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Actual Equality: An Ongoing Struggle
Sermon by F. Robert Tafel
for Sunday, January 20, 2002
The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and
said to him, "follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew
and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "we have found him of
whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, "can anything good come out
of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming
toward him, and said of him, "behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
deceit!" Nathanael said to him, "how do you know me?" Jesus answered and
said to him, "before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I
saw you." Nathanael answered and said to him, "rabbi, you are the son of
God! You are the king of Israel!" Jesus answered, and said to him, "because
I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see
greater things than these. And he said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to
you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the son of man."
John 1:43-51
This Gospel passage, telling how Jesus calls us in much the same way as he
did the original disciples is very appropriate for us to consider on the
national holiday celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We can consider this passage in the context of looking at how one
individualšs effort to apply his concept of Christian discipleship has made
a difference. It is also an opportunity to realize Jesus calls us to follow
him and help bring others into a knowledge of himself and his unceasing
effort to liberate each of us individually both in our social realm and in
our daily living.
One remarkable attribute of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was his ability to
take the concerns and values of the Church to the State and also bring the
politics of the State to the light of the Church. And to do so in a manner
which did not compromise the essential and appropriate separation of Church
and State. His doing so achieved a creative challenge to the amoral conduct
of business as usual. His leadership was a gift left to us as a model and as
a legacy. We are all a little bit freer as a result of the work of Dr. King.
Of course there still remains much to be done, both as a nation and as a
community of nations. But an important beginning has been made and
continues.
We are freer, as a nation, from many evils, thanks to Dr. King and to those
who joined in his efforts and to those who continue to meet the challenge of
the work remaining.
Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther Kingšs birthday is an opportunity to observe
his gradual encounter with his calling and to remember that he like
ourselves went through a process of discovery and education to becoming an
effective disciple of the Lord. It is further an opportunity to educate
ourselves about the work remaining to bring about actual equality and
justice. Such a lofty goal is often elusive and takes concerted effort in an
on-going process to eradicate entrenched social evils. And the work has
spread to endeavoring to bring about, as Dr. King had hoped, a time when
African Americans, Catholics, Jews and Gentiles -- men and women of every
sort can sit at the table of brother and sisterhood with actual equality and
justice. This dream and effort is another legacy of Dr. King.
Personally, I enjoy this annual opportunity to learn more about Dr. King's
work. It is an opportunity for every Christian to try to see bridges of
contact to their own religious heritage. As a Swededenborgian, one bridge I
see is that between Swedenborg, Emerson, the transcendental poets and
authors such as Thoreau.
While in his third year of studies at Morehouse College, a class assignment
brought Dr. King into contact with Henry D. Thoreaušs essay on "civil
disobedience." This was a provocative thesis upon which Dr. King would soon
elaborate and refine most eloquently.
We can also see a direct connection with Swedenborgian concepts, for
Swedenborg has much to say about recognizing evils, rejecting them mentally
and then abstaining from them as sins against the lord. And further. That
in proportion as one shuns evils, one does goods (Arcana Celestia #825). For
Thoreau, civil disobedience; namely, refusing to obey a law which is unjust,
would be the same as shunning evils.
In Thoreaušs words: "we can no longer lend our cooperation to an evil
system;" "he who accepts evil without protesting against it is really
cooperating with evil." Thoreau had influenced Gandhi who in turn influenced
King by demonstrating specific strategies of refusing to cooperate with
evil; such as, powerful yet nonviolent activities such as boycott. And
protest marches. Methods which King would use to dramatize evils on a
societal level.
Dr. Kingšs legacy; that is, everything which has resulted from his work,
cannot be summed up easily, for so much good has branched forth from those
initial efforts. What does stand out for me is the reminder that we must not
rest merely with shunning personal evils. We are called in Christian
discipleship to take responsibility for social evil as well. We may not be
the direct cause of evil; however, we can do our part to help end it.
I was, and am, impressed and moved by a letter Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
wrote from a prison cell. Jailed during a series of sit-ins at lunch
counters concluding with a silent march toward city hall, king learned of a
newspaper statement published by eight leading clergy condemning his actions
as "unwise and untimely." His reply, "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
(published in his book Why We Can't Wait) is superbly eloquent:
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws.
This is certainly a legitimate concern.... I hope you are able to see the
distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or
defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist, that would lead to
anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with
a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks
a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the
penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community
over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
................
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present
tension in the south is a necessary phase of the transition from an
obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust
plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect
the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in
nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to
the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the
open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be
cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened up with all its
ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be
exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human
conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
Do we not see here an eloquent expression and direct application of
Swedenborgšs expression of the law of divine providence that evils must be
seen in order to be removed?
There is a way that we can truly celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin
Luther king, jr. And that is to share his dream and Help to bring it about
the dream that his:
Four little children will one day live; in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
The dream that:
. . . One day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall
be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places
will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together.
Such was the hope and faith Dr.. King declared in his speech given
At the Lincoln memorial during the 1963 march on Washington. Dr.
King leaves us with this legacy, stated in that speech:
. . . That we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with
new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every
mountainside, let freedom ring.''
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every
hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that
day when all of God's children, black... and white..., Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of that old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!"
This is our legacy. This is our hope. Building upon the efforts of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., It is beginning to become reality.
Let us pray.
Copyright 2002 by Rev. F. Robert Tafel
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