| On February 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a sermon titled "The Drum Major Instinct" at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia-it was two months to the day before his assassination. In it, he spoke of the many ways in which our desire to be first (the drum major instinct) can distort our lives. King begins his sermon by reading Mark 10:35, the story of James and John petitioning Jesus, "Grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand in thy glory." Later, he goes on to say:
"What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It's very interesting. One would have thought that Jesus would have condemned them. One would have thought that Jesus would have said, 'You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?' But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, 'Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be.' But he reordered priorities. And he said, 'Yes, don't
give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. (Yes) It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. (Amen) I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do.'
And he transformed the situation by giving a new definition of greatness. And you know how he said it? He said, 'Now brethren, I can't give you greatness. And really, I can't make you first.' This is what Jesus said to James and John. 'You must earn it. True greatness comes not by favoritism, but by fitness. And the right hand and the left are not mine to give, they belong to those who are prepared.' (Amen)”
We must earn our leadership; we must prepare ourselves to be great. A good exercise to try in order to start preparing ourselves for greatness is to imagine what we hope will be said during the eulogy of our own funeral, just as Rev. Dr. King did at the close of his sermon:
"...every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself 'What is it that I would want said?' And I leave the word to you this morning.
If any of you are around when I have to meet my day I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy tell them not to talk too long. (Yes) And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize-that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards-that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. (Yes)
I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. (Yes) I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen) I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes) And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes) I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord) I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes) Yes if you want to say that I was a drum major say that I was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. Amen "
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