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The Second Sunday After The Epiphany
God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The Second Sunday After The Epiphany
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Scripture citation(s): 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; Romans 12:9-21; John 1:43-51
A Sermon by
The Rev. Dr. Brandt Montgomery, Chaplain of Saint James School in Hagerstown, Maryland and Vicar of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Boonsboro, Maryland
on
1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; Romans 12:9-21; John 1:43-51
✛
“Keep On Keeping On” — A Sermon for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (2024)
Based on a phrase spoken by Dr. King in a 1956 speech to the Montgomery Improvement Association
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“The lamp of God had not…gone out….”-1 Samuel 3:3
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Ten years ago this August, I had been called to serve as the chaplain of a Pre-K3 through 12th Grade parish day school in Southwestern Louisiana. The school, particularly its high school campus, had not had a full-time Episcopal chaplain for quite some years and the rector’s prime objective assigned to me was to solidify the school’s chapel services into full conformity with the Book of Common Prayer.
To say that I was resisted by many within the school would be an understatement. For many of the students and faculty, to suddenly have this new Episcopal chaplain not from the area come in and change (back) things did not sit well. The resistance manifested itself within the classroom, many of the upper-class students I taught choosing that setting to display their disapproval of the way chapel services were now being conducted. But it was at the mid-point of that first year that the resistance went to a different level, when, upon arriving to my office one morning before school, I discovered Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia spread across my desk.
News quickly spread throughout the school and church. The rector called, reinforcing his support of my ministry. Parishioners expressed their support as well as disgust that such a thing happened. Many of the students and faculty who initially were against me said how what happened came “out of left field.” For me, a decision needed to be made: quit and storm off in anger, or stay and continue trusting God that all would be well. Despite the hurt I felt for what had happened, I chose to stay, continue trusting God and loving the students I had been called to serve. And things did get better, all through God’s presence and help. I will hold back the second part of this story until this sermon’s end.
Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life, civil rights work, and Christian witness we today remember, said how “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Yet, we are living in a world that has many dark corners dimmed by hate. Political instability, unjust wars, and physical, verbal, and emotional violence have made for many the thought of God and faith irrelevant. For them, because of the unjust words and actions of others, the idea of a loving God has become unbelievable and everything that has been asserted about Him will collapse.[i]
But in this morning’s Old Testament reading from 1 Samuel 3, we heard that “the lamp of God had not…gone out….” As this was so for the young Samuel, so it is for us now: the lamp of God has not gone out. And it is the legacy of saints like Dr. King that reminds us how God’s light still burns in this world. Dr. King still shows us how God has not forgotten about His people and has not turned a blind eye from our suffering.
What makes Dr. King’s civil rights legacy still relevant comes from how he engaged in social justice not only for African Americans but all people, believing that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” In Dr. King’s words and courageous non-violent actions, we can sense how God still calls us to live lives that reflect His justice and kindness. God’s call has come to countless believers in various ways throughout the years. God has called those who are well known and many others less known or not at all known. Regardless of the manner of the call and the notoriety of the called, the call itself to humbly walk with God, loving others as He so graciously loves us, is the same for all of us.
Do we, though, actually believe this? Why Dr. King’s example remains just as relevant now (and perhaps more so now) as it was years before is because, like Samuel, he also displayed an openness to God’s call upon him, time after time saying, “Speak [Lord], for your servant is listening.” And like Nathanael in this morning’s Gospel lesson, because Dr. King persistently listened out for God and accepted His will, God, in turn, showed Dr. King “greater things than these.” His response to God’s call came from a strong faith instilled in him from the example of faithful elders. It was from the depths of such faith that Dr. King spoke of his dream rooted in God’s Master Plan, that this would one day be a nation and world of full equality. It was from the assurances of such faith that Dr. King confidently proclaimed the coming of a greater Promised Land where all of God’s children will dwell together as a united people. Still today, through Dr. King’s civil rights legacy, we find ourselves led to the God of all creation who has searched for all of us, knows us better than we know ourselves, views us as wonderfully made, and desires for us all to be with Him in The End (cf. Psalm 139:1-6, 18).
Thus, today’s Gospel proves a crucial point—the role that others play in our discovery of God, manifested in Jesus, present among us now through the Holy Ghost. Philip finds his friend Nathanael, telling him about Jesus of Nazareth, the One “whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.” Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” “Come and see,” Philip says. That is what Dr. King’s continuing witness is telling us: “Come and see” this Jesus of Nazareth.
Being fifty-six years following Dr. King’s martyrdom, discrimination on all fronts still abound and we are not yet fully free. But the lamp of God has not gone out. Your very presence here this morning proves how the Word of God is still beckoning, still saving, still equipping, and sending out missionaries to preach the Gospel. That is why we must “keep on keeping on” in our trust in Jesus. We must not give up; we must continue marching on together toward God’s Kingdom. Like Dr. King, we ourselves must have the faith and courage to point to Jesus, whose words and deeds proven true on the hard wood of the cross, from which He draws all people to Himself, reveals the presence of God’s Kingdom here on Earth as well as in Heaven. It does not require you to preach the same as John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr., or any other big-name preacher. Just tell of Jesus’ love and abide by His commandments, and trust the Holy Ghost, working through you, to take care of the rest.
Returning to my story from before, I ended up staying at that Southwestern Louisiana Episcopal day school for five years before receiving the call to my current ministry in Western Maryland. A couple of years ago, one of the students from my first senior class at my previous school reached out to me via social media asking if he could speak with me. I was surprised to hear from this young man, but of course I made time to speak with him. He updated me about his happenings since his high school graduation. He had since graduated from college and was about to start the second semester of his 2L year of law school. Things were going well for him and I was genuinely happy for his success.
He also told me that it was during his time in college that he became a devout Christian. His newfound faith caused him to rethink some things from over the course of his life, leading him to repent of negative things done. With that said, this young man then recalled that day several years before on which I found the Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia spread across my desk. With audible regret in his voice, he said that he convinced the younger student that carried out the act to do it. He said that the fact that he did this haunted him every day since his becoming a Christian and he could not let another day pass without reaching out to me to ask forgiveness. He also apologized for the blatant disrespect he showed me those several years ago. “The love you continued to show me, despite my blatant disrespect of you, I didn’t deserve, but you did it anyway,” he said. He asked for my forgiveness, saying that he would understand if I could not then do so. I did forgive him and told him that it was “water under the bridge.” We ended our conversation praying for each other. It was a spiritually enriching and healing time for him and me.
How glad I am that I chose to continue trusting God and to love. This is why Dr. King’s example and those of all the saints before us still matter. This proves how the lamp of God has not gone out and never will. May we therefore have the courage to be the Church, engaging in Christ’s mission of reconciliation with great zeal. May we choose God, to abide in and spread abroad His love. Let us all “keep on keeping on” towards God’s eternal and peaceable Kingdom. Blessed Martin, martyr for the Faith, pray for us to the Lord our God.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[i] Friedrich Nietzsche paraphrased from Lanier Anderson, “Friedrich Nietzsche,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2017/entries/nietzsche), Web. Accessed 01-05-2024.
