Virtue: Courage
Resolution: I choose to live boldly with a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, in spite of fear.

Human Story: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968)

On April 3rd, 1968, in a prophetic speech given at Mason Temple Church in Memphis, TN, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said these words:

We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop....Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

The next day he was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a minister, and at 25 years old, after receiving degrees from Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, he followed in his father’s footsteps to become a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama. After the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks, Dr. King was put on center stage of the Civil Rights Movement when he and others began planning the Montgomery bus boycott. Under constant harassment, threats, and violent acts, the participants of the boycott held out for over 381 days until the city of Montgomery desegregated their buses.

From that point, MLK’s role began as one of the main the voices in the Civil Rights movement. He went on to help found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group of African American church leaders that organized non-violent protests and demonstrations around the U.S. to end all forms of segregation. King helped organize sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters in Atlanta, held demonstrations in Birmingham and Washington, marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and helped get the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act passed. King was also very outspoken against the war in Vietnam, nuclear armament, consumerism, and the oppression of the poor in society. He accumulated a list of trials and troubles that could be laid beside the Apostle Paul’s; he faced beatings and harassment, death threats to him and his family, the police used fire hoses and dogs to stop his demonstrations, he was stabbed, thrown in jail 30 times, and ultimately shot and killed.

In the face of all these afflictions, Dr. King overcame hatred and fear through courage, love, and faith. Like the prophets of old he was a spokesman who called out the injustices of society and expressed love for the oppressed and their oppressors. He had an unshakable belief, “that unarmed Truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality” and could say with confidence that, “right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Lesson: Matthew 10:26-31 (NIV)

So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

This week’s lesson is MLK’s personal analysis of Matthew 10:26-31. This excerpt is taken from his book “Strength to Love” in the chapter entitled, “Antidotes for Fear.” 

Religion endows us with the conviction that we are not alone in this vast, uncertain universe. Beneath and above the shifting sands of time, the uncertainties that darken our days, and the vicissitudes that cloud our nights is a wise and loving God. This universe is not a tragic expression of meaningless chaos but a marvelous display of orderly cosmos – “The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.” Man is not a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering but a child created “a little lower than the angels.” Above the manyness of time stands the one eternal God, with wisdom to guide us, strength to protect us, and love to keep us. His boundless love supports and contains us as a mighty ocean contains and supports the tiny drops of every wave. With a surging fullness he is forever moving toward us, seeking to fill the little creeks and bays of our lives with unlimited resources. This is religion’s everlasting diapason, its eternal answer to the enigma of existence. Any man who finds this cosmic sustenance can walk the highways of life without the fatigue of pessimism and the weight of morbid fears.

Herein lies the answer to the neurotic fear of death that plagues so many of our lives. Let us face the fear that the atomic bomb has aroused with the faith that we can never travel beyond the arms of the Divine. Death is inevitable. It is a democracy for all of the people, not an aristocracy for some of the people- kings die and beggars die; young men die and old men die; learned men die and ignorant men die. We need not fear it. The God who brought our whirling planet from primal vapor and has led the human pilgrimage for lo these many centuries can most assuredly lead us through death’s dark night into the bright daybreak of eternal life. His will is too perfect and his purposes are too extensive to be to be contained in the limited receptacle of time and the narrow walls of earth. Death is not the ultimate evil; the ultimate evil is to be outside God’s love. We need not join the mad rush to purchase an earthly fallout shelter. God is our eternal fallout shelter.

Jesus knew that nothing could separate man from the love of God. Man, for Jesus, is not mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, but he is a child of God. Is it not unreasonable to assume that God, whose creative activity is expressed in an awareness of a sparrow’s fall and the number of hairs on a man’s head, excludes from his encompassing love the life of man itself? The confidence that God is mindful of the individual is of tremendous value in dealing with the disease of fear, for it gives us a sense of worth, of belonging, and of at-homeness in the universe.

Reference: King, Martin Luther. “Antidotes for Fear.” Strength to Love, Fortress Press, 1963, pp. 128–130.

Remembrance

Celtic Daily Prayer: Book Two: Prayer by Dawna Markova

I will not die an unlived life,
I will not live in fear
Of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days, To allow my living to open me, To make me less afraid,
More accessible,
To loosen my heart Until it becomes a wing, A torch, a promise...

Challenge

Our motives drive us. Reflect on what has motivated you to get where you are right now in life. After an honest self-evaluation, consider the following verse, Hebrews 13:5: "Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you." If you identified "control, safety, security, or comfort" as motivating forces in your life, consider how God may be calling you to have the courage to let go of those motives and live a more contented life, trusting in God's provision.

Reflection

In a time when we are bombarded with images of injustice around the world, in our country, even in our own community, what does this quote from Dr. King mean to you and your desire to see peace: “right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant”? Are there examples of “right” that give you hope?

Further Growth

2023 - 2nd Sunday in Lent

Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9
Psalm: Psalm 33:12-21
New Testament: Romans 4:1-17
Gospel: John 3:1-16

2022 - 1st Sunday in Lent

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm: Psalm 91
New Testament: Romans 10:4-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

2021 - 3rd Sunday in Lent

Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-21
Psalm: Psalm 19:7-14
New Testament: Romans 7:12-25
Gospel: John 2:13-22

2020

Old Testament: Genesis 2:4 — 3:7
Psalm: Psalm 51
New Testament: Romans 5:12-21
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11