Herod

Martin Luther King's legacy is his struggle against Herod who tries over and over again to maintain his own power at the expense of others. If that sounds strange to you, read this sermon. It will make things clear.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way. When the Magi left their homes in the east, they never envisioned the trouble that they ran into at the end of their journey. I’m sure that they were prepared for the problems that everyone encounters along a trip – rivers that must be crossed, roads that are closed for one reason or another, even the need to watch out for bandits – but I doubt if they were prepared for what they found at Herod’s palace: a tyrant who was determined to hold on to his own throne against all comers, especially a child who was no child of his.

The Magi were wise in more ways than one. When Herod asked them to come back and tell him where they found the child so that he, too, might worship this new king, they must have known that worship was the last thing on his mind; and when they avoided Jerusalem on their way back home, they probably hoped that Herod would forget the whole thing. But Herod didn’t forget; and when the Magi didn’t come back, he decided that he would take care of this new King of the Jews in his own way – by murdering all the young boys in the area of Bethlehem who were the right age. That’s what happened in the end: a bloodbath (Matthew 2:13-18).

The world is still full of Herods who don’t care a fig for truth and justice, but are concerned only about their own power. If you don’t believe me, just look at the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King saw the truth that all people are equal in God’s eyes. He saw, too, the injustice that African-Americans were considered by many to be less than human; so he cried out for justice on their behalf. In his day, black men were lynched for daring to even look at a white woman; black children were forced to attend second-rate schools; and all blacks were barred from “whites only” restaurants, hotels, and places of entertainment. Although Dr. King insisted on resisting non-violently, the Herods of his time used all manner of violence to try to stop him. People advocating for voting rights for blacks were killed, or simply disappeared, never to be seen again. Black students insisting on being served at a whites-only lunch counter were dragged off to jail. Peaceful protesters were attacked with police dogs and water from fire hoses. Four innocent young black girls sitting in Sunday school were killed when their Birmingham, Alabama church was bombed on a Sunday morning. Dr. King’s cries for justice cost him his own life on a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was supporting black sanitary public works employees in their struggle for higher wages and equal treatment.

All of it was, of course, about power. Herod, just like the Herod of Jesus’ time, was afraid losing the power that he had. Of course, we didn’t call him “Herod” back in Dr. King’s day. We called him “Jim Crow laws.” Those laws sanctioned “separate but equal” school systems that weren’t equal at all, ensuring that blacks had no access to quality education. Those laws enforced voting restrictions, ensuring that blacks couldn’t vote for the candidate of their choice. Those laws enforced the separation of blacks and whites, ensuring that blacks would be kept “in their place.” I’m sorry to say that Herod is still alive and well – not in the form of “Jim Crow” laws (which are now illegal), but in the form of the Ku Klux Klan, and white power organizations like the Aryan Brotherhood. These folks hate not only African-Americans, but Jews and Latinos, too, especially immigrants. Oh, yes, Herod is alive and well in anyone who clings to their own power at the expense of others.

Now, you might be wondering what all this history has to do with us today, and why I am including it in my sermon. You might even be thinking that it doesn’t have anything to do with our lives or our relationship with Jesus. I’ll let Dr. King himself answer that objection. “Any religion,” he said, “that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.” Dr. King’s ministry as he tried to faithfully follow Jesus Christ was his continuing struggle against the Herod that oppressed African-Americans. He often remarked that he would much rather be a local church pastor, comforting the afflicted of a congregation; but he discerned that his calling was to a more difficult ministry of afflicting the comfortable. His non-violent methods of resistance mirrored the teachings of Jesus. And he insisted time and time again that he did not hate those who hated him. “Hate is too great a burden to bear,” he said. “I have decided to love.” In Dr. King’s eyes, the church was the agent of the transformative power of God; and nothing could be achieved without loving as Jesus loved. “Love,” he insisted, “is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend.” A few days before his murder, Dr. King talked about how he would like to be remembered. “I’d like someone to mention,” he said, “that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.”

Friends, struggling against Herod is not only the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; it is also our call as followers of Jesus Christ. Wherever people are oppressed, or marginalized, or kept silent, that is where the church must be: standing in solidarity with them and lifting our voices against Herod, who craves to hang onto his power. And make no mistake, Herod is still around today. Herod exists in the form of hate-mongers who deface the walls of synagogues and mosques, splashing swastikas and hate-filled graffiti where our non-Christian sisters and brothers worship. Herod is anyone who doesn’t care if some people are forced to live in sub-standard housing where the paint is filled with lead and the plaster is filled with mold, as long as their lives are comfortable. Herod doesn’t even care if entire cities drink polluted water, as long as he and his friends can live in penthouse suites, travel on personal jets, and draw inflated salaries. Oh, yes, Herod is still around; and we are called to speak out against him, whoever he may be and wherever he may be found. It may not be easy, and we won’t be popular; but no less than Jesus, one who suffered at the hands of Herod himself, has told us to do it. On this weekend that remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I can think of no finer tribute to him than to rededicate ourselves to the work that he began of freeing the oppressed and bringing hope to the downtrodden. I leave you with a thought from the Mishnah, a part of the Jewish oral tradition: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” Let’s honor Dr. King this year by helping to complete the work that he began.