It happens so often that while a prophet is among us, we do not appreciate or value who he/she is or what he/she is saying.
In the Hebrew scriptures, the prophets complain about the treatment received from the people and the resistance given in response to the prophetic task of speaking truth to power. Sometimes this truth has been spoken to the people of the church and sometimes to the government, but in both instances, the prophets’ voices are often ignored, and the prophets harshly criticized.
Their words pierce the soul because they cut through the mundaneness of human existence. Their words bore into the spirits of people who say they know and love God and into the spirits of people who – despite what they do and/or do not do – know better.
It is no secret that while Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive, he was hated by many – including plenty of Black people and fellow Black clergy. Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux conspired with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 60s to destroy Dr. King. (https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-this-popular-black-evangelist-colluded-with-fbi-to-destroy-mlk-in-the-1960s). In an era where the worst thing to be called was “communist,” Michaux made that charge against Dr. King, along with other damaging and slanderous accusations.
We also know that Rev. J.H. Jackson vehemently opposed Dr. King. (https://www.phillytrib.com/special_sections/mlk/kings-strategy-drew-opposition-from-some-in-the-church/article_32ff9bdc-a576-5208-ba9c-b7617979f119.html) Jackson totally disapproved of the nonviolent, direct-action activities that characterized the 60s fight for racial justice. Because, in spite of the commitment to nonviolence, the King-inspired events often resulted in violence, Jackson opposed Dr. King, sharing his belief that “law and order” on the part of Black people was the way to freedom. His criticisms of Dr. King were well-known.
So, it is no surprise that Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) Co-Founding Trustee, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., shares a consistent prophetic voice to the cause of justice and freedom for people of African descent, has had naysayers among the rank of clergy and Black religious people as well. He is a prophet, speaking truth to power not because of the people, but in spite of them. He has been on the prophetic battlefield his entire ministry and has always drawn criticism, but the criticism increased during the presidential campaign of then Senator Barack Obama. (https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2008/05/02/the-wright-stuff-black-clergy/48006848007/)
Some Black clergy were so fretful by the attacks on him during the Obama campaign that they abandoned Rev. Wright, though he had been supportive of and helpful to many of them in their ministries. (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-30-na-pastors30-story.html)
Despite the criticisms, prophets move forward. They inhale the pain and honor the commitment to their call – which is to upset the status quo of the Empire and lead people to hear the truth and be encouraged to practice the truth so that they can be free of the mindset that has told them – and all of us – that our commitment is to the state and not to God.
Dr. Wright moved forward as did Dr. King – and both moved as did the ancient prophets who walked this earth centuries before them.
Dr. Wright was honored at Howard University Rankin Chapel this week. He suffered a stroke some years ago and is confined to a wheelchair and, because the stroke affected his vocal cords, his voice is not as strong as it once was. At the Sunday event, he spoke in a whisper.
But he spoke.
SDPC Co-Chair and Co-Founder, Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglas Haynes III, a protégé of Dr. Wright, preached what was billed as Dr. Wright’s retirement from Rankin Chapel, where he has preached annually for the last 40 years. The first sermon he preached there, he said in that whisper, was “The Audacity to Hope,” a sermon referenced by former President Obama and inspired a similar title for one of Obama’s early books.
In that same whisper, he led the audience to sing “I Thank You, Jesus.” Only then did Haynes rise to preach.
It was a moment, a prophet adding a stanza to a message he had been delivering for years. Despite everything, “thank you” was the message being offered to the God who had called him and sustained him.
When a prophet is among us, we ought to recognize the truth they share for our us and our times. Their words are not meant to make us settle back and smile but, rather, to be encouraged by truth to fight the evil that threatens all of us. The late Dr. Vincent Harding wrote a book, The Inconvenient Hero, the title being taken from “A Dead Man’s Dream” by poet Carl Himes. Himes wrote:
Dead men make such convenient heroes.For they cannot rise to challenge the images That we might fashion from their lives.It is easier to build monuments Than to build a better world.
A prophet like Dr. King is (and Dr. Wright will be) praised after they are gone. It is fitting and satisfying that Wright, a prophet without equal, was honored while he is yet alive to hear that in spite of those who opposed and criticized him, there were and are many more who love and respect him – and who know that his commitment and faithfulness to his prophetic call has helped make this sick world more aware of justice, even if it is unwilling to practice it.