"Faith of the Larger Liberty:
Growing Our Spirit"
A sermon by Rev. Charles Blustein Ortman
For Association Sunday, October 26, 2008
ANCIENT & MODERN READINGS:
Our first reading is from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, the
Book of Ruth:
Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die-
there will I be buried.
May the LORD be severe with me,
and even more,
if even death parts me from you!'
Our second reading is from the scholar and renowned African-American
educator Howard Thurman, who, incidentally, spoke from this very
pulpit a number of years ago.
Slowly it may dawn upon the spirit that there is a special ministry
of un-fulfillment. It may be that the persistent hunger is an angel
of illumination. With the coming of this possibility into consideration,
slowly, tensions are relaxed and the center of em-phasis is shifted
from the hunger itself to what it has meant to deal with it through
all the years. Slowly at first, the words are shaped and the pattern
of them shows itself. At last, we may say, "I know that there
is present in my life a quality that is only mine because the hunger
is mine. Thus, at last, I come to the door and seek entrance where
is gathered the great community. I know the password: 'Teach me
the patience of unanswered prayer.'"
SERMON:
This morning we are participating in the second annual celebration
of Association Sunday. This is the second one that's ever happened.
This makes two years in a row, and in UU parlance that makes it
an annual event. It's a good idea I think, to celebrate our liberal
religious tradition with other Unitarian Universalist congregations
across the continent, to join together with them to create a large
pot or bucket of money that we will need to grow Unitarian Universalism.
Some of you will remember the excellent DVD that our UUA provided
us with for this event last year. If you weren't here, or don't
remember, there are lots of copies of that DVD in the narthex. Please
help yourself to one and then pass it along to a friend, or return
it so that someone else might get a chance to see it. It's a great
presentation about our story that folks found very moving - Voices
of a Liberal Faith. This year I'm afraid - no new DVD! But we were
provided with lots of great worship materials to choose from. In
fact, from our Opening Words to our Closing Words, much of the material
that we're using this morning comes from an electronic packet that
was provided to us by the UUA.
They provided quite a number of Stories for All Ages for the service
including the one about, "Higgins: a Drop with a Dream."
They even provided sermons that clergy could use for today, but
I thought that was going a little too far. But going through the
sermon materials I did come across a great piece in the packet by
one of my favorite, current spiritual writers, Parker Palmer. When
I checked the selection offered in the packet against the original
text though, I found that the original had been unnecessarily edited.
So I've opted to use the original from Palmer, himself.
The theme of this year's Association Sunday is, "Growing Our
Spirit." Even though Parker Palmer is not, his story is so
UU in all its elements. It's set in beautiful nature. It includes
fear, daring and challenge, leadership and followership, obstinance
and growth. Throw in a little intrigue, and it doesn't get any better
than that! He tells the story in his book Let Your Life Speak: An
Inner Journey.
'Here is a small story from my life about why one might want to
take the inner journey. In my early forties, I decided to go on
the program called Outward Bound. I was on the edge of my first
depression, a fact I knew only dimly at the time, and I thought
Outward Bound might be a place to shake up my life and learn some
of the things I needed to know.
I chose the weeklong course at Hurricane Island, off the coast of
Maine. I should have known from that name what was in store for
me; next time I will sign up for the course at Happy Gardens or
Pleasant Valley! Though it was a week of great teaching, deep community
and genuine growth, it was also a week of fear and loathing.
In the middle of that week, I faced the challenge I feared most.
One of our instructors backed me up to the edge of a cliff 110 feet
above solid ground. He tied a very thin rope to my waist-a rope
that looked ill-kempt to me and seemed to be starting to unravel-and
told me to start 'rappelling' down that cliff.
'Do what?' I said.
"Just go!" the instructor explained, in typical Outward
Bound fashion.
So I went-and immediately slammed into a ledge, some four feet down
from the edge of the cliff, with bone-jarring, brain-jarring force.
The instructor looked down at me: "I don't think you've quite
got it."
"Right," said I, being in no position to disagree. "So
what am I supposed to do?"
"The only way to do this," he said, "is to lean back
as far as you can. You have to get your body at right angles to
the cliff so that your weight will be on your feet. It's counterintuitive,
but it's the only way that works."
I knew that he was wrong, of course. I knew that the trick was to
hug the mountain, to stay as close to the rock face as I could.
So I tried it again, my way-and slammed into the next ledge, another
four feet down.
"You still don't have it," the instructor said helpfully.
"OK," I said, "tell me again what I am supposed to
do."
"Lean way back," said he, "and take the next step."
The next step was a very big one, but I took it-and wonder of wonders,
it worked, I leaned back into empty space, eyes fixed on the heavens
in prayer, made tiny, tiny moves with my feet, and started descending
down the rock face, gaining confidence with every step.
I was about halfway down when the second instructor called up from
below: "Parker, I think you'd better stop and see what's just
below your feet." I lowered my eyes very slowly-so as not to
shift my weight-and saw that I was ap-proaching a deep hole in the
face of the rock.
To get down, I would have to get around that hole, which meant I
could not maintain the straight line of descent I had started to
get comfortable with. I would need to change course and swing myself
around that hole, to the left or to the right. I knew for a certainty
that attempting to do so would lead directly to my death-so I froze,
paralyzed with fear.
The second instructor let me hang there, trembling, in silence,
for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, she shouted up these
helpful words: "Parker, is anything wrong?"
To this day, I do not know where my words came from, though I have
twelve witnesses to the fact that I spoke them. In a high, squeaky
voice, I said, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Then," said the second instructor, "it's time that
you learned the Outward Bound motto."
"Oh, keen," I thought. "I'm about the die, and she's
going to give me a motto!"
But then she shouted ten words I hope never to forget, words whose
impact and meaning I can still feel: "If you can't get out
of it, get into it!"
I had long believed in the concept of 'the word become flesh,' but
until that moment, I had not experienced it. My teacher spoke words
so compelling that they bypassed my mind, went into my flesh, and
animated my legs and feet. There was no way out of my dilemma except
to get into it-so my feet started to move, and in a few minutes
I made it safely down.
Because there is no way out of one's inner life, one had better
get into it.
I don't know how it is for you, but for me the experience of being
a Unitarian Universalist has provided a way, a spiritual way, a
worldly way of going into and through things - challenges, heartaches,
wrongdoings, even times of great joy. I'm not so sure that I'd have
found my way into and through many of those experiences, had I not
first found my way into this religious tradition. I have learned
to allow myself to lean back, as far as I can, into the support
of a community of kindred spirits that holds me in the grace of
caring expectation, expectation that I will indeed find my way to
spiritual growth with meaning and purpose. And as a congregation,
even though sometimes we are unaware, we do that same kind of leaning
back into a larger, broader Association of Congregations that provides
for one another safety, guidance and the collective strength to
deal with the ills of this world.
Just as I know that my life takes much of its meaning from my engagement
in this community - I do need to be here - I know that our local
community depends on the still larger whole of the Association,
even for our existence. We are here to feed our souls and to grow
our spirits, so that we might be most engaged with fulfilling the
potential of our lives. Collectively, the Unitarian Universalist
Association exists so that we here, have the best chance to accomplish
that goal on an institutional level. What goal? The goal of transformation
in our lives, our homes, our community and our world.
Today we celebrate the association that brings and holds Unitarian
Universalists from across the continent together in that larger
and broader effort. Take heart, for you are not alone, and we are
not alone.
A. Powell Davies, who served All Souls Church, the Unitarian Universalist
congregation in Washington, DC, where he was a voice of conscience
too many members of Congress over the years, wrote:
… we must push forward-forward to a new and deeper understanding
of the spiritual, beginning with a full acceptance of it; the spiritual
that demands that we deal justly in all our relationships, that
we cast aside prejudice, and all escapes and all excuses; the spiritual
that calls us from sloth to effort and endurance, and from easy
purposes to difficult aims and high endeavors; the spiritual that
speaks in conscience; the spiritual that says the soul can only
grow by truth and love and righteousness.
Today we celebrate the association that supports and encourages
our spiritual growth through right relations with the world around
us. Today we celebrate the association that brings and holds Unitarian
Universalist congregations from across the continent for a special
opportunity to support our collective vision, mission and efforts
for the growing of souls and the building of justice.
(Bulleted items from the UUA Talking Points for Presentation on
Association Sunday 2008)
" Today we celebrate… recognizing that our connection
and common vision can be a spiritually fulfilling, and empowering
experience.
" In our liberal religious communities, we help one another
develop spiritually; our Association helps us do this more effectively.
We are better together as an Association of Congregations, and together
we can have more of an influence on our country, which dearly needs
more inclusive, spiritual values.
" We need to develop our spirituality as well… We may
not have a consensus on what spirituality means, but we agree on
the need to be more clear, centered, and effective in our faith.
" We need to Grow Our Faith in one another, in Unitarian Universalism,
and in the good we can and ought to do for others.
" We need to Grow Our Spirit: our group spirit, the human spirit,
the holy spirit, the spirit of life, the spirit of love; it is calling
us.
" Inside each of us and all around us is that spirit. We feel
it; we know it; and when we join together, we grow it.
" As President Bill Sinkford has said, "Now Is the Time….
to Grow Our Faith…. To let the world know we are here, and
to welcome those who seek our community of peace, justice, and love.
Now is the time for our congregations to grow stronger and more
effective, because our religious values are sorely needed to help
heal a wounded world."
" To do this effectively we need to connect, feel the power,
affirm our common bonds and purposes, and combine our resources
to Grow Our Spirit and Grow Our Faith.
This is accomplished by the way we are empowered to live our lives.
This is accomplished by investing our resources of time, energy,
spiritual discipline, and our finances as well.
" As a congregation, our goal is to contribute an average of
$50.00 per member.
" The goal of Association Sunday is to raise $1 million for
projects supporting lay theological education and excellence in
ministry.
" Fifty percent of the money raised will be used as grants
to congregations, districts, and seminaries to create new programs
for lay theological education and spiri-tual deepening.
" The other fifty percent of the money will be divided equally
in three parts among our ministers' association's new CENTER programs
for continuing education to promote excellence in ministry, scholarships
for promising students preparing for our ministry, and the Diversity
in Ministry Team's initiative to support our ministers of color.
This last program, the Diversity in Ministry Team's initiative,
is one that our congregation has been selected to be a participant
in. It is our hope that by this time next year we will have a full-time
associate minister join us from this program.
Today, we stand at the precipice of a very rugged, political, economic
and spiritual terrain. It may be with trembling, but with faith
we can move through these times, and we can strengthen that faith
through our support of one another, our congregation, and our association.
" Today as part of the UUA's comprehensive campaign, we have
an opportunity to shape the future of our faith. And so I invite
you to please give generously.
Because there is no way out of one's inner life, one's inner journey,
one had better get into it. Because we are on this journey together,
we do well getting into it and going through it together.
PRAYER:
There is a strength, a power, a spirit, we would seek that comes
to us when we are most fully in touch with one another. Its creative
source is our community in which we come together to find answers
to what we can never fully explain.
May we seek this spirit to help us face a world of confusion, hoping
for courage to face those predicaments which require resolution
and decision.
May we seek this spirit to offer forgiveness, to make amends, to
find the good, the healing beyond hurt, and in the hope that we
may be forgiven.
May we seek this spirit in our common strength, knowing that it
is our connectedness that empowers us to share the fullness of life
and to live with the unanswerable questions.
May we seek this spirit, feeling the pull of all others who have
found their faith renewed, their lives restored, and their minds
filled with a vision of what life truly may be.
Ralph Helverson; adapted
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