Happy Martin Luther King Day!

It is time once again for me to make my annual comments about Martin
Luther King day. Sadly, every year when I do this I get the same sort of
responses, no matter how hard I try to be clear on why this day is so
important to so many of our African-American brothers and sisters, and,
why it is so important for all of us in this nation.
Sure enough there are those quite happy to entirely ignore the point
of my post and gas on about how Martin Luther King was this, that, or
another thing, about how his theology was bad, or how he was ‘liberal’
and on and on. I’ve even had a Lutheran pastor opine, on this day, about
the nature of the Civil War and if owning slaves is a Biblically
justified practice. I kid you not.

I will again however say that such comments display an astounding
lack of sensitivity and concern about the feelings of our fellow
Americans who look to Martin Luther King as a significant figure in
advancing civil rights in this nation. And please do not, please, do not
say, “Some of my best friends are Black.” Oh, really? Then try to be a
bit more sensitive, please. Some of my best friends are left handed, but
I don’t go out of my way to offend left-handed people by denigrating
honoring a left-handed person for whom they have high regard. But,
seriously, some of my best friends are left-handed. I even married a
left-handed person. See how hollow that sounds?

I do wonder how many of us with pale skin have ever shared a meal
with a Black person, in their home, actually spoken at length with them
as people, not as “Blacks.” Similarly, how many Blacks have had Whites
into their homes and hosted them for a meal and spoke to them as people,
not White? I know the problem cuts both directions, but on MLK day,
this is not the appropriate time for White folk to go on and one about
their gripes with Black folks.

And then, I hear from people telling me how terrible the civil rights
movement has been for African-Americans, and how it has only led to
what is now a permanent underclass in this country, etc. etc. There is
plenty to talk about here. But that the Civil Rights movement was a good
thing in many ways is undeniable.

Would you have preferred the continuation of Jim Crow laws, lynchings
and telling people they can’t drink from certain water fountains, use
certain bathrooms or ride only in the back of the bus or not be served a
meal just because their skin is dark? Would you feel the same if the
laws were in reverse and it was the white-skinned who could not do these
things? “Good Christians” are not immune are they? I still have a vivid
memory of angst being expressed by some members of my home congregation
when Black folks showed up once for Holy Communion, from the common
cup! And that was only in the late 1960s, not that too far long ago.

After the Civil War and well into the 1960s many, many
African-Americans were still treated nearly like slaves in so many
places. Despite the Civil War, many states made it impossible for blacks
to vote and via indentured servanthood [aka sharecropping] created a
serfdom across the South. Can we be a bit sensitive to the bitter, hard
and long struggle of a people brought to this country as slaves?” [Yes,
yes, I know blacks sold other blacks into slavery in Africa...and yes,
African-Americans can be as prejudiced against others because of race as
anyone else].

So, I apologize for what appears to be a gloomy post, but it is
always sad that whenever anyone tries to say anything about Civil
Rights, particularly on MLK day, we have to have a litany from white
folks criticizing, whining and complaining, thus quite entirely missing the point of MLK and his meaning for our nation and for so many of our fellow citizens.

I’m actually seeing signs that the times they are a changing. When I
was a child it was inevitable that we would refer to African-American
children as “that black kid” and no doubt they would refer to us “as
that white kid.” My own children have delighted me in that they have
spoken of friends by name and never once have referred to them as “that
black kid” or “you know, my Chinese friend.” They’ve had friends over to
the house that we have heard about from school for weeks and I’ve been
delighted to find they are African or Chinese, and not once did our kids
refer to them by race, but by their qualities as persons. A good sign
indeed and this is where we need to be. No, it is unrealistic to believe
we will ever be “color blind.” That’s not what I’m suggesting, but it
would be great if we would not always jump to race as the first way to
describe a person.

Recently in an interview on 60 minutes one of my favorite actors,
Morgan Freeman, laid it out in a blunt way. He just wants to be referred
to as a person, not a black man, but as a man. And he thought the
notion of a “black history” month to be absurd, and even insulting,
trying to suggest his “history” could be reduced to a month on the
calendar.

I believe it is a necessary and good thing in the kingdom of the
left, to work for that day when across this great nation people will be
judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
And I suspect that if people’s skin tone was a bit more dark than it may
be now they might have some better sense of why this is a dream worthy
of our full support, and sympathy. So, I say, “Happy MLK day

I like your post and happen to agree that the Civil Rights movement was worthwhile.

Now your post begs a question that I must ask: So Pastor, are you
acknowledging that a social justice vocation might be a worthwhile,
fulfilling, even scripturally honorable vocation for a Christian? Maybe
even worth devoting one’s vocational life to or giving up one’s
temporal life for if called upon to do so? (I am in no way suggesting
that this should be done from the pulpit or by parish pastors in their
role as parish pastors.)

As far as the Church, in general, my one observation is that as we
all know, support for social justice, like support for social mercy, is
not unique to LCMS theology, or even Christian theology, but that does
not make these goals any less worthy of support. All social groups,
including church bodies, are tempted to pull out of social
collaborations when they cannot corner the political market on the
achievement, even when by honest Scriptural evaluation, the purpose of
the collaboration is God-pleasing. Let us not fall prey to this
temptation

Karyn: thanks for your interesting comment. I must confess I’m not up on
the verbiage du jour, but any vocation that is lawful and honorable and
in accord with God’s will is one Christians can gladly take up and live
out. I really do not think one has to say a word about King’s theology,
right or wrong, of his Christianity, to speak favorably about his work.
I think here is where the doctrine of the two kingdoms comes in handy.
I’m not sure what you mean when you say: “All social groups, including
church bodies, are tempted to pull out of social collaborations when
they cannot corner the political market on achievement.” It seems you
have some specific examples in mind, which I encourage you to share in
order to lend clarity to your comment

Well boy do I feel naive! You mean there actually are people who find
the sentiments of this post objectionable? I find it wonderfully
refreshing and wholly Christian that a fellow paleface would offer these
kinds cheers on MLK Day.

Thank you for your post, Pastor McCain. I still hear white Christians
refer to MLK disparagingly. It’s only by the grace of God that we have
brothers in the faith of different colors given some of this remaining
attitude. Thank you for speaking up and reminding us of the importance
of the kingdom of the left hand. Wish we had more pastors like you.

Bobby Norfolk (an animated Civil War presenter who lives in the St
Louis area) did a presentation last year in which he said, “In 200 years
the African American has gone from the slave house to the White House.
What an accomplishment!”

I couldn’t agree more. Let’s keep this in mind every year as we celebrate MLK Day

His math is a bit off. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in
1862, so in 148 years the African American went from the slave house to
the White House. We have a long, long way to go, and both African
American and White American bear the burden for continuous improvement
in race relations in this nation.