by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968, assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee fifty years ago April 4, 1968)
I can hear Jesus himself, standing amid the agony and darkness of Good Friday, standing amid the darkness of the Cross. And out of the pain and the agony and the darkness of that cross, we hear a voice saying, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And then we hear him saying, “Not my will but thy will be done.”
Now you got to learn that, my friends, and when you learn that, you can stand up amid any condition, because you know that God is with you, no matter what happens. You can stand up amid despair. You can stand up amid persecution. You can stand up amid disappointment. You can stand up even amid death. But you don’t worry because you know God is with you.
And so, I’m going away this morning – I don’t know about you – but I’m going away determined that wherever he leads me, I will follow. I will follow him to the Garden. I will follow him to the Cross if he wants me to go there. I will follow him to the dark valleys of death if he wants me to go there. Not my will, but thy will be done! And when you can cry that, you stand up amid life with an exuberant joy. You know that God walks with you. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you know that God is there. Even though you stand amid the giant shadow of disappointment, you don’t despair, because you know that God is with you.
Source: From a sermon entitled, “Garden of Gethsemane” delivered in 1957, as found in Echoes from Calvary: Meditations on Franz Joseph Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, Richard Young ed., page 141.
I can hear Jesus himself, standing amid the agony and darkness of Good Friday, standing amid the darkness of the Cross. And out of the pain and the agony and the darkness of that cross, we hear a voice saying, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And then we hear him saying, “Not my will but thy will be done.”
Now you got to learn that, my friends, and when you learn that, you can stand up amid any condition, because you know that God is with you, no matter what happens. You can stand up amid despair. You can stand up amid persecution. You can stand up amid disappointment. You can stand up even amid death. But you don’t worry because you know God is with you.
And so, I’m going away this morning – I don’t know about you – but I’m going away determined that wherever he leads me, I will follow. I will follow him to the Garden. I will follow him to the Cross if he wants me to go there. I will follow him to the dark valleys of death if he wants me to go there. Not my will, but thy will be done! And when you can cry that, you stand up amid life with an exuberant joy. You know that God walks with you. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you know that God is there. Even though you stand amid the giant shadow of disappointment, you don’t despair, because you know that God is with you.
Source: From a sermon entitled, “Garden of Gethsemane” delivered in 1957, as found in Echoes from Calvary: Meditations on Franz Joseph Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, Richard Young ed., page 141.
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