However, you probably haven’t heard of a sermon called “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” This sermon is truly one of the most remarkable you will ever hear. In it Dr. King is scholarly, passionate, informative, and at times humorous. During the sermon he outlines how to live a constructive and full life.
The sermon centers around three concepts:
1) The length of life which is about you
2) The breadth of life which is about others.
3) The height of life which is about your relationship with God.
He puts it this way:
“There are three dimensions of any complete life to which we can fitly give the words of this text: length, breadth, and height.
Now, the length of life, as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare. In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions.
The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God. Now, you got to have all three of these to have a complete life.”
Dr. King goes on to discuss each of these dimensions in detail. It is truly one of the most inspiring and informative sermons you’ll ever read or hear.
I suggest you buy the audio and print version. The audio version to hear him so eloquently deliver this speech. The print version to easily reference different parts of the speech.
Both the audio and print versions can be found in a book called “A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, jr.”. It can be purchased on Amazon.com.
The “I Have A Dream” speech was about us having a better society. “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” is about living a full and complete life.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the smartest people who ever lived. A lot of people don’t know, for example, that when he delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963 he was only 34 years old.
However, if you knew about his accomplishments before age 34 then you knew it was quite possible he would deliver such a speech at a relatively young age.
Here are some facts to keep in mind when you think about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
- At age 15 he entered Morehouse College in 1944.
- At age 19 he became an ordained Minister.
- At age 25, he became Pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
- At age 26 he led the Black Bus Boycott of Montgomery, Alabama’s segregated bus system.
- Also at Age 26 he received a PhD in Theology from Boston University
- At age 28 he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- At age 29 he had already published 5 books, including “Stride Toward Freedom”
- At age 34 he delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
- At age 35 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment for different races.
- At age 38 he denounced U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. That same year he began to plan the Poor People’s Campaign against poverty.
- Tragically, at age 39, on April 4, 1968 he was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
I strongly encourage you to purchase the “Knock at Midnight” sermons and listen and/or read the “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”. Also, read and/or listen to the other speeches in the Book/CD.
Dr. King will expand how you think about life and its possibilities. He certainly did for me. -CB
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