GREENVILLE, S.C. – My friend, Dr. Echol Nix, assistant professor of religion at Furman, was invited to preach and serve as the worship leader at the MLK Day service at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., Jan. 21. I was so impressed with his speech I wanted to share it with my readers throughout the world. 

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is where Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr.served as pastor (1954-1960).  The initial Civil Rights activity in Montgomery - The Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s - was directed by Dr.King from his office in the lower unit of the church.  The church is registered as a National Historic Landmark.

Nix joined the university in 2006 as a lecturer in the religion department, and became an assistant professor in 2007.  He has also served as chaplaincy intern at the university, and has led worship services in Daniel Chapel.

A graduate of Morehouse College Nix holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Sacred Theology from the Boston University School of Theology.  He received his Ph.D. from Boston University in 2007.

Here is the text of Dr. Nix’s sermon at Dexter Avenue Church: 

“Hope for Unity in a Divided World”

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church Montgomery, Alabama January 21, 2008 Delivered by: Dr. Echol Nix, Jr. 

In 1968, Dr. King said: “We must live together as brothers and sisters or we will perish together as fools.” He was referring, at that time, to the Vietnam War. Historians report that 58,000 Americans and almost 2 million Vietnamese were killed during the Vietnam War. In Iraq, we’ve been fighting for five years. Almost 4,000 American soldiers are dead and over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed. Over 2 million people, including the elderly, women, and children are refugees, 1.8 million more have been displaced and hundreds of thousands on both sides have been wounded and permanently disabled. The financial loss to our government for this year, 2008, may total over 600 billion dollars. Just think of other ways our government could channel those funds, perhaps an affordable healthcare plan for all Americans so people won’t have to choose between going to a doctor and paying rent. Or more money for early childhood education programs, such as Head start, or more money for inner-city schools, making it more unlikely for students to drop-out but providing funding initiatives which encourage students to go to high school and college. 

There are other alternatives to war. Dr. King would not embrace a violent approach to inter-personal or global conflicts. For him, conflict resolution should be achieved through negotiation, effective communication, peace efforts and goodwill, and understanding. Furthermore, the Bible teaches, “A soft answer turns away wrath.”  (Proverbs 15:1)Wherever there’s violence happening in the world—whether in Afghanistan or in the state of Alabama, Dr. King would encourage us to stop the violence.

 In 2007, there were 46 homicides in Montgomery. In Birmingham, there were 93 (homicides). In Atlanta, over 125 (homicides). In Philadelphia,

392 (homicides). In Chicago over 430 (homicides). In New York City 493 (homicides). In many other cities around the country, these numbers are growing and our challenge is to better educate young people about the perils of crime and violence. We should also denounce the violent themes that pervade movies, videos, and rap music, especially themes that glorify crime, that degrade women, and that promote physical and verbal abuse.

Parents have a responsibility of monitoring films for appropriate content and turning off the television, if necessary; changing the radio dial; calling the talk show host, radio announcer, disc jockeys, et cetera; and asking them to broadcast better messages and better images.

Why not broadcast the intellectual achievements of young people, like that marvelous showcase done by WSFA-12 news station last week on Booker T.

Washington Magnet High School, here, in Montgomery? [Did anyone see that broadcast?] Let’s celebrate and showcase students at piano and organ recitals, spelling bees, poetry readings, debate tournaments, math competitions, and science fairs. Let’s keep recognizing students who make the honor roll, the Dean’s List, and those who have a perfect attendance record. Let’s keep the spotlight on student achievement. After all, imitation is the dynamic of all education. Humanity has always known what Aristotle discussed as the most fundamental fact about education: that children learn by imitating.

Common sense alone tells us that the repetitive presentation of violence on television presents a violent model for imitation. Violence has become so commonplace that we no longer find it terrifying; in fact, we find pleasure in watching it. We are confronted with the prophecy of Mark Anthony, while standing over Caesar’s dead body in Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 1):

Blood and destruction shall be so in use, and dreadful objects so familiar, that mothers shall but smile when they behold, their infants quartered with the hands of war, all pity chok’d with custom of fell deeds.

Our challenge is to inspire this new generation with the vision of Dr. King’s dream. A dream for all people to work together and live together, in peace and harmony with each other. After all, each one of us is a child of God, created in the imago Dei (image of God). The Apostle Paul made this same point in his address to Athenians, “From one ancestor God made all nations to inhabit the earth.” (Acts 17:26). 

In 1961, Dr. King said: In a multi-racial society, no group can make it alone. Our destinies are tied together. And in a sense, all life is inter-related.” There are several senses in which Dr. King is right. Among these include: biophysical, social, economic, and national. He went further to say, “Life is not independent, it is interdependent. 

If we can move beyond what divides us, and search for common ground we can better foster a vision of a genuine community which gives space to differences but also loyalty to basic human values such as honesty, compassion, faith, and justice. If we can commit to this vision, we can make this world, a better world for ourselves and for children. 

The popular poem “Bridge Builder” comes to mind: 

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim; the sullen stream had no fears for him; but he turned, when safe on the other side, and built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,
"You are wasting strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again will pass this way; You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide- Why build a bridge at the eventide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There will come after me today, [Young people] whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To [them] may a pitfall be. [They], too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I’m building the bridge for [them]."

In the words of my dad: “Stay away from the pig ears and fried pork chops.  Eat more fruits and vegetables.”