Sermons
“A HOLY BOLDNESS”,
The Rev. Dr. Jay Abernathy
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville, MD
January 19, 2003
Reading: Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham
City Jail”
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily
given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly,
I have yet to engage in a direct-action that was “well timed”
in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease
of segregation. For years not, I have heard the word “Wait!”
It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This
“Wait” has almost always meant “Never.”
We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that
“justice too long delayed is justice denied.
…Perhaps it is easy for those who have never
felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.”
But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers
at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have
seen hate-filled policeman curse, kick, and kill your black brothers
and sisters, when you see the vast majority of your own twenty million
Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the
midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue
twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your
six-year-old daughter why she can’t got to the public amusement
park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears
welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to
colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning
to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort
her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards
white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year
old son who is asking, “Daddy, why do white people treat colored
people so mean?”…
READING: Micah 6: 6-8 (RSV)
With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
and calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, o man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
MEDITATION (89:1.15 JEA, rev.)
Holy spirit of life, embracing all humanity,
May we, too, embrace all others, as did the prophet M. L. King.
This day we recognize his contributions to our lives—
Not just to the lives of each of us individually,
But to the lives of all Southerners, all Americans, all people.
We have not kept his dream alive in our hearts
With the same depth and commitment as we once did.
We have seen our national life deluded by comparisons to a past
time,
But the call is not to look back to yesterday but to look forward
to and plan for tomorrow.
Minorities still suffer in our proud nation
From prejudice and hatred, and from complacency and satisfaction.
Forgive us from complacency as much as prejudice,
Fire our hearts as of old with the courage to help the helpless,
Confirm in us the willingness to sacrifice for others,
Remind us of the growth and love that comes from giving.
Bring to our souls a glimpse of that time
“when all of God’s children, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in
the words
of that old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God
almighty we are free at last!’”
AMEN
Sermon: “A HOLY BOLDNESS”
I find the words of the prophet Micah the most impressive words
of the Jewish Scriptures. They boldly reframe the religious imperative
from one of sacrifices to one of justice, mercy and love. These
words transform the nascent Jewish monotheism into a truly unique
religion. Rather than worship by sacrificial offerings, the Jewish
God is worshipped by mercy, kindness, and love. For the first time
in history, ethics becomes an integral part of religion, as important
as tribal identity in understanding the human religious impulse.
When Abraham arrived at the Promised land, the locals still practiced
human sacrifice. The story of the almost-sacrifice of Isaac justifies
for Jews the replacement of human sacrifice with animal sacrifice;
it generates the blessing that establishes the Jewish people as
a unique nation. Micah’s words, then, take this definitive,
if mythical, experience of the Jews as the basis for his radical
redefinition of monotheism and religion. He not only says that God
does not desire human sacrifice, but needs no sacrifice of any kind.
Well, perhaps I should not say there will be sacrifices. Rather
than the number or type of animals sacrificed at worship, moral
discipline becomes the measure of religion. Religion now adds to
worship the demands for justice. Today, Unitarian Universalism demands
of us a holy boldness if we are to promote justice in this nation
and in the world. We cannot hold the values we proclaim, inherited
from the Jews, and remain silent while human slavery, misery, and
degradation continues at the present pace in our world. Our world’s
social inequality demands “a holy boldness,” and not
a quiescent compliance. Neither can we settle for “a moldy
oldness,” solutions that worked decades ago but are inadequate
today.
1. What makes for holy?
We must be bold in addressing the world’s evil: the evil that
individuals do and the systemic evil in our culture and politics.
We must name names and define solutions – criticism alone
is inadequate and hypocritical. We must speak directly to the issues:
the death penalty, war, homelessness, health insurance, women’s
issues, sexual identity among gays, lesbians, and others, religious
freedom, the death penalty, cultural rights.
Yesterday, about forty of you joined me at a workshop that focused
our attention on this congregation’s activism. We began to
bring new energy to our various committees. Such activism is absolutely
necessary if we are to be bold. However, we must be both bold and
holy to be effective. I want to begin with how we make our boldness
holy.
The hymn we just sang is not bold, but I love it for its values:
we must work for the people’s peace if we are to have any
hope of political and social peace with justice.
Put another way, we can never just stop our daily lives and establish
justice, then get back to being normal human beings. We can never
forget, in the midst of even the most immediate and demanding of
crises, that we have families, that homes must be protected and
families nurtured, and that our friends must receive some of our
attention.
I believe that our times require a “holy boldness”
from people who claim the religious values that define Unitarian
Universalism. The boldness is our social action, and I will return
to comments on specific issues in a moment. This boldness, however,
must be “holy” if it is to be effective coming from
the church. There are many opportunities for political and cultural
boldness, and I encourage you to join in those activities that appeal
to you.
2. Community gives us the holy
A holy boldness has some limitations that, for example, more direct
political action does not have. One such limitation is that our
holy boldness to save the world must be brought to our shared congregational
life. One limit is the demand that we must work democratically,
allowing dissent and even encouraging it among ourselves. Another
limit is that we must allow people to choose their level of participation
and support. No effective political action group in the secular
world can or should (necessarily) allow these limits to hinder its
effectiveness. Without them, however, our religious efforts are
aggressive and intolerant, not at all a holy boldness.
Our ancestors in this movement developed a remarkable approach
that few of us today recognize fully. The congregation has a certain
wisdom that individuals do not possess. It serves as a balance to
fanaticism on the part of individuals. The congregation is not perfect,
of course. It can be highjacked by charismatic leaders or blackmailed
by disgruntled members.
However, among us Unitarian Universalists, the congregation is
a critical balance to our strong individualist tendencies. Listen
to the wisdom of other UUCR members. Learn both tactics and wisdom
from all of us gathered here. Allow us to remind you, constantly,
that your opinion as valid as it often appears to you (and rightly),
is but one of many opinions. Because individuals of inherent dignity
and worth often hold differing opinions, you must, you absolutely
must, grant the views of other members a hearing in your
own mind, in your own religious, moral, and spiritual development.
We balance one another’s tendency to fanaticism even as we
encourage and inspire and teach one another. This is the positive
role of community.
It is the balancing act of congregational life that makes our
social justice efforts a holy boldness, without which we are merely
another social or political action group with its prejudices, fears,
and agenda. Our goal is not limited to any one political or social
cause, even if such a focus can be a powerful tool for change. UUCR’s
goal is not limited to social change in some grand sense; it also
includes the people’s peace, something too simple to be tried
as true, as integral to our very humanity as our breathing and eating.
We must join together as families and as communities to live out
our individual lives, and we must do this in some kind of secure
and joyful routine. Community is as important our religious
identity as social justice.
3. Boldness
It is this religious community that gives our particular form
of social involvement a holiness that evades all secular groups.
For example, when we speak about the war, we do not “automatically”
represent any one opinion. Notice, for example, that I did not say,
“when we speak against the war,” for some members
are convinced that war with Iraq is a necessary moral action,
itself a bold effort to correct injustice on a massive scale within
that unfortunate country, necessary to reduce the threat of terrorism.
These and other opinions on this topic, and dissenting opinions
on all other significant issues, are held by members of this congregation
and by members of most other Unitarian Universalist churches. The
fact that they may not be in the majority means one thing, but the
fact that they exist among us also means something essential to
our shared religious identity.
It does not mean, however, that we take no stands. Democracy need
not be a recipe for inaction, waffling, and indecision. Our boldness
is the more effective for its careful consideration and the attention
we pay to our friends and fellow church members, especially those
who disagree with us.
Again, let’s consider the potential war in Iraq. Many in
the church oppose at this time, an American invasion of Iraq for
several reasons, and not everyone agrees on all the reasons! Their
reasons are not solely political or social decisions, but their
religious views are also involved. These activists use the church
newsletter and worship services for recruitment.
Our efforts become religious only when we acknowledge that our
views may represent the majority but not all members, when we admit
that we are fallible human beings, and that our opponents make some
very good points. Listen to the prophet Micah! We must walk humbly
with our God, even when we search for justice. Never, however, let
us fail to act because some folks disagreed. This disagreement is
healthy; it shows that we remain pluralistic and open to wide variety
of persons. Let us be humble in our boldness, but bold nevertheless.
Too much discussion about Iraq focuses on our greedy thirst for
oil. Too much revolves around the personal insult the current President
seems to feel. Too much seems to involve the questionable policy
of aggressive first strikes against nations with whom we disagree.
Too much is determined by our failed Middle East policy. These are
all good reasons to oppose the war. Furthermore, opposition to war
generally, or a least to war in all but the most unavoidable of
crises, is a valid religious attitude that moves a great many of
our members. May this congregation never blindly support
war.
We must be diligent and bold in other areas, not simply about
war. Current efforts to combat terror raise many questions of “civil
liberties” which most UUs hold to have religious significance.
The recent decision to allow the military to forbid American
citizens to have access to the courts because these citizens were
arrested or captured by the military in “combat zones”
(not “war zones”) does grievous harm to our due process
rights. Are our constitutional rights available only to citizens
or are they, as Jefferson
said, “unalienable rights” granted by our Creator to
all people? We are segregating “citizens” from “immigrants”
and others just as we once segregated the races. This is evil, and
pallid justifications will not suffice: we must boldly demand
respect for the worth and dignity of all persons.
The war on terrorism mobilizes so much money, but we have yet
to declare war on poverty, hunger, homelessness, or equal rights
with the same vigor. This failure to address the very real and significant
problems in America, while we send our young men and women to die
overseas, deserves our attention and a bold response.
- Let us pursue decent health care for all Americans with the
same vigor we pursue terrorists!
- Let us provide safety to those who are gays, lesbians, and
all those with gender identity issues with all the vigor we provide
tax relief to the wealthiest 1% of Americans!
- Let us provide reasonably affordable homes for the one-third
of families in this country who earn the least among our citizens!
- Let us directly address the racial prejudice that still haunts
our nation, including prejudice against immigrants and native
Americans!
- Let us provide decent health insurance and health care to more
than the 20% of the 10 million or so of our poorest and most at
risk children!
- Let us learn to welcome immigrants and their customs like we
welcome new members to this church!
We in America are not there yet. We have not enough justice and
kindness. We cannot allow our material comfort or the complexity
of the problems to discourage our actions for justice. This is the
test of religion (of all religion, Unitarian Universalist or no)
that we “do justice and love kindness.” There
is no test of belief, only a test of action and intent – yes,
we must be bold in our efforts, not weak, not shallow, not easily
turned aside. Yet, if we are to be religious, we must have a “holy
boldness” that includes, consults, tests, and humbly asserts.
In this, the Rev’d Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaigns
for racial justice (and later for the end to the Vietnam War) are
a model. His adherence to peaceful protest, his consultation with
others, and his efforts to keep the gates of love even as he stormed
the walls of prejudice and injustice are what I mean by a “holy
boldness.” So let us be inspired by workshops to practice
our religion. Let us be inspired by the values and teachings of
our heritage to work for justice and to be kind even to the stranger.
While doing all this, let us walk humbly with our God, with our
neighbors, and with ourselves.
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