Good morning…
“On this morning, if I can leave anything with you, let me urge you to be sure that you have a strong boat of faith,” said Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on March 3rd, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta, Georgia. “The winds are going to blow. The storms of disappointment are coming. The agonies and anguishes of life are coming. And be sure your boat is strong, and also be sure that you have an anchor. In times like these, you need an anchor. And be very sure that your anchor holds.”
King continued: “It will be dark sometimes, and it will be dismal and trying, and tribulation will come. But if you have faith in the God that I’m talking about this morning, it doesn’t matter. For you can stand up amid the storms. And I say it to you out of experience this morning, yes, I’ve seen the lightning flash. I’ve heard the thunder roll. I’ve felt sin-breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. But I heard the voice of Jesus, saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No, never alone. No, never alone. He promised never to leave me. Never to leave me alone.”
King concluded: “And when you get this faith, you can walk with your feet solid to the ground and your head to the air, and you fear no man. And you fear nothing that comes before you. Because you know that God is even in Crete. If you ascend to the heavens, God is there. If you descend to hell, God is even there. If you take the wings of the morning and fly out to the uttermost parts of the sea, even God is there. Everywhere we turn we find him. We can never escape him.”
Two questions come to my mind while reading this sermon.
First, what does Rev. King mean when he says “…you know that God is even in Crete?” Researching I learn. “Crete” is derived from the Greek word Kriti (Kri-ti), which means “creation.” The meaning of the English word Cre’ate, is “to form out of nothing, to creo, creatum – cause to exist.” The island of Crete was named after a word meaning creation, because 1) it was said to be the first culture to introduce the creative arts, 2) it was one of the main starting points for our modern, Western civilization, and 3) it was a holy island where Christianity was introduced to the “Roman Jews.” The Apostle Paul and the 1st century Jewish Roman historian, Josephus Flavius, are two very influential people with strong relational ties to Crete. To me, “…you know that God is even in Crete” means that God Almighty is even in our creative human advancements, as the epicenter of our strong, expanding faith and a solid anchor for all generations.
Second, I wonder, “After preaching this sermon, how long was it until King was assassinated?” On April 4, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. died in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. That is just one month and one day after Rev. King said from the pulpit, “I heard the voice of Jesus, saying still to fight on. He promised to never leave me, never leave me alone… And when you get this faith, you can walk with your feet solid to the ground and your head to the air, and you fear no man. And you fear nothing that comes before you.”
Will you climb in this strong boat of faith and trust the reassuring anchor of Jesus’ voice of love? The living Christ whispers to each one of us, as we are pummeled by life’s storms. We see the lightning flash. We hear the thunder roll. We feel sin-breakers dashing, trying to conquer our soul. Yet, instead of focusing on the incessant struggle, might we focus on God’s saving love? Will we listen for Christ’s lead? Will we tune our ears to hear?
“Still fight on. I will never leave you alone. Walk with your feet solid to the ground, lift your head to air, and fear no man, fear nothing that comes before you.”
In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:37-39, CEV).
…Sue…
