There is a kind of presumptuousness involved when a white preacher stands to offer any words on this the anniversary of the birthday of Martin Luther King. It is audacious indeed, as Janice Williams pointed out when she was teaching our foreign mission study on South Africa about a month ago, for white folks to presume to stand before a largely black audience and deal with sensitive matters like race relations and racial justice and black history. It is presumptuous and it is audacious, but I hope that when we are finished today you will also see that it is necessary.
It is necessary because, as Frederick Douglass Patterson said, "What we have in this country was not the contribution of any single race or group. This nation is truly the combined contribution of all of those who reside in it. …. We have a blended culture."
It is necessary, too, because as I work toward being the pastor of all of God’s people gathered in this place, I am learning how much we need to instruct each other, how much we need to share with one another, and how much we can learn from one another.
And most of all, then, it is necessary for me to be presumptuous and audacious this morning because as your pastor I will still stand on God’s word and speak not so much my opinion as God's truth, not so much my biases and even prejudices, but, as far as in me lies, God's word that cuts through bones and marrow, joint and sinew, judging all of us of all races, and yet also offering hope and salvation to all of us of all races.
I hope and trust, I say, that when we are done today you will not have heard the wanton ramblings of a sometime white liberal wistful for the sixties, but rather the considered judgments of a preacher of the word of the Living God. So let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, 0 Lord my strength and my redeemer.
Now last year we began something that I hope to be able to maintain for some while to come. We began to blend our observance of Martin Luther King Sunday or of Black History Month with a recognition of the contributions of some distinguished black Christian. Last year, if you will recall, Rev. Arnold and I did a dialogue message, in which he read portions of James Baldwin's works and I brought a Biblical message around some of those literary themes. It was occasioned, of course, by the death, not too many weeks before, of that noted and controversial author. Baldwin may not have felt like and looked like a Christian writer to a good many of us, and yet the truth is that he could never shake his Christian roots and his experiences as a child preacher. Baldwin may not have been a conventional Christian, but he was still in many ways gripped by the word of God, and we allowed him to illumine that word for us last year, following his decease.
This past April the world of higher education was saddened to learn of the death of another distinguished black Christian American. This one was far more conventional as a Christian believer than Baldwin, and a very different figure, a very different personality. But his contributions were magnificent and his wisdom was substantial. I am speaking of Frederick Douglass Patterson. Frederick Douglass Patterson was born in Washington in 1901, was raised in Texas and graduated from Prairie View, from Iowa State with a degree in veterinary medicine, and from Cornell University. Dr. Patterson taught first at Virginia State College, then went to Tuskegee Institute to teach veterinary medicine. In 1935 he became president of the school, which is now Tuskegee University, and a few years later, while still heading the school, he formed a consortium of historically black colleges desperately in need of financial resources and called it the United Negro College Fund. During the 45 years that the fund has been in operation, it has channeled more than 400 million dollars in assistance to 42 member institutions and has provided scholarship aid for around 50,000 students. Dr. Patterson’s long life ended in April of this year.
I am indebted today for information about Dr. Patterson to one of our members, Mrs. Jean White, whose mother was Dr. Patterson’s secretary for many years. I believe we have a number of members who are associated with Tuskegee in a number of ways as alumni, former students, or in other ways ... will you stand?
I’m curious; how many persons here received scholarship aid through the United Negro College Fund?
We pay tribute today along with our reflection on the service of Martin Luther King to another distinguished Black American Christian ... and do so using as the springboard for today's message the motto of his United Negro College Fund, which I am sure you've heard many times: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
As we begin I want to ask you to imagine a young man, born, on the one hand, to a certain privilege, but on the other hand, also born to a certain handicap. Imagine, if you can, someone who in some ways got off to a good start. He had a good deal of resources behind him. The bank account was not depleted. His chances for advancement were very good. His daddy had pretty well seen to it that he would get ahead in life. He had all the marks of success from the beginning.
But on the other hand, this young man was also born to handicap; there would be a certain prejudice against him from the very start. Just the circumstances of his birth were enough to make quite a few folks look askance, and the unsavory reputation of his parents rubbed off on him. And so this young man I'm talking about, I say, was born to status, yes, but also to a kind of servitude … to privilege, but also to prejudice.
Let's hear a little about his story and about the strong, wonderful beginning he made. You can read about him in the first book of Kings the third chapter.
Solomon the new king, born, I say to status; of course, to privilege. He inherited the kingdom from his father. He received a tremendous legacy for which he did not have to work. Solomon on the throne, got there through no effort of his own, simply by virtue of being David's son.
But Solomon was of tainted birth too, if you know the story of David and Bathsheba. Solomon who was born to the wrong mother, at the wrong time, under the wrong circumstances. Solomon, through no fault of his own, but the product of a marriage not made in heaven, a liaison not sanction by God. And there were plenty of people with long memories for whom Solomon could never be the right man for the throne. Born with a taint and a stain on his life. Born to privilege but also to prejudice.
And yet see how Solomon so beautifully prepared himself for his responsibilities. Can't you just thrill at the humility of the man? What will you have, Solomon, as you come to this place of responsibility? What gift will you ask of the Lord, Solomon? It’s a blank check. God asks of you, "What do you want me to give you?"
And Solomon in humility replies, "0 Lord ... I am but a little child, I do not know anything ... and I am in the midst of a great people, thy people whom thou hast chosen … give thy servant therefore an understanding mind to govern the people." An understanding mind.
And we know that the heart of God rejoiced at this, and God said, "Yes, yes, of course …I will give you a wise and discerning mind." A wise and discerning mind.
I believe that all this describes today the legacy of black Americans. Black Americans today have some wonderful things going for them. They have ... you have … some financial resources, at least a good deal more than two generations ago could have dreamed of. There is the heritage of educational resources too, and now, thanks to King and others like him, equal opportunity, equal access, equal treatment, at least legally and formally if not always actually. There is so much going for black America in 1989, despite lingering prejudices and despite what Martin Luther King called the uncashed check of human rights, and there is something else too. In addition to all the legal and material blessings, there is something else; there is that powerful sense of being gifted of God. Gifted of God with a wise and discerning mind. Like Solomon, born under the stain or prejudice, but nevertheless privileged and gifted.
You know, there are certain segments of our society in which the religious heritage runs very broad and very deep. There are places and peoples who just carry with them a long-standing spiritual legacy. Somebody was bragging once about Baptists in Texas; why, he said, you know, we Baptists have more people in the state legislature than any other denomination. And there are more Baptists on the faculty of the university than any other group. And more Baptists have been governor and more Baptists have been congressmen and so on ... more Baptists here, more Baptists there. Why, he said, in fact, there are mere Baptists in Texas than there are people.
I say, there are certain segments of our society where there is a broad and deep spiritual heritage. And black America is one such segment. Black America by and large has been gifted by God with a spiritual legacy and a religious tradition that has worked well. You have only to listen to the roll call of black leaders to know that whether it be James Weldon Johnson or Ralph Bunche, whether it be Martin Luther King or Frederick Douglass Patterson, whether it be Jesse Jackson or Benjamin Hooks, the spiritual legacy comes through.
In other words, like Solomon, you have been gifted by God with a wise and discerning mind. You have been started out by God with a tradition that hears His voice and knows the sound of His speech. You have begun your pilgrimage, though some said with a stain on your birth, nevertheless with resources and gifts material, intellectual, and spiritual, gifted with a wise and discerning mind.
But Frederick Douglass Patterson’s words have the warning: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And hundreds of years ago, this same young king, Solomon, so gifted by God, so full of promise, so full of achievements … this proud young prince, drifting down the corridors of old age, created a whole different story. A moment ago you swelled with pride and anticipation to hear of Solomon the new young king and the joy with which his God addressed him. But now I have to ask you to weep with me as Solomon’s story continues in the eleventh chapter of I Kings. Just at the peak of his achievements, just when it appeared that he would be at the very apex of his career, about to contribute and lead his people, but this: I Kings 11:1-11
Hear it again ... when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God … therefore the Lord said to Solomon ... "Since this has been your mind … I will surely tear the kingdom from you." You have gone after other gods, and since this has been your mind I will surely tear the kingdom from you.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste ... the spiritual legacy of his youth Solomon squandered, and wasted his mind, lost his leadership. He forgot where he came from and who it was who made him what he was. And God said, you have wasted it, I will tear it away from you. Solomon lost his personal commitment. It was nothing more than a slogan, a tradition. But the Lord of the heart wants more.
Solomon's priorities got mushy, soft and squishy. He had started out knowing who he was, knowing his spiritual heritage; he had started out with a personal relationship to his God. Solomon started out praying and listening and asking that God's will be done, but look at him in his old age, surrounding himself with self-indulgence, allowing himself to be diverted with other loyalties. The scripture says that all these wives, a thousand wives and concubines ... all this wailing welter of women turned his heart in other directions, and he lost it. He just lost it.
Somebody has suggested that Solomon's problem was that he was trying to please a thousand women, when any fool knows you cannot please even one. But since we do not permit sexist remarks from the pulpit of this church I will not repeat or own that opinion; besides, my wife will probably listen to the tape of this service, and then I will be the fool who cannot please one woman.
No, the issue is not pleasing multiple wives; the issue is that Solomon lost his identity. He allowed others to divert his mind, to take his attention away from his heritage, his giftedness, and his loyalty. And when you see him, old, run down, unhappy though surrounded by all kings of luxuries, well, you know that a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
There are some powerful challenges that face us today, that face this church and you and me as we seek to capture our giftedness and to preserve it, use it, keep it.
I know that you and I are going to have to renew our commitment to teaching the truths of the Christian faith and the way of Christ. Young men and women are going to have to know God' s truth, and they will not know it unless we teach it. We cannot expect young people just to catch religion by osmosis, just to kind of be infected by it. We have to do some solid teaching, for if we do not, we will let them grow old and soft and mushy as Solomon did, and we will then discover that a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
I know that you and I are going to have to commit ourselves to the task of evangelism and outreach. We cannot just build an altar and a temple and hope that will do it. Here we are in the city of Washington, where about a hundred open air drug markets exist and where at the rate of more than one a day lives are being stolen in violence. Three hundred and seventy some homicides last year. Does it strike you as ironic that that is just about the same number as there are Baptist churches? Three hundred plus Baptist churches in this city! Why, there are more of us here than in Texas, I guess, churches of every kind on every corner. And if we were doing our jobs, surely, surely, there would not be such a waste of human life. We are going to have to go out and reach and preach and love, for a mind is a terrible thing to waste. My soul, a life is a terrible thing to waste, a soul is a terrible, eternal thing to waste.
Dr. Patterson said on one occasion, "For too long society has been not only smug but complacent about human ills as long as they do not affect the immediate group with which one is associated." He was warning us that we don't get excited about curing the hurts of humanity until they become our hurts. But I tell you today, it will not be long before we hurt …we, right here at Takoma Park … it will not be long before we hurt if we do not break our complacency and begin to seek and to save that which is lost.
What has happened to our priorities? Like Solomon, we get started with a whole lot against us, but with God for us, God on our side, God in our hearts and minds. We are in danger, like Solomon, of being seduced by wealth, corrupted by competing loyalties, tempted by a thousand siren songs. But God will say to us too: "If this is your mind ... I will tear the kingdom from you." For a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Commit to teaching, commit to evangelizing. And most of all I know that you and I are going to have to commit ourselves to the task of loving and caring for one another, caring for the future. I don’t know that it meant anything special to you that the straw that broke the camel’s back where Solomon was concerned was this: he built an altar for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. That tore it. That did it. Why? There had been idolatry before. There had been plenty of silly, superficial, false religions before. Why did God give Solomon up when he built altars to Chemosh and to Molech? Do you know what the key feature of those pagan worship practices was? It was child sacrifice ... child sacrifice. I think God is saying, Solomon, you've gone too far when you will sacrifice your children. Those minds are terrible thing to waste. And that's it.
Americans, Christians, black folk, white folk, the future is a terrible thing to waste. Our children must not be wasted. If it is drugs that waste them now, we must wage war on this terror ... and by the way, it seems to me that major drug abuse starts with just a little drug use, and that if mom and dad are using, then nothing stops the children from abusing. For me I would think that even the occasional use of alcohol gives a kind of permission for children to waste themselves and that thinking Christians would think twice before they set the wrong example.
Can I just say that a child is an incredible thing to waste, and I see what Fred Patterson saw, that it is with intellectual discipline and spiritual discipline that we will be able to give leadership and courage.
Oh, but the promise, the good news. Americans, Christians, black folk, on this Martin Luther King Sunday, rejoicing as we do in all the privilege that has been won, looking back to the spiritual legacy that was ours from the beginning, if we do not waste our minds, if we do not waste our souls, if we do not waste our hearts and our lives, if we do not waste our opportunity, then, I tell you, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of you!
