Luke 4:14-21
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
I was listening to a young lady ridiculing the black church for not doing enough to include younger people. She educated us on the fact that Millennials are no longer babies. They are full grown adults and should be treated as such. I had to pause for a moment and look at the facts. Millennials are people born between 1981-1996. To me that sounds really young, but in fact that means they are between 43-28. They have jobs, children, mortgages and bills. I guess she’s right; they are grown. She further went on to complain how we (Baby Boomers) have abandoned them in a hostile world. I had to agree we probably could do better. But here’s where she messed up. She complained, ‘the church has stopped being relevant’; and that’s where I have to jump in.
I know we Boomers have a tendency of overstating our historic significance from time to time. Even rewriting past events to try and give context to the carnage and pain of the past. And that’s not helpful. We do current and future generations a disservice when we romanticize history to make it feel better. No matter how difficult, uncomfortable or unsavory our past may have been, the truth is always the most powerful story to share. So family let’s talk.
While we try to position the “black church” as a united, monolithic, nurturing and supportive organism, over the years we’ve been anything but. We would love to purport we have always seen eye to eye. And we certainly love submitting we were, and continue to be a relevant force in our communities and the world. But in full disclosure those are not the facts, nor the power of our calling. We aren’t called to be relevant. We’re called to be revolutionary. Just like Jesus.
Luke records the movement of Jesus from his baptism, to the wilderness experience and back home again. Along the way Jesus firmly established himself as a prophet and priest of God. But when he got home instead of being appreciated and heralded as a great leader, this scripture reading almost got him killed. Those folk didn’t want to hear about accepting change or altering their viewpoints. They’d rather kill the messenger than to change. And why? Because the message of Jesus wasn’t popular, relevant or contemporary. It was absolutely and completely revolutionary.
The legacy and history of the Church of Jesus Christ is littered with bodies of bold believers and unapologetic leaders that stood up in the face of adversity and selflessly confronted the powerful, without regard of the consequences. And many, if not most, we’re not immediately supported by their families and peers. Countless brave soldiers suffered from within their own communities, years before anyone gave them love and respect.
Our most revered black church hero was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many of you may believe he was immediately accepted and followed because of the power of his message, his eloquent presentation and relevant content. But those of us that were there know better. Like Jesus, he was reviled, hated, and disrespected. But like Jesus he (and countless others) had something on the inside that caused them to forge ahead. So it’s not about affiliation, or age, gender or race. My dear millennial, that same ‘something’ is what you qneed. Not a relevant black church, but a revolutionary, Spirit lead, God fearing movement in your soul.
God Bless
On April 17, 1944, in the 1st A.B. Church of Dublin, Georgia, fourteen year old (14) Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his first public speech “The Negro and the Constitution.” At this site, a seed was planted in his heart that would grow into his life's work. His journey to the mountain top began here.
