The Life and Witness of Howard Thurman

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
February 5th 2006
Communion Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Life and Witness of Howard Thurman”
Matthew 6:1-12

Until last summer, I had never read any of the writings of Howard Washington Thurman. I had learned that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by his book Jesus and the Disinherited and as a result I went looking to see what might be contained in the pages of that rather short book. As I worked my way through this work, I was deeply moved. It occurred to me that this book seemed to be a rather long response to a single question he was once asked. When he was traveling on his way to India he was asked this question by someone while in Ceylon, the modern day Sri Lanka. This was the question:
I had not planned to ask you this, but after listening to your lecture I am convinced that you are an intelligent man. What are you doing here? Your forebears were taken from the west coast of Africa as slaves, by Christians. They were sold in America, a Christian country, to Christians…Since that time you have been brutalized, lynched, burned and denied most civil rights by Christians, and Christianity is unable to have any effect upon your terrible plight. I think that an intelligent young Negro such as yourself, here in our country on behalf of a Christian enterprise, is a traitor to all of the darker peoples of the earth. How can you account for yourself being in this unfortunate and humiliating position?
This question and his answer were instrumental to the development of Howard Washington Thurman. However, for now I will not tell you his answer.
Howard Thurman was born in a two room house in the segregated town of Daytona Florida in 1900. Because his mother worked long hours to support the family, and his father was died, his grandmother played a major role in his development. Howard’s grandmother, who had been a slave, was unable to read or write. However, her driving motivation was to make sure her grandchildren were educated.
Howard was clearly influenced by his grandmother. By the time he was in the eighth grade Howard worked in a dry cleaning shop. During his lunch hour, he would do his lessons and meet with the school principle to take his examinations. As a result of his hard work and sharp mind he was the first African American to receive an eighth grade certificate from the Daytona public schools. Since there were no high schools which he could attend in Dayton, Howard made arrangements to live with a cousin in Jacksonville so he could attend school. As he left home his grandmother left him with these words:
I want to tell you something, and you remember it all your life: Look up always; down never. Look forward always; backwards never. And remember, everything you get you have to work for.
Howard Thurman took his grandmother’s words to heart. He excelled in high school and then as a student at Morehouse College. Howard had a passion for learning and would often read in every free moment he could find. Howard knew that his love for learning had come from God. “When I was born,(Howard said) God must have put a live coal in my heart, for I was His man and there was no escape.”
Upon graduation from Morehouse College, he planned to pursue graduate work in theology at Andover. However, Andover did not accept Black people for the study of religion. So Howard pursued his theological education at Colgate-Rochester where he not only excelled, but finished top of his class. Upon completion of his degree a professor said to him:
Howard Thurman, you have the capacity to become one of the great original creative thinkers; to influence the religious thought of our nation, perhaps the whole world.
After graduation Howard took his first call to serve as pastor of a church in Oberlin, Ohio. There, he was able to grow as a pastor and continue to develop his keen intellectual pursuits in a college environment. However, it was not long before Howard was led by his insatiable curiosity and intellect to find other pursuits. He had become acquainted with the work of a Quaker theologian by the name of Rufus Jones. Howard asked Dr. Jones if he could come and study the history of mysticism.
During the year, Howard began to understand the ways in which his intellect and spirituality were more deeply connected than he had ever known. He took these insights and in the following year, Dr. Howard Thurman accepted an appointment to teach Philosophy of Religion at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in Atlanta. This rising academic star soon found himself Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Systematic Theology at Howard University in Washington D.C.
In 1935, Howard Thurman and his wife Sue traveled with a group to India, Burma, and Ceylon under the auspices of the World Student Christian Federation. It was a life-changing experience. While traveling through India they had the opportunity to have an audience with Mahatma Gandhi. However, the most unforgettable event was when Dr. Thurman’s climbed the mountains of the Khyber Pass to watch the sunrise.
In the quiet moments before the dawn, Howard Thurman was able to wrestle with his thoughts. During this trip he had been challenged on a number of occasions about his Christian convictions. It was in those moments at the top of the mountain, that Howard decided He could stay part of the Christian tradition. Howard dedicated himself to work to make Christianity live for the weak as well as the strong. He decided that Christianity must be a faith for all peoples, whatever their color, whatever their economic status.
Upon his return to the United States, Dr. Thurman did not make any immediate changes. In fact, it would be another few years before he was able to realize his vision for the church. In 1943 he received a message from a professor of Philosophy at the University of San Francisco who was also a Presbyterian Minister.
This minister had begun a new church whose goal was to become a truly interracial faith community. This minister had sent word to a number of people with the hopes of locating a young black divinity student who might want to be part of such a venture. It was evident to Dr. Thurman that this plan, while well intentioned, was flawed. Having an established pastor try to share power with someone just out of divinity school was a recipe for disaster even before factoring in the racial dynamics. So, Dr. Thurman agreed to go himself.
Howard Thurman saw this fledgling church as an opportunity to live out the vision he had from atop the Khyber Pass.
The first few years at the Church for the Fellowship of all Peoples were not easy. There was always a concern about numbers and money, however what they lacked in numbers and funds they made up for with enthusiasm. There was a real commitment to living out the gospel as good news for all people. This was a radical work, particularly in 1943. They broke barriers in worship, pastoral care and their witness to a deeply divided community. It was in this work that Dr. Thurman found his life’s calling. It was in this work that Dr. Thurman lived out his answer to the question he faced during his time in Ceylon.
When confronted by the very direct question regarding the practice of Christianity, Howard Thurman said:
I think the religion of Jesus in its true genius offers me a promising way to work through the conflicts of a disordered world. I make a careful distinction between Christianity and the religion of Jesus… My judgment about slavery and racial prejudice relative to Christianity is far more devastating than yours could ever be. From my investigation and study, the religion of Jesus projected a creative solution to the pressing problem of survival for the minority of which he was a part. When Christianity became an imperial and world religion, it marched under banners other than that of the teacher and prophet of Galilee.
The life and witness of Dr. Howard Thurman is one built on the life and witness of Jesus Christ. His ability to point to the life-giving message of the gospel despite the imperial baggage is quite remarkable. He was able to live out the core teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. His unique witness calls us all to revisit out own assumptions. It is an invitation to reject all forms of Christianity corrupted by the imperial influence. May we indeed follow his lead and live these words… (Read Matthew 5:1-12 again). Amen.