Black History Month and the Gospel of Joy

In thinking about writing something about Black History Month, my first thoughts were of a personal nature. Often times people (at least this white guy) quickly think of historical black, larger than life, figures who shaped our nation in relation to the fight for civil rights, people such as Frederick Douglass, MLK, Malcolm X, or Rosa Parks. Others think of the sports realm and their minds drift to Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, or Michael Jordan. Still others think of the musical contributions to our culture and think of Duke Ellington, B.B. King, or Ella Fitzgerald. The list certainly goes on and on. But I didn’t personally know any of these people. At best, I have read an article or watch a documentary about them. They are, in a word, distant. 

But there is one person who I did have the great pleasure of getting to know over the course of a couple of years. This person greatly shaped me. Some of you will know him, others will not. If you don’t, take the time to google his name now…… Meadowlark Lemon…”The Clown Prince of Basketball.” He, among other things, was known as an incredible basketball player and showman for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was exceptional.

I don’t have time to go into the story of how we met, or how our relationship developed. For context I will tell you that I was with him for the last couple of years of his life. We had meals together, I spent time listening to his life story, asking countless questions, and being inspired. We were working on a documentary about his life when he (the day before we were to reunite with the Globetrotters for the first time in decades) passed away. It was heartbreaking.

He truly had a storied life…one that is hard to imagine. Born in deep poverty, and virtually left alone to raise himself, Meadowlark found his calling in sports, basketball in particular. It would take him around the world. It would make him famous. It would almost give him the purpose he needed to live…almost. 

But one day, when life was heavy and empty at the same time. When uncertainty was the dominate feeling of his life, a young seamstress was obedient to the Spirit, and felt compelled to ask Meadowlark to come to church. He did. And God worked mightily in his heart. He was transformed, and the partial purpose in basketball he had earlier found was replaced when God redeemed his life and transformed his skills to glorify God, and benefit man. His new purpose was to promote joy, the joy the Lord had given him. The “Clown Prince” met the “Prince of Peace”…and the rest is God’s story…

Fast forward to the last day of his life…he had been spending time alone, preparing for his return to the Globetrotters after decades apart. We were to fly out the next day to Chicago. His mind was full of all that God had done in his life, opportunities given, lives touched, his old team mates, the audiences, the laughter. He went to take a nap and he never woke up. He simply expelled the air of this world, and breathed in celestial air in the very next breathe. He was home.

A few days after Meadowlark and died, his wife started texting me. She sent a series of pictures related to him and his life. There was one in particular that touched me the most. On Meadowlark’s desk, he had been outlining the notes for a sermon…a sermon entitled “The Gospel of Joy”. 

He would never preach that sermon scribbled on a yellow legal pad, it remained incomplete. But the truth be know, he preached it with his life a thousand times over. He was touched by the Joy of his Maker. He spent the rest of his life dedicated to bringing that joy to the world.

Meadowlark, you made the world a better place by bringing your smile and love into it. You made me a better person for having know you. And you honored your King well by embodying Psalm 16:11…”You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”