03/09/2026
When I Don’t Get To Give My Benediction
Yesterday’s sermon talked about how we are in the thrall of self-centeredness—caught in a system that rewards those who climb to the top, even when you have to climb on the back of others. I talked about a famous sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, saying this in the sermon:
“The whole conversation started by James and John and joined by all the other disciples illustrates how much self-centeredness has got its clutches on our hearts. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a powerful sermon on this very passage. It was entitled, ‘The Drum Major Instinct.’ King notes that Jesus doesn’t reject or condemn James and John for their question. How could he? Since it is part and parcel of the human condition. King describes it like this: “deep down within all of us is an instinct. It’s a kind of drum major instinct—a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first…We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead in life’s parade.”
I had intended to use the following as a benediction but only got to reference it in contemporary worship. I’m including it here for the majority of you who missed it. I pick up again on King’s Drum Major Instinct:
Dr. King closed that sermon by imagining his own funeral—not knowing that two months later he would be killed. Thinking of the day of his funeral, King reflects—
I'd like somebody to mention on that day that Martin Luther King, Jr.,
tried to give his life serving others.
I'd like for somebody to say on that day that Martin Luther King, Jr.,
tried to love somebody.
I want you to be able to say on that day that I
did try to feed the hungry.
And I want you to be able to say on that day that
I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.
I want you to say on that day that I
did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.
I want you to say that I
tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major,
then say that I was a drum major for justice.
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