Coming Up Sunday, February 8

Sunday we will celebrate Lincoln Sunday, the Sunday preceding Lincoln's birthday. 75 years ago, this was a fairly common celebration for American churches -- and, on their sabbath, in Jewish synagogues. At that time, Lincoln's birthday was a federal holiday and his religious aspects -- often imagined, rather than based on reality -- seemed obvious to churchgoers and preachers.

Lincoln's religion is the subject of much debate, and I hesitate to speculate much upon it. If he lived in the present age, I think that Lincoln would identify himself not as a Christian, but in the popular nebulous "Spiritual, but not Religious" category. He was clearly a student of the Bible, and he was well-versed in the common theological language of the day. Sometimes when he speaks religiously he seems more political, than theological; often, and at surprising times, he seems much more theological than political when he speaks religiously. Depending on my mood, I can argue that the Second Inaugural Address -- which scholars almost universally put into the latter category -- can fall in either category. (Then again, I would generally argue that the end of the 1862 Message to Congress is much more theological than political, which would stupefy most scholars.)

Regardless, given my interest in Lincoln, preaching about Lincoln within the context of the church is a natural fit for me. When I was reminded of Lincoln sermons a few years back (in a book by a Disciples minister published 60 years ago), I looked for an opportunity to preach my own. Since then, I've preached one somewhere every year. It's challenging -- I usually have a lot to say; but more than that, I really try to push myself into new questions and possibilities when I prepare this sermon.

As I write this, I've finished a draft of the sermon. I'm not yet happy with it, and (for different reasons) you aren't either. I think it's still muddled -- the internal structure is less obvious than I like. You'll think it's too long -- right now, about 45 minutes. I'll be working to improve both before Sunday.

The length is not a surprise for me. Given that Lincoln sermons were commonly preached in the 1920s and 1930s, they tended to be as long as sermons of that time period. That length of sermon, similar to the length of a modern lecture, is a good length to dig deeply. The modern sermon, less than half that length, has very different goals. So the challenge of time -- always a challenge for me -- is heightened when I prepare a Lincoln sermon.

That aside, I am looking forward to this bicentennial Lincoln sermon, which will consider the meaning of Lincoln's birthplace cabin, which is enshrined outside of Hodgenville, Kentucky, on the piece of land where Lincoln was born. I will compare this American relic with some Christian relics -- notably the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Holy Land -- and with a Jewish relic -- the twelve stones that commemorated the miraculous crossing of the Jordan by the Hebrews when they arrived in the Promised Land.

Why do these places affect us? What are we really doing when we visit them? And what are these places, really? These are the questions that we'll explore on Sunday.