First Baptist Church on Littleton Common    

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 The Image of God & Shalom

~~ Part One

Tomorrow we celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in 1968.  He was born on January 15, 1929 and would have been 81 years old last Friday.  Rev. King is remembered as a man of faith, a husband, father, and one of the most inspirational leaders of the Civil rights movement.  Rev. King, a Baptist minister, is known for his deeply held belief in agape love, an unconditional love for all people regardless of race or ethnicity.   He is also remembered for his leadership and use of non-violent resistance.  Non-violent resistance, which is an action, is grounded in King’s belief that every person has intrinsic value and worth because they are created in the image of God.   This foundational belief and practice is grounded in Scripture, and found in Genesis 1:27:

 “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Think about that for a minute and what it means to you – individually.  God created us, male and female, in the image of God.  We are all created, each one of us with the characteristics and qualities that are also in God, meaning each one of us is a reflection of the Creator.   The Psalmist (139) confirms that when he says we “are fearfully and wonderfully made.”  This is a sound Biblical principle and is found in Bibles that are printed in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Arabic, and Haitian Creole. This scripture should instill in all of us, a large dose of self worth and dignity. 

God created us …in the image of God.  This is the concept of Imago Dei.

If we believe that this is a sound Biblical principle, then we should also believe that all of humanity is created in the image of God.  Every person, all of humankind, male and female, regardless of race or ethnicity, age, financial status, physical or mental challenges – all of humankind is created in the image of God.  Paul said that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3:28) All this diversity in humanity reflects the image of God which should inform the way we practice our faith and treat one another.   If we see the image of God in the face of our neighbor both near and far, we should treat them with the same dignity and self worth.  

It was this concept of Imago Dei that was foundational in the faith, life and ministry of Martin Luther King.  King began early on to rebuild that sense of self-worth for African Americans, in his sermons because for far too long, those of African descent had been treated as objects to be sold, traded and worked to death. 

But God created all of humankind in the image of God.  

In 1956, King addressed a group in Montgomery, Alabama who had gathered for the First Annual Institute on Non-Violence and Social Change.  After speaking about the many years that the Negroes had been living in slavery, and being made to feel subservient to white people, King spoke about how things were starting to change.   

He said, “All of these factors conjoined to cause the Negro to take a new look at himself.  Negro masses began to reevaluate themselves.  The Negro came to feel that he was somebody.  His religion revealed to him that God loves all of His children, and that every man, from a bass black to a treble white, is significant on God’s keyboard.  So he could cry now cry out with the eloquent poet: 

Fleecy locks and black complexion

Cannot forfeit nature’s claim.

Skin may differ, but affection

Dwells in black and white the same.

And were I so tall as to reach the pole

Or to grasp the ocean at a span,

I must be measured by my soul.

The mind is the standard of the man. [1]

Rev. King quotes a portion of an anti-slavery poem written by William Cowper in 1788.

How do we view one another here in this room?  How do we view ourselves and how do we view others who are different than we are? How do we look at those who are a different race or ethnicity than we are?  How are we looking at the people of Haiti?  Do we weep for the loss of so many souls - who were also created in the image of God and are our brothers and sisters?  I think the reflection of God in the world was partially dimmed at 4:53:09 PM on Tuesday, January 12 when the 7.0 earthquake struck in Port-au-Prince.  Will the image of God shine brightly again, when we go the extra mile to help our neighbors who have lost everything?

The following is a poem written by Ray A. Strawser of Boulder, Colorado in 1996.

"The Image On Your Face"

There's an image on your face
Did you know that it was there
When first you showed up on the earth
And took a breath of air?
That image is of God, of course.
And it is very clear
To all who'll pause to notice it
Protruding the veneer.
That image is in others too,
It's always looking out,
Waiting to be recognized
With respect and not with doubt.
If only we could take the time
When first we others meet,
To cherish God's bold image
That is in them and complete.
How different would our living be,
How much improved our world:
There'd be no time for disrespect,
For fighting, war or greed;
Responding to God's image
We'd meet each other's need,
We'd not accuse, suspect or fear
Or do another in.
Because of disappointments, faults

or even sin,
We'd live next door --
Or far away --
Without the slightest doubt
That honoring God's image
In each of us
Is what life's all about.[2]

~~   Part Two

How easy does the hate response rise within you?  What really gets to you and sets off a wave of internal or external anger that prevents you from living in God’s Shalom?  How can you replace that anger with God’s Shalom and peace, and begin to see those who anger you as persons created in the image of God?

Do you ever find yourself thinking of people as categories, maybe based on their ethnicity or their affiliation with certain groups?  That probably happens to all of us at times.  How often have we heard someone speak with disdain about “illegal immigrants,” or “dangerous liberals,” or “uncaring conservatives?”  How often do we group people and fail to see the fingerprints of God within them? God doesn’t see those categories. 

What about the way we feel externally or internally after an argument with a boss, a spouse, or after encountering someone driving 20 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour speed zone?  How easily do we build up that internal, unhealthy anger which really can hurt the other person, as well as hurt our inner spirit and soul? 

 How do we practice the doctrine of Imago Dei with one another and come to a place of internal peace in our life.  How do we come to a place of shalom?   Shalom is a state of stillness of the heart and mind, even if we are living in troubled times in the world.  Shalom is the absence of hate and anger and a state of faith and trust.  How do we get there?  We get there by practicing non-violent resistance, which according to Rev. King is also internal matter. We must not act out in anger or disrupt our heart and soul with an inner violence of spirit. 

In An Experiment in Love King writes; “..non violent resistance avoids not only external violence, but also internal violence of spirit.  The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him.  At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.  The nonviolent resister would contend that in the struggle for human dignity, the oppressed people of the world must not succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter or indulging in hate campaigns.  To retaliate in kind would do nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe.  Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate.  This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.  [3]

We begin in love and view others through the lens of agape love.  Our internal and external actions are fueled by God’s agape love.  It is through this love and only through this love that we will find Shalom, peace within and peace with one another.  This week as we remember the life of Rev. King, may we unclench our fists and our hearts, and let go of that inner violence of spirit by loving another for we are all made in the image of God.  

I thought I would close the sermon today, on this music Sunday, as we sing together- both in unison and in harmony, the Jewish folk song Shalom Charverim and may it be a prayer of respect and love for one another

Shalom Chaverim, shalom chaverim,
Shalom, shalom
L’hit-rah-oat, L’hit-rah-oat
Shalom, shalom

Shalom my friends, shalom my friends, shalom, shalom
Till we meet again, till we meet again
Shalom, shalom.

Shalom Chaverim, shalom chaverim
Shalom, shalom
L’hit-rah-oat, L’hit-rah-oat
Shalom, shalom.

Amen