Rev. Dr. King Day continued

 

We continue today with excerpts of the sermon Rev. Dr. King preached at New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1967 entitled, “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”.  Remember yesterday, Dr. King invited you to consider the length of life.  Today we hear about the breadth of life.  I pray you will lean in and listen to these words. 

And a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. This is what God needs today: Men and women who will ask, "What will happen to humanity if I don’t help? What will happen to the civil rights movement if I don’t participate? What will happen to my city if I don’t vote? What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?" This is how God judges people in the final analysis. Oh, there will be a day, the question won’t be, "How many awards did you get in life?" Not that day. It won’t be, "How popular were you in your social setting?" That won’t be the question that day. It will not ask how many degrees you’ve been able to get.  The question that day will not be concerned with whether you are a "Ph.D." or a "no D."  It will not be concerned with whether you went to Morehouse or whether you went to "No House."  The question that day will not be, "How beautiful is your house?" The question that day will not be, "How much money did you accumulate? How much did you have in stocks and bonds?" The question that day will not be, "What kind of automobile did you have?" On that day the question will be, "What did you do for others?" And don’t forget in doing something for others that you have what you have because of others.  Don’t forget that. We are tied together in life and in the world. 

I pray you will ponder the beautiful tension Dr. King is articulating and explaining to us about life.  We can get so caught up in stuffing our life with stuff, with our awards and recognitions.  But life, Dr. King is about letting these words of the Spiritual, ‘If I can help somebody,’ be your theme song today. “If I can help somebody, as I travel along.  If I can help somebody, with a word or song.  If I can help somebody, from doing wrong. No, my living shall not be in vain.  No, my living shall not be in vain.  No, my living shall not be in vain.  If I can help somebody, as I’m singing the song.  You know, my living shall not be in vain,”

Prayer: May the words above be my theme song, O God, today.  Amen.