Sunday: 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany - M.L. King, Jr.
Reading: I Samuel 3:1-10; John 1:43-51
Preacher: S. James Steen

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26

On January 21, 2008, the following appeared in the Washington Post: "Sen. Barack Obama took the pulpit of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s church [in Atlanta] Sunday and drew a clear link between King's vision of an America free of segregation and racism and the central tenet of his own presidential campaign, a call for unity after years of partisan rancor and division.

""If Dr. King could love his jailer, if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts," Obama said."1

That was exactly a year ago, on the eve of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; and what a year it has been: a year of heartache and a year of hope. From the pain brought by the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression, a reality that is affecting people here this morning, and from warfare and intolerance in numerous parts of the world, to the realization of a dream that even a year ago in that Atlanta church seemed a very long shot, it has been quite a year. One can't help but wish that Dr. King were alive to witness the world-changing, mind-changing event that took place on November 4 when, as Garrison Keillor told us, even a French government minister, waking up the morning after the election, said, "On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes."2

But, as Dr. King discovered in no small way, we all know that this unity to which our neighbor is calling us, this call to fight for the kind of justice-based unity proclaimed by Jesus and by prophets ever since, we all know that this has never been, nor is it now, an easy thing to achieve. We know that it requires vision, determination, commitment, focus, fortitude, hard work, and a willingness to sacrifice, to mention a few requirements. Still, not one of these, not even all of these will be enough.

Loving those who wish us ill, forgiving those who do us harm, embracing those who reject us, these are the prerequisites for unity laid out by King, quoted by Obama, and characterized by the life and teaching of Jesus. Whether it is in the nation as a whole, or in our own communities, unity will not be achieved by determination and hard work alone. It will require something more fundamental. If our nation, which has recently done a very hopeful thing, is to live up to its true potential, it will require a change of heart in us, the people who are America, a change of heart that only God can bring about.

We may be inclined to say, as I almost always do when I'm challenged or rejected or hurt, "Wait a minute; it isn't I who need a change of heart." "Wait a minute! He or she or they or you are the ones who need to change. After all, I voted for Obama and I wept when King was assassinated." Well, good for me; but that's not enough.

When anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren was asked to offer the invocation at the inauguration, there was a great hue and cry from gay people, condemning Obama. Now, I'm not very pleased about this choice, either. But, after I got over my initial reaction, I wondered, is not this an example of loving our jailor, of reaching out to those who would hurt us? Then, when it was disclosed that gay Bishop Gene Robinson had been invited to speak at the first official inaugural event, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, gay people began criticizing Robinson for his willingness to participate, given the choice of Warren. All of us need a change of heart; and two passages from today's reading offer help.

When the boy Samuel is becoming an adult, is about to be given enormous new responsibilities, and is confused concerning a voice he hears in the temple, his mentor, the aged Eli, simply tells him to listen. Go back and listen. Listen for God's voice. "Say to God, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening."" When we're certain that we know, better than they, what others should do, we might step back and begin by following Eli's advice, and just listen. The reason I believe so strongly in the efficacy of Centering Prayer is that it's a prayer of listening, in which we tell God nothing about what God should be doing. We simply open ourselves in silence, with the expectation that God will enter us, and, over time, will replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

Then there's Nathanael in the Gospel. John's presentation of this story must be a great condensation of a much longer episode or a series of episodes. And that only serves to make its point more dramatic. Philip, who has just accepted Jesus' invitation to become his follower, approaches Nathanael and tells him about Jesus. When Nathanael hears that Jesus is from Nazareth, a total backwater, a real hick town, he dismisses Jesus out of hand. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip tells him to come and see for himself. Nathanael does, and upon meeting Jesus he is converted beyond all expectation. Nathanael may form a strong first opinion, based on prejudice; but because he then overcomes his initial reaction and actually meets the person, he becomes a model of the openness that can lead us to a change of heart.

As we celebrate the life and legacy of Blessed Martin Luther King, Jr., and as we look forward to the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama on Tuesday, let us give thanks for all the prophets, ancient and modern, who have listened for God's words of love and justice, who have prayed Jesus' prayer that we might all be one, and who have brought the world closer to God's kingdom. May they all be with Barack Obama in the days ahead. May he listen, as well as act, and may God bless this nation richly through him.

Amen.

1Alec MacGillis, "Obama Echoes King's Call for Unity at Atlanta Church," The Washington Post, 21 January, 2008.
2Garrison Keillor, "Wow! America Is Cool," Tribune Media Services, Inc., 12 November, 2008.