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We hear him referred to now more often than not as Dr., and he is. He earned a Doctorate in Theology from Boston University in 1955. But his essential self, his core identity, his to the bone being, his calling is to be a Reverend – a Preacher.

Dr. may sound more impressive to the ears and may garner more clout on a resume, but the authenticity, power and authority gushed like a geyser from a deeper well.

Hear now ongoing revelation from Rev. King’s sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct”.

“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…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.

- I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.
- 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.
- I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.
- And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.
- I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.
- I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. 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. And that’s all I want to say.”

In the first year of his ministry in 1954, Rev. King preached “Rediscovering Lost Values” at 2nd Baptist Church in Detroit.

“As a young man with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow, but to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Not in the little gods that can be with us in a few moments of prosperity, but in the God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, and causes us to fear no evil. That’s the God.

Not in the god that can give us a few Cadillac cars and Buick convertibles, as nice as they are, that are in style today and out of style three years from now, but the God who threw up the stars to bedeck the heavens like swinging lanterns of eternity.

Not in the god that can throw up a few skyscraping buildings, but the God who threw up the gigantic mountains, kissing the sky, as if to bathe their peaks in the lofty blues.

Not in the god that can give us a few televisions and radios, but the God who threw up that great cosmic light that gets up early in the morning in the eastern horizon, who paints its technicolor across the blue —something that man could never make.”

The night before he was assassinated, Martin preached to the striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Behold the crescendo of his sermon.

“It really doesn’t matter what happens now…We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.

And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

I am humbly honored to be in the same flock as Martin Luther King – A Minister, a Reverend, a Preacher. Don’t neglect to honor his educational accomplishments, but call him Dr. – Second.