Mark 1:14-20
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Like many of you, I watched with some sense of awe the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama. It was quite an impressive spectacle, appropriate to the significance of the day. By the way, I hope you listened for the benediction. It was given by Rev. Joseph Lowery, an early advocate for civil rights in this country and a retired United Methodist pastor – I was proud that we as United Methodists were well represented at the inauguration.

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You will remember where you were today.

We can now say “President Obama.”

Whatever your political views (and we have them all at UMC of H) today is a day to celebrate. There is a sense that anything might be possible for us as a people. If we can overcome our deepest wound – the scar at the intersection of slavery, civil war and racism – might we not also overcome the present challenge?

I don’t generally give much stock to politicians – they always seem a little too self-interested to me. But we as a people need to claim our democratic values and assume our rightful place as people to self-govern our selves. Barack is our president. We are not his subjects. And now is the time to reclaim our sense of identity and purpose and to assume our role of leadership in the world. Might we once again champion human rights here and abroad? Might we again work to create peace and justice in the lands of our neighbors? Might we once again be known for our generosity and concern for the poor? Is it possible that the best values of our religious tradition might become the foundation of our political agenda?

Well, I don’t know. But I do think today we have reason to hope.

John 1: 43-51
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

There was no voice from heaven. Lights didn’t flash and thunder didn’t clap. There wasn’t even a precise moment. Yet, somehow, somewhere along the line, I realized that I was called by God to serve as a minister in the United Methodist Church. Developing a sense of call is not always easy, but I do believe that each one of us has some divine program: some divine calling that we can respond to and which will help fulfill our lives. And I also believe that God’s intention is for us to know our calling and to lead a life in harmony with God’s will.

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Mark 1: 4-11
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Part of our human awareness is that all of us are less than we could be. We see this fact in the broken world in which we live, where violence and crime are merely the worst expressions of our broken relationships with each other. We see this in our own failed efforts to be better people, time and again discovering our limitations and faults. So the first place to begin our spiritual journey is with the recognition that we could be more, we could be better. (more…)