Last night's sermon at Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Colorado-Boulder featuring Luke 4.14-20.
Last week classrooms sat empty, powerpoint presentations went unpointed, and due dates postponed as the university celebrated a civic holiday. A big part of that holiday this year was the presidential inauguration. I imagine you heard some of the controversy emerging from the inaugural ritual. The media from the Times to the Post all the way down to the TMZ have been up in arms because it appears that much of the inaugural event may have been fake.
The biggest offender of our notions of authenticity and originality was Beyonce. The pop music heavyweight may or may not have lip synched her powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, depending on which sources you trust. But the whole day, with thousands of people spread out along the parade route and the mall was, in a sense, fake. The Constitution requires that the president be sworn into office on January 20th, this past Sunday. The inaugural celebration traditionally takes place on a weekday. So, President Obama took the oath of office in the blue room on Sunday in a small private service and opted to move the public celebration to the traditional Monday. While many presidents have made this same choice, you could see the entire inaugural affair on Monday as one collective lip synch, reciting the same words, songs, and rituals from the day before, but without the constitutional punch.
