Theology
I. A Three-dimensional Life
•In sermon The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life King states that there are “three dimensions of any complete life: there is the length of life, the breadth of life, and the height of life.”
•Now the length of life is the inward concern for one’s own welfare. In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve one’s own goals and ambitions.
•The breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others.
•And the height of life is the upward reach for God.”
•I am impressed with how similar this is to the Great Commandment given by Christ: “To Love thy God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.”
•So using these categories, I would like to outline King’s theology about God, the Individual, and the “Beloved Community’.
1. God
2. Individual
3. ‘Beloved Community’
II. God’s Nature
•First, let’s begin with King’s concept of God. Among God’s many attributes and functions are “Love”, “Creator”, Judge and a “Personal Being”
•(Click) Love: Fundamental to King’s understanding of God was His attribute of Love. God is love, and it is from His love that God creates men and women and goes to great lengths to have a relationship with them. The best example of God acting through love is the sending His Son to die for us on the cross.
•(Click) Personal: King also believed God to be personal. When we struggle to build His Kingdom, when we struggle to love our enemies, when we struggle with the oppressed He is with us. He is personal.
•(Click) Creator: God is in charge of the universe and still works “wonders” in history.
2. Individual
3. ‘Beloved Community’
II. God’s Nature
•First, let’s begin with King’s concept of God. Among God’s many attributes and functions are “Love”, “Creator”, Judge and a “Personal Being”
•(Click) Love: Fundamental to King’s understanding of God was His attribute of Love. God is love, and it is from His love that God creates men and women and goes to great lengths to have a relationship with them. The best example of God acting through love is the sending His Son to die for us on the cross.
•(Click) Personal: King also believed God to be personal. When we struggle to build His Kingdom, when we struggle to love our enemies, when we struggle with the oppressed He is with us. He is personal.
•(Click) Creator: God is in charge of the universe and still works “wonders” in history.
1. Love
2. Creator
3. Judge
4. Personal
“At the center of the Christian faith is the conviction that in the universe there is a God of power who is able to do exceedingly abundant things in nature and in history.” —Strength to Love
III. Value of the Individual
•(Click) Human Dignity: Because humanity is made in God’s image, is loved by Him and valuable to him, this makes humans sacred. And when we really believe this, to use King’s words, then “we will not exploit people, we will not trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we will not kill anybody.”
•‘Drum Major Instinct’: Each one of us has an instinct to feel important, to achieve, to receive recognition. This is what King means by the Drum Major Instinct.
•Freedom: Because God created us as free individuals, every person deserves the right to choose one’s job, where they will live, and how they will survive.
2. Creator
3. Judge
4. Personal
“At the center of the Christian faith is the conviction that in the universe there is a God of power who is able to do exceedingly abundant things in nature and in history.” —Strength to Love
III. Value of the Individual
•(Click) Human Dignity: Because humanity is made in God’s image, is loved by Him and valuable to him, this makes humans sacred. And when we really believe this, to use King’s words, then “we will not exploit people, we will not trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we will not kill anybody.”
•‘Drum Major Instinct’: Each one of us has an instinct to feel important, to achieve, to receive recognition. This is what King means by the Drum Major Instinct.
•Freedom: Because God created us as free individuals, every person deserves the right to choose one’s job, where they will live, and how they will survive.
1. Human Dignity
2. ‘Drum Major Instinct’
3. Freedom
“Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God.”—The Ethical Demands for Integration
2. ‘Drum Major Instinct’
3. Freedom
“Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God.”—The Ethical Demands for Integration
I. Characteristics of the ‘Beloved Community’
•Also called: ‘Table of Brotherhood’.
•Definition of the Beloved Community: The ‘Beloved Community’ is one that respects the God-given value of each individual, group, and nation within our world. In this community the interaction between individuals and groups is grounded in love and characterized by truth, peace, justice, and brotherhood.
•This community is both local and global.
•The best description of the ‘Beloved Community’ is in King’s I Have a Dream speech.
• The characteristics are the “Beloved Community’ are listed above. We will return to them shortly.
•Also called: ‘Table of Brotherhood’.
•Definition of the Beloved Community: The ‘Beloved Community’ is one that respects the God-given value of each individual, group, and nation within our world. In this community the interaction between individuals and groups is grounded in love and characterized by truth, peace, justice, and brotherhood.
•This community is both local and global.
•The best description of the ‘Beloved Community’ is in King’s I Have a Dream speech.
• The characteristics are the “Beloved Community’ are listed above. We will return to them shortly.
1. Love/Agape
2. Peace
3. Truth
4. Justice & Righteousness
5. Reconciliation & Brotherhood
•Even though King dreamed of the “Beloved Community’ he was not so naïve as to overlook that the world he lived in was sick and troubled.
•We can see the same today. As we watch the news we can see problems in Sudan, China, North Korea, the Middle East, and beyond.
•In our own country, we have unseen poverty deeply rooted in the South, dilapidated schools in our inner cities, and ghastly violence at our fingertips available through companies like YouTube.
•This is just to name a few issues. In fact, there are so many problems that a considerate, sincere Christian cannot help but feel overwhelmed. What are we to do?...What would King do?
•(Click) Justice: I love, no pun intended, King’s definition of justice. “Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.”
•(Click) Reconciliation: Once justice has been established, the first step in creating the Beloved Community is reconciliation. Violence creates bitterness, reconciliation creates friendship and brotherhood
•(Click) Love: At the core of the Beloved Community is love. It is the glue that holds the community together. Love is the only method to conquer hate. We are to love our friends and our enemies because God loves them.
•(Click) Peace: “We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means…ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.”
“This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concerns beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.”—Where Do We Go From Here?
II. Non-violent Direct Action
•What King did and would have us do is to engage with the world through direct action.
1.(Click) Injustice: As it relates to injustice, we must determine whether an injustice has taken place and if it has, get involved.
2.Second, me must confront those doing unjust and evil deeds, and seek to negotiate a just and dignified solution. We are also to seek reconciliation.
3.If these negotiations fail, we must engage in self-purification to see if we or not we withstand the evil we may encounter in a nonviolent way.
4.Lastly, we must be willing to take Direct Action when called for. The late, great British New Testament scholar, G.B. Caird, said it best, “Christianity is, and always has been, a dangerous religion, and the greatest mistake is to try to make it safe.” In that courageous spirit we are to help the poor, rescue the innocent, and engage in boycotts, protests, sit-ins, and yes, going to jail if necessary, until the injustice ceases.
2. Peace
3. Truth
4. Justice & Righteousness
5. Reconciliation & Brotherhood
•Even though King dreamed of the “Beloved Community’ he was not so naïve as to overlook that the world he lived in was sick and troubled.
•We can see the same today. As we watch the news we can see problems in Sudan, China, North Korea, the Middle East, and beyond.
•In our own country, we have unseen poverty deeply rooted in the South, dilapidated schools in our inner cities, and ghastly violence at our fingertips available through companies like YouTube.
•This is just to name a few issues. In fact, there are so many problems that a considerate, sincere Christian cannot help but feel overwhelmed. What are we to do?...What would King do?
•(Click) Justice: I love, no pun intended, King’s definition of justice. “Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.”
•(Click) Reconciliation: Once justice has been established, the first step in creating the Beloved Community is reconciliation. Violence creates bitterness, reconciliation creates friendship and brotherhood
•(Click) Love: At the core of the Beloved Community is love. It is the glue that holds the community together. Love is the only method to conquer hate. We are to love our friends and our enemies because God loves them.
•(Click) Peace: “We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means…ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.”
“This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concerns beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.”—Where Do We Go From Here?
II. Non-violent Direct Action
•What King did and would have us do is to engage with the world through direct action.
1.(Click) Injustice: As it relates to injustice, we must determine whether an injustice has taken place and if it has, get involved.
2.Second, me must confront those doing unjust and evil deeds, and seek to negotiate a just and dignified solution. We are also to seek reconciliation.
3.If these negotiations fail, we must engage in self-purification to see if we or not we withstand the evil we may encounter in a nonviolent way.
4.Lastly, we must be willing to take Direct Action when called for. The late, great British New Testament scholar, G.B. Caird, said it best, “Christianity is, and always has been, a dangerous religion, and the greatest mistake is to try to make it safe.” In that courageous spirit we are to help the poor, rescue the innocent, and engage in boycotts, protests, sit-ins, and yes, going to jail if necessary, until the injustice ceases.
1. Collection of the facts to determine whether injustices have been committed
2. Negotiation
3. Self-purification
4. Direct Action
III. Willingness to Suffer
•King saw the battles he and other African Americans faced in spiritual terms…his famous quote “We will meet your physical force with soul force.”
•King believed that unearned suffering is redemptive.
•King also felt that the only way to defeat one’s enemy, to us Lincoln’s words is to make him your friend.
“We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force.” —Stride Towards Freedom
IV. Hope Triumphant
•What sustained King through all of his sufferings was that God was with him,
•King also believed that God had structured the universe in such a way that no matter how strong evil appears at the time, God’s goodness and justice are stronger.
•King also describes his experience by contrasting Good Friday with Easter. King would often state that “there is no crown without a cross.”
•In the end, suffering must give way to God’s glorious plan for the universe.
“Evil is ultimately doomed by the powerful, inexorable forces of good. Good Friday must give way to the triumphant music of Easter.”—Strength to Love
2. Negotiation
3. Self-purification
4. Direct Action
III. Willingness to Suffer
•King saw the battles he and other African Americans faced in spiritual terms…his famous quote “We will meet your physical force with soul force.”
•King believed that unearned suffering is redemptive.
•King also felt that the only way to defeat one’s enemy, to us Lincoln’s words is to make him your friend.
“We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force.” —Stride Towards Freedom
IV. Hope Triumphant
•What sustained King through all of his sufferings was that God was with him,
•King also believed that God had structured the universe in such a way that no matter how strong evil appears at the time, God’s goodness and justice are stronger.
•King also describes his experience by contrasting Good Friday with Easter. King would often state that “there is no crown without a cross.”
•In the end, suffering must give way to God’s glorious plan for the universe.
“Evil is ultimately doomed by the powerful, inexorable forces of good. Good Friday must give way to the triumphant music of Easter.”—Strength to Love
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