In America, we are familiar with celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in January. Set aside on the Monday that falls near his birthday (January 15), most of us enjoy a day off without giving a second thought to the reason for the commemoration. In the Anglican tradition (and the broadly Catholic tradition), a person‘s date of death is the date they are commemorated and remembered. Although Martin Luther King Jr. was not an Anglican, nor is he a canonized saint, it is appropriate on this date to honor his life and legacy.
Born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929 he was the son of the Baptist preacher Michael King Sr. and Alberta King. In the late 1920s Michael Sr. became the pastor at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, following the death of his father-in-law the Rev. Daniel Williams. As a member of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), he was sent to their Fifth Congress that was taking place in Berlin Germany in 1934. While on this trip, he was exposed to the horrors of Nazism and employed the BWA to adopt a resolution against Hitler. Well, also on this same trip, King was exposed to the teachings of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. He was so moved by this experience that upon his return home, he changed his name to Martin Luther King Sr. and changed the name of his young son to Martin Luther King Jr. this decision would change the trajectory of American and world history.
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, young Martin Luther King Jr. became a Baptist minister. In 1954 he began his pastorate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. While in Montgomery King became more involved with the growing civil rights movement. He became a leader within the movement because of his stance against the city’s bus segregation ordinances, known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. The boycott came about after an incident on a bus when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and was subsequently arrested. In 1957 King helped cofound the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization that helped organize peaceful anti-segregation protests in the American South.
During the 1960s King organized many peaceful demonstrations, and marches as a means of protest against the injustices of segregation. His speeches and messages drew from themes in scripture, particularly the prophets. Many young people were inspired by King’s peaceful model and volunteered to participate in “sit ins“ at segregated lunch counters and on buses. Sadly many of these peaceful demonstrations ended in violence when law-enforcement sought to maintain order And control. In 1963 King wrote his famous “letter from a Birmingham jail”, a letter that he wrote to several white ministers employing them to reconsider their hands off approach to the civil rights movement. Also in 1963 King gave his most famous speech known as the “I Have A Dream” speech that took place during the peaceful march on Washington. One of the most memorable lines from this speech he quotes from the prophet Amos, “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).
On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated while on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis. The night before, King gave another, now famous, and eerily prophetic sermon known as the “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” address. In this final sermon he relates himself to Moses who did not enter the promised land with the Israelite people. His death sent shock waves through the nation and the world. Although his life and work were tragically cut short, his legacy of peacefully speaking truth to power still resonates some six decades later. The work of the civil rights movement continued and still continues to this day. King wholeheartedly believed that “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” These words are ever true today in our society that is deeply divided, sadly by much of the same issues that divided it during King’s lifetime. On this day of remembrance may we, like Dr. King, give our lives for the gospel truth that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
Collect (Prayer) of the Day
Almighty God, we thank you for the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. You used his ministry and activism to advance the gospel truth that all men are created equal in your sight, and that all are loved by you, the Creator. May we, like he, be pliable in the hands of you, the potter, and be willing to be used for your glory wherever you may call. Even if it costs us our lives.This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Bible Reading
Amos 5:18-24 (ESV)
Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Photo credit: Tim Mossholder via Unsplash
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