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Saturday, January 24, 2009
All New People
1 Peter 1:1-12; Isaiah 43:1-11
As Christmas drew near, I laid out plans for January's sermons. Smart me, to get all set with titles, texts, and themes before the holiday crunch of pleasant distractions and family-filled fun.
A major decision was to veer from the assigned lectionary Bible readings mid-month and begin a 5-week series on 1 Peter's variations on the theme of "all new people" -- a pretty good way to start another new year.
Hey, I've been doing this a long time and I can work the angles pretty well.
So my first sermon on 1 Peter (January 18) would be designed to emphasize the great good news that every new day is another little Easter for a Christian. Peter starts his letter by praising God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and celebrating its life-giving power to every believer and all of us together as the "Body of Christ," his church in the world today. Every morning, a new beginning, a chance to get it right for and with God on this grand new day.
All well and good. A good way to start the new year on the right foot.
But, duh me.
Planning ahead in December, I was blind to just how timely this first 1 Peter message was going to be. Like, one day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. What registered most then about that scheduling point was, "Attendance will probably be down since it's a 3-day holiday weekend. Oh well."
But, double duh me.
My first 1 Peter sermon would also be preached two days before Inauguration Day. And this year, of course, the convergence of those two national days for celebration and reflection was filled to overflowing with heart-stirring significance.
Set aside all particularities of politics, programs, policies, and agendas. Simply breathe deep and take in the mini-miracle of January 20, 2009...
In front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Martin Luther King told America, "I have a dream!" That one day all across our land people would no longer be judged and treated according to the color of their skin, but in response to the content of their character. Five years later, in Memphis TN, Dr. King told his people, "I have been to the mountain top and seen the promised land... I may not get there myself, but one day you will get there." Tragically, it was just one day later that he was shot down by a sniper's bullet.
Now, this year, all these long hard years later, on the steps of the Capitol Building Dr. King's dream came true. An American of African descent was sworn into office as our 44th President, on the basis not of his skin's color but of his character's content. And American citizens of every lineage swelled with grateful pride that our country's pledge of allegiance means exactly what it says about "liberty and justice for all"!
In the midst of that grand and glorious experience, shared with millions of Americans across our land, I remembered one thing my daughter Sharon told me the day after Election Day last November.
She was 8 months pregnant then, knowing already that she and Victor would have a son, having already agreed upon a name for him. That name would honor both sides of his American mutt heritage -- Sharon's from Europe and Victor's from the Philippines: Mateo Jackson Buckley Hernandez.
What she said was, "I'm so proud and glad that Barack Obama was elected to be our President. Not just because I voted for him, but because from now on we'll be able to tell our son that he too could one day become the President of the United States!"
All new people. All new possibilities. Each new day. The heartbeat of Christ's gospel and the pulse of America's collective psyche are one and the same this wonderful week.
I swear, my eyes are damp all over again as I write this. Thanks be to God.
posted by Jack Buckley at
11:06 AM
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