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The ministry of the Rev. Joseph Lowery is an
excellent example of whatWalk It Out: Together in
theWay of Jesus seeks to get across. Lowery, cofounder
(along withMartin Luther King, Jr. and
Ralph Abernathy) and former president of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC),
is considered the dean of the Civil RightsMovement.
In 1965 Lowery led the SCLC demonstration at
Edmund Pettus Bridge in the Selma-to-Montgomery
march, with the intention of delivering the demands
for justice to Gov. GeorgeWallace. The marchers were
faced with such brutality that the event became
known as “Bloody Sunday,” leadingCongress to pass
theVoting RightsAct of 1965.
In May 2007, Lowery electrified an audience at
the Festival of Homiletics held at the Tennessee
Performing Arts Center in Nashville. His sermon,
titled after the spiritual, “I Got Shoes, You Got
Shoes,” connects with Walk It Out: Together in the
Way of Jesus. The 86-year-old civil preacher
explained that shoes symbolized a sense of belonging
and worth, an acknowledgement that God is an
equitable God, that when heaven finally comes to us,
no one will remain barefoot while others have shoes.
Lowery told a story that helps to illuminate the
lessons in Walk It Out: Together in the Way of
Jesus. During the first years of integration, his
elementary school-aged daughter was a singular
African American student. As leaders who had already
“got to stepping”(LessonOne), he and his wife passed
on their knowledge (LessonTwo) about moving
forward in life by teaching her Psalm 27:1 to bring her
comfort and strength throughout the day.On the first
day of school, they walked their daughter up the steps
of the school, holding her hand, and leaving her at the
front door. As she walked into the building, they could
hear her reciting the scripture, “The LORDis my
light.Whom shall I fear?The LORDis the strength of
my life.Of whom shall I be afraid,” allowing the words
of her parents and theWord ofGod to lead her as she
walked in the way of Jesus (Lesson Five). This
experience mirrored that of just so many other children
who did their part in the struggle of justice and equity
in Freedom movements around the world.
In his sermon, Lowery mentioned the woman
who marched in the Montgomery Bus Boycott
saying, ”My feet are tired, but my spirit is resting. ”
From this woman to the children who were rallied to
action by the Motown hit, “Dancing in the Street”
(Lesson Three), to the children who danced the toyitoyi
in the streets of South Africa, children of the
current generation must try to understand that they
should use their feet and indeed their entire body to
glorify God that gives strength in whatever
wilderness is present.
Lowery also reminded the listeners that the
struggle has always been about love. “It was not
against white people, but against the systems and
policies rooted in white supremacy.” His explanation
that “love embraces justice” reminds us that we must
“Keep on Keeping on!” praying for justice like the
persistent widow (Lesson Four) because we serve a
God of justice. Lowery said that charity does not go
far enough, because “it is seasonal and selective.” We
must persist when injustice exists and never stop
trying to demonstrate God’s love, which is
“everlasting and inclusive.” |