Rocks, Martin & Psalm 62

Rocks & Martin

In February 1968, the prospect of death looming large in his life, Martin Luther King, Jr took a sabbath with Ralph Abernathy in Acapulco, Mexico. Around 3 am, Abernathy awoke to find that King was not in his bed. Frightened, he went into the living area of their hotel suite and discovered that King was on the balcony in his pajamas, staring into the darkness at the ocean.

Abernathy approached King, "Martin, what are you doing out here this time of the night? What is bothering you?" With his eyes still fixed on the ocean and his ears tuned to the roar of the waves, King whispered, "You see that rock out there?" "Oh, sure I see it," Abernathy replied.  "How long to you think its been there?" King asked. "I don't know. I guess centuries and centuries. I guess God put it there."

"Well, what I am thinking about?" King said softly while Abernathy remained silent. And King began to sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in thee." In his hour of trial and darkness and waves crashing in on him, King could only think about trusting in God. Only God could provide him with the peace he so desperately needed. So when he saw that rock it reminded him of the powerful words of the Psalms put to music by Augustus Toplady in 1776.  Singing the song brought a little shalom in the storm. 

A basic element in the Psalms is their expression of continual, total and exclusive trust in God alone. God is the problem. But God is the solution. The element of trust dominates our text for meditation, Psalm 62. This theme is present in many others too such as Pss 4, 16, 27 and 131.  Yet for me Ps 62 stands out.  It is expresses the firm hope in God's ability to enable his faithful ones to become "more than conquerors."

God ALONE is Trustworthy (62.1-7)

Psalm 62 is easily divided into two major parts: 1) the first eight verses are the psalmists expession of trust in God and 2) verses 9-12 are the psalmist's "homily" to the gathered people of God to trust in Yahweh as well.

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation 
comes from him.
He alone is my Rock and my Salvation; he is my Fortress, I will never be
shaken" (vv. 1-2)

In the midst of the turbulence of 1968, Dr. King found that the only way for him to find shalom was to imagine himself secure in the "Rock of Ages" so our psalmist does the same. God is the sources of all peace and security. These are not words that are spoken naively or rashly.  The psalmist has meditated on his well-being and realizes that all is evanescent except God. God alone is the ground of stability in his life - the Prophet of Justice learned this through real tribulation, just as the psalmist did.

Notice the metaphors the psalmist uses to talk of his God, "my Rock, my Salvation, my Fortress." All of these are images of confidence, strength and security. The ancient Hebrews, unlike the Greeks, did not talk about God in mere abstraction. They talked about God in concrete, observable and vivid ways. They also talked about God in highly personal terms. He is not someone way "out there" who may or may not know that we (and me) are around.  He is not just concerned with the corporate people of God. He is concerned with me.  He is MY rock! He is MY salvation! he is MY fortress! Therefore I shall not be moved. What Yahweh has done in the past for the whole of Israel by redeeming them from slavery he does in our own lives as members of the covenantal family.  

"How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down -- this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse." (vv. 3-4)

Here we finally get a window into the crises of the psalmist. It is a struggle we all face sooner or later.  People - family, friends, brothers and sisters - people are friendly to our face.  They pretend to be concerned with our well being.  They act the friend.  But they honestly would like nothing more than to see us fail! To see us stumble! And they would actively take part in our ruin! That kind of "persecution" is many times as painful as public ridicule precisely because these folks were imagined to be family or friends. Sometimes they are just simply our enemy.  The psalmist bemoans the fact that they assail him with their double tongued behavior.  They bless him verbally but curse him in their heart.  Sound familiar?? Sadly this takes place in God's Family even yet!

It is interesting to note that even though the Lord is his mighty fortress, physical and verbal attacks are nonetheless undeniable real and quite painful.  Being the Lord's servant does not makes us immune to suffering and injustice in this fallen age (cf. 2 Tim. 3.12).  We might even argue that it heightens it.  Look at Jesus, the purest of Servants of the Lord.  Did he not suffer the very things the people of God confess and lament in Psalm 62? God was His rock. God was His salvation. God was His fortress.  And he still died on that ignominious Tree for the likes of you and me.

"Find rest, O my soul, in GOD ALONE; my hope comes from him.
HE ALONE is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend upon God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge"
(vv. 5-7)

In these verses, our psalmist engages in what we call today "self-talk." There is no denying, and the Bible does not deny, that the fallen world is tough to live in. But God is with us. Our minstrel recalls fundamental concepts for our own peace and security.  Do not put trust in ourselves or others.  Real "manliness" does not come from bulging biceps, fearlessness in the face of enemy bullets, or perseverance, nor in our intellectual capacity or imagined doctrinal precision.  This is in stark contrast of the "world" which claims that a "real man" depends on no one and nothing except himself!  Yet this psalmist (David??) declares that his hope is in God ALONE. It is  not in himself.  It is not in his mighty men. It is not even in his ability to pray or worship correctly. It is in Yahweh. Here is the key to being hidden in the Rock of Ages.

The Singer's faith in God is moving and very challenging.  Because the Lord is our salvation, we can remain steadfast in our obedience.  We will not be shaken. Yet it some how all depends upon God. He alone can provide the way out of the dreadful situations we find ourselves entrapped in. 

The word "salvation" is a multifaceted word in the Scriptures. Sometimes it means deliverance from Sin, from enemies, or even death.  All of these are dimensions of the biblical doctrine and we need to not think one is more "Spiritual" than the other.  These dimensions are all embraced by Jesus and they should be by us.  But in Ps 62 "salvation" means deliverance from the situation that has ensnared the psalmist.  It is a real crises.  This understanding of "salvation" is important to us in our contemporary situation too.  Many folks have lost a conception of what "Sin" is (including Christians), but we all know what it means to have an aimless or miserable life! We know of lives that seem to be devoid of purpose and meaning.  When Christ died on the Cross it was not merely to save us from Sin, though he did do that. According to the apostle Peter, Christ redeemed us from "the EMPTY WAY OF LIFE handed down to you from your forefathers" (1 Pt 1.18).  This is incredibly Good News. Our God is a God of salvation.  Salvation that impacts and transforms the here and now of life and not just when we die.  Our God desires the fullest of lives possible.  Our psalmist embraces these truths with gusto.  So should we.

But the psalmist stresses that a good life is from God. It is his grace.  Without God life has no meaning or purpose. We are nothing without Him.  He testifies "my honor depends on God." My stature is nothing outside of the Lord.  I might as well have never existed, for human honor and worth derive form the Creator God.

Don't Trust in Humans (62.8-12)

"Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is 
our refuge.
Lowborn men are but a breath [lit. 'vapor'], the highborn are but a lie; if 
weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a
breath [lit. 'vapor'].
Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches 
increase, do not set your heart on them" (vv. 8-10)

Our psalmist now becomes the teacher of the Gathered People of God.  He addresses them rather than himself.  He exhorts us to trust in, to have faith in, God at all times for he alone is our refuge. We should "pour out our hearts to him." This is a call to prayer! A call to dependence rather than independence! When we feel assailed we seek instinctively our "refuge."

What the psalmist wants, perhaps, more than all else is not to fall into the trap of trusting in fallen humans And that includes ourselves. The description of humanity in vv 9-10 is in stark contrast to the description of God in vv 5-7.  God is permanent and unshakable, he is a Rock.  He is reliable so he is my Salvation.  He is strong as a Fortress that cannot be breached.  Yet humanity whether a poor pauper or a rich bureaucrat is a wisp, a vapor, and "a lie."  Vivid imagery captures the human dilemma here. Our teacher says if you take both the rich and the poor and put them in one pan of a balance scale and nothing in the other pan they would fly up because "nothing" would weigh more than them combined.  We cannot trust in humanity for our security and stability or our peace.  We will find no rest there.  Those who have done so have learned, as the psalmist has, that humanity will always let us down.  God will never desert us.  He is faithful.  That is the Good News of Psalm 62.

The Bible is full of exhortations not to trust in humanity.  Paul in Romans 3.10-18 creates a collage of citations from the Hebrew Bible saying it is the gospel truth ...

"There is no one righteous, not even one there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of shalom they do not know there is no fear of God before their eyes."

Not a pretty picture of humanity painted by Paul. Humans are liars and untrustworthy.  Only God is faithful so put it all in him.  Our singing teacher reminds us that money and power are common sources of human trust for safety and security too.  But he warns that trusting in apparent might rather than in the right.

Two Things to Take to the Bank (62.11-12)

"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: that you, O God, are
strong and that you, O LORD are loving. 
Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done."

The psalm employs a Hebrew idiom, "One thing ... two things" which simply means "repeatedly," or "over and over and over and over." The psalmist closes his song to the church by sharing the testimony of all who have walked with God, he is Strong and he is Loving! These are two things that are certain as reality itself.  God is Strong!  God is Loving!! You can hang your life on these two truths.  You can live your life even in the darkness holding onto these fundamental truths.  They are more than "truths" they are simply reality.  "This I have heard, this I know ... "This is the basis of his faith in God delivering him from the straits he is in.  God has the power and God has the motivation to do it.

Because God has the power and the motivation to right the wrongs of this fallen world - he will do just that.  One day God will judge each man and woman.  He will measure our deeds. The very deeds of evil by you, me, everyone ... the whispers, the lies, the double-mindedness God will bring out.  This is in fact ground for praise in the psalm.  It is not the psalmist's place to exact vengence on his enemies.  God will take care of that on that Day. And he will do it perfectly.  This is why Christians look forward to the Day of Christ's appearing. All will be set right. The ones who have put their faith in his faithfulness will be rescued by the angels of God and will greet the King.  Trust in God. If we have shalom and peace in our lives we must give God control.

So I concluded these musings on this amazing text with a call to simply rest in God.  In Good times.  In Bad times.  We like Martin Luther King, Jesus, and the psalmist before them can lift our voices and sing, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in Thee!"

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C. S. Lewis: Love is an Undying Fire

Born at the edge of the 20th century (November 29, 1898) and died on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated (November 22, 1963), Clive Staples Lewis remains one of the most famous authors of the 20th century. I have read more of Lewis' writings than any other author except for Alexander Campbell.

What this Blog is Not About

C. S. (Jack) Lewis was born into a Christian family but through the influence of a skeptical teacher and then his college experience he became a committed atheist.  During World War I he was wounded in April 1918 in what seems to have been a friendly fire incident.  After the war he pursued his education at Oxford and became a Tutor in 1925. His love for literature immersed him in Norse, Greek and Irish which mythology soon provided God with the door back into his life. Lewis fought with the One he most did not want to meet.  In Surprised by Joy he relates,

"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

But he did embrace theism in 1929, and then Christianity in 1931, under the influence of J. R. R. Tolkien.  Lewis went on to become a first rate scholar and published many works that Evangelicals rarely read: The Allegory of Love, A Study in Medieval Tradition; A Preface to Paradise Lost; Studies in Words; The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature; and other works that show the true depth of Lewis' scholarship. But my blog is not about Lewis the scholar, Lewis the author of popular fantasy, or Lewis the one who saw to it that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saw the light of day was published. This blog is about Lewis the man who quietly served and loved his fellow human beings.

What this Blog is About: Amor est ignis jugiter ardens

C. S. Lewis believed that love was the dynamic energy of the mind and source of creativity.  He wrote in The Four Loves "Every Christian would agree that a man's spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God." The Narnian lived what he confesses in a most humble yet dramatic way.

Lewis' friend Paddy Moore was killed in World War I.  C. S. Lewis took full responsibility for his widowed mother and his sister moving them into his own house to live with him and his brother.  Lewis kept this promise.  In her old age Mrs. Moore became verbally abusive and demanding.  C. S. Lewis took care of her till the day she died however.

Harry Blamires, a student of Lewis, recalled that his teacher was "personally interested in his pupils and permanently concerned about those who became his friends ... No one knew better how to nourish a pupil with encouragement." Lewis, as you can imagine, received mail from literally across the globe.  He believed that God wanted him to answer each and every letter with his own handwriting in spite of the massive demands on his already full schedule.  As a result over 12,000 letters by C. S. Lewis have been collected.  Some letters are to old women and some to young boys and everyone age in between.  Lewis treated them all with respect and equally.  The reason for this was because, as he says in The Weight of Glory, "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."

The theologian Austin Farrar was a friend of C. S. Lewis (sort of unusual because, unbelievably, many theologians did not like Lewis ... petty jealously finds fertile ground among all mere humans!).  He relates a story about Lewis in the book, C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table that again, I think, reveals the true greatness of Lewis and the depth of fruit of the Spirit in his life. First we all know that the Inkling opened his home to house children during World War II to protect them from Nazi bombs (the setting for the Chronicles of Narnia).  During the day, Lewis would work with some of the brightest scholars in the world and then come home and teach a young boy with severe learning disabilities to read using flash cards he made just for the occasion.  Throughout his career Lewis secretly funded the education for impoverished students stipulating that none could know of his contribution until after his death.

The story of C. S. Lewis is one full of wonder and wonderful. He loved hanging with his friends, The Inklings, at the pub (The Bird and the Baby it was commonly called) drinking beer from a stein and smoking a cigar discussing literature, politics, and theology.  He loved God and thought of his work as an act of worship to the Father of Jesus. And he loved people exemplifying the truth of agape because of this ...  (from the Latin Letters of C. S. Lewis) "In the poor man who knocks at my door, in my ailing mother, in the young man who seeks my advice, the Lord Himself is present. Therefore let us wash His feet."

Final Thought

It is my prayer that you and I can become lovers of the world as Lewis did.  If the church today could learn to be open, passionate, creative, and loving as the Narnian then we just might have a positive impact on this old world of sin and death.  May it be so.  Amor est ignis jugiter ardens - Love is an undying fire!

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Love: The Road Less Traveled, Jn 13.1-17

A word about this post.  The following is the text of a sermon I was invited to preach at the Bell Flower Missionary Baptist Church in Grenada, MS on February 14, 1999.  The occasion was a "Community Praise & Worship Service" in the middle of the month of love and Black History Month. Belle Flower M.B. Church is a historic church in Grenada, MS.  It is the oldest historically black church in the city, it was host to Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s and the church was fire bombed after Dr. King spoke there.  In the auditorium the evidence of the fire is still visible in places. It was a great honor to asked to address this nearly all black crowd (except for the white folks I persuaded to come with me).  I chose as my text John 13 and combined the themes of love and black history.  I have not edited the text. I realize that I was somewhat juvenile in my homiletic so bear that in mind.  It was my prayer that it blessed then and it is my prayer that it does so now.  I prayed and I preached from the heart to a city in serious racial turmoil ...a little over a year later I was fired from the congregation for which I preached.  Enjoy.

Love: The Road Less Traveled

(After reading all of John 13.1-7 I made the following brief observations to set up the text and context)
* Jesus' death is near (v.1)
* Jesus "shows the full extent of his LOVE" (v. 1b)
* In the last hours of his life God in human flesh is on his hands and knees washing feet like a common slave, including the one who means to murder him
* His disciples are puzzled, indeed Peter rejects this humble demonstration of radical love (v.8)

The Full Extent of Love

What does John mean when he narrates that Jesus "showed the full extent of his love?" I thought the Cross was the full extent of the Messiah's love? Perhaps the key lies in the fact that this event is a drama of the Cross itself.  Jesus served all humanity - good and the bad - on that Cross and here he served humbly even those who had already betrayed him.

The one who would do Jesus in, Judas the Betrayer, is sitting in that circle of disciples to have his feet washed.  Amazingly Jesus washes Judas' feet too! Jesus knows the plot that has hatched in Judas' mind I am convinced. And here we have Jesus being the servant to the one who in mere hours will hand him over to be murdered.  This is the extent of his love! Perhaps John is testifying to the fact that Jesus did what no other person in that circle would or could have done ... that is to actively love the one who is seeking your demise.

But we often respond like Peter.  We claim we want love. Yet when love does show up we reject it as too costly. We want love but we find love to heavy to a cross to bear.  So we settle for less!

My friends if the extent of Jesus' love in John 13 shows us anything it reveals that love is painful.  I imagine in my mind that as Jesus washed Judas' feet that a tear welled up in his eyes.  Is that far fetched to imagine that? But wash his feet he did and that was painful love.

Love is painful. Perhaps that is why it is the road less traveled.

Jesus was often lonely because of love.
Jesus was hung upon the Cross because of love.
Jesus discovered that true love is a dangerous thing in this world.

The Road Traveled Less Often

Isn't that why we on a daily basis choose to relate to each other on every basis but love? We relate to each other on the basis of competition, of power, of self interest. How we can make this or that come out to our own advantage. How we can preserve our power base or influence in the community.

Love takes too much time.  Love takes way too much commitment.  Love requires that I take you into account in every action and every decision I make.  Love demands I put you before myself. Love commands that I serve my enemies and bless those who would "do me in" ... Just as Jesus showed Judas the full extent of his love.  Perhaps it is the requirements, the demands, and the commands of love that make love the road less traveled.

We know that Martin Luther King knew the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on this vital point. For King, love for his enemies became his cross to bear! His sermon "Loving Your Enemies" [1] sends shivers down my spine because he does for me what the picture of the stooped Jesus over the feet of Judas did for John ... it was only in hindsight that John could, or did, know that THAT was the full extent of love - that even Judas was not excluded from the love of the Messiah. It was only AFTER the suffering of the Cross that John could look back and see Jesus kneeling before Judas caressing his feet and know the depth of the love displayed in that act of humble kindness.

King addressed the National Conference on Religion and Race in Chicago on January 17,1963. His words bring John 13 to life, for love is no mere abstraction:

"To be a Christian one must take up his [i.e. Christ's] cross with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension packed content and carry it until that very cross leaves its marks upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering.  Only through love."

Is carrying a cross easy? I do not think so, and I have never endured any cross such as that of Jesus nor King.  The cross was not easy for Jesus ... he begged the Father to be set free from it!! It was not for Dr. King.  And in Grenada it will not be easy for you and it will not be easy for me.  That is why Love is the Road Less Traveled in this town haunted by loveless past.

Perhaps Dr King caught a glimpse of Jesus bending over the feet of Judas on that day when the Cross became an unbearable burden.  It was a day the nails of the Cross pierced with unbelievable pain because they were hammered with pure hate. You know the day - it was day that lives in infamy.  December 15, 1963! The day a haven, a place of worship, became the target of terrorists. A bomb planted by those who hate at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.  That bomb killed four little girls: Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley.  They were just little girls.  I have two little girls! Rachael and Talya and I know the anger in me should someone harm them. The Cross was beyond a torture stake on that day!

Dr. King spoke at those little girls funeral. Innocent as the pure driven snow! The victims of a senseless hate crime.  I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around that.  But when King addressed that crowd we learn the depth of his Christianity.  We learn the extent of love.  We learn of the Road that he often traveled alone in the footsteps of the One who washed Judas' feet.  Just to read King's words we can see the impression of the Cross bearing down upon him. He said at that funeral

"in spite of the darkness of this hour we must not despair. We must not become bitter; nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence. We must not lose faith in our white brothers. Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect every human."

Then King says these unbelievable words "God has not given me permission to hate."

I am unworthy to even utter these words because I am sooooo far from the vision of love embodied here.  I would have lost faith I think!

Martin Luther King Jr my friends followed Jesus and took the road less traveled. Heeding the words of the Hebrews Preacher "consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart" (12.3) King saw the full extent of Jesus' love for his own enemy and believed that to be a disciple he must love as Jesus loved.

Do we not naturally balk at that kind of love ... it is costly. We are Peter and say we cannot endure such humility, we have too much self respect to serve THEM! Whoever "them" may be ...

The road of love requires courage but if we want peace in our community, if we want renewal in our community, if we want a new day in our community then we must follow first Jesus and then Dr King down that less traveled road.  Until we do we will not have God's shalom in Grenada.

The question that we all must confront is: Am I willing to bear the Cross of Love and serve the Judases of Hate? Am I willing to put even those who would "do me in" before my own interests? Are our congregations in Grenada that dare to call Jesus "Lord" willing to follow the one who knelt before Judas? Are we willing to come together for the sake of the kingdom? Are we willing to walk on the road less traveled?  Milan Kundera was painfully correct when he wrote "nothing is heavier than compassion."  Look at Jesus before Judas as John gazes back upon that scene through the gift of memory - and be amazed!  Look at King saying "we must not lose faith in our white brothers" ... and be amazed! Compassion. Love. The Cross is hard to carry.

The On Ramp to the Road

But suppose every person here in this crowd tonight says I am willing to follow Christ down that road less traveled, What then? I confess to you right now my friends that I do not know all the answers and perhaps I do not know ANY answers.  I have never endured anything like the Lord before Judas.  I have never endured anything like an attack on my precious little girls. As I was unfit to vocalize King's astounding words I confess to being unworthy to say what we "must do."  But I believe that God in his Providential mercy has brought all of us here to this place tonight.  In the middle of this month that I am standing in the very pulpit that Martin Luther King Jr himself stood I cannot help but feel God is on the move and he demands that I do SOMETHING.  I do not always know what it is but I know something offered in his name can be blessed by the Holy Spirit. So with fear and trepidation I offer a few suggestions to help us travel the road together.

1) Love Begins With Understanding. To feel with, to share with another human being, I must know something about your burden and you mine.  True understanding means I must learn to listen longer and speak much less.

I submit to you this is why God was incarnate in human flesh. For the Messiah to understand the human condition he needed to become a true human being. Jesus lived, Jesus suffered, and Jesus died, and Jesus was raised from the dead as a human being.  He loved us enough not only to wash Judas' feet but to get inside the skin of the despised Jew and experience our life in this fallen world in order that he could represent us to the Father! The great German pastor/theologian Helmut Thielecke wrote "tell me how much you know of the suffering of your fellow man and I will tell you how much you love them."

So the task for us all here tonight is to begin the process of listening, learning and understanding. Do I care enough to learn about your life? Do you care enough to learn about mine?  Can we move beyond the stereotypes of what is black and what is white and listen to the unique stories we all have? We may find that our stories identify us both a mere humans.  To enter the Road Less Traveled we must begin to understand one another.

2) Understanding Must Deepen My Willingness to Bear Your Burden. Understanding is not the end of love rather it is the entry point. Understanding love bears fruit in my own life in shouldering the burdens of your life. It is a most interesting fact that the Greek language, in which the NT was written, that the word for "compassion" literally means to be moved with anger at a given circumstance!  For example two chapters ahead of Jesus washing Judas' feet we read about Lazarus. Most of our English translations tell us that Jesus was "moved" or something similar (cf. Jn 11.33, 38).  But Jesus was not simply 'moved' he was "angry."  He understood deeply what death had done to his friend and it made him ANGRY ... not at Lazarus but at death and the power of death, at the circumstance! Does our understanding - as limited as it is - move us the way Jesus' understanding did him? Are we "moved" to the point to be willing to actually do something about it?  If not then I have arrived at the love Jesus shows Judas and that King shows us throughout his life.

3) Love Means I Must Commit to LIVE My Baptism.  Bear with me on this point please.  (Read Col 3.1-12, note esp. v. 12).  The apostle says the Christian life reflects the crucifixion we receive in baptism.  King spoke movingly about bearing that Cross till its impression is left in our lives - Paul says that is what baptism does in our journey down that road less traveled.  As a fallen member of humanity I am nailed with Christ to the Tree in the waters of baptism.  The old human dies and we walk leaving all the stuff of death there in the grave.  In baptism we are clothed with the qualities of Christ - compassion, lowliness, meekness, forbearance and love (see 2.9-12 [died with Christ]; 3.1ff [raised with Christ]) The Christian life is one of fulfilling our vows made to the creating and redeeming God we made in baptism.  It is through baptism that we learn there is no Greek, Jew and for our purposes tonight - NO WHITE and NO BLACK - rather Christ is all and in all (3.11).  Traveling on the road of love demands that we live these baptismal claims. It was no easier in the first century church than it is in our own day for Jew and Greek than it is is in Grenada for black and white ... but if we want to claim love as our way then this is the path we take.

Conclusion

My friends we must choose the path less traveled every single day.  There are exists off the road every which way we look.  Love is a choice.  Jesus made a choice to serve Judas.  Martin Luther King made a choice to love those white brothers. Love is hard because we must freely and willingly take up that Cross when all around us the voices come from within the white community and the black community to caste it aside as too burdensome.

Will my fellow ministers in Grenada walk along this path? Will the mayor? Will our divided and hostile city council? Will teachers in our schools?

I think I know why love is the road less traveled but it is the one to which we are called as Christians. I do not claim that my walk on that road is perfect, in fact I do not even know if I am on it!  But I will confess to you my heart's desire is to walk in the steps that Jesus walked and to love those who would "do me in" even as he loved them.  Perhaps we - you and I - can enter the road together tonight understandingly bearing with one another and I do not think Grenada is prepared for the revolution that can happen when we all decide to make Love the most traveled of all roads. May God bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you.

Notes:

1] My edition of this great sermon is in Martin Luther King Jr, Strength to Love (Pocket Book 1963. Mine is the 2nd printing from 1968), 41-50.  This is a priceless gem of a book.  King's sermon "My Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" (pp. 165-173) should be required reading for Christians.

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Acappella - Better Than Life ... Ps 63

Here is Acappella's rendering of my sermon text for this morning at Palo Verde ... Psalm 63 was deeply appreciated in the early Christian church ... His HESED is better than life ...

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