Presented to the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Sunnyvale
On Martin Luther King’s birthday, 1/15/06
By Charlie Ahern

Although Unitarian-Universalism does not mandate a creed, we do have core principles and we have identified the sources of those principles. One source is described as;

“Words and deeds of prophetic women and men, which challenge us to confront the powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.”

Many people around the world recognize The Reverend Martin Luther King, whose birthday is today, as one of the modern prophets. Reverend King was a prophet for his time, and an activist in his time.

While preparing this sermon, I read his Letter from the Birmingham Jail several times. In this letter he responded to an appeal for, quote-law and order and common sense-unquote made by several clergymen in Birmingham, Alabama in the Spring of 1963.

They opposed the civil rights demonstrations that Reverend King led in Birmingham. They accused him of simply being an outsider and asked the people of Birmingham to stop participating in the demonstrations. They suggested discontinuing the non-violent demonstrations that might incite violence by segregationists.

So, Reverend King’s Letter chided their support for the status quo with prophetic language. In this, he resembled the Biblical prophets who addressed their messages to complacent religious leaders.

As a prophet Reverend King did not predict the future, he expressed his vision of a possible future. He spoke of human aspirations, not divine revelations. From his troubled time he looked to the future with a hopeful vision. And he recognized that he could not depend on the hand of an all-powerful god to make his vision a future reality.

When we think about prophecy the questions for each of us are; How do we listen to prophets? Why should we listen? And, how do we respond to prophecy? Listening to present-day prophets can be difficult. They examine the status quo and point out what is wrong. They demand our attention. And they demand our response.

In his letter to the Birmingham clergy, Reverend King wrote;

“So often the contemporary church is a weak ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”

This is the difficult part of being a prophet, to paraphrase Finley Peter Dunne, “The job of the prophet is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

By challenging the status quo, prophets can make us feel uncomfortable. While we may not fully embrace the status quo, we may have adapted to it. A prophetic call for radical change may seem threatening to us, as well as to the more vocal defenders of the status quo. But as Unitarian-Universalists we must be open to prophetic voices in our “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”

We need to listen to prophets of social justice who speak with hope for our possible future. They are not merely social critics, they are visionaries of what is possible.

In his letter, Reverend King wrote to the Birmingham clergy;

“Even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle. We will reach the goal of freedom because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America ‘s destiny.”

After discomforting us with the status quo and envisioning the possible future, the prophet challenges those of us who are still listening, to engage the status quo and build the shared vision. This is the hard part for us, not just listening to the prophets, but making a commitment to do something in response.
In his letter, Reverend King wrote;

“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of people willing to be co-workers with God. Without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. The time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.”

Having heard a prophet and understood the message, the difficult question for each of us is how to respond to that message. Because a prophet’s message may disturb our comfortable lives, many of us hold back our response out of fear. Or we may be more invested in the status quo than we care to admit to ourselves and others. In the past I avoided the challenge to engage with the excuse “I don’t have enough time.” Now I struggle to re-prioritize my time to be engaged and in my small way change the status quo.

We each have opportunities to turn prophecy into a future reality. The exercise we completed earlier in the service gave you an opportunity to consider your own gifts and the needs in the world. By applying your gifts to fulfill the needs, you too have an opportunity to be part of realizing a prophetic challenge.

Listen to a prophet.

Become a co-worker with god.

So may it be.