Sermon at The Church of the Holy Apostles, New York City
January 20, 2008
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
The Reverend Andrew G. Kadel
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

     It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation  may reach to the end of the earth.”

     This weekend we observe the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  He would have been 79 years old this month, and he was killed 40 years ago, this coming April.  Dr. King is always described as a Civil Rights Leader and indeed he was that.   But to me, it is more to the point that he was a disciple of Jesus and a prophet.  His message was acceptable and convincing to a wide range of people, of many religious and non-religious persuasions.  Therefore, many Americans assumed that his inclusive message must be secular.  Yet if you read even the most public and political of his speeches, it is clear that Martin Luther King was a disciple of Jesus in the most explicit and religious sense, as well as in the ethical or metaphorical ways that we sometimes see in the secular world.

     Today’s Gospel features some disciples, and interestingly, they sought Jesus out—“Rabbi, where are you staying?” These first disciples are largely anonymous, except for Andrew—who went and recruited his brother, Peter.  They listened to John, and saw Jesus and took initiative to be his disciples.  This lesson doesn’t throw particular light on Martin Luther King, except that Martin’s discipleship required initiative, he couldn’t follow a path of passive and fatalistic piety.

     I have a friend from my days as a seminary student named Sebastian Bakare.  I’ve been concerned for Sebastian’s welfare for some time, but increasingly so over the past couple of months.  The office of Bishop of Harare, Zimbabwe was declared vacant by the Province of Central Africa because Bishop Kunonga declared that he was going to take the diocese out of that province because it wasn’t hard line enough against homosexuality.  My friend Sebastian, who had retired as Bishop of another diocese, a little over a year ago, was asked to be the acting Bishop of Harare, while Kunonga still claimed to be bishop.  I get Google news alerts about Sebastian, and over the last few weeks, there are more and more which report that services are disrupted by police, services are disrupted by violent supporters of Kunonga, and priests who support Sebastian have been arrested.

     To illustrate where Sebastian stands on these issues, shortly before his appointment as acting Bishop of Harare, Sebastian wrote a letter to the Church Times in which he said, “children don’t go to bed with an empty stomach because of homosexuality.”

     Here’s a bit of description from the Christmas letter which I received from Sebastian and his wife, Ruth:

     Since the former bishop of Harare is holding on to all church assets (and there is a pending court case on this issue), it is Sebastian’s task to set up a parallel diocesan structure the beginnings of which are already in place. The support we are getting from the people of Harare Diocese is quite overwhelming, let alone from many people within and outside our borders who seem to have much confidence in Sebastian’s ability to bring normalcy back into the church.  Whilst the going is tough as the other side does not give up easily and resorts to intimidation and defamation of character via the media, we are encouraged by so many prayers throughout the Anglican Communion and beyond, and this keeps us going. Please continue to hold us in your prayers.

     Discipleship takes courage and prayer.  That’s easy to see in situations like Sebastian’s and Martin’s, yet it applies to all the less dramatic situations of our own discipleship. Integrity and courage derive from long formation of habit, not some grand opportunity.

     One thing that characterized Martin Luther King was his extraordinarily inclusive vision—that ultimately we are headed to a time when the descendants of slaves and the descendants of slave owners will live together in harmony.  He was criticized for not focusing enough on black empowerment.  Martin was motivated by care for the plight of African American people, but also for justice, peace and prosperity to abide, reconciliation and justice for all parties is essential. Martin was a prophet and his call could well come from today’s lesson from the prophet Isaiah: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob [and to restore the survivors of Israel;] I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  The light, is a gift of freedom—freedom from the hatred and fear that comes from profiting from oppression in any form.  It is when the whole earth is well, that the oppressed are free.  As Martin’s life progressed his energy spread beyond civil rights in the narrow sense, to the peace movement and to seeking better conditions and opportunities for the poor—he was killed in Memphis while he was there to support the strike of sanitation workers for better pay.

     I would like to end with another quote from the Bakares’ Christmas letter:

     One of dangers we are facing at present is that we seem to take little interest in what happens in other parts of the world being as embroiled as we are in our own problems. Recently Dafur and Zimbabwe were mentioned in one breath by Nadine Gordimer and Guenther Grass as the main trouble spots of the world to which not enough attention is paid by the international community. Yes, indeed there is Darfur, and there is Pakistan and Iraq and so many other troublesome places where people’s life is at stake all the time. But there is also Nebraska and any other town/city in the West where people get gunned down and murdered in such a senseless manner – if ever there was sense in killing!

     As we write this letter, it is pouring outside – a great relief for in recent years we have never had sufficient rains to warrant a good harvest, something we so badly need in the face of all the other difficulties we are facing. It is hard to explain how much hope lies in a good rain storm for us.

     For Martin, for Sebastian, for all those who devote their lives to the coming of justice and peace on Earth that was proclaimed by our Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray, in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

     “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, ‘Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’”