Months ago, the Senator was asked if he was worried about the role racism might play in the election. He answered that if he lost the election it wouldn’t be because of the color of his skin, but because he had failed to present a compelling vision to the American people. He didn’t want it to be about race, nor did we. We wanted to believe that America had evolved to the point that people could be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. But in the back of our minds we wondered if that was true; we wondered if, when people stood in the privacy of those voting booths, the deeply ingrained prejudice would rear its ugly head and prevail once again.

          For the most part, the campaign was not about race; it was about issues and experience and ideas. But there was a moment for each of us, late on Tuesday night or early on Wednesday morning, when we realized that it was very much about race. Maybe it was during Senator McCain’s extraordinarily gracious concession speech. Maybe it came little later, when Senator Obama invoked the 106 year old woman living long enough to cast a vote for an African American President. For me, the moment of remembering how much race was a part of this election story came when the camera panning the crowd in Hyde Park picked out the tear stained face of Jesse Jackson. I remembered the face of the young Jesse Jackson – the brave and defiant face, the one without wrinkles and furrows. I recalled that Jackson had been on the balcony of that motel room in Memphis on April 4, 1968. And here we were, I thought to myself, a generation later, celebrating the election of Barack Obama. That’s when I started to cry.

As I looked at Jesse Jackson I began to think of the faces of people who did not live to see this day. My mother and father. Dr. Roy Morrison, professor of philosophy of religion at Wesley Seminary. He was fiercely intelligent, the only UU on a faculty of devout Christians, and he loved to debate his students. Many of my fellow students were terrified of him; I enjoyed arguing with him. He told us a story that happened to him when he first moved to the DC area. Roy had grown up in the Jim Crow era, he had known the fear that all black men had of white policemen. One day, he was driving from his home to the seminary in morning rush hour, and his car stalled. There was honking and shouting as frustrated commuters are wont to do in DC. Then he looked back and saw the flashing lights of a police car. “Here I was,” he told us, “a professor with a PhD from the University of Chicago, and all I could think of was how scared I was.” The officer walked up beside his car and said, “Sir, do you need some assistance?” There was wonder in Roy’s voice as he retold that story. “For a minute I couldn’t even answer, I was so confused. A white police officer had called me sir.”

One day we were arguing about whether foundational documents written by imperfect people could transcend those imperfections. As always, Dr. Morrison wanted a concrete example. “Well,” I said. “The Founding Fathers never intended for either of us to vote . . . “ He conceded the point. I wish Dr. Morrison had lived to see this day.

Perhaps the best commentary I’ve seen on the meaning of race in this election was written by Peggy Wallace Kennedy, the daughter of George and Lurleen Wallace. She tells of visiting her parents graves, and encountering an elderly white woman who recognized and stopped to talk with her. “After a few moments, she wrote, “the woman leaned into me and spoke almost in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘I never thought I would live to see the day when a black would be running for president. I know your daddy must be rolling over in his grave.’ Not having the heart or the energy to respond, I gave her bony arm a slight squeeze, turned and walked away.  . . . I assumed that she had not bothered to notice the Barack Obama sticker on my bumper. Four years ago, the young Illinois senator who spoke at the Democratic National Convention mesmerized me. I hoped even then that he would one day be my president. Today, Barack Obama is hope for a better tomorrow for all Americans. He stands on the shoulders of all those people who have incessantly prayed for a day when ‘justice will run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream’ (Amos 5:24). Perhaps one day, my two sons and I will have the opportunity to meet Barack Obama in person to express our gratitude to him for bringing our family full circle. And today, the day after the election, I am going to ride to the cemetery so that if asked, I can vouch for the fact that the world is still spinning but my father lies at peace.”

So the election was more than a little bit about race. But it was also about change. In his victory speech President-Elect Obama said, “What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.”

And now . . .  And now . . . now that we have recovered from this very long election season, caught up on our sleep, spent a Saturday at home instead of out canvassing or holding signs or making phone calls, or avoiding the people canvassing and holding signs and making phone calls . . . and now the real work of change begins. Let us be very clear that bringing about the changes we hope for is not one man’s job; it is a job for all of us. It is impossible for even the most charismatic, the most articulate, the smartest and best organized among us to change any system by themselves. It is impossible for the president of the United States, it is impossible for the minister of South Church. No single person can magically change any organization or system. Change happens when we all work together.

          In order to bring about even a fraction of what we hope for and what America voted for last Tuesday, we are going to have to change the way we think about ourselves. We are going to have to put aside the comfortable mantle of the underdogs, the liberal minority awash in the sea of conservatism. We are going to have to recognize that it is our turn to govern from the inside rather than rabble rouse from the outside. In his very inspirational Ware Lecture at General Assembly in June, Van Jones warned us of what was coming this fall. “Y’all are about to mess up and be successful,” he said. “Prepare to govern.” Let’s do that; let’s act like winners.

Once the new President is inaugurated we are going to have to hold him to his promises, support him as he struggles with the powers that be, call him to account, and let him know that he isn’t working alone. But as he himself pointed out in his news conference on Friday, he isn’t president yet, won’t be until January 20th. So I’d like to propose a spiritual exercise for all of us between now and Inauguration Day. I want to ask every one of you to promise to commit at least one act of charity and one act of justice in the next 70 days.

Acts of charity should be easy this time of year. Bring food for our food pantry collection; no excuses about not being able to remember. Participate in the Giving Line. For those of you who want to commit a more radical act of charity, think about this. Governor Lynch has put together a program called Stay Warm New Hampshire. One aspect of this program is to provide a free energy audit to every family in the state eligible for fuel assistance. These audits identify ways to weatherize homes so they use less fuel to keep warm. Unfortunately the waiting list for audits has grown to several thousand families. The state is looking for volunteers to be trained to do the audits along with simple tasks such as putting up weather stripping and caulking. If we could get just half a dozen people from South Church to sign up as volunteers, we could weatherize dozens and dozens of houses this winter. Each family would save money on heating oil, and we would also reduce our carbon foot print. You can go to staywarmnh.org to volunteer. Members of the Green Sanctuary team can also talk to you about this program.

          Now, how about acts of justice? That might be more challenging for many of you; it is my intention to challenge you. How about if every one of you were to identify one issue that you really care about: climate change, civil rights, civil liberties, reproductive choice, affordable health care, the war in Iraq . . . And what if you then took one action to advocate for that issue? Write to your elected representatives, join an advocacy organization and actually follow up on their action alerts, make a donation that isn’t tax deductible because it will be used to advocate for legislative reform of some kind. This one little step could be a warm-up for the work our President-Elect is inviting us to do with him.

          I don’t want this to be theoretical; I don’t want you to listen to these words, then go home and forget about them. I’ve got a piece of poster board here – it says Acts of Charity on one side and Acts of Justice on the other. As you commit your acts, I invite you to sign your name on this poster, and tell us what you have done. Wouldn’t it be a great gift to our community if every member of this congregation was able to proudly put their names on each side?

          Let’s not sit back and expect somebody else to fix our problems. Let’s not sit out the next 8 years. America has elected a hope-monger to the presidency. Let’s be the incarnation of that hope. Not one man but all of us. “It is time,” Van Jones said last June, “to reconnect with love and enthusiasm. Martin Luther King’s speech was not ‘I Have a Complaint’ or ‘I Have a Critique’ or ‘I Have a Long List of Issues’. We need beautiful dreams; the country isn’t looking for critique but for inspiration to be our best self.”

          Let’s all go and do likewise.