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Good News
A Sermon Given
by the Reverend Douglas Taylor
on May 27, 2001
at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
Bethesda, Maryland
Well, I have good news and I have bad news this morning. The good news is that we Unitarian Universalists have a life-giving message to offer the world. We have a message about the dignity and worth of every person, about the interconnectedness of all life, about love and justice, and about the freedom of conscience in matters of meaning. Unitarian Universalism is a good religion to be a part of because while we respect and encourage an individual's quest for truth and understanding, we are at the same time a caring and supportive community, committed to promoting social justice.
All that is actually in our church Mission Statement, which is hanging up in the back of our meeting space, and it is printed in every issue of our newsletter. "Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church is a liberal religious community committed to individual freedom of belief, the search for truth, spiritual nourishment and the celebration of life. We honor our history by proclaiming and teaching our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. We seek to transform our beliefs and mutual caring into action to support our members, strengthen our community and promote social justice."
We are, I believe, unique on the landscape of religions in that we have codified the principle of religious freedom at our core. Certainly there are other religions or denominations who take a non-creedal stance, but such a stance is not an essential piece of who they are as a people the way it is for us. And most religious traditions make a point of drawing narrow boundaries of adherence for their membership. Most religious traditions have strict rules about who is in the group and how as such they are to behave.
I read in the newspaper this week that the Taliban of Afghanistan will soon be implementing a decree which requires all non-Muslims to wear a distinguishing mark on their clothes to set them apart from the country's Muslim majority. I know that the human rights violations and other activities along that vein concerning Afghanistan's ruling body have been discussed here at Cedar Lane through our Forum and a Spring "B" course. The Taliban has been rigorous in applying its conservative interpretations of the Islamic religion as law in that country. All is not well in that land, and many people are oppressed by that government's interpretation of Islam.
As we in the United States prepare to celebrate Memorial Day, our national holiday commemorating those who have died in service to our country during war time, it is, I believe, appropriate to look back to the reasons why we established ourselves as a nation. One prominent reason was religious freedom. The puritans came to these shores in search of the freedom to worship God in their way. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, and the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, is perhaps the most remembered and notable figure in our history to advocate for the separation of church and state. Jefferson outlined that the people shall not be taxed to support a government church. It was a pragmatic step to assure that an individual would be free to financially support the good news and the good work of the religious community of his or her choosing. We do well to remember that in today's political climate.
The religious freedoms outlined in our founding documents allowed for the continued ferment of religious thought and debate of which we today still reap the benefit. This nation, it could be argued, has its foundations deep in the ground of religious freedom and pluralism. This does not mean we are free from religious oppression and violence, by no means. We have our share of difficulty and strife, but not on the scale experienced in some other places in the world today. Religious pluralism in the United States is alive and thriving. Over the past decade or so, our country has been experiencing a surge of religious interest. Time and Newsweek are running articles about religion and belief more and more often. Websites dealing with religious themes are popping up with alarming frequency. People are buying books about angels and Armageddon like there's no tomorrow. Politics are hot on topics such as the government funding of faith-based community services and whether or not our new Attorney General will choose to uphold laws that may be contrary to his Fundamentalist faith. America is experiencing the ferment of religious thought and debate with something akin to the Great Awakening of colonial times.
The Great Awakening of the early 1740s was an amazing time. People would attend tent revivals to hear popular preachers who traveled from town to town converting people to "true religion." Jonathan Edwards was one for whom people turned out in droves. He was a puritan's puritan, and considered to be one of the greatest preachers of the time. He preached with such vivid imagery about the individual's complete dependance on God's grace. I want to read to you a little from one of his most famous sermons entitled "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God." (Brace yourselves.)
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in; ... The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over a fire, abhors you, ... And yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. ... And there is no reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. ... Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
— from Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the hands of an Angry God
(And he just goes on and on like this.) He was very popular. This was "Good News." You're not in Hell yet: that's good news. Now, we have had Evangelists in our history as well; who, while equally colorful in their preaching, delivered a rather different message. All the early Universalists, like John Murray and Hosea Ballou, were evangelists. And their message of salvation for all of humanity in the hands of a loving God came as very Good News compared with the fear that other religions were offering. "Give them not Hell, but hope and courage."
That was an exciting time in American history for religious thought and debate. There is a good deal of evidence to say that America is experiencing that level of interest again today. Times have changed somewhat. Universal Salvation doesn't get the press it used to. Many of the mainline churches have been preaching about a loving God for a while now. As one minister put it, "Hell became less of a burning issue." Although, it never really was about heaven anyway. While that was the sensational element, that was not where our biggest impact was. Roberta Finkelstein a colleague from across the river, put it so well, I'm just going to quote her. She says,
We broke away from the liberal Protestant wing of American congregationalism, but the break wasn't over what many people think. It wasn't really over the doctrine of the trinity, though it is true that our first name, Unitarian, refers to the belief in the unity rather than the trinity of God. And it wasn't really over the question of salvation, although our second name, Universalism, refers to the belief that a benevolent God saves all. It was really over the doctrine of human nature that we declared our independence.
It really was a radical notion back then to say that people are basically good. It still has radical implications to say that God is not "out there" running the universe. Rather, God is in every human heart and mind and good deed. Every person has a spark of the divine within them, and further, that divine spark in every soul is encouraged and nurtured by communities such as the one we have right here. That is our Good News. That is our radical impact on the religious dialogue.
Now, some of you may be wondering about what I meant back at the beginning of this sermon when I told you I have good news and I have bad news. I told you the good news and then went off about America's history of religious pluralism and the great ferment of religious thought and debate. Maybe you have been waiting all this time for me to drop the other shoe. Alright. The good news is that we Unitarian Universalists have a life-giving message to offer the world. The bad news is that now-a-days we are staying very quiet about it.
I have recently put out two newsletter columns that are pertinent to this topic. One was about the question "Why do you come to church?" And the other was about "What is Unitarian Universalism?" The question behind both of these questions is "How do you talk about your church and your religion to other people?" "Why do you come to church?," and "What is Unitarian Universalism?," are questions about passion and identity. When talking to others about your faith, rule number one is to state a clear identity and convey a simple message. Tell them who we are and why you are a part of this.
Now, what I'm suggesting here is that we all start evangelizing; you see that don't you. That's what I'm advocating. This doesn't need to be done in the stereotypical style. And yet it is hard to think of "Evangelizing" or "Sharing the Good News" as anything other than what we see the Religious Right do. Scott Alexander, minister at River Road Unitarian Church across town and editor of and contributor to the 1994 book Salted with Fire: Unitarian Universalist Strategies for Sharing Faith and Growing Congregations, on the topic of evangelism writes "Because we demand to think for ourselves, are respectful of human differences, and don't appreciate it when someone else tries to ram their beliefs down our throats, we tend to shy away from even cautiously and respectfully sharing with others what it is we believe, and how those beliefs help us strive to be better, kinder people."
We don't need to be pushy or disrespectful to share our good news. We shouldn't be. We are, after all, the faith tradition that has codified religious freedom. Nothing would be more antithetical to our message than to push it on other people. That is not what I suggest. In another essay from the same book, Salted with Fire, John Morgan, a UU minister and unabashed evangelist for our faith, writes that "Evangelizing is sharing our dreams with others in order to transform the world" If you value this church, if this community has changed your life for the better, if this building and the people in it are special or even sacred to you; why would you want to keep it hidden from other people? Consider your goal not to be converting others to your way of faith; instead your goal can be to engage in the ferment of religious debate and dialogue, to share your dreams, to share our life-giving message with the world
At this point you may be thinking, "Alright, Douglas, I'm with you on that point. Unitarian Universalism matters. It's a great religion. I love being a part of this church community. I can even concede the point" you may further think, "that it's worth talking about with my non-UU friends and co-workers. But frankly, Douglas, the topic doesn't come up very often. How am I supposed to respectfully launch this conversation about how great my church is?"
Well, I'm glad you thought about asking that. Because that is just the sticking point, isn't it? How do we do this respectful evangelizing? You know that may be a whole sermon series rather than the last few minutes of this one. But let me offer one good suggestion. To do that let me tell you a quick story.
I was officiating at a wedding last weekend down at the University of Maryland. It was a second marriage for both the bride and the groom, and they were both Roman Catholic. Not so Roman Catholic that they wouldn't remarry, but enough that it was a part of the service. In fact, on the grooms side of the family there were a few nuns in attendance, and I heard about the uncle who was a monk who had passed away recently. When the nuns learned my denominational affiliation, the approving comment I heard one say to the other was, "Oh, the Unitarians are known for their social action."
So this is my tip to you. Look for an opener based on Cedar Lane's Social Justice record. If the environment comes up, you could mention that we are looking into becoming a green sanctuary. I am sure there will be a lot of opportunities to speak of your beliefs concerning religious pluralism and religious freedom while Mr. Bush pushes his "faith-based initiatives." I bet a lot of conversations could be started with, "Hey, did you see that article in the Washington Post?"
And here's a good one: If the issue of Timothy McVeigh's execution comes up, tell people that it is great to be in a church that doesn't demand that we all think alike. Some people in your church are adamantly against the death penalty, others think it is a good idea, especially in this case. This may get people asking you 'what does your church believe, can you believe anything you want, what do you believe about life after death?' and the ferment of religious thought and dialogue will have begun.
We have a message to offer people, a word of hope in a hurting world. We have a message about the dignity and worth of every person, about the interconnectedness of all life, about love and justice, and about the freedom of conscience in matters of meaning. We respect and encourage an individual's quest for truth and understanding, yet at the same time we are a caring and supportive community, committed to promoting social justice.
John Murray said "You may possess a small light, but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts and minds of men and women." Let it shine
We have a light to lift up to the world. Let it shine.
A. Powell Davies once said in a prayer, "Help us remember, O God, all the darkness in the world has never yet put out a single light." Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.
In a world without end,
May it be so.
Benediction:
May the light of our faith shine out
through our lives by word and deed.
May this free church to which we are committed
stand as herald to the search for life-giving truth
And may we go forth from our time together
resolved to bless the world
Blessed be, and let it shine!
Office@CedarLane.org
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