"THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH”
©Thomas B. Cundiff
PROVERBS 3: 1-12
HEBREWS 12: 1-2
Admonition to Trust and Honor God
My child,
do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare they will give you.
but let your heart keep my commandments;
for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare they will give you.
Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them round your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and of people.
bind them round your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and of people.
Trust in the Lord with all your
heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
Honor the Lord with your substance
and with the first fruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
and with the first fruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
My child, do not despise the Lord’s
discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
HEBREWS 12: 1-2
The Example of Jesus
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so
closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith,
who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne
of God.
I.
In recent
years I have become a fan of a prolific author and scholar named Diana Butler-Bass[1]. A few years ago our Presbytery of Lake Huron brought
her to the Horizon Conference Center
A
graduate from Duke University
Now follow me with this. Diana Butler-Bass is one who has been looking at contemporary religion not only through the eyes of scripture but also contemporary historical documents written by some of our esteemed national leadership.
Now follow me with this. Diana Butler-Bass is one who has been looking at contemporary religion not only through the eyes of scripture but also contemporary historical documents written by some of our esteemed national leadership.
For
example: Our current President Barak Obama recently
delivered is second Inaugural Speech this past January. It is a political speech. It is also a speech with spiritual overtowns.
This could have been a speech delivered
by Ronald Reagan or George Bush or George Washington, but Diana Butler Bass
decided to look critically at Obama’s Inaugural Speech through “religious /
spiritual” lens of contemporary religion.
This is
an interesting exercise in reading any great speech like the Gettysburg Address. Or in reading the Declaration of Independence
ask the question: What is being said of
this document looking at it from a spiritual perspective.
Where is God in these documents? One of the most obvious and profound religiouis statements to be found in any document are the words: “In God we Trust” or “We are One Nation Under God”. What do the women and men who lead us as a nation say about God?
Where is God in these documents? One of the most obvious and profound religiouis statements to be found in any document are the words: “In God we Trust” or “We are One Nation Under God”. What do the women and men who lead us as a nation say about God?
This is
the kind of research used by Diane
Butler Bass in opening doors for us to connect the dots between faith and
patriotism.
Again,
Diana Butler Bass’s emphasis in much of her work is “American Civil Spirituality”. So
this week before the fourth of July, what does our current president, Barak
Obama, say about our nation not from a political perspective but rather, a
spiritual perspective? Regardless where
you stand politically, what does our current president have to say to us as “one nation, spiritually, under God—striving
to be about the business of serving and nurturing a closer relationship with
God”?
II.
I have
placed copies of two of Barak Obama’s speeches in the back of the sanctuary.
First, on yellow paper, is his Second Inaugural Address delivered on January 21st of
this past year.
The second, on green paper, is the address he gave at
the National Prayer Breakfast on
February 7th, one month after his second inauguration.
Much of what I am sharing this
morning comes from Diana Butler Bass who looks at these speeches as public, creedal
statements on the meaning of America and a “call to practice faith in the
world. Specifically in looking a the
Second inaugural Address, it is an “expression of a genuinely pluralistic America
To continue
in sharing, directly, what Diane Butler-Bass says about “American Civil Spirituality” as seen through the eyes of our
President:
“President Obama is a
Christian but {in this speech} made few, if any, direct appeals to religion….. As president, he has a new historical problem
when it comes to speaking of faith. Through the twentieth century, presidents
were able to craft a generally religious language that addressed America’s
three most influential groups-Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. When President
Kennedy delivered his inaugural address, it was considered the best public
sermon in this tradition of American civil religion.
But the old civil
religion is no longer enough. In the first decade of the twenty-first century,
the percentage of the Christian population has declined as the number of nones,
atheists, agnostics, and those adhering to non-Christian religions increased
exponentially.
In 2011, according to
the Pew Forum, the United States became an officially pluralistic religious
country for the first time in its history, with no single faith tradition
claiming the allegiance of 50 percent of the population.”
Simply, the United States of America isn’t as protestant
or Catholic or Jewish as it used to be! And President Obama is the first
President called to speak to the nation on behalf of Christians and Jews and
the 50% of Americans who are atheists, agnostics or who adhere to another
non-Christian religion.
“Overtly Judeo-Christian
understandings of God are no longer adequate to address and include all of
America’s people.”
What can a president do?
Leave faith out of the equation? Or find new ways of expressing the
transcendent meanings of community?
Abandoning the {traditional}
language of faith would, of course, be the easier path (and the favored choice
for the atheists in our midst). In his
inaugural speech, President Obama did not choose the easy road. Instead, he
linked his progressive political agenda with transcendent values, with a
spiritual appeal to the new American pluralism.”
Simply, he gave a speeh inclusive of all religious
persons including Christians, Jews, Muslims, other religions…..and those who
choose not to believe in God at all!
This being said, Obama makes seveal points that cross
religious lines, consistent with what we believe as Christians….and these
points make for good preaching! Read his
speech through the lens of faith and you will see clearly this sermon:
First, LIFE IS A
JOURNEY! “We are on a perpetual pilgrimage, never
arriving to a settled place. {of course this is an image of the Biblical Exodus
and trec toward the promised land.} We seek deeper justice, greater knowledge of
ourselves in and through God, elusive wisdom, and wise action as we sojourn in
and through the world.”[3]
Obama said, “Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of
those words {of our founding texts} with the realities of our time.”
We are travelers.
Sojourners. Life is a
journey. “…to call the American people into
a journey is both a spiritual and political invitation toward a new
understanding of who we are and who we might be. To President Obama, the appeal
is a Christian one, but also one shared and understood by others {of different
religions}…”[4]
In his prayer breakfast speech, Obama using our scripture
today from the book of Hebrews, talks about faith as a process in this journey
moving forward as a nation and as people of God. For Obama says first,
“Faith is not
a possession. Faith is a process,”[5]
“I was struck”, says Obama, “by the passage…..from the book of Hebrews: ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to Him must believe that God exists and rewards those
who dilgently seek him’. God rewards those
who diligently seek Him—not for one moment or one day, but for every moment and
every day.”[6]
Life is a journey.
Faith is a jouney. Faith is not a
possession but a process! Regardless our political affirmations, this
is an inclusive message we can all embrace.
IV.
In the second section of the speech, President Obama articulates
six beliefs of a spiritual and political, as well as inclusive and pluralistic, creed:
To briefly list these beliefs consistent with God’s Word and Christian Scripture and the belief
systems fo those who may not be Christian:
1) We believe in community;
2) We believe in shared prosperity; --
emphasis on the word SHARED…..
3) We believe in mutual care of one another;
4) We believe in stewardship of the Earth;
5) We believe in peacemaking; and
6) We believe in equality and human rights.
Six creedal statements that are the basis of a political
agenda: Human Rights, Healthcare,
Immigration, Climate changes, World Peace, domestic peace,…and a longing in a
nation where there are still too many halves set against the have-nots: searching for the restoration of a nation
that can be called again: “One Nation Under God”!
To quote directly from Obama’s Inaugural Speech:
“We, the people, declare
today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is
the star that guides us still; just as
it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women,
sung and unsung, who left footprints along the great Mall, to hear a preacher
say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a
King {referencing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.} proclaim that our individual
freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on earth.”[8]
What our president has given us is a call to use our faith
as Christians and Ameridcans on this “Journey
through life” to make this a better world in which to live—together,
equally, inclusiveof all people and backgrounds and traditions and faith—all God’s
children!
This coming week we celebrate the Fourth of July—our living
as one nation UNDER GOD striving to be a nation that protects basic fundamental
rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness—for all humanity!
“Finally, President
Obama ended the speech with a call to
action. Almost all good sermons end with the preacher telling his or her
congregation to do something. Serve the poor, proclaim the faith, have hope in
the future, renew your hearts. Indeed, the inauguration address did just that:
Answer the call of history by renewing our ancient covenant of justice and
equality in this new and uncertain world. We must make a new American future.”[9]
V.
Conclusion
So our
call to action – from this pulpit: As we
approach this Fourth of July Holiday, let’s remember we are, together, people
of God….on a journey with faith driving us forward……and as Obama quotes the
book of Proverbs:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
And from
the letter to the Hebrews….life of faith and citizenship is but a sacred
journey…..so let us
run with
perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith….
[1]
Biography
Diana Butler Bass was born in Baltimore , Maryland Scottsdale , Arizona Duke University
[2] The Washington Post, “In Obama’s inauguration speech, a new
American Religion”, 1/25/13 .
[3] Ibid.
[4] Obama Prayer Breakfast Speech, February 6, 2013 .
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid. (Editorially, I tried to change some of the
“God/He” language to be more inclusive, GOD language!)
[7] Ibid. Butler Bass
[8] Obama Inauguration Speech, January 21, 2013
[9] Ibid, Butler
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