
If you haven’t already, I’d like to encourage all of you to take the time to watch the funeral service for President Jimmy Carter that was held on January 9th. Not just the short clips or sound bites on the news, but the entire service.
It was one of the most moving and inspirational services I have ever experienced.
Regardless of your politics or what you may have thought of him as a president, I think we can all agree what an incredible human being he was. A man of great integrity and character.
And, tomorrow, of course, we are honoring the birthday of another great man of integrity and character, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who famously dreamed of a world where, he said, people would be judged not on the color of their skin but on the content of their character.
Character and integrity matter.
President Carter and Dr. King actually had a lot in common. They were both from Georgia, and they were contemporaries. President Carter died at the age of 100, and if Dr. King were still alive today, he’d be 96 years old this week.
Both men were also devout Christians. President Carter taught Sunday school, and Dr. King was an ordained Baptist minister.
And both men put their faith into action.
When asked his motivation for building homes with Habitat for Humanity, President Carter responded, “Jesus.”
And in his book, Strive Toward Freedom, Dr. King said that it was the teachings of Jesus that inspired the entire Civil Rights movement.
President Carter and Dr. King sought to make the world a better place not out of self-interest, but because of Jesus.
Dr. King’s dream of building what he called the Beloved Community was inspired by Jesus’s instructions of bringing about the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth: a world where all people would live as one.
Our beautiful anthem this morning is based on a poem by the Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes, and it’s also about the fulfillment of that dream. He writes:
I dream a world where love will bless the earth and peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way, where greed no longer saps the soul.
A world I dream where black or white, whatever race you be, will share the bounties of the earth and every one is free.
Where wretchedness will hang its head and joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind – Of such I dream, my world!
It’s the same world John Lennon dreamed of in his song, “Imagine.” He sang, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.”
This may seem like an impossible dream, but where other people saw the impossible, people like Jesus and Dr. King saw the possible.
For Dr. King, building the beloved community was not some lofty, utopian ideal, but rather a realistic, achievable goal in our lifetime.
Dr. King said, “Our goal is to create a beloved community, for love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight fire with fire’ method is bitterness and chaos; the aftermath of the love method is the creation of the beloved community. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. It is this love that will bring about miracles.”
It is this love that will bring about miracles.
We, my friends, are called to be miracle workers!
In the gospel reading from today’s lectionary, we hear all about Jesus’s very first miracle.
He’s 30 years old and is attending a wedding reception with his family and friends.
As we just heard, they ran out of wine, but Jesus was able to take water and turn it into wine.
He took something ordinary and turned it into something extraordinary!
We, as Christians, are called to follow in his steps and to transform the world.
Now, Jesus, of course, lived during a time of great civil unrest and injustice. So, did Dr King. And, so do we.
But in Scripture we hear: “A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
And, Dr. King, famously said something similar. He said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.”
We, my friends, are called to be people of Light.
The writers of the “Living the Questions” series (a Progressive Christian study program in which our church took part) said: “Martin Luther King may never have made it to the Promised Land, but the vision of that promise inspired him to do everything he could to get there. That vision – that promise – requires of us what it required of King: to be in solidarity with the poor; to counter the idolatry of wealth; to practice non-violence; and to seek justice and inclusivity in a culture dominated by suspicion and fear.
I believe that, too, my friends.
All of us have witnessed miraculous things in our lifetimes. There are people alive today who were around when women in this country couldn’t vote. There are people watching this service today who were alive when black people in our country were forced to use separate water fountains and sit at the back of the bus.
And, how many of us said when Marriage Equality became of the law of the land that “I never thought I would see this in my lifetime!”
So, how did all of that happen? How did all of those laws get changed? Did people in our country just wake up one day and decide that they were wrong? Of course not. It took great struggle – centuries of struggle – for more and more people to awaken to the Truth of our Oneness.
We, obviously, still have a long way to go, but change happens – miracles happen – because dreamers believe in the power of love. That love triumphs over hate, and that light overcomes the darkness.
Our Christian calling is BE that love and light and to shine that love and light in the face of hatred and division.
The power to effect change and work miracles is not just given to special people. It’s been given to all of us!
And, as our friend, the Christian writer, John Pavlovitz, reminds us: “There are far more people working for justice, equality, and diversity than opposing them. Do not let hopelessness trend in your head.”
So, do not despair, my friends. During the Season of Epiphany, let us keep our eyes focused on the Star of Wonder and allow ourselves to be guided by that Perfect Christ Light.
And, let us continue the work of Martin and Jesus, as we strive together to heal our nation; to build the beloved community; and to bring about the Kin-dom of Heaven right here on Earth.