When hearing about the anniversary of the “I Had a Dream” speech by MLK Jr, I was able to find a new link to the text – which I inserted into my sermon based on MLK Jr’s sermon about loving your enemies – and on Jesus’s speech on the matter – with a practical example of dimming your headlights on a busy highway – “someone has to have the sense to have sense” is essentially what MLK Jr is saying – and so is Jesus.
This text and re-listen became an opportunity to revisit this important teaching of Jesus – Love Your Enemies – because the redemption power of LOVE is infinite – and hate just perpetuates. It is good to remember MLK Jr was a pastor who preached “self control” and “non-retaliation” – and even if we aren’t in those waring times – it is good to take this simple advice: Love wins… And so, WOW to the explanation about how President Lincoln worked with one of his mud-slinging enemies – Stanton – from when he was presidential candidate – then made him a cabinet member – wow – talked about redemption via LOVE that will win out over hate – WOW… It puts the WOW into the HOW – Love Your Enemies – believe in the power of Love. Hate has no redemption qualities and distorts the personality of the person.
Surely Jesus had an impact upon MLK Jr. – and surely in his “secular” orations, he also brought in wisdom from His Word, into the mix. It was the anniversary last week of the “I had a dream” speech – surely this means that in Jesus’s day, Jesus could have called some of His orations: “I have a plan – and a dream – and a truth – and a knowledge of how it all will go down.” – and this brings me to writing a new sermon for a couple weeks from now – about the wheat and the weeds and how evil is planted alongside the good and we must let the Lord deal with it = for He does have a plan and a knowledge and IS in charge.:
MLK Sermon Part about Lincoln:
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. “love your enemies.”
I think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember the great president of this United States, Abraham Lincoln—these United States rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, “You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States.” He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and wrote about it. Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln, if you read the great works about him, you will discover that as every president comes to the point, he came to the point of having to choose a Cabinet.10 And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they said to him: “Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. [Edwin M.] Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?” Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: “Oh yes, I know about it. I read about it. I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job.”
Mr. Stanton did become Secretary of War, and a few months later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by, about Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: “Now he belongs to the ages.” And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.
That’s it. There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, “This isn’t the way.”
—-
and here is the link to my previous sermon with the MLK Jr reference to dimming the headlights and the scriptures of the Jesus interactions to teach His people to wait upon the Lord. New one is on it’s way in a couple weeks.
Debbie Upper 