Martin Luther King Day Messages
Missing Martin - This article was originally written in January of 1999 as part of my Unconventional Wisdom essay series. I was living in Dayton, Ohio at the time and serving as an Associate Minister at Phillips Temple CME Church. At the time Dayton had the biggest MLK weekend events in the country outside of Atlanta. These are my reflections after attending a prayer breakfast in honor of the occasion at the Dayton Convention Center. I was not there representing anyone but myself and had a bit of time for reflection about the nature of leadership. Over the years I have edited it somewhat from the original version.
The following sermons were delivered on the Sunday of the MLK holiday weekend from 2004-2007:
The Missing Piece, the Model Home (Jan. 18, 2004) - The missing piece needed to fulfill Dr. King's dream is none other than the Church of Jesus Christ. God is looking for congregations that will become a model home for his called-out, multicultural community. What does it take to be that kind of church? Based on Philippians 2:2-4
Jesus Has a Dream (Jan. 16, 2005) - Martin Luther King was not the only one who had a dream. We revisit Jesus' as-yet unanswered prayer for Christian unity in the Garden of Gethsemane. This sermon was preached at a black sister church, as the first step in a longer-term collaboration between our congregations. Based on John 17:20-23
Don't Give Up (Jan. 15, 2006) - On the Sunday of the Martin Luther King Day weekend I delivered a message that was what I imagined Dr. King would say if he were speaking to our multicultural congregation on Capitol Hill at Washington Community Fellowship. In preparation I studied twelve of his sermons and sampled about 20% of my message directly from King's original texts, preparing the rest of the message in in a similar style, based on Galatians 6:9.
The Opposite of Racism (Jan. 14, 2007) - If racism is the problem, what is the solution? What would it look like to replace racism with its moral opposite?