The Pope was visiting NYC. It was arranged for him to have a limousine and a chauffeur. The Pope says to his limo driver, “When I was a young man I was a gearhead. I’ll bet this baby has a lot of power under the hood. You know I’ve never driven a limousine. If you would oblige me, I would certainly enjoy driving for a little while”.
The driver, himself a good Catholic, didn’t dream of questioning the pontiff’s authority. So he got into in the back seat, and the Pope took the driver’s seat. Off they go onto the highway. 50, 60, 70 mph, 80 mph, 90 mph…
Wooh wooh wooh! The pope looks in his rear view mirror and sees the flashing lights of a trooper. He pulls over.
When the policemen approached the limo, the pope lowers his window. Shocked, the officer excuses himself: “I need to call this in. I’ll be right back.”
He calls the chief of police and says “Chief, I just pulled over a limo for speeding. And uh…there is this, uh VIP…”
“Let me guess -you pulled over the mayor of the city of New York?” “No sir. It’s a …bigger VIP.” “Really? Did you pull over the governor? “Uh.. no sir, a bigger VIP.” “You pulled over a bigger VIP than the governor? What did you do- pull over the president or something? No sir, I’ve gotta bigger VIP here.” “Bigger VIP than the president?! C’mon, I don’t believe it. Who did you pull over already?” “Well sir, I don’t know. But he must be really important. You won’t believe who has driving him!”
Does anybody remember the song “Mr. Big Stuff”? It was released in 1971 by Jean Knight. What a great song! Mr Big Stuff, (congregation calls out) “Who do you think you are?! Mr Big Stuff ain’t never going to get HER love because when she gives love she wants love in return. And she knows Mr Big Stuff that it’s a lesson you never learned.”
Today and every day this is what we are concerned with: “Who do you think you are?!” and not as an accusation! And when we realize that everybody wants to give love and have their love returned, we live differently.
These days Mr. Big Stuff is all over the news. They are like little boys vying to be king of the hill. Only these guys are billionares with weapons and armies at their disposal. Egomaniacs don’t care how many hearts and souls they crush.
Our tradition presents a different way to live. We want to create congregations, communities and a world where every person knows we all have the same big stuff inside of us. We come together to learn how to live, learn how to relate to each other to create a world where love, the greatest power there is, rules the day. We want to find that power, build and share that power together.
Do me a favor! Turn to your neighbor and tell them “We are stronger together!”
You often hear me talk about our shared journey. It’s the journey to make connections so that the greatest power flows and fills and guides all of us together.
We UUs have made a start on power sharing by bringing the noble experiment of democracy to religion. We are working to develop the caring and kinship of all humanity. We aim to empower and liberate everyone.
Second oldies pop reference, the theme song from “Cheers.” Like last time you can sing or call out the lyrics if you know them: “sometimes you want to go .. (pause)______
where everybody knows your name And they’re always glad you came You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same.
I spent all that money on seminary, and quote TV theme song lyrics about a bar! But it really is that simple!
And our church offers more than Cheers. We offer a way to nurture souls and help heal the world. We seek to see the divine in every person. Ours is a learning community, and learning unleashes great power. We want to usher in the kingdom of heaven, the beloved community. We want to transform a materialist world with spiritual awareness and practice.
We believe in democracy because it has given us a taste of shared power. We want our congregation to be a place where people are cherished beyond their money or achievements.
Do you sense the power in this?
What kind of faith is this anyway? When a person comes here for the first time, what message do they get? Do they find reason for hope? Every religion must offer a way to put the fragmented pieces of our existence and our world together into a meaningful integrated whole.
When a person visits for the first time, she checks us out to see what we have to offer. She might ask “Who is in charge here? The UU version says: “How do decisions get made here and by whom?” If she stays around, it probably means she has experienced a quality of connection, and she feels a sense of belonging.
“Who is in charge?” is religious question. Many religions answer: “God is large and in charge.” Many religions say “Your job is to obey and follow what G*d told us to do.” In conservative Christian religion, the message is that humans have a sinful rebellious nature, and are destined to an eternity of suffering unless we accept Jesus as our personal lord and savior.
My intent is not knock faith in G*d, or faith in Jesus. I just mean to say that we do religion a bit differently than that. Our tradition has evolved from two heretical Protestant groups to become a multicultural faith that keeps the focus on living a righteous life, and from a sense of social responsibility and interconnection with all humanity and all life, we seek to gain the power to influence society so that there is love and respect for everyone. Our path to salvation (wholeness, actualization etc) calls us to work for peace and justice.
This works for me. I grew up influenced by songs like Crosby Stills Nash and Young singing “we can change the world,” and John Lennon’s “Power to the people.” Our religion and logic tells me that humanity needs to learn cooperation. Our religion seeks to keep love and hope alive in us knowing that this changes the world. Our faith taps awesome power!
Our theological traditions have directed us toward love and heaven. Our Universalist ancestors asked if an all-powerful loving god would create humans with a sinful nature and then condemn them to an eternity of suffering for it… Our ancestors said “Hell NO!” and hell? No! We seek to get into the ever flowing stream of love. Tyrants exploit and expand human fears to keep us from discovering our collective power.
Religion is a medium that shapes values and creates worldwiews. Religion says “this is how we do it.” Too often religious authority has been used to coerce and corral people. Then it says “this is how you will do it. If not, we will cast you out or kill you.”
Our tradition grew out of Europe’s Age of Enlightenment with its emphasis on reason, proof, facts, evidence, and science. We appreciate the value of questioning authority, and we have a different approach to religious questions. We value questioning! “What is important or sacred?” “Why is there suffering?” What can be done about it? What makes life meaningful?
With structures and wisdom inherited from UU tradition, and in the accepting embrace of a congregation, each person must discover truth inside themselves. We don’t hold any one book as the repository of all the answers. We don’t have a pope or bishops. We grew from a protestant doctrine known as the priesthood of all believers. It said that all had access to God and God’s word, that no priestly mediator was required for salvation. It promoted an equality of all Christians that led to the development of the use of democracy in church matters.
In 1961, our two denominations merged. Soon the counterculture of the sixties took questioning authority to new levels. Watergate caused a tremendous erosion of public trust for authority. Some UUs began advocating for religion without hierarchy. Some went so far in their aversion to religious authority that they resisted the designation of leadership. The chaos that resulted in congregations that lacked the power to protect themselves from abusive behavior. (In fairness congregations where there was plenty of institutional structure and power have also didn’t always protect their congregations.)
I believe that our denomination experienced an adolescent stage. Liberal faith suggests that greater things are yet possible. It takes courage to explore new models for religious authority. It takes courage to look at how power operates in a congregation.
The concept of shared ministry offers much hope for the future of liberal religion. In this view, the ministry is the job and responsibility of the entire congregation. UU tradition gets learned, practiced and shared in the planning and operation of church activities. The congregation is the curriculum for the learning how to do UU. This is how we fulfill its mission and our ministry.
Inside and throughout all church tasks, is ministry, care for the soul, mind, wellbeing and spirituality of individual members and the congregation.
Any congregation that is life affirming and life giving becomes attractive. UU congregations run on the principle of voluntary participation. When people give from their heart, fulfillment is more likely. It’s even more likely when there is cooperation, appreciation and respect. The odds grow greater still when the work is an expression of shared (UU) values. Then we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk.
UU congregations help us grow in our ability to create the world we want to live in. Our faith invites us into leadership. Leadership is the ability to see that things go well within a given arena. Everyone can have a share in the responsibility of carrying out the mission and ministry of this congregation.
Rotation of leadership really helps in this regard. When committees or teams function well, people learn together, and individuals gain support to assume greater leadership. Leaders recruit, train and supports new leaders.
Appreciation makes leadership attractive. Growing ability to appreciate is about noticing what is important to us. As we tune into what’s important and celebrate fulfillment, we amplify our values. If it’s specific and authentic, we never have too much appreciation.
Appreciation enhances our ability to practice acceptance and encouragement to spiritual growth. It helps us break free of the toxic influence of a culture that puts profits above people. Materialism reduces people to commodities to be bought and sold. Honoring the sacred within each person is a way we can resist. Can we learn to appreciate and enjoy each other as we work together to co-create, maintain and nurture our religious community?
Yes we can. But not always. Not without mistakes and willingness to learn. It is our spiritual practice.
Sharing ministry means that each of us plays a part in creating an environment that amplifies and appreciates values and the ways we practice them. In this era, at any time people with divergent viewpoints can have honest, intelligent and respectful exchange of ideas it is miraculous. We can do it. We will have more fun and be more effective when we bring compassion, warmth, and love to our efforts.
That’s great, no? Now, we kick it up a notch. Ministry requires practice of humility and awe, a gentle care for the fragility of priceless things cherished by all people; peace, loyalty, honesty, tenderness, interdependence, and that which transcends all boundaries. Ministry requires awareness of sacredness in every person. We can do this literally or metaphorically, by bowing in reverence to the divine or holy within each person.
How can we build power together? We keep a religion of covenant. We remember that we are all in this together. We help each other when we have forgotten our covenant. Because inevitably we do forget. This is how we learn to see and honor the sacred. This is how we learn to create and share power.
There is a Yoruba word Ashe’ that signifies the power to make things happen and produce change. This power is associated with the divine and the essence of life. Ashe’ dear ones!
Recent Comments