The Test of a Preacher

What good is preaching that doesn't move people to real action? Billy Graham once said,

"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying not, 'What a lovely sermon!' but 'I will do something.'"

Today for the first time I read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's sermon against the war in Vietnam of April 30, 1967, in which he says:

"Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, "You are too arrogant. If you don't change your ways, i will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I am God."

This quote has made my day. If there was any preacher who moved people to action, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Obviously he was much criticized for his preaching that touched on the nerves of sinners and called them into question. I don't know his motives. I don't know his theology. I don't know his mistakes. I'm sure he had a dark side, and probably was spoiled by his popularity and fame. I don't know. But I do know how effective he was in his preaching. I cannot but try to learn some small thing from him, at least from this sermon.

And the point he makes is also one I have tried to express many times, which I learned from the prophet Jeremiah: God hasn't "chosen" America to be his policemen of the world, nor even a special nation at all. He has given us much through the faith of our forefathers, but we have squandered it and spoiled it in so many ways. It doesn't appear that any Americans alive today can preach like Dr. King. Father, make me a voice in the wilderness that you can use to proclaim your divine truth, albeit ignored as Jeremiah was, or shot down as Dr. King was, or heeded by only a small minority. Glorify your name through my life, even if I be hated and reviled as your Son was, that I may share in his remaining sufferings. IJNA.