If the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today he would be in Haiti to share in the suffering of its people and in their rejoicing at the goodness of God, the Rev. Matthew Zimmerman said Monday night.

Zimmerman, who in 1990 became the first black American to serve as Chief of Chaplains of any branch of the US military, was the featured speaker at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration at McBeth Baptist Church. The earthquake-ravaged island of Haiti was mentioned several times with the master of ceremony, the Rev. James Richards, asking for a moment of silence “for those struggling to survive and those working to help them survive.”

Were he alive today, Zimmerman said, King’s sympathy and empathy for those suffering would have compelled him to go to the stricken nation.

“If he were alive today Dr. King would be in Haiti or he would be on his way,” Zimmerman said. “He saw any one person’s suffering as his suffering.”

Zimmerman also spoke of how, even in the midst of great suffering, the Haitian people were bearing witness to great faith. He said he’d seen where a large number of Haitians were marching through the shattered streets of their nation singing praises to God. Even though they’d lost children, parents, other family members and friends, Zimmerman said they were nevertheless publicly singing about how good God is. He said King embodied that spirit and would no doubt be walking with those Haitians joining them in their song of praise.

The Christian roots of the Civil Rights Movement were a major theme of Zimmerman’s message. He quoted Michah 6:8 about the three things God expects of His people.

• “Remember to do justly, that is to treat others as you’d want them to treat you.”

• “Be a lover of mercy, that is to forgive as often as you are forgiven.”

• “Walk humbly with the Lord, that is don’t take credit for the good God does.”

Zimmerman pointed out that these were the basic elements of King’s belief system that inspired him to lead the great movement for social change in America. He urged those present to get back to these basics and renew their commitment to continuing King’s work and legacy.

While King’s death was tragic and “a loss to everyone who would count themselves as a member of humanity or a child of God,” Zimmerman said the commemoration of his birthday is not a time for brooding about that loss and what might have been had he lived. Quoting the Persian poet Omar Khayyam about how the past cannot be unwritten, Zimmerman said the celebration of King’s birthday should be a time for building upon the inspiration of the past while focusing on the future.

Zimmerman listed three reasons for why the celebration of King’s birthday remains relevant:

• “It serves as a reminder, it reminds us that where we are today in terms of the status quo of race is not an accident of history. It took a lot of toil, a lot of sweat, even death including Dr. King’s to bring together people from all walks of life to say that God didn’t intend for us to live as if we were from different planets but to live together as His children.”

• “It is a celebration of our uniqueness and our togetherness at the same time. It is a celebration of our pluralistic diversity. We are not different by accident, God made us this way. God knew what he was doing when He made us this way. We are all different yet we are all children of God.”

• “It is a motivator, a generator that moves us to continue to sing the songs of Zion. God is able to collect a bunch of different people and mold them to show our togetherness as a consequence of all of us being children of God.”

Zimmerman pointed out that during the preceding weekend, some 10,000 projects were undertaken in King’s name by people going to work in their communities and even outside their communities. In one case, Zimmerman said people from Virginia going into inner-city Chicago to work with children.

As for what King’s birthday should be, Zimmerman said it should be a day for certain things.

“It should be a day of love, not hate,” Zimmerman said. “It should be a day of peace, not war. It should be day of understanding not argument. It should be a day of family togetherness.

“It should be a day when all races, religions, classes and stations in life put aside their differences and join in a spirit of togetherness,” he said. “A day for our nation to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. who awakened in us the best qualities of the American spirit.”