Last Sunday we listened to the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew and saw how they set the stage for the rest of the story. We will hear this gospel all year and Matthew will teach us how to follow Jesus and be faithful disciples.
This morning, we hear it another way. We listen to the Gospel of John, a very different account of the life and ministry of Jesus. When we hear Jesus’ first words according to John, we are drawn into a new world. This is the gospel that shows the mysterious relationship between God and Jesus. Everything that happens, all the events in the life of Jesus are signs of this profound mystery. So it is no surprise that Jesus’ first statement in this gospel is an open-ended question that leads to a deeper level.
Two men follow Jesus, whispering and wondering about him. He takes them by surprise when he turns around and says, “What are you looking for?” He does not ask who they are or what road they take into town everyday or even why they are lurking behind him. Jesus speaks directly to their souls and asks the deeper question of what their lives are about. What are you looking for? What do you care about? The men are so stunned that they forget to introduce themselves. They can’t make small talk. They just blurt out, “Where are you staying?” The men so desperately want to be with Jesus, that they worry about losing him. Jesus does not give them his address. He simply resumes his walk and says, “Come and see.”
With this invitation, the disciples step onto a path that will change their lives. They accept Christ’s invitation to join into the mystery of his relationship with God. Come and see, Jesus beckons, and I will show you God. What are you looking for? Come and see.
What are we looking for? We could all make quick lists here: jobs, love, hope, healing, peace, money, parking spaces. We are on the lookout for something all the time in modern urban life. But everyone here also looks for deeper things. It’s what drew us through these massive doors of Trinity Church today. We would love to see more of God in our lives. We would love to know that we are never alone because God is really with us, around us and within us. We are all looking for God in our own way today. And Jesus meets us with an invitation: Come and see. Come closer to Christ and you will meet God.
Wow: if the story stopped right here, it would be wonderful as we bask in the presence of God. We could dwell in the beauty of holiness all day, everyday. But that doesn’t work for Jesus or any of his disciples. They get moving. Being close to God drives them to love what God loves, like what happens in the world. “Come and see” leads them to unexpected places. The history of the church is filled with devout men and women who were driven to their knees in prayer and then got up to go love the world, sometimes facing great danger.
Today we remember one of them, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As one of the great leaders of the Church, he witnessed to Christ through the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was a student of the gospel, one of the Church’s own. In fact, he prepared for ordained ministry right here in Boston. As he was led more deeply into his life with God through Jesus, he was also catapulted into the national arena as a leader for truth and justice. When you hear us honor him in church, don’t be confused and wonder why we are honoring a political figure and a secular holiday. We are lifting up a church leader whose faith and witness changed our country.
Because Martin Luther King, Jr. is of the church we listen in on a conversation he had with the church in Birmingham in 1963. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is addressed to the leaders of the faith community who refused to support the Civil Rights movement. Have patience, they told Dr. King, change takes time. You are demanding too much too fast. Let us handle things our own way here and you go back to where you came from. The Birmingham religious leaders watched and did nothing as a fellow minister was carted off to jail. The problem was removed from their sight and they hoped that was the end of it.
These leaders underestimated the power of Dr. King’s relationship with God. They overlooked how much he loved Jesus and was willing to follow him at great personal risk. They received a brilliant letter, smuggled out of jail on scraps of paper. Read between the lines and hear Martin repeat the words of Jesus: “What are you looking for?” Peace at any price? The status quo of privilege? Prosperity maintained through the suffering of others?
This letter is important for us because it’s the church’s confrontation with itself. The Letter from Birmingham Jail is like a mirror. We continue to hold it up and see ourselves all these years later. Our country has changed a lot in 45 years. And yet, 4 African American men were murdered in three days in Dorchester this week. Violence and distress stalk our African American neighbors. Poverty and poor health continue plague minorities in this country. Martin Luther King’s work is not nearly finished in 2008. Listen, then, to these excerpts from the letter he addressed to the church 45 years ago:
“So here we are moving toward the exit of the twentieth century with a religious community largely adjusted to the status quo, standing as a tail-light behind other community agencies rather than a headlight leading men to higher levels of justice…”
“There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society… They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be …intimidated.”
King goes on and says to the church pastors who oppose him,
“I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader, but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. did not set out to spend nights in a Birmingham jail. It was one of the most dangerous places in the world for an African American in 1963. He began as a man who was looking for something to transform his life and it led him to Jesus. He was looking for someone to tell the truth and he found it in the words of Jesus Christ. Come and see, Christ said to Martin as he led him closer to God. Come and see, as Martin’s heart and considerable intellect were stretched to contain God’s call. He dwelt in the beauty of God’s holiness, but like the apostle Paul, he also did a lot of jail time. And both of these Christian leaders, Paul and Martin, have left behind letters that describe lives of faithfulness and suffering. Come and see, Jesus said as he led them closer to God. They accepted the invitation and found themselves in places they never imagined.
Today we are also invited into a deeper relationship with God through Jesus. If we stick with Christ, we will come closer to God than we ever imagined. We cannot name all the places where Christ will lead us, but we do learn important things from Martin Luther King’s letter. The church is meant to be the headlights for a just society, and not the tail-lights. The church is not a thermometer which observes and records external forces. The church is the thermostat. It is meant to change the climate and the mores of society that leave some people out and others behind. These words spoke to the Church in 1963; may they continue to inspire us in 2008.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.
Amen.
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