On February 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his last sermon, often called "The Drum Major Instinct." It describes the basic human desire for distinction and significance, the desire to be great in some piece of your world, and further defines what this greatness ought to look like. Who does this apply to today? Imagine a world where everyone defined service as a necessity. What would our world look like if we, in our relationships, communities and nations, followed hearts full of grace and souls generated by love?
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| Photo Credit: http://www.history.com/photos/martin-luther-king-jr/photo11 |
"Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep
feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love.
I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in
generosity. That is what I want you to do.
And he transformed the situation by giving a new definition of
greatness. And you know how he said it? He said, "Now brethren, I can't
give you greatness. And really, I can't make you first." This is what
Jesus said to James and John. "You must earn it. True greatness comes
not by favoritism, but by fitness. And the right hand and the left are
not mine to give, they belong to those who are prepared."
And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be
important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want
to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you
shall be your servant. That's a new definition of
greatness.
This morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that
definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a
college degree to serve. You don't have to make
your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about
Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory
of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of
thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a
heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
Dr. King concludes: "Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left
side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just
want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment
to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world."
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