|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Isaiah
9:1–7
|
Psalm
40:1–12
|
1 Corinthians 1:1–9 |
John 1:29-42 |
One of my favorite quotes comes from some words by the 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. I’ve shared them with you before. He wrote these words as the world was recovering from World War II and as the cold war was beginning. “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be save by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; Therefore we are saved by love.”1
People of faith discover that Niebuhr’s words ring true. In our personal lives we can usually recall individuals who have served as inspirational examples and wise mentors to us through changing seasons and years. In the dignity of their lives they have conveyed to us a sense of the holy and a partial glimpse over our immediate horizons. Perhaps it was a teacher, a family physician, a next-door neighbor or a grandparent. It is unlikely that any of these people have lasting significance to us because they had all the answers down pat, or they completed all that they wished to accomplish in life. The teacher’s definitive textbook has long since been replaced and basic theories substantially revised, the physician practiced a medicine that now would be considered hopelessly out of date, the neighbor never got around to fixing the porch and returning the tools he borrowed, and your grandparent was not able to keep all the promises that were made. Yet they were very significant people whose legacy has continued to give us strength and wisdom. They were great people to us because the light of a larger grace shone through them.
This week our country remembers the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of us never knew him personally. Many of us were born after his lifetime. His legacy, however, still inspires and shines across many barriers and generations. King was a person of profound faith, and people of faith have hope, a hope that often radiates from them, far and wide, even beyond the limitations of time. “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.”
Often when the world gets a hint of there being no easy and quick solution of a crisis it pouts in angry despair, or chooses to deny the reality of the situation. People of faith know we can’t accomplish everything all at once, but we can reject despair and nihilism, and act, knowing that God’s affirmation of the dignity of every human being will not be ultimately thwarted or overcome by the evil powers of violence and degradation. King refused to be intimidated by the cynicism or viciousness of the world. He believed in a vision, even if it seemed on some days as if clouds would always obscure it. “Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.”
The world places such silly trust in itself. Hence every failure or unsolvable obstacle is interpreted as a harbinger of death. Some people act as if they alone are the Atlas of the modern world and everything will collapse without them. A diet of fear feeds hatred. People of faith are able to discern that many of the anxieties of our time are the pains of pregnancy rather than the final pangs of death. King confronted hatred by starving fear. King got people talking together rather than walking apart and acting alone. “Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; Therefore we are saved by love.”
These are indeed strange days. Political and economic systems are facing stress and many people have given up on them. It appears as if problems don’t get solved, just more complicated and messed up. Environmental threats are no longer the stuff of science fiction, but are actual worldwide disasters imminently threatening to occur. Yet the legacy of people of faith, people like Martin Luther King Jr., tells us that in times such as these is when we are called to be midwives of God’s grace. People of faith do not let hope become annihilated by despair or dignity to wither under the throes of resignation. Martin Luther King Jr. let the light of a larger grace shine through him. That is why the wide community of faith remembers him as a saint of God today.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
1 Reinhold Niebuhr, 1951, as quoted by Ursula M. Niebuhr in Justice and Mercy.
