This Little Light of Mine: Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 17, 2010
Steve Hammond
[You might also want to check out the story Whips and Wine which we read in church this morning. I've posted it on the blog]
We keep our house pretty dark. Even though we have compact florescent bulbs in just about all of our light fixtures, we still try to make sure the only lights that are on are in the room we are in. It’s one of the ways we try to reduce our carbon footprint.
Last week, though, we had ECO at our house and as it got darker I realized that before everybody got there that I needed to turn some lights on, not only in the dining room and the kitchen, but the living room and the family room. I hate to admit it, but I liked it. The whole house felt different not being in the dark and semi-dark. And not only was there light, but we had also turned up the heat so it was warm. Well, for us 65 degrees is warm.
I’ve thought a lot about that this week. I’ve even left some lights on longer than I should have. But there is something about light that really makes a difference, especially in these short, cloudy days of winter. Those folk who included Epiphany in the church year knew what they doing.
We need light. Think of all the ways light makes a difference besides lighting up the places we live. Early one morning this week, while it was still dark, I was searching for something in the guest room. Since I knew where it was, I decided to not turn the lights on in the room. What I forgot about was the footstool. Light makes a difference.
Light makes such a difference, obviously, when you are trying to read. More than a couple of times this week, when there was some sun, I stood next to the window, and amazingly I could read the phone number in the book. It’s easy to see why light became a metaphor in the Bible. Light helps us to feel better, it helps us to see, it illumines things.
And what is amazing about that metaphor is that it applies to things of heaven and earth. “In the beginning was the Word…and the word was the light for all humanity.” That, of course, was about Jesus. But what did Jesus say to us? “You are the light of the world…So let your light shine.”
Today we are celebrating the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He sure let his light shine. There are all kinds of things you can say about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but I always like to start with that Rev. part.
He was a Christian. And he showed us that when Jesus said we could live in different and better ways he really meant it. That’s why Rev. King was able to set so many people free. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. He faced jail. He was martyred. But it all started as a Christian who was trying to follow Jesus. And he realized Jesus was about light and life, and his calling, and the calling of all who follow Jesus is to bring light and life to this world.
Contrast that view to the most recent statements of Pat Robertson who said the people of Haiti are being punished for the pact their ancestors supposedly made with the devil. I guess he didn’t hear what I did about how reporters could hear people standing together in the streets praying with each other and singing hymns right after the earthquake. Rev. Robertson knows a god of darkness and death, but Rev. King knew the God of Light and Life. That’s the legacy he left us.
We might think we could never be like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But we’re wrong. Not only can we, but we have been. Before Martin Luther King, Jr. raised a voice of righteousness, most white Christians, and even some black Christians believed that segregation and white supremacy were the will of God. They believed that integration was contrary to God’s will.
People, especially white people in this country, would not cross racial lines, and when people did, especially black folk, there was violent reaction, often justified in the name of God.
Martin Luther King, Jr., though, showed us another way. He shined a light on our racism, and though things are far from perfect, we changed. Most white Christians these days would never argue that segregation was the will of God. But we might still believe that if Martin Luther King, Jr. and those who inspired him, as well as those who were inspired by him, hadn’t shown us something better, shown us the light.
He taught us about how making peace had something to do with following Jesus, and reminded us that Jesus showed us the way of non violence. Some of us have become peacemakers. We cross racial lines. We tear down all kinds of barriers that Christians were once expected to uphold. We may not be as wise, or courageous, or committed as he was, but Rev. King has helped us to become better Christians. He has helped us to live in ways that Christians two generations would have never imagined we could live. He taught us about living in the light. He said we could do it. He was right.
Rev. King and so many others throughout church history have shown us that it is silly to take the dark path through the wilderness, when there is a path that is lit with the light of God. Yet why do we choose so often to stumble in the dark when there is a much better way for us to go? Why do we need people like Martin Luther King, Jr. to keep pointing that out to us?
Rev. King was a model for us in so many ways. He was a civil rights leader. He was a peacemaker. He was a Christian who showed us the way, who led us to the light. He had his personal flaws. But he left us a witness. He showed us how to follow Jesus Christ.
And he knew that following Jesus wasn’t simply to make his own life better and get himself into heaven. He knew that following Jesus was the way we could make life better for everybody, and get heaven into us.
Martin Luther King, Jr. lived in dark times. Segregation was law in many places and custom in most others. Our country was fighting a brutal war in Viet Nam and he saw how militarism was destroying the moral fiber of our nation. There was grinding poverty in this country, not to mention so many others. He couldn’t even acknowledge that one of his key aides was gay because that would be more ammunition for those trying to kill the movement. Things were tough. But he knew the darkness could not overcome the light. And he knew we all had the choice, to walk in God’s ways or let evil overcome us. He showed us how good the light is. And he showed us we could walk in that light.
So in honor of Rev. King I want to encourage all of you to think about your experiences with light or the lack of light this week, whether it’s walking into a well lit room or stumbling over a footstool in the dark. They are all parables. They remind us, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did that we are children of light not shadows.