Martin Luther King, All Faiths Breakfast, Ted C. Wills Center
January 15, 2005
Bishop John Steinbock
I feel deeply humbled and honored at the same time on being chosen to speak this morning on this occasion when we gather to honor a great religious leader who helped create a radical change in our society--moving us towards greater civil rights. But, as we all know, this struggle must continue on in our lives.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a deeply committed Christian and it was his faith in God, in the presence and power of God in his own personal life, that gave him the strength to continue on in the face of setbacks, hatred and condemnation. He was a deeply committed Christian but had as his philosophical and ethical mentor a great Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, who embraced non-violence in seeking to change the unjust structures found in his country of India. The greatness of Martin Luther King was influencing so many others to join him in his non-violent struggle to promote civil rights. It was this non-violence that brought so many people together of all races and all faiths to join him in that struggle for justice. It is was the response of non-violence to hatred, and violent and unjust actions, that that helped change the conscience of our very society.
Today we find a way of thinking and talking and acting in our country that could also be labeled as “violent.” There is dialogue that is not dialogue at all. People yell at each other but are not listening to each other. In public discourse on talk radio, and by certain TV commentators and politicians, we hear judgment, condemnation—and speech that leads to animosity and hatred and could easily lead to violence. People are condemned as not being patriotic or uncaring if they are not in agreement with a particular speaker. Never have we seen our country so polarized. And with this polarization truth becomes the victim, as slander, detraction, half truths, facts taken out of context, become an acceptable way of attacking those that think differently. And sad to say this polarization not only affects political and civic life but can reach right into a particular faith community. And it can be seen and heard by people condemning others or being suspicious of others because of the difference of cultures, of the way one dresses, or because of the difference of religious faiths.
Persons who engage in this form of violent thinking, of condemning, judging and attacking are found on both the right and left, whether it be in politics, in ideologies, or in religion itself. Violent thoughts and violent speech are only steps away from violent actions.
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. His dream was not that people would all think alike. Rather, that people would be at peace with one another, even as they hold differing political or religious views. Martin Luther King Jr. because of his Christian faith, believing in a loving God who describes himself as Father, saw everyone as brothers and sisters, not as enemies.
In the Tradition of every Religious Faith, whether it be Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Moslem, Sikh, or Jewish, there is the teaching of unity and understanding, and the hope of living in peace with one another. It is the hope of all of us here and of everyone that is open to the teachings of their faith tradition, that we truly live as brothers and sisters. In his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial back in 1963 Martin Luther King said: “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” And on another occasion in 1964 he said: “We must learn to live as brothers or perish together as fools.” The dream of Martin Luther King was for the sons of slaves and the sons of slaveholders to live as brothers, and this dream must be kept alive for all peoples, of all political persuasions and of all faiths. And it is our duty to keep this dream alive. When Martin Luther King gave that famous speech, “I have a dream,” in 1963, he admitted the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, just as we have the difficulties and frustrations of our present day.
It is difficult for us to change other people, but what is important is that each one of us, when we hear inflammatory speech, and even when we may be attacked personally with half truths, lies and hatred, that we continue to respond with patience and forgiveness and speak in peace and goodness and love, and with truth. We must lead others by example, never being dragged down by evil, but seeking to lift up the very ones who may be condemning us and our way of thinking and acting.
Basically evil is a tragic rejection of the call to love. In our Christian ethic, we hear the command of Jesus, “love one another as I have loved you.” The genius and the power of Martin Luther King Jr. was loving even those who spat on him and who hit him and jailed him, because he possessed the very power of God’s love within him. It was that power that made the civil rights movement what it was. May we all be open to allow the power of God’s love to enable us to live the words of St. Francis of Assisi in his famous prayer: “Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow your love. Where there is injury, pardon.”
Love and pardon are the only hope for peace whether it be in the Middle East or in our communities here in America. The hope for all our various faith traditions not only to live in peace amongst ourselves but to teach the people of our faith communities how to live in peace with one another, is simply by loving one another. Understanding and unity are a result of love.
Let us give thanks to God for the example of the man we honor today. What a gift of God Martin Luther King Jr. was for the people of his day, and what a gift of God he is for all generations, and especially for us in these days—as he was above all a man, in the most difficult of situations, who showed us how to love and live in brotherhood. And this is the greatest need we have today in our communities, in our society, in our world, and especially amongst us in our varying faith communities, if we have hope to live in peace. It can only come from living in love and as brothers and sisters. This to me is what speaks of the greatness of Martin Luther King Jr. May we all struggle to keep his dream not only alive, but encouraged by his inspiration, struggle to make that dream a reality in our lived experience. May God bless all of us, brothers and sisters to one another.