Never Alone
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
Never Alone
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (v. 34)
The great American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was a person with tremendous courage. He endured defamation, beatings, imprisonments, death threats, and his house was firebombed. As we all know from history, he eventually was assassinated.
So what kept him going? It was his strong sense of God's call upon his life. In Soul Survivor, Philip Yancey writes that King was just 26 years old when he was appointed leader of the civil rights campaign in Montgomery, Alabama. Apart from terrifying threats from the Ku Klux Klan, King was harassed by police. He was given his first stint in jail after being arrested for driving five miles per hour over the speed limit. The night after his release, he was at home when the phone rang. A menacing voice on the other end said, "N_____, we are tired of you and your mess now. And if you aren't out of this town in three days, we're going to blow your brains out and blow up your house."
King was demoralized and very afraid -- for himself, for his wife, and for his little children. Shortly after the phone call, he sat at his kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. He sat at the table thinking about his daughter -- how she could be taken away from him at any minute. And he started thinking about his wife who was asleep -- how dedicated, devoted, and loyal she was. He knew he was weak. He couldn't take it anymore.
He knew that his faith had to become real to him. He had to know God for himself. So he bowed down over that cup of coffee, and said, "Lord, I'm down here trying to do what's right. I think I'm right. I think the cause we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I'm weak now. I'm faltering. I'm losing my courage."
At that moment, King heard an inner voice saying, "Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you, even until the end of the world."
King said, "I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. Never alone ... No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone."
Three nights later the menacing threat made in the phone call came true: a bomb exploded on the front verandah of the King home. Thankfully no one was hurt, but because of King's religious experience a few nights before, he was able to face it and overcome it. Time and again throughout his ministry Martin Luther King, Jr., returned to that experience to strengthen him as he faced terrible difficulties.
The experience at the kitchen table that night left King assured that whatever he went through Christ would be with him. He remembered the words: "Never alone ... No, never alone. He promised never to leave me alone."
King didn't expect Christ's presence to make his life comfortable. He said, "Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties, agonizing, and tension-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering."
He didn't expect Christ to make his life comfortable. He knew he was called to bear a cross -- a cross that called humanity to equality. But he did expect Christ's presence to make whatever he encountered bearable and meaningful.
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (v. 34)
The great American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was a person with tremendous courage. He endured defamation, beatings, imprisonments, death threats, and his house was firebombed. As we all know from history, he eventually was assassinated.
So what kept him going? It was his strong sense of God's call upon his life. In Soul Survivor, Philip Yancey writes that King was just 26 years old when he was appointed leader of the civil rights campaign in Montgomery, Alabama. Apart from terrifying threats from the Ku Klux Klan, King was harassed by police. He was given his first stint in jail after being arrested for driving five miles per hour over the speed limit. The night after his release, he was at home when the phone rang. A menacing voice on the other end said, "N_____, we are tired of you and your mess now. And if you aren't out of this town in three days, we're going to blow your brains out and blow up your house."
King was demoralized and very afraid -- for himself, for his wife, and for his little children. Shortly after the phone call, he sat at his kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. He sat at the table thinking about his daughter -- how she could be taken away from him at any minute. And he started thinking about his wife who was asleep -- how dedicated, devoted, and loyal she was. He knew he was weak. He couldn't take it anymore.
He knew that his faith had to become real to him. He had to know God for himself. So he bowed down over that cup of coffee, and said, "Lord, I'm down here trying to do what's right. I think I'm right. I think the cause we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I'm weak now. I'm faltering. I'm losing my courage."
At that moment, King heard an inner voice saying, "Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you, even until the end of the world."
King said, "I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. Never alone ... No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone."
Three nights later the menacing threat made in the phone call came true: a bomb exploded on the front verandah of the King home. Thankfully no one was hurt, but because of King's religious experience a few nights before, he was able to face it and overcome it. Time and again throughout his ministry Martin Luther King, Jr., returned to that experience to strengthen him as he faced terrible difficulties.
The experience at the kitchen table that night left King assured that whatever he went through Christ would be with him. He remembered the words: "Never alone ... No, never alone. He promised never to leave me alone."
King didn't expect Christ's presence to make his life comfortable. He said, "Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties, agonizing, and tension-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering."
He didn't expect Christ to make his life comfortable. He knew he was called to bear a cross -- a cross that called humanity to equality. But he did expect Christ's presence to make whatever he encountered bearable and meaningful.
