Marilyn Sewell's Sermons to Air on Public Access TV
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2007 Sermons
January 7, 2007. "Dwelling in Possibility." Rev. Thomas Disrud
The new year is a time to look to the future. How do we orient ourselves at such a time - from a place of despair or hope?
January 14, 2007. "Summoning Love in the Face of Evil." Kate Lore, Director of Social Justice
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us that love is stronger than evil yet he, himself, was overcome by evil in the end. Or was he? What can we learn from Dr. King's theology on evil? How does it relate to the beliefs of Unitarian Universalists?
January 21, 2007. “Cleaning House.” Leela Sinha, Assistant Minister
In a living tradition like ours, belief and faith grow with us. How do we know that something has changed? How do we move on? In what ways can we honor our past and lift up our future?
January 28, 2007. “The Imperative of Kindness.” Rev. Thomas Disrud
Too often what seems to get the attention in our culture is meanness. What would it mean if kindness were the norm?
February 4, 2007. “Finding God in All the Wrong Places.” Rev. Thomas Disrud
The holy often shows up when we least expect it. Our job is to do our best to pay attention.
February 11, 2007. “Hidden Fire.” Rev. Leela Sinha
It’s February, when we begin to wonder just how much longer winter can go on . . . or how much longer we can wait for the light. Ancient Gaels celebrated Imbolc to herald the lengthening of the days. What strength and promise hover underground? What can we do to deliberately plant seeds for new beginnings?
February 25, 2007. “The Day We Get Old.” Rev. Thomas Disrud
How is it that we age? Certainly a lot of it is a matter of perspective and some of it is about attitude.
March 4, 2007. "The Fourth Principle." First Unitarian Youth Program
How can we find truth and meaning in our lives? What rings true for each person is as different as where each person find meaning. Yet each individual path has a universal quality to it. Our high school youth talk about their search to find answers for two of the larger questions in life.
March 11, 2007. "Sustaining Home." Rev. Thomas Disrud
How do we live in such a way that sustains home, that sustains the earth? What is asked of us in such times and what is it that we need to live?
March 18, 2007. "It's All Good." Rev. Leela Sinha
We strive to honor wisdom from many sources. what would it be like to truly see the holy everywhere?
March 25, 2007. "When Can Never Again Mean Never Again?" Charlie Clements, UUSC President.
Charlie Clements, President of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, speaks on the genocide in Darfur.
April 8, 2007. "Giving Ourselves to Life." Rev. Thomas Disrud.
What does it mean to be born again into new life? The Easter story celebrates resurrection - coming into new life, new hope, new awareness. How that comes, ultimately, is mystery. The earth teaches some things about how new life emerges from death. In our lives, too, we can see how new life can come from brokenness and suffering.
April 15, 2007. “The Point of Practice.” Rev. Leela Sinha
From the first piano lesson or soccer game we are taught to honor practice. It helps build skill, but is that the point, really?
April 22, 2007. “Reverential Ecology.” Kate Lore, Director of Social Justice.
The word “environment” means “that which surrounds.” Thus, environmentalism, by definition, sets up a division between a human being and the rest of the world. How would our lives change if we set aside this false dualism and truly claimed our interdependence with all of life?
April 29, 2007. “We Get by with a Little Help from Our Friends.” Rev. Thomas Disrud
Friendship is important in our lives. What is it and how do we sustain it?
May 6, 2007. “Finding Faith in a Sea of Despair .” Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell
Faith is an intentional choice that moves us beyond our own logic and our own wisdom. It is not a defiance of human knowing, but a moving to a different dimension of knowing – the infinite, or the divine.
May 20, 2007. “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
These are the questions Gauguin asked at the bottom of one of his famous Tahiti paintings. These are essentially theological questions, and the same ones all churches need to speak to. How have you answered them in your own life? How have we answered them as a church?
May 27, 2007. "The 99 and the One." Rev. Leela Sinha.
Jesus told a parable about one sheep from a flock of 100 who was lost, sought, and found. Who would you go after?
June 3, 2007. “Finding the Sacred in the Everyday.” Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell
One way to stay spiritually grounded is to be ever more alive to our senses in the everyday. How do we manage to do that? Are there spiritual practices that can help?
June 10, 2007. "What We've Learned Since High School." Rev. Thomas Disrud.
What are the lessons of life that come with time, experience and perspective? On this day when we recognize our graduating seniors, some thoughts about what life has to teach us.
June 20, 2007. "Words from General Assembly." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
Two short pieces that Marilyn Sewell delivered at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association in June, 2007.
June 24, 2007. "Toto, I've Got a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
This sermon addresses the moral challenges that we will face as our assumptions about "the good life" change radically in the next 10-20 years. Visionaries in the Portland area have anticipated such changes, preparing us for a more sustainable way of living.
July 1, 2007. "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister.
Bumper stickers certainly make driving interesting. And lots of you folks do your share! This subject is particularly timely as our denomination debates adopting a pacifist stance.
July 8, 2007. "Alabaster Village." Rev. Jozsef Kaszoni, Guest Minister.
Rev. Kaszoni is the minister of our partner church in Budapest, Hungary. His sermon discusses the life of Ferenc Balazs, a noted Romanian Unitarian minister.
July 22, 2007. "Coping with Sadness." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister.
The word "depression" is more commonly used, but clinical folks mean something more severe when they use it, so I've begun to call it sadness. Though some suffering is unavoidable, as Buddha teaches, some is optional. What parameters do you have to move beyond it?
July 29, 2007. "Resting in Chaos." Rev. Thomas Disrud
We live in a world that seems so full of chaos. How do we find our grounding at such a time? How do we find peace in the midst of it all?
August 5, 2007. "Love One Another." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister.
And, "your neighbor as yourself." That word "yourself" often identifies the place where we stub our toe. We who are part of your world need you to like yourself. It's in our own self-interest; it makes you easier on us!
August 12, 2007. "The Faith of an Atheist." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister
I have always been struck by how hard it is for many of us to sustain faith in God, and the French existentialist Albert Camus modeled a faith that speaks to us in our atheistic or agnostic moments.
August 26, 2007. "Inner Peace." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister
I spent time studying with the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and he has ideas about this.
September 2, 2007. "The Beatles as Bringers of Holy Spirit." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Summer Minister
They were a phenomenon that appeared at one of the darkest times in Western cultural history.
September 9, 2007. "Radical Hospitality." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell
Our faith calls us to welcome everyone to "the welcome table," as the hymn goes. How do we increasingly become a community genuinely open to difference - difference of class, race, theological and, yes, even political persuasion?
September 16, 2007. "Remembering Those We've Never Event Met." Rev. Thomas Disrud.
September 23, 2007. "Living a New Story." Rev. Thomas Disrud.
If we are to live our lives differently, we will also need new stories to guide us along the way.
October 7, 2007. "The Spiritual Gifts of Humility." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
The more we matures spiritually it seems, the less certainty we have and the more we are left to rest in mystery. Not knowing brings humility, and humility brings its own gifts.
October 14, 2007. "Slouching Towards Forgiveness." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
Forgiveness is the most difficult topic I preach on - I struggle with its meaning and practice in my own life. In this sermon, I'll share with you my latest thoughts about this spiritual challenge, which is bound to push us deeper as we confront it.
October 21, 2007. "Being Salt for the Earth." Rev. Thomas Disrud.
Salt is something that is in the earth and in the oceans; it is in our bodies and our tears. Salt can make things taste good, but too much of it will ruin the broth. Some lessons we might take from salt about how we are to live.
October 28, 2007. "El Dia de los Muertos: What Love Can Do to Death." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Guest Minister.
Many cultures deal with death both flippantly and formally, as if to say, "Death you may have taken those I love, but the heart's dead are never buried."
November 4, 2007. "What Does Love Demand of Us?" Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
The word "love" is used for everything from romance to banana splits. What, then, do we mean when we use this word? Does love ask anything of us?
November 11, 2007. "Religion and the Founders." Rev. Dr. Forrest Church, Guest Minister.
Forrest Church presents his findings from his new book So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle over Church and State. It turns out that religious politics were even fiercer in the early Republic than they are today, with important lessons alike for those who would tie church and state together too closely and for those who would eliminate religion entirely from the political realm.
November 25, 2007. "The Chairs around the Dining Room Table." Rev. Robert Schaibly, Guest Minister
The holidays evoke memories; memories enrich life.
December 2, 2007. "They Have Given Me Courage." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
Certain individuals have inspired me to live with courage and integrity. This Sunday I'll share with the congregation some of their stories - and also reveal what they have in common.
December 9, 2007. "Welcoming Angels." Rev. Thomas Disrud
Advent is a time to look to what is possible around us - to what we might be birthing in our lives. Sometimes this involves waiting. Sometimes this involves paying attention.
December 23, 2007. "Why We Don't Want the Messiah to Come." Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell.
Do we really want a messiah - one who comes with a message of peace and good will? If another Christ figure showed up today, how would he fare?
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