Matthew 5:43-47
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
On April 4th at 6:01 pm, a shot was heard while Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He laid sprawled out on the balcony’s floor. A vast wound covered a large portion of his jaw and neck. Dr. King, Evangelist and Civil Rights leader, was dead.
On this same day in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, with a heavy burden and unsure of really what to say, spoke from his heart these words in an emotionally improvised speech, soon after learning of the tragic shooting and death of Martin Luther King Jr.:
“In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black — considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible — you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization — black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.”
As we reflect on the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., I believe that we can ask ourselves the very same question today that Robert Kennedy asked a crowd gathered together in Indianapolis of which were scared, screaming, and crying out of grief and pain upon first hearing the tragic news that night:
“What kind of a nation are we and what direction do we want to move in?”
We can be filled with bitterness, hatred, and revenge toward one another or…..
“Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.”
Bitterness. Hatred. Revenge. or Understanding. Compassion. Love.
Over 2,000 years ago Christ preached His last sermon while hanging on a Cross. Bleeding. Beaten. Humiliated. Dying. With His final breaths taken on this side of Heaven, Christ prayed for His enemies. He didn’t respond with anger. Bitterness. Hatred. It was Christ’s love not only for those who loved Him but for those who hated Him that kept Him on the Cross. He uttered these words in defense of the very soldiers who were nailing Him to the Cross:
….Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do….
Its easy to love those that are lovable. Love those whom are our friends. But how do you treat those who have wronged you? How do you treat someone who may hate you? How do you respond to bitterness and hatred in this world?
Christ responded to the bitterness, hatred and sin of this world by giving His life and demonstrating His love for humanity past, present, and future as the ONLY hope for humanities redemption. Martin Luther King stood upon this very same hope.
White and Black. Jesus came not to sow discord but to seek and to save those who might call upon His name. ALL RACES.
Before Kennedy made his speech his campaign officials feared for his safety and the possibility of a riot. Kennedy’s aids were worried about a riot following his speech being warned by police that they would not be able to provide the proper protection for the Senator if a riot erupted.
Standing upon a podium mounted in the back of a truck bed, Kennedy would speak. His heartfelt and compassionate words of love and understanding were reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words himself in a speech that would last 4 minutes and 57 seconds.
Words are impactful. Words are powerful. Words can be used to edify and unite or tear down and divide. A person’s words can either stir up division or bring about unity. Kennedy chose to echo the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and speak unity rather than throw more fuel to the fire:
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.”
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
“So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love — a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
Indianapolis broke out in applause, as tears of sadness and grief flowed from the faces of the ones in the crowd. The people would disperse with a sense of calmness, and even though they were angry and obviously having trouble processing such a violent and evil act, they never rioted in large part due to the comforting and compassionate words of Robert F. Kennedy.
In cities such as Boston, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Oakland, Pittsburg, and Baltimore riots broke out killing 35 people while another 2,500 were sent to the hospital. All across the nation around 70,000 Army and National Guard troops were called to restore order.
Words do matter. Words are impactful. It is so important that in the age that we live in with social media that we think before we act upon the words in which we speak. The words that we speak can ignite chaos, rioting, and a sense of lawlessness as RFK put it, or bring each other together no matter what your skin color, background, political affiliation may be and so on.
It feels like people today aren’t listening to each other. We are still fighting the same battles that our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers fought because we have refused to sit down and listen to each other. We choose to look at the appearance of a man rather than the content of his character. We have regressed in some ways. We are fighting and bickering with each other while the world watches.
1 Sam 16:7….for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Everybody just wants to get their way and win at any cost. Even in our churches it seems to be hard for Christians to agree on the color of the carpets these days. Churches are splitting over small disagreements when we should be showing the world and leading by example by sitting down with one another even there are disagreements. As long as we can come together on the fundamentals why should there be divisions?
What kind of example are we setting for our children? Would it kill us to show a little humility? We don’t have to beat our chests all the time in order to show that we are tough. Sometimes humbling yourself in the face of someone who is trying to speak ill of you and speaking life to that person is being tough because showing restraint is challenging at times. Humility shows maturity.
My kids are watching me and my actions so are my actions backing up what my words are saying? Are my words backing up what my actions are saying? We can still be civil and constructive and loving without compromising our beliefs.
We are divided as a nation because we refuse to listen to each other and we have strayed from the pillars upon which our nation was founded. Those pillars can be found written in the Bill of Rights etched in the Constitution paid for by the blood of those whom have given their lives in the cause of the idea that “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Our Nation is divided because our communities are divided. Our Communities are divided because our churches are divided. Our churches are divided because our homes are divided. Our homes are divided because marriages are divided. Our families, our churches, our homes, our communities, our nation are all being torn apart at the seems and all we seem to care about is winning. Besting the next guy at any cost. Social media, the politicians along with a corrupt and bias media on both sides is being used like a cancer injecting a lethal dose of poison into our hearts and minds more so now than ever before. When are we going to shut it all off and just listen to each other and stop trying to win?
Let us go back before 1968, let us go back to August 28th, 1963 and listen to the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Let us listen with open hearts and open minds to his words as he was speaking to ALL Americans. Words that we desperately need in our hostile and unstable world:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!”
Robert F. Kennedy asked the question, “What kind of a nation are we and what direction do we want to move in?”
2 months later on June 6th, 1968, Robert Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel just after he had secured the Presidential nomination for his party.
Let us hold fast the words of Robert Kennedy the night Martin Luther King Jr. was killed:
“We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.”
……..
“But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.
“Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”
“Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.”
What kind of a nation are we and what direction do we want to move in?
In order to answer that question we have to first ask ourselves:
1- What kind of people are we going to be?
12 ordinary men over 2,000 years ago turned the world upside down with the Gospel message.
That question is up to all of us to answer. Martin Luther King Jr. was just an ordinary man. Robert F. Kennedy was just an ordinary man. With their words they took a stand and stirred a nation. I think if we want to do something new, if we want to see hearts and minds changed, we must do something old. Get back to the basics and the fundamentals that these men spoke of which are rooted deep in our founding that was built upon the principles that lie within the pages of the Word of God.
Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom in America 