Search

Results

Here I am, Mr. President

18 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Samuel invites the Lord to speak in Sunday's first reading. President-elect Barack Obama has invited Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, to speak at an inaugural event at the Lincoln Memorial. The announcement follows weeks of criticism from Robinson and gay-rights groups over Obama's decision to tap Rev. Rick Warren, who's likened committed gay relationships to incest and polygamy, to pray on inauguration day. Robinson, an early Obama supporter, said last month the choice of Warren left him feeling as if he'd been slapped in the face. In a telephone interview this weekend, Robinson, of Weare, Massachusetts, said he doesn't believe Obama has included him in response to the Warren criticism. But he said his inclusion won't go unnoticed by the gay and lesbian community. "It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinson said. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or, in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters." Warren, author and high-profile pastor of a California megachurch, will still give the invocation at the January 20 inauguration, shortly before Obama delivers his much-anticipated inaugural address. Robinson will offer his invocation prayer Sunday afternoon on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during an inaugural kick-off event. Source: Articles by Ann Marie Timmins for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor and FoxNews.com

barack obama gene robinson rick warren inauguration day gays lesbians
A fulfilling experience

25 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"This is the time of fulfillment," proclaims this Sunday's gospel. Barack Obama fulfilled the dreams of many when he took the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, the day after what would have been Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 80th birthday. Isaac Newton Farris, president of The King Center and also King's nephew, called Obama's inauguration a "huge step" forward for King's dream of racial equality. "There is definitely a spiritual connection between these two events," Farris told a large crowd Monday at a commemoration at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. But, he added, there is still work to be done. Indeed, much work on many fronts awaited Obama after Tuesday's historic day of pageantry and celebration. A full agenda greeted him Wednesday as he stepped into the Oval Office. He summoned economic advisers and top military officials to separate meetings aimed at addressing the change he promised as a candidate. He also established new lobbying rules for "a clean break from business as usual," froze salaries for top White House staff members, placed phone calls to Mideast leaders, and had aides circulate a draft executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year. A multi-denominational prayer service at Washington National Cathedral and an open house at the White House were also on Wednesday's schedule for Obama. Source: Articles by Errin Haines and David Espo for the Associated Press

barack obama inauguration day isaac newton farris martin luther king jr
Opening remarks

25 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"For the world in its present form is passing away," we hear in this Sunday's reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians. President Obama quoted from First Corinthians in his inaugural address, as he made clear that change was on the way. "We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, 'the time has come to set aside childish things,' " he said in a reference to 1 Corinthians 13:11. "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness," Obama said. The president signaled his intent to move away from the sharply partisan approach that has dominated political discourse in recent years. "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them-that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works . . . ," he said. Obama stressed reconciliation in his address. "Because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve," he said. "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. . . . To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Evoking President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Obama also stressed responsibility and service. "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility-a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world." Obama encouraged a sense of solidarity with earlier generations of everyday Americans, "obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long rugged path toward prosperity and freedom. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West: endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth," Obama said. "For us they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sanh." Obama's chosen poet, Elizabeth Alexander, picked up on the same theme in her reading. "Sing the names of the dead who have brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and lettuce," Alexander read. "In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp-praise song for walking forward in that light." Source: An article by David Rogers for Politico.com and the inaugural address text published by the Associated Press

barack obama inauguration day first corinthians inaugural address elizabeth alexander