The following is an excerpt from a sermon preached by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1956, entitled: PAUL’S LETTER TO AMERICAN CHRISTIANS. In this sermon, Dr. King reads a fictitious letter written by himself, but he presents it as if it were a lost letter of the Apostle Paul to the churches in America. Dr. King applies the well-known thought of the beloved Apostle to the American church situation that existed in 1956. Remember, King is reading the following as if it had been written by the Apostle himself:
"But let me rush on and say something about the church. I must say to you once more, as I have said so often before, that the church is the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ there can be no division. In the Body of Christ there can be no disunity. But I am disturbed about America and what is happening there concerning the Body of Christ.
They tell me that in America, you have within Protestantism, more than 256 denominations. And the tragedy America, is not so much that you have more than 256 denominations, but the fact that all of these denominations are warring against each other and trying to make it appear that they have the only truth. And oh, this narrow sectarianism, this narrow denominationalism, is destroying the unity of the church!
America, you must come to see that God is not a Baptist, that God is not a Methodist, that God is not an Episcopalian. God is bigger than any of our denominations! You must come to see, America, that all of this is man-made.
. . . as I look at Roman Catholicism, I’m disturbed about that. Because it stands out also with an arrogance which becomes a spiritual arrogance. Making it appear to the world that they have the only truth - standing with it’s noble Pope almost taking the place of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, when he speaks Ex Cathedra, he becomes infallible. I’m disturbed about any earthly creation that tends to claim infallibility. I’m disturbed about any church that refuses to cooperate with other churches - with the pretense that it is the only true church. [This problem is so prevalent] in the church that it’s destroying the Body of Christ, and in the Body of Christ there can be no division and no disunity.
But America, another thing disturbs me about your church. You have a Negro church and you have a White church. Oh! America, that is quite disturbing, for that cannot exist within the true Body of Christ! How did that thing ever get into being anyway?!?! You have allowed segregation to come into the church, America! Oh, how tragic when you stand up on Sunday morning to sing In Christ there is no East or West - isn’t it tragic that you stand in the most segregated hour of your Christian nation! They tell me there is more integration in sports arenas and nightclubs than there is in the Christian church! Oh, how tragic that is! How appalling that is!
They tell me that there are even Christians among you who try to justify segregation on the basis of the Bible! They try to argue that the Negro is inferior by nature because of Noah’s curse upon the children of Ham. Oh, my friends! Oh, America! This is blasphemy! This is against everything that the Christian religion stands for! This is against the will of the Almighty God!" (end of excerpt)
My friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, this was preached almost 45 years ago. Secular society listened to similar messages and began the process of change. Yet, for the most part, we - the church of God - have turned a deaf ear. All of us are at fault. All of us are partially culpable for the perpetuation of segregation in our churches. And oh yes, we have our reasons. We’ve spewed them forth again and again:
- "Those people are different."
- "They don’t want to integrate with us anyway!"
- "They worship differently."
- "People don’t like to cross racial barriers when they convert to Christianity."
- "We will be able to grow better if we don’t integrate."
- "Their culture is different."
- "Well, they might just take over our church!"
- "Who’s gonna be the preacher - the black one or the white one?"
- "What if our children start inter-marrying?!?!"
- "I don’t like the way they sing."
Statements like these have been on our lips and in our minds for too long. White people, Black people, Hispanics . . . the list goes on and on - regardless of race, color, or ethnicity, many of us have been guilty of perpetuating such thinking. Sadly, we will even give lip service to a more enlightened state of mind, yet when it comes to putting those words into action, we fail miserably.
In all of this, we forget (or perhaps we never even knew) what the apostle Paul said in his inspired letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 13b - 22:
"But now in Christ Jesus [the Gentiles] have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14* ¶ For he himself is our peace, who has MADE THE TWO ONE and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15* by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself ONE NEW MAN out of the two, thus making peace, 16* and in this ONE BODY to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17* He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18* For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19* Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20* built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21* In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22* And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. "
(end of scripture quotation)
Here the Apostle is referring to the destruction of the walls that kept Jew and Gentile apart. He tells us that, through the sacrifice of Christ, these walls of division were broken down. Paul is telling us that two racially different groups had been reconciled and brought together as ONE NEW MAN through Christ’s work on the cross.
Brothers and sisters, we must understand that all of us, regardless of varied traditional understandings, regardless of racial and cultural differences, and certainly regardless of the color of our skin, we must come together at the cross of Jesus Christ. We must stop our detrimental work of wall building and allow ourselves to be united in Christ!
Brethren, we must heed the words of God’s messengers. The Apostle Paul said it almost 2000 years ago. Dr. King preached it 40 years ago. So, as in the days of old when God sent His messengers to a disobedient and rebellious people, we have been given a choice:
-We can listen and repent of our wickedness. We can begin making positive changes that bring about unity and strength in the Lord’s Body. When we do, God will bless us beyond our comprehension.
Or. . .
-We can continue in our rebellion. We can continue to maintain our comfort zones that are delineated by our walls of personal preference, tradition, racism, pride, apathy, and hard-heartedness. And when we do, as in the days of old, God will bring upon us the punishment we deserve. Our nation and our precious churches will suffer persecution and ultimate destruction. We will be carted away to Babylon and made to regret our evil choice.
The choice must be made - and it must be made today!
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