MLK banquet: Faith triumphs over adversity

Faith’s ability to triumph over fear was the heart of the message at the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration banquet Jan. 14.

“When we stop being afraid, when we stop feeding our fear, then fear will die,” said keynote speaker the Rev. Dr. William T. Wallace Sr. “When we fuel our faith, then faith will come alive, and we will see the result of our faith. Because the God that we trust, affirm and worship is a God who specializes in the impossible.”

Wallace's nearly hour-long speech was a call to action, encouraging people to starve their fears and let faith take the reins, echoing this year’s theme of “In times of challenge and controversy, faith triumphs over adversity.” Wallace also drew quick response from the audience as he criticized President-elect Donald Trump and his nomination of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, to lead the Department of Justice.

“Seven days from now, the 45th president of the United States shall be inaugurated,” Wallace said, eliciting audible grumbles from more than 100 people packed into the CHEER Center in Georgetown.

“The irony of this reality is that the Rev. Martin Luther King was an advocate for equality, justice, civil rights and compassion,” he continued. “He was considered as the drum major for justice, as well as the moral compass for America. The president-elect seems to denounce these principles. His actions and rhetoric suggest his inability to be compassionate, fair or honest.”

Wallace, a founding member of the MLK celebration weekend, urged his audience to make it their responsibility to stand up for King’s principles, and be vigilant in a time rife with fake news, half-truths and lies.

“The president-elect, nor his posse – and I use that word intentionally – whether they be cabinet members, advisors, sons, daughter, son-in-law, House of Representatives or Senate, cannot circumvent, subvert or strike down any of God’s truths,” he said. “I refuse to believe that the people of good conscience will allow him to destroy the pillars on which this nation was built.”

Wallace, a pastor of Union United Methodist Church in St. Michaels, Md., decried Trump's nomination of Sessions, reminding the crowd racial controversy surrounded the nominee in the mid-1980s.

“Let's do all within our power to prevent this man to being appointed to this office,” he urged. “Write, call, protest, do whatever you can. Our voices must be heard in opposition to this appointment.”

Wallace's message also carried hope, the hope that good-hearted people will recognize the responsibility to stand up for justice and against discrimination of all forms.

“We may have some troubling times, but we can be assured that they will not last always because the faith and hope that you have will outlast any adversity that you stand against,” he said. “Hope, faith, dogged determination are gifts we inherited from our foreparents, who were foolish enough to dream and believe in the impossible. We must embrace the same relentless spirit that transformed nightmares into pleasant dreams.”

He called for people to actively include all Americans and to fight for the constitutional rights of life, liberty and happiness.

In words recalling the pastor’s whose birthday he was celebrating, Wallace said, “You and I must demand justice, we must demand equality, inclusion and righteousness. It will not be given voluntarily.”

The hallmark of a productive and healthy society, Wallace said, is always determined by how the least of its people are treated. He applauded the Black Lives Matter movement, and he demanded the respect of all lives, and an end to the killing of young men and women across the nation.

“God did not put us here just to occupy space,” he said. “God did not put us here just to look pretty and look out for ourselves. God gave us a mission. And our mission is very, very interestingly presented before us – to live our lives in a such a way that we can help somebody else.”

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