Rev. Debora Jackson of Needham (Baptist)

Inspired by the Inauguration 2009 Sermons and Orations Project of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center, the Globe invited local clergy to e-mail the texts of inauguration-related sermons and prayers for posting here on the Articles of Faith religion blog. You can find all of the submissions by clicking on the Inauguration Sermons category in the blog’s right rail.

A sermon by the Rev. Debora Jackson, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Needham:

"I am honestly looking forward to Tuesday. I want this event to be indelibly emblazoned on my mind – I want to say that I knew where I was and what I doing when history was made – when the first African American man became the 44th president of the United States of America. I’m excited. I am filled with joy. As I’ve told you before, I have great grandfathers who were born slaves. My grandfather shared stories of having to get off the sidewalk if a white person was walking by. My parents remember segregated movie theaters and being unable to try on or return clothing as if somehow our black skin would soil and spoil the material. These memories, this legacy of oppression, are part of my consciousness. So living this experience where I can acknowledge and recognize freedom and liberty; this experience where I am a living witness to progress and equality is great and meaningful to me.

But I’m not the only one. I’ve heard dozens of people talking about taking the day off,
canceling all appointments and being glued to the TV just to watch the inauguration. Our
own Yolanda Harris is in DC right now preparing to see the festivities up close and
personally. And millions in this nation and around the world are going to be tuned in so
that they too can mark this day. Why, because Barack Obama has stirred up within us
hope – a hope that government can and should play a greater role in solving problems at
all levels. And he’s out to demonstrate that. Do you know that Barack Obama,
according to some accounts, has made 510 campaign promises? The promise run the
gamut from ending the war in Iraq, to providing 50 billion dollars in the global fight
against AIDs/HIV, to creating 5-million “green” jobs, to passing an economic stimulus
package to help restart our economy. There is a lot riding on this. There is a lot riding on
him. Our expectations are high.

But you know at some levels, this doesn’t seem fair. How could we expect that one
person could single handedly save the world? Is he faster than a speeding bullet? Is he
more powerful than a locomotive? Is he able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
No. He’s just a man – a single, individual man. And Barack Obama knows that. That’s
why he spent the entire campaign and the months since his election stirring us up. He
was stirring up the hope that is within us. He was stirring up the hope in order to
motivate us and heighten our desire for change.

Recalling Obama’s words, he reminded us of our shared hopes: “Hope is not blind
optimism. Hope is not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing
inside of us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that there is something
greater inside of us.”

He reminded us of our shared identity, that there's not a liberal America and a
conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America
and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of
America. It’s not about red states or blue states. Out of many, we are one people, one
nation - all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the
United States of America.

He reminded us of our shared vision - We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
And because he has stirred up ours hopes, because he reminded us of our shared identity,
because he reminded us of our shared vision, we were motivated to believe. Because he
did these things, we were motivated to mobilize. Be he did these things, we were
motivated to act.

But that is right now. We are motivated to change, we are moved to affect change, we
are committed to make change, we are vested to ensure that change occurs. And that’s a
good thing, but what happens over time? You understand the principle of inertia right?
“A body in motion tends to remain in motion; a body at rest tends to remain at rest.”
Right now, we’re that body in motion. But inertia is impacted by friction. Friction
brings moving objects to rest relatively quickly and we all understand friction. There is
the friction of our jobs – we’re too busy working to take on new things. There is the
friction in our families and homes – I’ve got too much going on with a spouse, children,
pets, home – I can’t take on anything else. There is the friction lives – we’re busy doing
this, we’re busy doing that and we simply don’t have time. There is the friction of
existing commitments – I’m on school committee, the PTA, I’m on a board at the church,
I volunteer over here and over there – I can’t commit to one more thing. And because of
the amount of friction this moving object – our best intentions for change; our most
fervent hopes for something different; our greatest desires for something better – comes
to rest and very little changing in the final analysis.

So what must happen? What is it that we must to affect change – and I’m not talking
about a change that is predicated on one man’s efforts; I’m not talking about a temporal
change that’s predicated on our collective motivation; I’m talking about a lasting change.
How can we become the lasting change that we want to see?

This is where I look to the 51st psalm. Left to our own devices, we are not going to affect
lasting change. We’re too selfish and too self-centered. “Oh yeah, I believe we should
help the homeless, but you don’t really mean for me to go out there and do something”.
“Sure, I want to see our schools get more money for programs, but you can’t raise my
taxes to do it”. “Absolutely, I think we need to provide aid and support for impoverished
nations, but I don’t have any money to give.” David understood this as he wrote this
psalm. He was effectively saying, “Left to my own devices, I’m going to be focused on
me.” He was no different than the rest of us.

And that’s why we need some divine intervention to affect change. We need to be
remade. We need to have our desires realigned. We need to be refocused not on what we
want or what suits us, but instead on what God want. That’s why David said, “Create in
me a clean heart”.

And you’ve got to understand the significance of the word “create”. The meaning is
exactly the same as what we see in Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth”. And in that same fashion, David asks God to construct his heart
from scratch, from nothingness. Speak and bring it into existence. Bring into existence,
oh God, a changed nature – one not focused on selfish pursuits and endeavors; one not
focused on my agenda and plan, one not focused on me, me, me but one that is like yours
– a heart that is righteous, a heart that is just, a heart that is pure. Create in me a clean
heart.

Then David says, “I need a righteous spirit”. I need a spirit that is moved and shaped by
yours. I need a spirit that is submitted to yours. I need a spirit that is surrendered to
yours. Because it is with a righteous spirit that I will advocate for the poor. It is with a
righteous spirit that I can care for the needy. It is with a righteous spirit that I will speak
out against injustice. I need a right spirit in me.

We need a clean heart; we need a right and renewed spirit and combined our changed
heart and spirits will enable us to make the lasting change that we seek. And here’s the
good news: for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that
change is closer than we think. For as Paul said in his letter to the church in Corinth, “If
anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,
everything has become new!” It reminds me of a song that I once taught to my children’s
choir – once I was a caterpillar, but now I’m a butterfly. I’ve been transformed, been
reborn and Jesus is the reason why.

Through Jesus Christ, God has given us a clean heart. Through Jesus Christ, God has
given us a right spirit. Through Jesus Christ, God has restored the joy of our salvation.
Through Jesus Christ, God has given us a sustained willingness.

Now all you have to do is follow Jesus Christ and be the change. We’ve already been
transformed, so be the change. We’ve already been empowered, so be the change.
We’ve already been equipped, so be the change. There are children that are starving and
need our help, so be the change. There are families that are struggling and need our
support, so be the change. There are people who have never heard the gospel message,
so be the change. There are victims who need an advocate, so be the change. There are
injustices that must be righted, so be the change. There is work that needs to be done, so
be the change. Through Jesus Christ we have become the change that we want to see
because through Jesus Christ we are a people who have been anointed to bring good news
to the poor; we have been anointed to proclaim release to the captives. We have been
anointed to recover the sight of the blind. We have been anointed to let the oppressed go
free. We have been anointed to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. In other words,
we’ve been anointed to be the change that we want to see. So be the change church,
recommit your lives to God through Jesus Christ and be the change because we’ve got
work to do."