From a Birmingham Jail

The Civil War had ended nearly a century earlier, but in some places in the southern United States, African Americans still did not have the same rights as whites in the 1960s. For example, in Birmingham, Alabama, there were “Whites Only” and “Blacks Only” restrooms and drinking fountains. Some lunch counters only served white people, and some local businesses refused to hire black people. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders began a desegregation campaign in Birmingham that included mass meetings, lunch counter and library sit-ins, marches on city hall, and a boycott of downtown merchants. Hundreds were arrested. 

A week after the start of the campaign, the city government obtained a court injunction against the protests. King and other leaders decided to disobey the court order even though bail funds were depleted, and they could face long jail sentences. King was arrested on Good Friday and placed in solitary confinement. After reading in the Birmingham News that eight Birmingham clergymen had condemned the protests, he wrote a response in the margins of a copy of that newspaper. That response became known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In his letter, King maintained he had broken unjust laws to arouse the conscience of the community. So too, wrote King, had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar “on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake.”

Just as Daniel’s friends did not know they would survive the fiery furnace and cause Nebuchadnezzar to accept their God, King did not know his efforts would lead to a major desegregation in Birmingham. [1] [2] All of them did what was right and let God take care of the rest. Obedience led to courage.

Questions for Reflection and Application

• What laws today do you consider unjust enough that you would risk an indefinite jail sentence to disobey them? Against what practices in our culture would you speak out openly, even if it cost you your job, friends, or reputation?
• Consider the courage it took for Daniel’s friends to state that even if God did not save them, he still was God. For which of your beliefs would you be willing to give up your life?

[1] “Explore: The Birmingham Campaign” 

[2] “Birmingham Campaign,” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University

For more devotions like this, check out Chris Bolinger's book Daily Strength for Men.