Strong Voices From Our Unitarian Universalist Tradition

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Opening Words

from James 2

What good is it my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace. Keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the god of that?

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

SERMON:

Strong Voices From Our Untiarian Universalist Tradition

Have you ever considered who your favorite Unitarian or Universalist or Unitarian Universalist is? Perhaps someone from this congregation? Perhaps someone from our UU history and heritage? Is there someone whom you wish to emulate in your life process. Is there a "prophetic man or woman whose words and deeds challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love"? – to paraphrase our second source of inspiration.

One of my favorites is Theodore Parker. Though a physically small man, he had a brilliant mind, was fascinated with science as well as theology, foreshadowed Process Theology, and lived his faith. He lived his faith by providing a stop on the Underground Railroad for African-Americans fleeing slavery to Canada. David Robinson says:

In 1845 Parker began to preach regularly in Boston, forming the Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society there. From his Boston pulpit he increasingly involved himself in reform and antislavery causes, coming to be known as the leading reform preacher in Unitarian circles. The direction of his career was from theological to political radicalism. (David Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists. Westport, Connecticut, The Greenwood Press, 1985. p. 302.)

For me, Parker’s work is inspiring – And I know the other side of the story. He was vilified by his Unitarian colleagues as TOO liberal, TOO radical, a dangerous man. "Parker suffered ostracism from his fellow Unitarian Ministers and assumed the role of rebel that he carried until his death." (Ibid.) It is not uncommon for a person to be held in contempt for not "going along to get along." I remember a congregant saying, not with appreciation, "You have to be careful with Gretchen She just Does things."

On the other hand, one of the congregants in the first parish I served was often upset by "Sunshine Unitarians" who would not act on the values they claimed to espouse. I often felt he was speaking of me, for I tend to avoid conflict, sometimes under the guise of "freedom of thought." Yet, I keep a poster on the walls of my office which quotes Dante Alghieri: "The hottest parts of Hell are reserved for those who remain silent in times of moral crisis." I want to be encouraged to act, as well as speak.

How do we live our tradition? How do we act out our faith? First, we need to match our skills with needs. Then we need to have spiritual grounding to take us through difficult times. And finally, we must not be stretched too thin to do anything.

Matching skills with needs: Certainly, I could not live my faith by serving in Medecins sans Frontieres. I am not a medical doctor. It is essential that I find a way to serve that uses my interests and skills to good end. Parker matched his skills for persuasive speaking with his actions for abolition of slavery. So, for each of us, the beginning of becoming a strong voice for Unitarian Universalism is to determine what your strengths are. This applies when finding you life’s work and when seeking how to serve as a volunteer. As a teacher and spiritual mentor, I have always known that one of the best ways for me to serve this association is to mentor ministers. I have done this since a year after my own entry to ministry. Perhaps this congregation could become a teaching congregation and consistently support the development of new UU ministers, but that will take money and time from all of us, not just from me.

Also important to being effective in serving is being grounded spiritually. I do not mean that one must have a prayer practice, though that does work for some of us, as it did for Parker. I mean that each of us needs some way to re-charge our batteries when they begin to run out of juice. One of the saddest things in the world is an activist who is angry and belligerent toward others, rather than inspiring. Those are folks who feel self-righteous, out of gas, and out of sorts. Your spiritual grounding may come from meeting with other activists to deepen your own understanding of why you do the work. It can also come with physical activity, listening to music, journaling, or meditating. But you need a way to re-charge to keep social action fun for yourself and for others when the going gets tough. If Emerson had not taken long walks in nature, he would not have been the writer who inspires so many of us to tend our own spiritual lives.

Finally, each of us needs to pick only one or two areas of activism, rather than trying to do it all. I know I simply have to say "No!" to the majority of activism opportunities that arise because I don’t have the skill or the energy for them. But if I do one or two things well, that is quite enough. Rachel Carson, a Unitarian, focused upon her love of nature and her gift for writing. She gave us food for thought that changed the world – at least for a time, so we took seriously our care for our Mother Earth.

I think we honor Allen Throop because he concentrated on teaching and the Green Belt Land Trust and had a fabulous spiritual practice in the our-of-doors. His is a strong voice for UU that will inspire us for years to come.

As you now know, today we have our annual SUNNY Sunday, our opportunity to Sign Up Now for Next Year. I invite you to consider your gifts and how you might use them to further Unitarian Universalism right here in some small way next year. This may not seem like large action, but it is meaningful to this community in which we live and move and have our being.

Maybe you would like to add your energies to the Social Action Committee which raises money for worthwhile activities here in Corvallis and through the Unitarian Universalist Association. Maybe you would like to add your energies to an expanded Social Justice program that would register voters here and in town or work for same-sex right to marry. Maybe you could teach in our Religious Exploration program. Maybe you would like to assist in co-creating worship with the Worship Committee. Do spend a few minutes talking to our helpful members around the room who will guide you through your options. You too can be a strong voice for Unitarian Universalism. Give it a try.

As Olympia Brown, the first woman ordained by a national church on this continent wrote:

Stand by this faith. Work for it and sacrifice for it. There is nothing in all the world so important as to be loyal to this faith which has placed before us the loftiest ideals, which has comforted us in sorrow, strengthened us for noble duty and made the world beautiful. Do not demand immediate results but rejoice that we are worthy to be entrusted with this great message, that you are strong enough to work for a great true principle without counting the cost. Go on finding ever new applications of these truths and new enjoyments in their contemplation, always trusting in the one God which ever lives and loves.

Closing Words from Theodore Parker

Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere;

its temple, all space;

its shrine, the good heart;

its creed, all truth;

its ritual, works o love;

its profession of faith, divine living.

So Be It! Blessed Be!

Rev. Gretchen Woods