Bet You Won't Hear The Media Quote Any of This Today...

And I say to you this morning in conclusion (Lord have mercy) that I’m not going to put my ultimate faith in things. I’m not going to put my ultimate faith in gadgets and contrivances. As a young man with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early (Oh yeah) to give my life to something eternal and absolute. (All right) Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow. (Come on) But to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
(Amen, Amen)

Not in the little gods that can be with us in a few moments of prosperity. (Yes) But in the God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, (That’s right) and causes us to fear no evil. (All right) That’s the God. (Come on)

Not in the god that can give us a few Cadillac cars and Buick convertibles, as nice as they are, that are in style today and out of style three years from now. (All right) But the God who threw up the stars, (Come on) to bedeck the heavens like swinging lanterns of eternity. (All right, Oh yes) Not in the god that can throw up a few skyscraping buildings, but the God who threw up the gigantic mountains, kissing the sky, (Yes) as if to bathe their peaks in the loftitudes. (Yes)

Not in the god that can give us a few televisions and radios, but the God who threw up that great cosmic light, that gets up early in the morning in the eastern horizon, (Oh yes) who paints its technicolor across the blue, (Oh yes, Come on) something that man could never make. (All right, Yes)

I’m not going to put my ultimate faith in the little gods that can be destroyed in an atomic age, (Yes) but the God who has been our help in ages past, (Come on) and our hope for years to come, (All right) and our shelter in the time of storm, (Oh yes) and our eternal home.’ That’s the God that I’m putting my ultimate faith in. (Oh yes, Come on now) That’s the God that I call upon you to worship this morning. (Yes) Go out and be assured that that God is going to last forever. (Yes) Storms might come and go. (Yes) Our great skyscraping buildings will come and go. (Yes) Our beautiful automobiles will come and go, but God will be here. (Amen) Plants may wither, the flowers may fade away, but the Word of our God shall stand forever, and nothing can ever stop Him. (Bring it down) All of the P-38s in the world can never reach God. All of our atomic bombs can never reach Him. The God that I’m talking about this morning (Come on) is the God of the universe and the God that will last through the ages. (All right) If we are to go forward this morning, ( Well) we’ve got to go back and find that God. (All right) That is the God that demands and commands our ultimate allegiance. (Right)

If we are to go forward, (Oh yes) we must go back and rediscover these precious values (Well)-that all reality hinges on moral foundations (Lord have mercy) and that all reality has spiritual control. (Yes) God bless you. (Amen, Amen, Amen)

-The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sermon entitled "Recovering Lost Values"
Detroit, Michigan, 1954.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on the 'Connecticut 6'

For some weeks, I have had several friends (mostly non-Episcopalians surprisingly) wanting me to voice an opinion on this Connecticut 6 (sounds like a fleabag motel) business. If you are unfamiliar with this fiasco, for lack of a better term, let me describe it as best as I understand it. There is so much spin going on (from both sides I might add) that I have been having trouble discerning fact from fiction. As I understand the situation, the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith is the Bishop of Connecticut. Well, at least he has a pointy hat, I do not think he is particularly acting like one. Likewise, as I understand, there are Six rectors of churches (at least they have collars, but likewise are not acting like it) that have applied for DEPO oversight (i.e. another Bishop to oversee them.) The best way I know how to describe the hoohah is as follows: The Feloniously Rev. Smith is trying to defrock the Superciliously Reverend Rectors. Darth Smith claims they have abandoned communion and has shadil
Read more

The History of the Football helmet

Image
NCAA.com put out an interesting editorial about the evolution of the football helmet that can be found here . This is in part due in my estimation to the current buzz (one might go so far as to describe it as hysteria) about concussions in contact sports, particularly football. I have always found this an interesting evolution. Long gone are the days of strapping on your leather helmet: In the 50's and 60's, the helmet evolved into, basically becoming a metal then hard plastic version of the leather helmet with the addition of a rudimentary face mask (which was really just a bar at first): Gradually, the helmet's face mask itself began to evolve: Combines with new space age style lightweight plastics and foams, the helmet mask ultimately became a type of full, goalie style face mask (This little number costs just under $1000 to purchase new): Ironically, being a military history major, the football helmet evolution followed the pattern of design that helmets worn
Read more

Homily Notes for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

                Many churches often have Stewardship Renewal drives around this time of year, with St. Michael’s beginning its drive in mid-October. Talks or homilies on stewardship during this time of year often utilize the imagery of the fall harvest season because stewardship is often a time to take stock of God’s bounty-both spiritually and materially-and plan accordingly as to how much a family or individual is willing to commit to giving to the parish in the coming year of their time, talent, and treasure. The Mass readings today are picked in part to reinforce that theme of the importance of giving to God’s work through the church out of the bounty God has given to us. The question in the back of some people’s minds as they listen to stewardship appeals often is not touched upon in depth by the preacher or speaker discussing the importance of stewardship, however. That question is best summed up as, “If God is all powerful, why does He need my money?” The readings today beaut
Read more