Day Seventeen- 1/17/11 Listen to a MLK Sermon

Day Seventeen: 1/17/11
New Thing:  Listen to a Martin Luther King, Jr. Sermon
Inspiration: MLK
Time: About 35 mins
Bottom Line: Amen. 

Reflection: In some ways, I am reluctant to write a reflection today because it feels a little like gilding the lily. I would rather just point you in the direction of this wonderful sermon preached by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The particular sermon I listen to is called “The Drum Major Instinct” and it was preached on February 4, 1968. The text and the recoding can be found here: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_the_drum_major_instinct/

           

It is actually one of my favorite sermons and I have read it several times. Yet, I have never taken the time to listen to it in King’s own voice. I am so glad that I have remedied that today. The description of the sermon is as follows:

King encouraged his congregation to seek greatness, but to do so through service and love. King concluded the sermon by imagining his own funeral, downplaying his famous achievements and emphasizing his heart to do right.

 

Of course, that description fails to capture the complexity of this theological work. In this sermon, King looks at Mark 10 beginning with the thirty-fifth verse in which James and John ask Jesus for a place of honor in heaven. Using this part of scripture, he calls the desire for glory that J&J seem to have the “Drum Major Instinct” and shows how we all have this same desire for recognition. The first part of the sermon shows the dangers of this quest for honor and he brings in some classic examples that still ring true today: Racism, pride, envy, gluttony, war, churches which exclude, violence—they all are manifestations of an un-harnessed ‘”Drum Major Instinct.”  

But the truly beautiful part comes when turns from this warning and shows us how Jesus responds to this instinct—both in J&J and in us. Jesus turns to them and as King puts it:

[Jesus] said in substance, "Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be." But he reordered priorities. And he said, "Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. (Yes) It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do.”…

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

Amen.