[ bell tolls ] [ bell tolls ] [ bell tolls ] [ bell tolls ] [ bell tolls ] [ bell tolls ]. Amen. We thank god for that moment. And now, pastor warnock and the family will enter the sanctuary. Shall we stand . I am the resurrection and the light, said the lord. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live again. Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. For i know that my redeemer lives and that he shall stand with me at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh will i see god. I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold at not another. Behold i show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall will changed. In the moment, at the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the dead must be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. This mortal must put on immortality. This corruptible must put on incorruption. When this corruptible shall put on incorruption. When this mortal shall have put on immortality, it will be brought to pass, the same that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting . Oh, brave, where is your victory . Thanks be unto god. Who gives us the victory. Thanks be unto god who gave John Robert Lewis the victory through jesus christ, our lord and liberator. Let all the children of god say amen. Amen. Youre in a baptist church. Say it louder. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. God bless you, my sisters and brothers. You who sit in the sanctuary and those who join us on our Church Live Stream or by television. God bless you and welcome to Ebenezer Baptist church. Spiritual home of Martin Luther king, jr. Spiritual home of John Robert Lewis. Americas freedom church. We have come to say farewell to our friend in these difficult days. That have even made grieving more challenging. At a time when we would find comfort in embracing one another, love compels us to socially distance from one another, but make no mistake, we are together in principle even if not in proximity. We may not all be in the same room, but we are on the same page, and were in touch with the same spirit. We love John Robert Lewis [ applause ] come on. Give god praise. Come on. Let the nation celebrate. Let the angels rejoice. John lewis. John lewis the boy from troy. Let me just offer this. We praise god for john lewis. As we gather in this house of god, were reminded that as a teenager he actually wrestled with a call to ministry. A farm boy, he used to preach to the chickens. I guess you have to start somewhere. At age 16 he preached what we baptists call his trial sermon in a Little Country church. But as his life took shape, instead of preaching sermons, he became one. He became a living, walking sermon about truth telling and justice making in the earth. He loved america until america learned how to love him back. We celebrate john lewis. [ applause ] at a time that there is so much going on in our world, the news cycle is packed and moves at a dizzying pace. Here for the last several days, it is as if time stood still while a nation takes its time to remember him. I rise simply to ask, in this call to celebration, what is it that has summoned us here and caused us to slow down, to linger for a little while with so much swirling around us. Were summoned here because, in a moment when there are some in high office who are much better at division than vision, who cannot lead us, so they seek to divide us, in a moment when there is so much political cynicism and narcissim that mask raids as patriotism, here lies a true American Patriot who risked his life and limb for the hope and the promise of democracy. We celebrate john lewis he had been battered, but never bitter. On a bridge in selma he stared down bigotry, tyranny and won. How did he do it . The great great grandson of slaves, he received a spiritual power born of suffering, a moral audacity that transcended human station and called upon the human law to more closely align itself with the law of love, Howard Thurmond said by some amazing but vastly creative spirituality, the slave undertook the redemption that the master proclaimed in its midst. John lewis ian ses stores mate a man named jesus and john lewis received that faith and took it with him across that bridge in selma and every bridge weve come to celebrate john lewis. So let us be clear. When president Lyndon Baines johnson picked up his pen to sign the Voting Rights bill into law, what he etched in ink had already been sanctioned by blood, the blood of the martyrs, the blood of swerer in, cheney and good man. Two jews and an africanamerican murdered in mississippi. The blood of viola luiso, the blood of john lewis. We celebrate john lewis. He was wounded for americas transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chaft tiesment of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. So lets remember him today and lets recommit tomorrow to standing together and fighting together and voting together and standing up on behalf of truth and righteousness together. Well get through this together. Lets save the soul of our democracy together. Lets worship the lord. Lets worship the lord together. Thank god for John Robert Lewis. Let the nation say amen. Amen. And let the angels rejoice. Good morning. Ill be coming from the 23rd number of psalms. The lord is my shepherd, i shall not want. He making me to lie down in green pastures, he restoreth my soul, leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name sake. Though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no ooel. Are with me. That prepares the table before me in the presence of thine enemies, anointeth my head with oil, my cup run negligent over. Certainly goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever. Thank you. Good morning. Ill be reading first chronicles, 13th chapter. If i could speak all the languages of earth and angels but didnt love others, i would only be a noisy gong or clanging symbol. If i had the gift of prophesy and if i understood all of gods secret plans and possessed all knowledge and if i had such faith that i could move mountains but didnt love others, i would be nothing. If i gave everything i have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, i could boast about it, but if i didnt love others, i would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Prophesy and speaking in an unknown language in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless, but love will last forever. Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophesy reveals only part of the whole picture. But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When i was a child, i spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when i grew up, i put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then well see everything with perfect clarity. All that i know now is partial and incomplete, but then i will know everything completely, just as god now knows me completely. Three things will last forever, faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love. Thank you. Good morning. While we know that death is the great equalizer, we all recognize that each persons experience with it is different and so i want to extend con dole lesses to you, john miles, the similar blings of john lewis and the entire lewis family on behalf of the entire king family, including my aunt christine, my dads only living sibling who would have been here with us today but for covid. Rest assured she is viewing us on television as we speak. Let us pray. Great and mighty god whose creator of us all and sustainer of all things, we invoke you on this morning. We welcome you, holy spirit into this place. We humbly look to you in this hour for wisdom and strength and comfort as we celebrate the home going of your son and servant congressman John Robert Lewis. Please, dear father, comfort this family and grant them a peace of god that passes all understanding. Surround them with your love. In the words of your servant Martin Luther king, jr. , who reminded us that death is not a period that ends this great sentence of life, but a comma which punctuates it to a lofty and higher significance. Help us, oh god, to grasp that truth and see the magnitude of this moment. Not merely as the death of a great soul, but as a divine message that says to each and every one of us in this earth, be still and know that i am god. Hear me and heed my message in this hour. That love even for an enemy is the only way to transform this world into a true brother and sisterhood. We thank you, god, for the life and legacy of congressman john lewis who showed us this more Excellent Way of life. We thank you for honoring us with his presence and allowing our lives to intersect with his life. Be with his family, be with those who struggled with him in that movement, and know that he continues to live on in and through each and every one of them and each and every one of us. We praise you, oh god, for this nonviolent warrior who fought for true peace which daddy taught us is not merely the absence of tension, but the presence of justice. As we honor the life of congressman john lewis who shed blood on that Edmund Pettus bridge, that we might have the right to vote. Grant that we never again take that right for granted, and that we exercise it no matter what and that we never again tamper with that right. Overtaken this hour, our congress, that they might restore Voting Rights protections in our nation, as we honor the life of this nonviolent warrior, who embodied the very spirit of christ and showed us that we have the spiritual power to resist injustice and evil and hatred and vitriol with the force of love and truth. We are eternally grateful, oh god, that he lived among us for four score years and demonstrated on that bridge that fiscal force is no match for soul force. Grant us the capacity to follow his example to fight injustice without bitterness and hostility, but with a righteous indignation. Oh, god, as elijah ask for double portion, his anointing as he transitioned, let a double portion of what john lewiss life was about fall on us in this hour so we can continue to get in good trouble. Anoint us with a double portion in this generation to get into good trouble until there is radical reform in policing in our nation. Anoint us a double portion to get into good trouble until Voter Suppression is no longer a part of our body politic. An noibt us with a double portion to get into good trouble until there is an equitable distribution of wealth in this nation, until everyone has a livable wage and Affordable Housing and good health care. Anoint us, oh god, with a double portion to get into good trouble until all labor is treated with dignity. Grant us, oh father, a double portion to get into good trouble until the schooltoprison pipeline is nonexistent and every child gets an equitable education. Grant us a double portion to get into good trouble until White Supremacy around the world is uprooted and dismantled and all our policies and everyday practices and behaviors no longer reflect White Supremacy. Grant us a double portion, god, to get into good trouble until this nation truly becomes a compassionate nation. Because as daddy reminded us, ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation. Grant us, god, a double portion of anointing to get into good trouble until black bodies are no longer a threat in this world and black lives have equitable representation, power and influence in every arena. Grant us finally, father god, that a double portion, to get into good trouble until love becomes the way we live, the way we lead, the way we legislate, and until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Thank you, oh god, for this great man who lived among us, who now joins the great cloud of freedom fighters. Lord, we thank you for his life and his legacy, and we will continue to get into good trouble as long as you grant us the breath to do so. It is in the matchless, the majestic and the mighty name of jesus the christ that i do pray. And all the people of god said together amen. Amen. Snow you may build great cathedrals large or small you may build skryscrapers grand and tall you may conquer all the fail yours of your past o, but only what you do for christ will last you may seek earthly power, wealth and fame and the world might be impressed by your great name soon the glories of this life will all soon be past but only what you do for christ will last remember only what you do for christ will last remember only wh, only, only t you do for christ will last only what you do for him will be, it will be counted in the end only what you do for christ will last remember only what you do for christ will last remember only what you do, only what you do for christ will last o, only what you do, what you do for christ will be counted in the end only what you do for christ is gonna last, its gonna last only what you do, what you do for christ will last o, only what you do for christ will last yeah, only what you do, only what you do [ applause ] amen. Amen. Hallelujah. This is john lewiss favorite poem, invictus. Out of the night that covers me, black as a pit from poll to poll, i think whatever got may be for my uncomfortable soul. In the clutches of circumstance, i have not winced nor cried allowed. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody, but im bowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms the horror of the shade. And yet menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll, im the master of my fate. Im the captain of my soul. John lewis was my hero and my friend. Lets honor him by getting in good trouble. [ applause ] only the incomparable spirit and the magnanimous soul of john lewis could summon all of us together in this place at this time. Only john lewis could compel three living american president s to come to this house of god to celebrate his life. We are grateful that owl of them are here, the honorable george w. Bush who was president the last time we authorized the Voting Rights act. [ applause ] the honorable William Jefferson clinton. And in just a little while, well hear from the honorable barack obama. [ applause ] but the program will proceed as printed. President bush, president clinton, speaker of the house, nancy pelosi and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawson. Good morning. Distinguished guests, john myles, lewis family and friends, lauren and i thank you for inviting us to be here today. Johns story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small he said you could barely find it on the map. D doctor talked about the chickens. I did a little research. Every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. He loved those chickens. Already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need, even their spiritual ones. For john baptized them, married them and he preached to them. When his parents claim one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. Going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protest. He also noted in later years that his first congregation of chickens listened to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. John also thought chickens were just a little more productive. At least they produced eggs, he said. From troy to the sitins in nashville, to the freedom rides in washington, from freedom summer in selma, john lewis always looked outward, not inward. He always thought of others. He always believed in preaching the goes spell, in word and in deed, insisting that hate and fear had to be answered with love and hope. John lewis believed in the lord. He believed in humanity and he believed in america. Hes been called an american saint, a believer willing to give up everything, even life itself to bear witness to the truth that drove him all his life, that we could build a world of peace and justice, harmony, dignity and love. And the first crucial step on that journey was the recognition that all people are born in the image of god and carry a spark of the divine within them. Laura and i were privileged to see that spark in john up close. We worked with him to bring the National Museum of africanamerican history and culture to the washington mall. He was instrumental in the emmett till unsolved civil rights crimes act which i signed to seek resolution in cases where justice had been too long denied. And we will never forget joining him in selma, alabama, for the 50th anniversary of his march across the Edmund Pettus bridge where we got to watch president barack obama thank john as one of his heroes. [ applause ] theres a story in the old scriptures that meant a lot to john. In the hebrew bible the lord is looking for a prophet. Whom shall i said, god wonders and who will go for us. Isaiah answers, here am i, send me. John lewis heard that call a long time ago in segregated alabama, and he took up the work of the lord through all his days. His lesson for us is that we must all keep ourselves open to hearing the call of love, the call of service and the call to sacrifice for others. John and i had our disagreements, of course. But in the America John Lewis fought for and the america i believe in, differences of opinion are inevitable elements and evidence of democracy in action. [ applause ] we the people including congressmen and president s can have differing views on how to perfect our union while sharing the conviction that our nation, how ever flawed is at heart a good and noble one. We live in a better and nobler country today because of john lewis and his abiding faith in the power of god, in the power of democracy and in the power of love to lift us all to a higher ground. The story that began in troy isnt ending here today, nor is the work. John lewis lives forever in his fathers house, and he will live forever in the hearts of americans who act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their god. May the flights of angels see john lewis to his rest, and may god bless the country he loved. [ applause ] thank you very much. First i thank john myles and the lewis family and johns incomparable staff for a chance to say a few words about a man i loved for a long time. I am grateful, pastor warknock to say it in ebenezer. A wholly place sanctified by both the faith and the works of those who have worshipped here. I thank my friend, reverend bernice king who stood by my side and gave a fascinating sermon in one of the most challenging periods of my life. I thank president and mrs. Bush, president obama, speaker pelosi, thank you and representative hoyer and representative clyburn. Who i really thank for, with the stroke of a hand, ending an interfamily fight within our party, proving that peace is needed by everyone. Madam mayor, thank you. You have faced more than a fair share of challenges in these last few months, and you have faced them with candor and dignity and honor, and i thank you for your leadership. [ applause ] i must say for a fellow that got his start speaking to chickens, johns gotten a pretty fineely organized and deeply deserved sendoff this last week. His home home going has been something to behold. I think its important that all of us who loved him remember that he was, after all, a human being, a man like all other humans born with strengths that he made the most of when many dont, born with weaknesses that he worked hard to beat down when many cant, but still a person. It made him more interesting, and it made him in my mind even greater. 20 years ago we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the selma march. And we walked together along with coretta and many others from the movement who are no longer with us. Were grateful for andy young and reverend jackson and diane nash and many others who survive. But on that day, i got limb to replay for me a story he told me when we first met back in the 1970s, and i said i was just an southern politician, hadnt been elected governor. He was already a legend. So i said, john, whats the closest you ever actually came to getting killed doing this . And he said, well, once we were in a demonstration, and i got knocked down on the ground and people were getting beat up pretty bad and all of a sudden i looked up and there was a man holding a long, heavy piece of pipe and he lifted it and was clearly going to bring it right down onto my skull. And at the very last second i turned my neck away and then the crowd pushed him a little bit and a couple of second later, i couldnt believe i was still alive. I think its important to remember that. First, because he was a quick thinker, and secondly, because he was here on a mission that was bigger than personal ambition. Things like that sometimes just happen. But usually they dont. I think three things happened to john lewis long before we met and became friends, that made him who he was. First, the famous story of john at 4 with his cousins and siblings holding his aunts hand, more than a dozen of them running around a little old wooden house as the wind threatened to blow the house off its moorings. Going to the place where the house was rising, and all the tiny bodies trying to weigh it down. I think he learned something about the power of working togeth together, something that was more powerful than any instruction. Second, nearly 20 years later, when he was 23, the youngest speaker, and the last speaker, at the march on washington, when he gave a great speech urging people to take to the streets across the south to seize the chance to finally end racism. And he listened to people thats fine that he knew had the same goals. They said, we have to be careful how we say this because we want to get converts, not more adversaries. Three years later, he lost the leadership of snic to Stokely Carmichael because he said, you know, i really it was a pretty good job for a guy that young who had come from troy, alabama, it must have been painful to lose. But he showed as a young man there are some things that you cannot do to hang onto a position because if you do, wont be who you are anymore. And i say there were two or three years there where the movement went a little bit too far towards stokely. But in the end, john lewis prevailed. We are here today because he had the kind of character he showed when he lost an election. [ applause ] then there was bloody sunday. He figured he might get arres d arrested. And this is really important not to for all the rhapsodic things we remember about john lewis. He was always thinking about how to make the most of every single moment. Hes at the march in selma, he wants to get across the bridge. He cut quite a strange figure, he had a trench coat and a backpack. Now, young people probably think thats no big deal, but there werent that many backpacks back then. And you never saw anybody in a trench coat looking halfway dressed up with a backpack. But john put an apple, an orange, a toothbrush, toothpaste, in the backpack to take care of his body because he figured he would get arrested. Two books, one by Richard Hofstadter on americas political tradition to feed his mind. And one, the autobiography of Thomas Merton, a Roman Catholic trappist monk who was the son of artists, making an astonishing personal transformation. What is a young guy who is about to get his brains beat out and planning on going to prison doing with that . I think he figured if Thomas Merton can find his way and keep his faith and believe in the future, he, john lewis, could too. [ applause ] so we honor our friend for his faith and for living his faith, which the scriptures said its the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. John lewis was a walking rebuke to people who thought, well, we aint there yet, weve been working a long time, isnt it time to bag it . He kept moving. He hoped for and imagined and lived and worked and moved for his beloved community. He took a savage beating on more than one day. And he lost that backpack on bloody sunday. Nobody even knows what happened to it. Maybe some day someone will be stricken with conscience and give some of it back. But what it represented never disappeared from john lewis spirit. We honor that memory today because as a child he learned to walk with the wind, to march with others to save a tiny house. Because as a young man he challenged others to join him with love and dignity, to hold americas house down and open the doors of america to all its people. We honor him because in selma, on the third attempt, john and his comrades showed that sometimes you have to walk into the wind along with with it. As he crossed the bridge into montgomery, no matter what, john always kept walking to reach the beloved community. The he got into a lot of good trouble along the way. Lets not forget remember also developed an absolutely uncanny ability to heal troubled waters. When he could have been angry and determined to cancel his adversaries, he tried to get converts instead. He thought the open hand was better than the clenched fist. He lived by the faith and promise of st. Paul, let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. He never lost heart. He fought the good fight. He kept the faith. But we got our last letter today, on the pages of the new york times. Keep moving. It is so fitting, on the day of his service, he leaves us our marching orders. Keep moving. 20 years ago, when i came here after the selma march to a big dinner honoring john and lillian and john miles, you had a big afro. And it was really pretty. And your daddy was giving you grieve about it. I said, john, lets not get old too soon. I mean, if i had hair like that, i would have it down to my shoulders. On that night, i was almost out of time and people were to be president and people were asking me, if you could do one more thing, what would it be, or what do you wish you had done that you didnt and all that kind of stuff. And someone asked me that night, because i had many friends in atlanta, and i said, if i could just do one thing, if god came to me tonight and said, okay, your time is up, youve got to go home, and im not a genie, im not giving you three wishes, one thing, what would it be . I said, i would infect every american with whatever