Reverend Thomas Disrud

First Unitarian Church
Portland, Oregon

March 31, 1996

"…Our faith is a power we work with, not just a set of ideas to accept. To do a thing, not to argue about it, or merely teach the theory of it, is the primary task. Universalism is not merely a set of doctrines but a way of life."

The Universalist movement was born in America at the same time the country was being born. It was a time of revolution. The new Universalist Gospel was a response to the majority of the time who believed in John Calvin's theology that people were inherently depraved, that they were sinners and that not much separated them from the fiery hells of damnation. Because people were inherently weak and wicked, they were doomed to eternal damnation.

It was in this cultural context that the early Universalists brought their message of love, of hope and of reconciliation. They preached that eventually, all were saved and reconciled with God after death. This was a radical concept at the time and because of this, Universalists were the objects of great disdain from other Christians. The only thing worse at the time was probably being a Unitarian. This grouping early on was one of the things that brought the Universalists and the Unitarians together.

In a world of division, the message of Universalism is a message of unity, of hope, of love. It is a belief in the human potential. At the start of the 19^th Century in the young America, it was a call to action. Throughout its history it has been a call to be in the world and to work for the good out of love for others.

Universalism is the overlooked part of our heritage. When Unitarian Universalists identify ourselves, we usually don't say Unitarian Universalists. We usually simply say we're Unitarian. It is, after all, the name of this church and many others. And Unitarian Universalist is quite a mouthful - and when you are talking with someone who is not familiar with our faith, the word Unitarian causes enough of a blank look without adding to the confusion by saying Universalist, too.

But it has only been 35 years since the Unitarians and the Universalists merged bringing the two together. In the context of religions and history, that is not a long time. The Unitarian Universalists, as a denomination, are pretty young. But the traditions of Unitarianism and Universalism have been around a lot longer and throughout history they have evolved, sometimes side by side.

Thomas Starr King, was a Universalist minister who came west to serve as the minister of the First Unitarian Society of San Francisco. He also made a missionary run here to Portland when this church was forming to be the second church on the West Coast. He was an early bridge builder between the two faiths. There's a famous quote from him to sum up the distinction between Universalists and the Unitarians: The one thinks God is too good to damn them forever, the other thinks they are too good to be damned forever." King is also quoted as saying that the two had not united long ago because they "were too near of kin to be married."

And in more recent times, Gordon McKeeman, a minister in our movement, delivered these words as he extended the hand of fellowship at the ordination of the Rev. Charles Johnson in 1987 and to distinguish our Unitarian and our Universalist heritage:

"I extend both my hands - my Unitarian and Universalist hands.

The right hand is, of course, the Unitarian one. It probably would not occur to a Unitarian to be other than right.

The left hand, then, is the Universalist one, not because it couldn't be right, but because it aspires to be inclusive, to embrace the whole, to beckon holiness out of its hiding places, to say both hands are important, are of one body."

In being human, in looking at the ultimate concerns in our lives, we bring our whole selves. Our heads and our hearts. And I think it is the Universalist part of our heritage that especially stresses this. In all our relations, it stresses the importance of love, of being with each other where we are at and working together. It looks to build the beloved community here in our midst.

The inclusiveness and heartfulness of Universalism also complements the freedom, reason and tolerance that are hallmarks of Unitarianism.

And Universalism offers a history that we can look to in our lives today. The songs we've been singing remind us of some of this heritage. When it comes to social action, our Universalist foremothers and forefathers were out on the streets, proclaiming their faith. They worked to free slaves, to get the vote for women, to help the poor, and for many other causes.

When she was in her 80s, Olympia Brown picketed the White House because President Wilson had not kept his promise to give women the vote.

Because they were not so concerned about hell in the afterlife, they saw heaven and hell as being elements in their life on earth. It was up to them to create the heaven and do away with the hell. That was their mission and they sought it with great gusto.

L.B. Fisher wrote in 1921: "Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move. Or we are asked to state our position. Again we can only answer that we are not staying to defend any position, we are on the march."

Faith involves action. It involves hard work. Critics have often called Universalism too easy because if its belief that all would be saved. That you didn't have to work at it. You would eventually get to heaven so it didn't matter.

I think just the opposite is true. The work of Universalism - of overcoming barriers between people, of working for justice, of loving those who are different from us - is extremely hard work. It is not easy. It is probably easier to say we can deal with in later, so way worry about it now. Building alliances with those we don't agree with, with people who are different from us, this is the work of Universalism.

And perhaps the level of difficulty is demonstrated in the fact that the Universalist denomination dwindled in this century. By the time they merged with the Unitarians, they were very small and not very influential. They were not good stewards of their faith, building and supporting institutions that would take them into the future. They also were not always open to the challenges from younger generations who wanted their faith to grow. This meant many people left because the Universalist tent couldn't hold them. Finally, the Universalist faith increasingly became more mainstream, and this meant it lost its appeal.

Robert Cummins, Univeralist General Superintendent in 1943 spoke of the challenge of this faith: "Any Universalism worthy of its name cannot recognize divisions between people on the basis of race or class or religion or nationality…. All are welcome…Unitarian or Trinitarian, white or colored, theist or humanist, so that whatever exclusion there may be is self-exclusion. A circumscribed Universalism is unthinkable."

Our Universalist foremothers and forefathers faced many of the same challenges are we do today - groups being oppressed by poverty and other social ills. And we can gain inspiration from their example. They met the challenges head on, not always knowing the answers, but moving forward. But we can also take lessons from them about the importance of nurturing the institution, building it for future generations.

John Murray, the founder of Universalism in America said "Go out into the highways and by-ways of America, your new country, Give the people, blanketed with a decaying and crumbling Calvinism, something of your new vision. You may only possess a small light but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts of men and women. Do not push them further into their theological despair, but preach the kindness and everlasting love of God."

In the work we do in this church and in the larger community, may this be our guide. Amen.

Copyright © 2000, Reverend Thomas Disrud. All rights reserved.