LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
Date: January 18, 2026 Martin Luther King Sunday
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 4:12-23
Sermon: Calling All Disciples
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
In the early 1960’s, SNCC, the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, was formed to further the Civil Rights Movement in the South. Bernard Lewis was a staff person for SNCC and in his book, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, he tells us about the early days of SNCC. Notice his book is not a biography of his life, but of the Civil Rights Movement that he gave his life to. Lewis tells us: “Faith, hope and courage – these were all essential ingredients of the work SNCC was doing in the Deep South in those early years. . . .
“We found that most of the people — the people, not the leaders — were hungry for what we had to offer. They felt things were moving too slowly, just as we did. We were telling them, ‘You don’t have to wait until Roy Wilkins comes to Jackson. You don’t have to wait until Martin Luther King comes to McComb. You can do it yourself. There is no more powerful force than you. There is no leader as powerful as you, if you pull together.
“This is a very noble concept, the idea of a leaderless movement, of a truly indigenous, nonviolent revolution. This is what we set out to create in the early years in Nashville, it is what we believed in at the dawn of SNCC, and it is what I still believe in today; that the leaders should follow the people, and the people can and should lead themselves.” [p.188]
Yes, we are about to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, and King was a significant leader, but the Civil Rights Movement involved many, many people, giving themselves for the greater good, often out of a sense of discipleship.
This morning we heard Matthew’s version of the call of the disciples. We are told: Jesus was born. Spared death as an infant. Once grown, he was baptized, claimed by God. He went into the wilderness to confirm his commitment. And then he is back to society to begin his ministry.
Just an aside, as we mentioned several weeks ago that Matthew likes to pattern Jesus as a greater Moses. Moses led the people through the Red Sea into the wilderness. Jesus goes from baptism in the Jordan River into the wilderness, an echo of Moses. And the point of Moses’ journey was to form a new people, a new community, that would serve as a light to the nations. It was not about a great leader, but about a faithful community. Jesus, too, is to form a new community that will be a light to the nations. Again, it is not about a great leader but about a faithful community.
So one of the first things Jesus does when he begins his ministry is to call the disciples. He invites others to be part of creating this new community. From the beginning he signals that this is a joint venture. That this is a movement. That many people will be needed. That he is not a loner. The first disciples follow, having seen no miracles and having heard no teachings. They are not giving theological assent. They are not accepting a set of principles. As the New Interpreter’s Bible describes it, “In this text Jesus appears disruptively in our midst and calls us not to admire him or accept his principles, not even to accept him as our personal Savior, but to follow him.” So these fishers and friends agree to follow Jesus. They are not looking for a new life. They are already people of faith. They are involved in doing something that is useful and important. And yet they are compelled to follow Jesus. They know not where. They have no idea what they will be doing. They have no idea what this will entail. The disruptions and dangers involved. But they say yes. This is the true nature of discipleship. Being willing to follow Jesus. Period.
And this calling of disciples continues throughout Jesus’ ministry. In story after story, people that Jesus interacts with, people who sometimes annoy the disciples, are compelled to follow Jesus. To live his love, in their own setting, with their families, neighbors and friends.
And Jesus calls a wide variety of people. There is not one set job description that he is following. He is not filling in a certain skill set that is needed. Or a certain ability. From what we see in the gospels, Jesus recruits disciples who are:
poor, lame, insane,
loyal, ostracized, vilified,
devout, hard working, greed shirking,
Jewish, Gentile, servile, exiled,
prestigious, effective, reflective,
all of the above,
by God beloved.
This is a movement inviting disciples to create Beloved Community. They commit not to Jesus, but to the well-being of humanity and Creation. It is a cosmic calling. All of the above. And below.
This is very different from religions and organizations that are formed around a supreme leader of some kind. They evolve as a personality cult centered on a person. We have seen this cult of personality in the past. One example is Adolf Hitler. My spouse and I started reading his book, Mein Kampf [My Struggle], recently and after several days, I told Jeff I can’t listen to this right now. It bears too many similarities to what we are seeing going on around us today. So, Mein Kampf is back on the shelf for now.
We know the model of leadership where commitment is to the leader, the person, more than to a set of ideals or a set of principles, to certain values or a vision. The commitment is to an individual. The leader is surrounded not with disciples empowered to serve the greater good but with sycophants.
Let’s pause here to consider that word. Sycophants. Yes, it seems like a lofty word, a high falutin’ word. But it captures something very important. Sycophants are servile and self seeking. They are insincere flatterers seeking gain of some kind. They curry favor. They are parasites seeking their own good.
This model of leadership, the cult of personality surrounded by sycophants, bears absolutely no resemblance to the ministry of Jesus and the call to discipleship. Discipleship asks you to enter the unknown for the greater good. It offers power and commitment to the good of others and the world. We see this kind of discipleship in those who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Many of those who protested, marched, and sat were arrested, attacked, jailed, and even killed. They were involved in the movement because of their commitment to Christian discipleship. There were people from other religions and no religion that were also involved, but many, many of those who dedicated themselves to the Civil Rights Movement were followers of Jesus Christ and that is why they were out there making a difference. They knew, as Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
Yes, King was a significant leader of the Movement, but more importantly he was a follower, a follower of Jesus. And, like Jesus, he included all kinds of people in the effort to create a better life for everyone.
How do we know King was a follower, a disciple? Well, he was interested not just in the situation of Blacks in the South, but in justice and equality the world over. He was not a single issue leader. He was a follower of the one who was concerned about the whole Creation and every person in it. So, he could observe about America in April of 1967 in his famous speech in Riverside Church in New York City, that America is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.
And King saw that everyone could be a disciple, could make a contribution, to the betterment of the world as we know it.
Civil Rights leader Dorothy Height describes the diversity of the movement: “We had people of all backgrounds coming together – all races, all creeds, all colors, all status in life. And coming together there was a kind of quiet dignity and a kind of sense of caring and a feeling of joint responsibility.” Beloved Community. A place for everyone. A sense of belonging for everyone. This was the commitment of the Movement and the commitment of Jesus’ disciple, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the book, An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America, Civil Rights leader and United Church of Christ pastor, Andrew Young, tells this story about King when they were in Cleveland working on the campaign of Carl Stokes who was running to become the first Black mayor of Cleveland. He won the election, by the way. So, Young tells us:
“Once, we were driving to a meeting in Cleveland during the mayoral campaign when we stopped for a red light in the heart of the rundown black ghetto. Several prostitutes were working in the area, and one lady approached our car while we were stopped. She peeked inside, recognized Martin the front seat , beckoned to a friend, and yelled, ‘There’s that Uncle Tom, Martin Luther King. What’s he doing here?’ After we had gone about a block Martin said, ‘Bernard [Lewis], turn this car around. I want to talk with that woman.’ Bernard moaned, ‘Oh Doc, don’t pay any attention to those women. They’re just ignorant.’ He just kept driving straight ahead. “TURN THE CAR AROUND, BERNARD!” Martin shouted. He hardly ever raised his voice like that.
“Bernard turned the car around and we returned to that very corner. Martin got out, found the woman who had made the remark, and told her, ‘If you’ll allow me the opportunity, I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m on my way to a meeting now, but we’re staying at the Sheraton Cleveland Hotel, and if you and your friends meet us there this afternoon at three o’clock we’d like to have a chance to talk to you. Bring as many friends as you want.’ When we returned to the hotel there was a delegation of ladies waiting in the lobby! They had told the desk clerk they were waiting to meet with Martin Luther King! We arranged for a meeting room and ordered coffee, and Martin began a discussion on the necessity for them to register and vote if they ever hoped to get off the street. ‘We can get rid of this ghetto if we go to work politically,’ he said. Maybe he only convinced a few of them, but I’ll always remember how he insisted on going back and confronting them, not willing to give up on anyone whose mind he might change.” [p. 436-437]
Jesus, too, spoke with prostitutes and sinners of all sorts because true love is undeniably universal. Divine Love includes everyone. And you never know whose heart can be changed. Yes, King, was great leader because he was a great follower – of Jesus. He was a disciple. And so are each and every one of us. Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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