes in Jesus and in justice, and both
are color-blind.
CT,1/1/82,p.18
VI. A committed life.
Two months before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
unwittingly gave his own eulogy.
He was speaking to his congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church
in Atlanta.
"Every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about
my own funeral," Dr. King told his congregation.
"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want
a long funeral.
And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk
too long.
Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say.
Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that
isn't important.
Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other
awards, that's not important.
I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr.,
tried to give his life serving others.
I'd like someone to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried
to love somebody.
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the
hungry.
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try, in my life,
to clothe those who were naked.
I want you to be able to say that I did try to visit those in
prison.
I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."
Dr. King concluded with these words: "I won't have any money left
behind.
I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind.
But I just want to leave a committed life behind."
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A. What will you leave behind?
B. Are you rising above the prejudices surrounding you?
C. There is no faith without commitment.
