The Gloucester United Relief Association sponsored a virtual service of celebration for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, where Dr. Doug Nagel, pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, delivered a sermon titled, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper: The Time is Right To Do the Right Thing.”
Speaking from the First United Baptist Church, Nagel began his talk by reading the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis, where Cain kills his brother Abel and God asks Cain where his brother is. In the story, Cain responded: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
Throughout his sermon, Nagel used the words of King to emphasize that “we are our brother’s keeper.” The first King quote he used in his sermon was, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
“Some came on passenger ships,” said Nagel. “Some came chained in the cargo hold. Some came first class. Some were not given even the status of humanity.
“I am my brother’s keeper,” continued Nagel. “I am responsible to speak up and not be an onlooker, a bystander. I cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We are in the same boat. It’s time we stopped rowing in different directions and learned to pull in the same direction until all the passengers safely reach the other side.”
Nagel also said that we should all learn to forgive each other, no matter how many times we are sinned against. King said, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Nagel used King’s quote to emphasize the importance of loving others. “I am called, required, it is demanded of me, that I love my brother. I am called, required, it is demanded of me that I love my sister. No excuses. Jesus said, ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ He did not add exceptions for skin color, income level, education, country of origin, language, or ethnicity.”
Also, during his sermon, Nagel spoke of faith as “action, not passive belief.
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right,” he quoted King.
“That time is now,” said Nagel. “I am my brother’s keeper. It is the right time to do the right thing and we must do it together. A great way to start will be the ‘Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation’ dialogue that will take place here at the First United Baptist Church on February 18th and 19th.”
Nagel also recounted his memory of King during his sermon. “Dr. King was being obedient to what God had impressed upon his heart and life,” said Nagel. “It cost him his life. I was in eighth grade. I remember it well. I didn’t understand it. I had seen the news footage of Selma and Montgomery. I saw the police dogs, the fire hoses, the angry white mobs. I saw the dignity and stoic determination of Dr. King, joined by numerous faith leaders and civic leaders from the black and white communities endure hostility, abuse, and even violence.
“Almost 54 years later, the cause for which he [King] gave his life continues,” said Nagel. “Some things are better, but we must admit there is still a long journey ahead of us, together. We have a lot of unfinished business to which we must attend.”
The Rev. E. Randolph Graham, pastor of First United and president of GURA, said during that King was “a champion of civil rights, a champion of human rights [and] a champion of justice for all.”
Other participants of Monday’s service included the Rev. Larry Arrington of First Morning Star Baptist, Deacon Gene Cooke of Zion Poplars Baptist, Sister Mildred Byrd, Sister Skylar Montaque and the Rev. Vincent Pryor of New Mount Zion Baptist.