Moses. Martin. And Me

Activism in the face of Ambiguity

“There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”  Deuteronomy 34:10

In 1968, while preparing and planning to march to Washington to lobby Congress about the plight and the condition of the poor in America, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other SCLC members were requested to come to Memphis, Tennessee in support of a sanitation workers strike.

On April 3rd, Dr. King gave a speech at Mason Temple Church in Memphis. In one of the most profound moments in the life, ministry, and mission of Dr. King he delivered a powerful speech that included what would now prove to be prophetic:

“I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

The next day, just after 6:00 p.m. while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel where he was staying with his colleagues, King was struck by the bullet of an assassin. He was rushed to a near-by hospital where he was pronounced dead approximately an hour later. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed at the very young age of just 39 years old.

“Moses” was dead. Now what?

The Birth of Moses

“About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed if with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him. –Exodus 2:2-4

Not much is known about Moses and his early life. We only find out who his parents are in chapter 6 of the book of Exodus. In fact, there is probably more controversy regarding the conditions of his birth than him being placed in a basket and sent down a river unprotected.

According to Levitical law, Moses’ parents’ marriage would have been questionable if not illegal, yet what’s most interesting about the narrative of his early years is the attention to one very specific detail; his mother knew that he was special.

Growing Pains

“Two incidents happened in my late childhood and early adolescence that had a tremendous effect on my development.”

As a child King was very close to his grandmother. She was in instrumental and influential figure in his life in helping raise him as a young boy. He often felt as though he was her favorite grandchild. In May of 1941, when Martin was 12 years old, his grandmother Jennie died. King was so distraught that he allegedly jumped from a second story window at that family home in a failed attempt to take his own life. “I was particularly hurt by her death mainly because of the extreme love I had for her.”

The second incident would introduce King to the harsh realities of the world outside of his home.

“I had a white playmate who was about my age. We always felt free to play our childhood games together. He did not live in our community, but he was usually around every day; his father owned a store across the street from our home. At the age of six we both entered school-separate schools, of course. I remember how our friendship began to break as soon as we entered school; this was not my desire but his. The climax came when he told me one day that his father had demanded that we would play with me no more.”

King was shocked and hurt. His parents feeling the need to expose him to the realities of racism, sat him down and discussed the difficulties of being citizens in a society that saw their skin color as something to condemn.

“As my parents discussed some of the tragedies that had resulted from this problem and some of the insults they themselves had confronted on account of it, I was greatly shocked, and from that moment on I was determined to hate every white person. As I grew older and older this feeling continued to grow.”

History has a way of unintentionally rewriting itself. It’s not often that we recall the roots of King’s commitment to racial harmony. In his earliest and most formative years King encountered a very painful push away from the loving environment and encouragement that his home and church fostered. Despite his parents encouragement he was determined to hate white people because he could not understand how to love a race of people that hated him.

“My parents would always tell me that I should not hate the white man, but that it was my duty as Christian to love him. The question arose in my mind: How could I love a race of people who hated me and who had been responsible for breaking me up with one of my best childhood friends? This was a great question in my mind for a number of years.”

“Many years later, when Moses had grown up he went out visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching. Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.” –Exodus 2:11-12 NLT

Moses and Martin. Men who had experienced at an early age that the messiness of life will inevitably invade the sacred spaces called home, community, and church. Men whose earliest interaction with the sin of oppression, racism, and segregation led to an infiltration of heart and an expression of hate.

Yet, Every great leader. Every great prophet. Every great deliverer, has a passion that is produced from pain and despair.

“I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”

King has often described his call into ministry as something less than supernatural and miraculous, but rather he described it as an inner urge that was beckoning him to severe humanity. In fact it is well known that Martin Luther King Jr., despite having grown up in the church struggled with his own sense of spirituality.

“I had been brought up in the church and knew about religion, but I wondered whether it could serve as a vehicle to modern thinking, whether religion could be intellectually respectable as well as emotionally satisfying.”

Men and women like Martin and Moses are eventually compelled to leave the sidelines despite their spiritual struggles and get in the game. God or not here they come, and in a strange way perhaps that’s the type of passion that God is looking for. Aren’t those the leaders in our history that we look up to and celebrate? Brave men and women who rise from the ashes of despair and disappointment who make sense of their spirituality while serving humanity? Perhaps action in the face of ambiguity is what God can use to transform our anger into righteous indignation.  What if all that is needed is the courage to commit to change the things that we don’t understand and the things that don’t make sense?

As we approach MLK weekend and Black History month, I admittedly stand just as confused as Moses and Martin. I don’t have all the answers. Much has changed, and much remains unchanged. Like so many, I struggle, yet I am convinced that this is our moment.

We can make a difference. We can make things better now. If anything, history has taught us through great women and men that faith isn’t about waiting until I have the answers, but rather faith is about wanting to work through a variety of angles and answers until we arrive at what works.

First there was Moses.

Then there was Martin.

Now there is me.

I am determined to help change the world and I’m inviting you to join me.

*Quotes from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.