Long before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a distinguished civil rights leader, he was a clergyman, like his father and grandfather. His sermons show the importance of God in his life and his life’s work. The nation honors the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. today for his impact on civil rights. But before he became a champion of social justice and one of the most admired Americans of the 20th century, King was an ordained minister who said his first calling was his greatest commitment.