The Purpose-Driven [Inaugural] Prayer

Which prayer will you remember?

by Adam Stout

President Obama asked two pastors to pray at the historic inaugural ceremony on January 20^th. The first to pray was Pastor Rick Warren. Warren is the author of Purpose-Driven Life (one of the top-selling non-fiction books of all time), pastor of the eighth largest church in the U.S., and director of six nonprofit organizations. The media coverage of Warren's comments on homosexuality only added to an already electric environment surrounding the inaugural celebration of our first African-American President. (I'm cheering as I type this!). The world was watching as Warren stepped to the microphone, his hair blowing in the wintry air, a sea of over one million people stretching out before him, and countless more watching on TV. The energy was palpable. The fruit was ripe for the picking. But Warren didn't pick it. Instead, Rev. Joseph Lowery, age 87, picked that ol' fruit right off the vine.

When someone ten years from now asks me what Warren said, they'll be lucky if I can recount some vague recollection of how he asked God to remind us we're Americans and said "Jesus" in about 14 different languages at the end. However, they will be happy to know I still remember Lowery's prayer. He asked the Lord, "to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say, Amen!"

So, what makes Lowery's prayer, as we're fond of saying around here, "stick?" Here are a few thoughts I had. Firstly, poetry is not dead. It's a great way to get across something profound in a brief, memorable way. Secondly, who you are matters. God uses certain people at certain times. Lowery may not have an imposing physical presence, but he carries the ethos of someone who has lived through tough times. I don't care if you have the popularity of Michael Jordan, the reputation of Billy Graham and the money of Bill Gates. You can't buy that credibility. Someone who has been treated unjustly and now speaks about justice commands our attention before word one. Thirdly, humor is a powerful gift. Humor can easily be misused to distract from or trivialize a serious problem. But it can also be used effectively, even when communicating with our Creator. Lowery held in one hand the long history of injustice toward minorities and the poor that continues to this day, but the other hand offered us the grace to see the humor in humanity. He helped us laugh at ourselves. Rather than being sacrilegious in prayer, I think humor can be seen as an act of humility. And an act that is, I hope, contagious.

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