Christian churches have a long tradition of commemorating martyrs annually on the days of their deaths.  This year it is most important to learn from the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4^th, the 57^th anniversary of his assassination (as observed by the Episcopalians, ELCA Lutherans and other denominations).

 A January national observance of his birth has been complicated with occasionally coinciding with presidential inaugurations and women’s marches.

The crisis the country is facing is summed up well in the title of his last book, “Where do we go from here:  chaos or community?”

I suggest that communities of faith and goodwill plan two types of events for that day, one educational and the other worshipful.

The “teach-in” should emphasize that simplistic interpretations of King’s words and legacies have been warped to make “content of character” into an anti-DEI trope – https://l.smartnews.com/p-jr0SX8t/AqegRu – while the fast-forwarding mental video in many minds rush through Rosa Parks/Montgomery to police dogs/fire hoses in Birmingham to “I have a dream” followed by child bombings and Selma and a fatal trip to Memphis.  Much is left out Including his consistent opposition to economic injustice, police brutality and war.

 Little is known of his abiding faith, even though from Montgomery on he was coping with threats and actions reminding him that he was always living in the shadow of death.

 Although his opposition to racism was well known, few remember that he ranked it with materialism and militarism.   He lost many supporters for his opposition to the Vietnam War, maintaining that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and that the U.S. was the greatest purveyor of violence on the world.

Many books document King’s life, including Taylor Branch’s trilogy, “Parting the Waters,” “Pillar of Fire,” and “At Canaan’s Edge.” Also, “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King,” edited by Clayborne Carson, Jonathon Eig’s “King: A Life,” and David Garrow’s “Bearing the Cross” are important. Most of these books are now available as audible recordings.

Another important avenue to explore was King’s skills as a communicator/orator.

King as a preacher and prayer-leader often spoke extemporaneously while sometimes using prepared text and/or notes in a style of black preaching which often featured King James English, repetition, call and response. Most famously, at the March on Washington, he left his prepared text after Mahalia Jackson shouted to him, “tell about your dream!”

His sermons and prayers are available in two books, the first of which is introduced by Raphael Warnock, now U. S. Senator. Information follows from the King Legacy website:

 

 

For a commemoration service in 2018 in Brookings OR, the following service was used:

Martin Luther King Service

April 4, 2018

Opening Hymn:  Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
He has loosed his fateful lightning with His terrible swift sword.
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me.
As he died to make men holy let us live to make all free.
His truth is marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
Welcome, Opening Remarks, Invocation

Hymn:  When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
(Sung at Martin Luther King’s Funeral)

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died;
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

<style=”color: #000000;”>Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a tribute far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

First Lesson:  Matthew 5:3-12

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth. 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.</span
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Prayer

(All Prayers are by Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Most gracious and all-wise God, before whose face the generations rise and fall; Thou in whom we live, and move and have our being.  We thank thee for all of thy good and gracious gifts, for life and for health, for food and for raiment, for the beauties of nature and the love of human nature.  We come before thee painfully aware of our inadequacies and shortcomings.  We realize that we stand surrounded with the mountains of love and we deliberately dwell in the valley of hate.  We stand amid the forces of truth and deliberately lie.  We are forever offered the high road, and yet we choose to travel the low road.  For these sins, O God, forgive.  Break the spell of that which blinds our minds. Purify our hearts that we may see thee, O God, in these turbulent days when fear and doubt are mounting high, give us broad visions, penetrating eyes, and power of endurance.  Help us to work with renewed vigor for a warless world, for a better distribution of wealth, and for a brotherhood that transcends race or color.  In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen. 

Second Lesson:  Isaiah 11: 4a, 69

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth…
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
 
Prayer

May we pray.  Eternal God, our Father, help us to love thee with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and our neighbors as ourselves.  And help us to realize that we have a moral responsibility to be good and conscientious but also to be intelligent and grant that we will also reach out for that which is high, realizing that we are made for the stars, created for the everlasting, born for eternity.  In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen

Hymn:  Precious Lord

 (MLK’s favorite Gospel Hymn)
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand.
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, lead me near,
When my life is almost gone.
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand, lest I fall.
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

https://youtu.be/Maal8IvDUJU?si=qNSkZREb89GB-aP8

Third Lesson:  Micah 6:8(b)

And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Prayer

God grant that we wage the struggle with dignity and discipline.  May all who suffer oppression in the world reject the self-defeating method of retaliatory violence and choose the method that seeks to redeem.

Homily 

Rev. Robert H. O’Sullivan   https://youtu.be/qoZ8N0xEy-A?si=bVRpL9K-dn0ocT9K

Prayer

Eternal God, out of whose mind this great cosmic universe exists, we bless thee.  Help us to seek that which is high, noble and good.  Help us in the moment of difficult decision.  Help us to work with renewed vigor for a warless world, a better distribution of wealth, and a brotherhood that transcends race or color.

Hymn:  Lift Every Voice and Sing

Lift ev’ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the Harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of or new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stormy the road we trod,
Bitter the chast’ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.
Out from the gloomy past,
Here now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

Benediction

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“We Shall Overcome!”

See also:A recent O’Sullivan radio interview on MLK

https://youtu.be/BtWjakDU0ZU?si=SiQ25L0gel1cy5cR

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert “Silky” O’Sullivan, a longtime resident of the Oakland/Berkeley area, has retired to a beautiful garden home in Brookings on the Oregon coast. He lost his wife of over 51 years, Alice Wildermuth O’Sullivan, in April 2020.  https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=alice-wildermuth-o-sullivan&pid=196211294  She had distinguished careers as a musician and attorney. Hear many examples of her musical gifts on the Alice Wildermuth O’Sullivan YouTube channel:  https://religionnews.com/2021/01/12/alice-wildermuth-osullivan-youtube-channel-features-music-of-church-classical-jazz-musician/

Two German Shepherds help to keep him appreciating the wonders of creation. After many career involvements (including politics and media, high school teaching and pastoring), he has discovered a new vocation as a “Left Coast” ‘poet and writer, deeply influenced by William Blake and Dag Hammarskjold, who both embodied brilliant Christian visions while working in remarkable ways for justice and peace. O’Sullivan’s new words to Christmas carols and other hymns, incorporating peace and justice themes, and a Blake-inspired “unofficial international anthem” have been published in Progressive Christianity, along with civil rights and other writings.  He has recently become an advocate for St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in its successful fight with the City of Brookings over issues of feeding and providing social services to the poor.  He picked up his nickname as a recreational basketball player in the flatlands of Oakland, as featured on his portable high school classroom.