My experience of the divine is a presence that moves through the hearts, minds, hands, and souls of human beings. It is that which is greater than all of us and yet present in each one of us. God is the love which transcends the boundaries of our individual lives and knits us together in one human family, rooted in relationship. Nay, it is the love which reaches even beyond that, which beckons us into seeing our place in the context of the greater whole, in the context of all life on earth, in the context, of the entire cosmos.
While I don’t believe in a personified entity, looking down upon us, intervening in our lives, God has had a human face. While some might say, “there but for the grace of God go I.” I might also use the phrase, “there but for the grace, generosity, and kindness of humans go I.” In both statements, I recognize that I am dependent or at least interdependent on so many people, things, or events, which are out of my control. It is a recognition that I am here, in part, because of cherished moments of grace or generosity that I could never repay and only hope that I can do the same for others.
When we speak of moments of grace, we often mean those intervals in our lives when something completely surprising happens — a coincidence of fate, or an intentional action on the part of another that made a critical difference for us. This morning I would like to focus on the meaning of those intentional actions, those intentional gifts we have given away freely and at times with some risk to our own well-being, and the way in which our lives would in fact be meaningless without them. These are the moments which help us to tap into the part of our hearts that might be worthy of the name divine, and yet allow us to live more fully into our humanity.
If, as human beings, we are dependent and interdependent on the grace, generosity, and kindness of others, then others are also dependent and interdependent on the grace, generosity, and kindness that we offer. There exists in some sense invisible strings that attach each of us to one another — Unitarian Universalists call this the interdependent web of all existence, and it goes well beyond the human community. Here we have an example of attachments in a positive sense – the ones that are life giving rather than the opposite. I think sometimes in our culture, influenced by Buddhist philosophy, we spend quite a bit of time reflecting on attachments that are negative – the ones that we must learn to let go of. Today is an invitation to dwell on the attachments that we should seek to cultivate in a meaningful life.
The following illustration might help. A man walking through Central Park on his way to work in his new pressed Brioni suit, notices a small child flailing about in the boat pond. No one is around, and it’s clear that the child is drowning. Without pause, he leaps into the pond and pulls the child to safety with no thought of what might happen to him – with no thought of his new suit, and with no thought of what unpleasant result is likely to happen from swimming in less than pristine water. Saving a child’s life is an attachment well worth the cost of his new suit and possibly even his health.
Throughout our lives we are faced with such choices — although many are not as obvious as this one. The truth is that many of us have had the experience of choosing our “suits” over the greater good – maybe we don’t see the child drowning, maybe we don’t see that what we have is needed to help.
A more difficult scenario comes about when I must choose between whether or not to buy a new article of clothing, or to give that same dollar amount away to an organization that helps children — gives them access to health care, education, or nourishing food. My point this morning is not to suggest that purchasing clothing is a negative thing, only to bring into sharp relief that we are choosing what to attach ourselves to all the time.
How we spend our hard earned or inherited dollars is one sign of this and how we spend our time is another. I have found that communities like the First Unitarian Portland help me to be more discerning about when what I possess might be of service to another, when what I possess might even be healing or possibly saving.
First Unitarian Portland was started and exists all the way up until today because our founders and each succeeding generation has not been content to simply live for themselves… they have attached themselves to the well-being of this community and the world beyond.
In the earlier days, ministers such as the Rev. Thomas Lamb Eliot here at First Unitarian and the Rev. James Corby at the Universalist Church of the Good Tidings on the East Side used the language of moving towards a “Universal Brotherhood,” which later expanded to a vision of working collectively for the “Beloved Community.”
When we point to our founders, two lay leaders spring forth from our history – Sarah Burrage and Mary Frazar.1 They were attending the First Congregational Church in Portland, but they felt a calling to co-create a Unitarian community. In the early 1860s, there was only one Unitarian church on the West Coast in San Francisco.
Even in New England, many Unitarians were part of Congregationalist communities like Sarah and Mary making do with what they felt to be outmoded and even dangerous doctrine. Sarah and Mary felt a calling and yet committing to that call in a place where no other public Unitarians existed was no small leap of faith. They might have been ostracized… It could have impacted their families’ financial positions… And, it meant risking failure.
But commit they did! with a little push from the minister at the church they attended. In 1865, The Reverend George Atkinson preached a series of sermons condemning the heresies of the liberal church (Unitarians, Universalists, and the like). The Unitarian’s belief that Jesus is a moral exemplar, but not part of God, was and still is considered blasphemy in many churches. The Universalists belief in a loving God that wouldn’t torment souls in hell for eternity for finite mistakes made while on earth was and is blasphemy too, according to Christian orthodoxy. But, in their conscience, Sarah and Mary held a commitment to what they believed to be true and were willing to work for it and sacrifice for it no matter the consequence.
Sarah and Mary met with five other women and formed the Ladies’ Sewing Society to earn money and to give it away for the purpose of founding a new liberal church. The first thing they bought was a communion set, then they raised money for a minister’s salary, and then for land and a building. This was a deep commitment of their time, their talent, and their treasure.
The possibility of being shunned and excluded is much more evident in the history of the First Universalist Church, which was founded and supported by members of our congregation as well as our minister and others.2 They are also our spiritual ancestors here in Portland as we became a Unitarian Universalist congregation after the merger of our two faiths and not too long after the permanent closing of the separate Universalist Church. The Universalist Church was planted on the East Side in 1892 between the efforts of Rev. Q.H. Shinn and Ladies’ Aid – a women’s circle is once again the tour de force behind founding.
While the Universalist Church of the Good Tidings did experience success to a point, they also struggled mightily. They never received the welcome that First Unitarian ultimately did receive. A major difference between the two churches at their inception was class. First Unitarian served an educated middle- and upper-class community. First Universalist served a working class and lower-class community. The first seventeen years saw quite a bit of turbulence. They had six or seven ministerial transitions.
It wasn’t until after the Rev. James Corby’s arrival that they enjoyed a period of steady leadership, growth, and development. Rev. Corby shifted the focus from just defending themselves to engaging the needs of the people in their neighborhood. He wanted them to turn the congregation’s gaze away from whether everyone was going to heaven, to whether we were creating hell on earth, right here in Portland, and to go about the business of eradicating it.
Today, I lift up the commitment of the women who were the backbone of that church during the early years – who organized programming for children and adults – in the absence of ministerial leadership, as well as the congregation’s growing commitment to the plight of the working poor and to putting their theology into practical action.
We are the inheritors of these traditions in Portland – Unitarian and Universalist – here and across the river. As Unitarians we affirm the human capacity for goodness. As Universalists we affirm a spirit of love that excludes no one. As Unitarian Universalists we affirm our interdependence with the global human family, and we work collectively to realize a vision of the Beloved Community. As Unitarian Universalists in 2022 in a hot, dry October in the middle of the climate crisis, we also affirm our interdependence with all life on this planet.
Throughout our history we have been willing to serve, to commit ourselves, and to sacrifice for the presence of Unitarian Universalism here in Portland and in cities and towns and online everywhere. We have done this not simply to espouse our healing theologies and values amongst those who are already present, but for the adult visitors and the children of tomorrow. We have done this not just for ourselves, but because these healing theologies and values have compelled us to serve, to commit, and to sacrifice beyond the confines of our congregations with partners who also long for the Beloved Community and for glimpses of heaven on earth.
We are the church of the open door and open heart, who welcomed in the conversation about Death with Dignity and choices in dying at a time when other congregations shut the door on that. This is still heresy in some churches.
We are the church of the open door and open heart, who welcomed Outside In at a time when others shut the doors on them. And, when there was an abominable anti-homosexuality Measure 9 on the ballot for the November elections thirty years ago, we joined with Outside In by wrapping our block in red ribbon3 to claim a safe and sacred space for and with and as a community that includes LGBTQIA2S+ children, youth, and adults of every age. This is still heresy in some churches.
These are but two examples from our history…
How shall we then serve, commit and sacrifice to co-create a community with healing theologies and values that shape the landscape of Portland and beyond in the direction of love today?
Well, right now, today, following this service and again next Sunday, you can engage in UU the Vote and help us to get out the vote with a focus on underrepresented voters, specifically Black Voters in North Carolina. Pick up letters to mail and help us surpass 10,000 people.
In addition, let me name something I’m just learning about now:
There are people in our congregation who are joining efforts to move a bill through the state of Oregon to eradicate the terrible practice of conversion therapy. More than “don’t say gay,” it’s “how can we convert people out of being gay.” This practice must be stopped. There will be opportunities for us to engage, and we’ll be sharing more about that. Yes, we can’t just counter bad legislation, we need to be the authors of legislation that is liberating.
Well, right now, this week, you can open your pledge packet and reflect on the value of things like – a space for religious pluralism, for people who follow multiple paths, for skeptics and believers, for meaning making and making a difference, for relationships across generations and other divides, for a church that doesn’t give all the answers or say the path is clear, but invites us to move towards the Beloved Community in spite of not knowing the full way yet.
As you choose the amount that feels right to you, I want to invite you to reflect on three types of giving as described by Robert Rodenmayer: grudge giving – or “I hate to, but…” duty giving – or “I ought to,” and thanksgiving, or “I want to.”
Grudge giving in a congregation is evidenced by people who examine the work we do together on Sunday and throughout the week and say. Hmmm… Two hours of entertainment on the Sundays that I chose to go… how many movie tickets is that? Duty giving is the folks here who look at the total sum of our budget and divide that up by the number of members and decide what to pledge. Thanksgiving looks something like, I believe passionately in what First
Unitarian is doing right here, and online, and in the world. I want us to grow and thrive and continue to be a vital force for those on the spiritual quest who value religious freedom, love in action, and the journey towards liberation. I will pledge with a spirit of generosity and share with this community in proportion to my bounty.
And, for those who might resonate with the Burrage and Frazar families countering the Rev. Atkinson condemning Unitarians and Universalists, I’ll also mention that this happens to this day. Currently, religious conservatives are proportionally more generous givers (groan!) – that is one reason they have an outsized impact on the narrative around religious morals. Let’s not cede that territory.
Let us take our vision seriously enough to fund it well, so we can share it and work for it not for ourselves alone but for our children, for our neighbors, for our city, and for a future with religious liberals in it.
We exist because of your generosity. And if you ever wonder if that is true, you can get a beer in the building where the former Universalist Church once met.
Yes, you are a part of the “We.” who helps to co-create all of this… that so many of us have dedicated our lives and full hearts into co-creating.
May our roots be nourished and grow deeper.
May we be poised and ready to be changed by love.
Amen.
1 I am indebted to the research in member Cindy Cumfer’s book, Toward the Beloved Community: https://www.firstunitarianportland.org/about-us/our-stories/
2 https://www.firstunitarianportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Universalists-Cindy-Cumfer.pdf
3 https://uurainbowhistory.net/tying-a-ribbon-around-the-church/
Topics: Commitment