I am my brother's keeper - Remembering MLK

Homily for "In Times of War or Civil Disturbance" (MLK) 2016

R1 = Lect. 897 #1 (Gen 4:3-10), Resp = 899 #2 (Ps. 85), Gosp = 901 #1 (Matt 5:20-24)

Introduction

"Am I my brother's keeper?"  That's what Cain says when God asks him where his brother Abel is.

Today this nation remembers Martin Luther King whose life and legacy fought against the kind of hatred that Cain had towards his brother.  Unlike Cain, King's dream was that all Americans, indeed all men and women would one day "sit down together at the table of brotherhood," and the discords of the nation transformed into "a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."

Scripture and Theology

But we don't have to give Martin Luther King the last word.  The Scriptures have plenty to teach against anger and hatred and in favour of peace and brotherhood.

Today's reading about Cain and Abel, follows the story of the fall of their parents, Adam and Eve.  As they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree.  Cain, who inherited the human condition of original sin, was led to commit other sins.

·        His first sin was offering unworthy worship to God, because he was rather lazy.  While Abel's sacrifice was well thought out, Cain's was "in the course of time," an afterthought.

·        That sin cascaded into the sin of envy, when he saw his brother's sacrifice accepted while his was not.

·        Envy then fomented anger that led Cain to murder his brother.

·        The final sin was the cover-up and lies.  He denied knowledge of his brother's whereabouts and said: "Am I my brother’s keeper?”

For these sins, God punished Cain, by making him a constant wanderer.

Jesus warns that even worse punishment awaits those who in anger call a brother "Raqa" which means "imbecile" or those who call him "Fool."  They "will be liable to fiery Gehenna."  He warns that because murder is the fruit of anger, one must take care to avoid that anger against a brother in the first place.  The righteousness of the disciple must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, which teaches among other things "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Christian Life

Cain's sin of fratricide has been repeated throughout history, in the European World Wars, in the Northern Ireland Troubles, in the Rwandan genocide to mention but a few.  Today brothers are still killing each other in Ukraine, South Sudan, and Syria – in fact in Syria, it is no longer one brother against another, but each brother against every other brother, a free-for-all slaughter.

Back here at home, we have the sins of violence and racism, islamophobia and xenophobia.  These sins, like Cain's cascade of sins, start with the cardinal sin of sloth.  A slothful person does not take the trouble to get the correct information and thus makes judgements based on half-truths, idle speculation and stereotypes.  This sloth therefore leads to prejudice.

• Prejudice generates racial hatred, both the more obvert kind, but also the very subtle and covert type.
• Prejudice attribute the sins of some Muslims to all Muslims and foments islamophobia. 
• Prejudice sees all immigrants and refugees as a threat to the nation and stirs up xenophobia.

If our righteousness is to surpass that of the scribes and pharisees, indeed that of the secular world, we Christians must return to the teaching of the Master who teaches that only the truth will set us free.  For unlike prejudice, truth relies on facts, data, evidence.  If our actions towards others rely on truth rather than prejudice, we shall discover that individuals often are nothing like the stereotype of their racial, religious or national group.  If we rely on truth, then we can administer justice, punishing the guilty, but not the innocent, sorting out the Islamic terrorists from the innocent Muslims, the Trojan horses from the innocent refugees and immigrants.  Like the Psalmist told us, truth will thus cascade into justice and justice in turn will bring about peace and harmony.

Conclusion

Christians can celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, because he upheld these biblical principles of truth and justice by which we can be our brother's keepers.

King espoused these values, not only in fighting for the civil rights of black people, but in fighting against all hatred.  In his now famous I have a Dream speech he warned his fellow black people against hatred.

. . . In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.  . . .

A little later, he warns them not to "distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. . . ."

Martin Luther King ended his famous speech by dreaming about a world of brotherhood, where "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

What can you and I do, to bring about this brotherhood of all men and women? We can start by judging people, not by the colour of their skin, or by their religious attire, or by their country of origin, or even by their accent, but as King said, by the content of their character.  What better way to be my brother's keeper, except in the first place, by simply treating others as sisters and brothers?  Even though their mother might belong to a different race, religion or nationality, we are our sisters and brothers' keeper.