On Monday, January 18, 2010, in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Fr. Lacy was asked to offer the "Call to Commemoration" at the community service held at Springhill Baptist Church in Tifton. The following is his reflection.

In my tradition (the Episcopal Church), we talk a lot about the people we call “the saints.” We speak of the saints; we speak of the prophets; and we speak of all the people who have gone before us to show us a more excellent way. We speak of those who gave their lives for something greater, whose blood and tears have paved the way toward the love of God, and we ask ourselves, “Who are these? Who are these people who dared to walk in the shadow of the Almighty? Who are these who gave their life for truth?” And as we gaze upon their lives and witness, we ask ourselves, “How shall I be changed by this?” These are the patriarchs, like father Abraham. These are the apostles, like blessed Saint Paul. And these are the prophets, like the great prophet Moses.

When we look at the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, it is almost impossible not to connect him with these saints of God, particularly Moses himself. Moses, who was a young, shy, unlikely leader. Moses, who marched his people to freedom. Moses, who brought his people to the edge of the Promised Land. In his final days, after only thirteen short yet powerful years of ministry on this earth, Dr. King addressed a rally in Memphis and said:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. . . . But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.¹

The following day, Dr. King was dead. Like the prophet Moses before him, he knew and saw all that was possible, but he did not live to see the that possibility become real.

If Dr. King was like Moses—if he was the one who delivered God’s people to the Promised Land—then it follows, brothers and sisters, that you and I are the generation of Joshua. You and I are the ones who God now calls to make the dream a reality. For as you know, we may have entered the Promised Land, but the seeds of jealousy, racism, and misunderstanding still infest the ground. God has no hands but ours to pull the thorny weeds and to sow the seeds of love.

As we speak of the saints who have gone before us, the life of Dr. King reminds us that the true saints are not just people who lived long ago. They are not just those who are found only in stained-glass windows, or in the yellow, dusty pages of antiquity. No, my friends, there are everyday ordinary saints all around us, even today. They are the unlikely people who stand before us; who declare that God is alive; who accept no excuse in the face of hatred; and who call us to to take up lives of justice, mercy, and love. 

Dr. King was adamant that he was not a saint. He said of himself, “I want you to know . . . that I am a sinner like all God’s children. But I want to be a good man. And I want to hear a voice saying to me one day, ‘I take you in and I bless you, because you tried.’” Is that not the same voice that you and I want to hear?

On this day, and every day, God is calling us. God is calling us to the generation of Joshua. God is calling us to stand for mercy and peace. God is calling us to take on the legacy. And God is calling each of us—in all of our ordinariness and brokenness—to become everyday, ordinary saints, that we too might follow in the steps of Dr. King and one day hear those words, “I take you in and I bless you, because you tried.” May our trying be pure in heart and hand-in-hand, that we may one day receive God’s blessing . . . as one. Amen.

¹ King, Martin Luther. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Mason Temple, Memphis, TN. April 3, 1968.