Beginnings
When I attended an installation service for one of my colleagues a while back I
was surprised to discover that the sermon was not going to be provided by a revered
elder colleague or by someone from Boston or, in fact, by a Unitarian Universalist
minister, at all. Rather, the one chosen
for that honor was the leader of an independent Buddhist congregation that meets
on Wednesday evenings in the Unitarian Universalist church where I had been teaching
Adult Education courses. I had wondered
what all the cars were doing at the church when I arrived on Wednesday evenings. Now I knew.
The leader was a pleasant looking woman who had a gentle,
quiet air about her. She began by telling
a story that I would like to share with you.
She told about one of her colleagues who had been leading Buddhist worship services
for many years and who recently discovered that he was suffering from the early
stages of Alzheimer's disease.
He began his talk like this:
[hands together in prayer and head bowed]
Warm [pause]
Relaxed [pause]
Curious [pause]
Anxious [pause]
Wondering [pause]
Expectant [pause]
Lost [pause]
Where am I? [pause]
Why am I here? [pause]
He had indeed misplaced the memory of what the event
was and why he was standing in front of so many people.
What did they want of him? What
were their expectations? So he spoke
the only words that did make sense to him.
He realized that he was in the here and now and, though lost, he need not panic. He knew that this too would pass and
the only thing that he could do was tell the people before him what he did know. And what he knew were the feelings that
washed over him in the present – the here and now.
As I begin my ministry here I sometimes ask the same
questions: “Where am I?” and “Why am I here?”
Some of you are probably also asking “Who is this person?”
and “Why is he here? Followed by, “What is in store for us?”
“Where is the road that we have turned onto headed?” And then, apprehensively,
perhaps, “What if we can’t return?” “Will we wind up where we don’t want
to be?” Or, maybe, just maybe, “Will
we find ourselves in a place that we didn’t even know existed?”
Who knows?
We have chosen to make this journey together through a fog that we can only partially
see into. All we know is the present
– the here and now.
Beginnings elicit anticipation, expectation, hope and
eagerness along with apprehension, anxiety, concern and misgivings.
We look forward to the future yet we are apprehensive that changes will upset
our comfortable existence. We have
done this before, of course: our first day of school and of summer camp, our first
date, leaving home to go to college.
Throughout our lives we constantly find ourselves confronted with the need, desire
and anxiety of new beginnings.
And they never end.
When we buy our first car – we are excited with the anticipation but we can’t
help but be concerned. “Can I afford
this?” “What if the car breaks down?”
When we buy our first home we ask what if the plumbing
springs a leak?” “What kind of lawn
mower do I need to buy?” And yet the
prospect of a backyard barbeque or having something that is not temporary is appealing
enough that we take the risk.
When we marry we pledge to stick by each other “For
better or worse” and we don’t know which it will be. What about the apprehension
mixed with great joy when a child is born?
We know that this will probably completely change our lives, but how?
Will it be for better or for worse?
Finding a new job and even retiring are other life passages that give us joy yet
are sometimes accompanied with apprehension.
Life is, indeed, full of transitions.
We are born curious and questing. While
we don’t like to give up the comfort of our easy chair we are continually drawn
to new discoveries.
Calling a minister is just such a beginning for this
congregation, and, also, I might add, for this minister as well.
You see a new face in the pulpit and I see many new faces in the pews. Yet, for me at least, there is something
very familiar about this experience.
Not only have I begun ministries a number of times in the past but I also feel at
home in almost any Unitarian Universalist Church.
A number of years ago, while sitting in a dentist’s
office I was glancing through one of the magazines available.
I don’t remember whether it was a Time or Newsweek, but as
I turned the pages a small picture caught my eye.
I turned to my wife and, pointing to the picture, said “Doesn’t this look
like a UU coffee hour?” She smiled
back at me and said “Yea, Right.” Well,
I looked down again and began reading the article. I discovered that it was indeed
a UU coffee hour! There was something
strikingly familiar about the way the people looked and the way they were engaging
each other, not to mention that they were all holding coffee cups.
We often take for granted the specialness, indeed the
uniqueness of a UU congregation. We
are not from the same religious, race or ethnic background and we pride ourselves
in being very individualistic, yet these very traits are part of who we are. And, in addition, we take our religion
seriously. Someone once said that the
difference between Unitarian Universalists and Methodists was that UUs were the
ones that had the courage to leave when the sermons no longer made sense.
There is a strength in that.
It is like the energy that immigrants bring when they arrive in a new country. They work harder, for longer hours,
at lower wages. They do that because
they have a mission. They are not about
to squander the risk and danger they endured in making the voyage to
America
by not taking advantage of the opportunities available.
Those of us who were not born Unitarians or Universalists
(and about 85% of UUs are not birthright Unitarians or Universalists) were probably
immediately attracted to this religion once we discovered it.
We were, as some have termed it, “UUs without knowing it”.
There is just something about UUs that makes us feel that we belong. Although we have a wide variety of theological
perspectives and we often find ourselves debating this point or that, in fact, we
are probably more homogeneous than many Christian or Jewish congregations.
When the current “Purposes and Principles” were unveiled
a number of years ago I was prepared for a multi-year argument.
We have always prided ourselves on being a “Religion without a Creed”. We are what in an earlier generation
was known as “Free Thinkers”. And yet,
the “Purposes and Principles”, as much like a creed as you are likely to find, were
adopted rapidly with only minor revisions.
For over twenty years UUs throughout the country have found them to be a fair representation
of our collective understanding of who we are in the world.
When it was announced at GA last summer that they would be reevaluated I
was surprised. But, it is not being
done because they misrepresent what we believe but rather to reexamine whether they
are the clearest and most complete statement that we can come up with, and if, in
the intervening twenty years, we have changed.
You see, one of the unwritten principles of Unitarian Universalism is that
we resist sitting still. Ours is a
living religion. And like a living
language, it must be open to change and not be permitted to stagnate.
It is,
thus, completely in keeping with what it means to be Unitarian Universalists that
you are engaged I a process of change. Sure it is scary, but, as in so much
of life, we must move through the changes or fight a losing and costly battle to
stop the future. The particular change
that you are about to embark upon is the change from having a long term established
“called” minister to having two new ministers in just a couple of years.
This is not an easy transition.
There will be many small changes as well as, perhaps, a few large ones. Many of
these changes cannot be known ahead of time.
The fog is thicker in some areas than others.
What we can anticipate, however, is the requirement that we, and I include
myself here, keep an open mind, embrace compromise, and bring with the endeavor
a measure of humility. No one has all
of the answers or solutions. We need
to commit ourselves to working together to sort though the issues as they arise. And one other thing – we need to constantly
remind ourselves that this is a religious community for which and through which
we are working. We may have experience
with corporate or educational organizational models or the way that non-profit volunteer
groups and clubs function but a religious congregation is none of these.
As a religious group there are important interpersonal obligations that must
be kept continually in mind. Every
task undertaken must be accomplished in deference to its effect on the members of
the congregation. It is, in this way,
an entirely different animal. This
is the bottom line – not money or political gain or personal egos.
It is often difficult to change gears, but it is essential
that we covenant together that when we walk through that door we enter a different
reality. If we do not we will be cheating
ourselves. The world does not need
another retail store or university or political advocacy group.
The world needs more compassionate and selfless and tolerant and questing
religious groups that seek to enhance the way each of us lives our lives.
While I have spent a number of hours with some individuals
and already met with a number of committees in preparation for my ministry here
with you, for all of us the newness of my being the minister of this congregation
is still with us.
When I began as a minister fresh out of seminary I titled
my first sermon “Chapter I”. Like this sermon I wanted to speak about the new beginning
that we were making together. I mistitled it. I later realized that it was an important
fact that neither I nor the congregation were in reality new. We were both very
old. We each had many years of memories which would influence our journey together.
Like the pilgrims who walked together telling tales on the way to
Canterbury
we bring with us much to share. We bring to our joint relationship the enormous
painted composition of our previous lives. Neither I nor this congregation, nor
any of you individually, come here this morning as a freshly stretched canvas. All
of us have had unique histories, and it is the growing experiences, as well as the
prejudices and ignorances of that past that we bring to our new life together.
There is a process early in a relationship between two
people who seek to become wed, hopefully before the marriage takes place but, if
not, soon thereafter, of discovering as
much as possible about the other's past life. We intuitively understand that we
need to know what has been important and what has been a source of irritation to
our partner if we are to be able to travel the road ahead successfully and in harmony.
One of the clearest distinctions between religions
is their understanding of time. Judaism remembers the past and attempts to relive
the past - the golden age. Not only
Eden
but also the time of the Prophets, the period of David's
Temple
, and the era of ancient
Israel
are valued. The concentration camps of Nazis and the pogroms of the Middle Ages
are remembered. The past is maintained in the Hebrew language as well as the traditions
of the ancient world.
Christianity borrows a little from Judaism and, in
the form of Saints, also from the veneration of ancestors of some Eastern religions.
But the focus of Christianity is on the future - the
Kingdom of God
to come. Heaven and Hell are the motivating images for Christianity which sees the
present and the past as but preparation for the future. Muslims, like Christians,
focus on the future even promoting the concept of Muslim warriors who die in battle
attaining automatic fulfillment. Hinduism is future – nirvana – oriented. In order to not be distracted by the physical
present it seeks to be inner directed through Meditation and Yoga which relax one
from the concerns of the material present. Since there is only an infinite cycle
of the present nothing else matters. Orientations directed toward the past or the
future or the inner present are extremely valuable in enabling human beings to deal
with a genuine present and future that is sometimes dismal and hopeless.
Yet, while we are always in the genuine present whether
it be good or bad, we are constantly effected by our past and guided by our future.
All three must be always be present, for time is neither one nor another of these
concepts, but all three. Not only life but being itself is composed of the past,
the present and the future. Always everything changes.
Unitarian Universalists come from all of these perspectives.
There are many UUs with a strong Christian background who see this life as but a
preparation for what is to come. Others bring with them the Jewish veneration of
the past. There are equally many Unitarian Universalists who have taken to meditation
and Yoga as important aspects of their lives.
According to Process theologians, it is not really
the solid objects that are really real but rather the process of change and evolution.
We might liken this to a splash of water. It is not the pool from which the splash
originated nor the final outcome of the water on the face, but rather the movement
from the former to the latter that was the splash. Life is neither the birth of
an individual nor the death of that individual but what happens between. This is
the present but it is only the present as it passes from the past to the future.
Process - neither past nor future nor, even, present
- Process. I believe that this is what is most important in a church or congregation.
Where we have come from - as individuals and as a group - the past - is important
because it affects how we react to, approach, and deal with things. Goals - that
is, the future - are very important because without them a person, a group, an institution
will be stagnate and eventually die of emptiness. Yet the process of how we interact,
of how we relate, of how we make decisions matters most.
Our lives together is a process. We need to understand
the chapters that came before and we need to be motivated to move forward to the
chapters ahead. We are here now and we need to affirm that too. But what was, must
influence (but need not determine) what will be, and what will be, should guide
us toward (but need not prevent us from) being fully present here and now. It is
important that the process affirm both the past and the future and that we get the
most out of what we have.
And what is it that we have, here and now? What kind of a group are we? What is the
core purpose of this UU congregation?
When I performed a wedding ceremony jointly with a
Rabbi a number of years ago we got into a discussion of what we each had to offer
our members. When I suggested that
Israel
seemed to be all pervasive in Jewish congregations he replied that, “Yes,
Israel
is important, but it is only one of the 20 things that we offer.” Later, that evening
I tried to list 20 things that a UU congregation attempts to do. I did come up with
20 items – pastoral calling, teaching, worshiping, celebrating, etc. but I'm not
completely satisfied with my list, so I am not going to tell you the rest of what
I came up with right now. This list,
however, even if completed, will not describe the core. The core is that which must
pervade all 20 of these items. We come together to relate to each other in positive
ways. We are a relating group. The 20 tasks that we seek to accomplish are important
but are not the only reason for our being. Whereas a college has primarily the purpose
of teaching and a theater has primarily the purpose of entertaining, we are more
than the sum of the individual tasks that we accomplish. We must do whatever we
do in a way that creates and nurtures positive relationships.
This congregation, in order to know what it requires
in the minister that it will call in the next year or two needs to know who and
what it is. Two areas that I have spoken
of, then, become two of the important tasks of the Interim Ministry.
That is for the congregation to discover its own history and come to terms
with that history and where it is as a corporate body – emotionally, spiritually,
historically, and sociologically. And
then to discover a new identity. A congregation that calls a new minister
must shed its sense of itself as the congregation identified with the previous minister
and forge a new identity for a new era.
A third task of the transition period is to discover new leaders to lead the congregation
in its new era. The forth task is to
renew and deepen denominational linkages and the fifth task is the commitment to
new directions in ministry or how the congregation ministers to itself and to the
community and the wider world. You
will hear a great deal more about these five tasks in the coming months.
It is in working through these tasks that the congregation will be able to
discover what kind of ministerial leadership it not only wants but actually needs
in the coming years. Every congregation
is different and, therefore, has different ministry needs so that the community
prospers.
Community is the coming together of a group of people
who share common objectives and common values. It is in community that we live our
lives, not just for our own selfish ends, but also as a part of our relationship
with others. The social interaction which occurs before the worship service and
at coffee hour is essential to the Sunday Worship experience. Church activities
such as going together to the theater, singing together both the hymns on Sunday
and Christmas carols outdoors, fundraisers and fun raisers, all contribute to something
larger and more vital than our own little world.
Let me now close this sermon a prayer. In true UU fashion
I have chosen a prayer by UU minister
James Madison Barr
entitled
“I Do
Not Pray”.
I do not pray; but if I did, here is what I would say:
Here my prayer, 0 God,
my fondest hopes and deepest longings;
To hurt as few people as possible;
To resist the pestilences of fear, envy, bitterness
and hate;
To come to terms with disappointment, failure and defeat;
To love with all my being,
with my eyes
with my hands
with my heart
To love in every way I can.
To accept the fact that all causes are lost causes,
and that
There are no victors under the heavens;
To live graciously in a Universe which at best is only
benignly indifferent to us;
To Sometimes experience something other than myself;
To never turn my back to the sun;
To be free enough to celebrate another human being;
To have faith enough, to receive grace enough
That I may sing Experience Joy
Say Yes to life even as it destroys me. . .
0, God, be merciful to us, and help us to be merciful
to ourselves.