A Sermon delivered by Reverend Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister
At All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK
Sunday, July 6, 2008
In the Bible it says, “In the end, these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love.” Well, when I’m
standing up here and I say “I love you,” I mean I love you! And I love this faith and this soulful
journey we’re on.
Two years ago, when my daughter Sienna died suddenly and
unexpectedly in my arms, in the middle of the night, three days after her third
birthday, I couldn’t talk, couldn’t eat, I could barely stand on my own two
feet. But this church held me up and
gave me strength to face my devastated and broken heart. And more healing came from Unitarian Universalists
around the country through cards and calls, prayers and prayer shawls. A number of my colleagues came to Tulsa to be with us,
including Unitarian Universalist Association President, Bill Sinkford. As our president, I knew he was standing in
for a lot of others who couldn’t be there.
Bill’s taken a lot of important stands during his
presidency, but for me the most important stand he ever took was on his knees. Only minutes after arriving in Tulsa to be with me and
my family, he got down on his knees and made chalk drawings on the sidewalk in
front of my house, with a frightened and confused little boy who had just lost
his baby sister. Even on his knees, Bill
knows what he stands for and what our faith stands for.
This community, its people, and its
love have helped save my life – at the time of my deepest despair. And I’m profoundly grateful.
At our best, we’re not an activist organization. We’re not a social club. We’re a religious community in the greatest
sense of the word. And a religious
community knows something about broken hearts and about standing up. It knows something about what to do when your
world has been turned completely upside down.
And a true religious community shows us how to take our heartbreak and transform
it into a sacred fire for change.
When people come to see me and tell me they are not
sure what they are called to do in this world, I say to them, “Tell me where
your heart has been broken.” Because there
you’ll find passion. And if you want to
find your calling, you must follow your passion.
Has your heart been broken by racism, homophobia, by
abuse, by addiction? By the rape of the
earth? By unjust and unnecessary war? By thousands of flag-draped coffins, kept
invisible from the public? Whatever it
is, the church’s role is to help us take our heartbreak and turn it into a
sacred fire to use to transform the world.
We need to transfigure our pain and anger into a fearless passion. Because we live in a time when one of the
looming questions is: Will religion continue to be one of the greatest sources
of division and conflict, or will it become the primary source of connection, peace
and justice among the human family? It’s
a question so large and so jarring and so perilous that it should trouble the
hearts of every faithful person on this planet.
We live in a time of wars and terror
and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
We
also live in a time of growing extremisms of all kinds that are dividing the
human family. It’s a time when the
population of the world is exploding to what may soon become unmanageable
numbers. The environment is in serious
danger. And people in this country
continue to be distracted from the major issues of our times by a violent,
materialistic and pornographic popular culture.
At a time like this, we need passionate,
free-thinking people and institutions that are willing to take stands that will
give birth to a new era. An era in which
religion becomes a source of peace and unity and liberation, not war and
division and oppression. An era in which
we will not rest until our rivers are clean, until our schools are adequate, until
all our children and elderly have access to adequate health care. Until “family values” means we value every
member of the human family. Until the
color of a person’s skin is of no more social or economic significance than the
color of her hair or her eyes.
It is going to take a kind of
leadership like we have never seen before.
It is going to take leaders who know where their hearts have been broken,
and know how to help the rest of us turn our passion into compassion and our
anger into a transforming fire. It’s
going to take people who can honestly name the subversions and the perversions
of our nation’s history and culture without being branded unpatriotic.
I remember being a teenager when my older brother was
going through his punk rock phase. He
would sit in school drawing anarchy symbols on his books. For awhile he sported a bright red Mohawk. But, more than the Mohawk, what made a
lasting impression on me was when I saw him send a letter, I noticed that he
always placed the American flag stamp upside down. Back then, I figured it was just part of his angst-ridden
youthful rebellion. Yet later, I
realized that there was something much more significant going on.
We were growing up in suburban Chicago
in the 70s and 80s, being taught all about America being the greatest country
in the world. The land of freedom for
all and equal opportunity. The land where
Europeans and Native Americans feasted together and built a righteous nation. At some stage, most of us figure out that the
history we’re taught, is not the full story and in some cases not even the real
story.
A similar thing happens to many of us when it comes
to the religion we grew up with. Many of
us grow up and discover we no longer believe in the God or religion we learned
about as children. And at the moment it
hits us, that what we believed in, what we’ve been taught, is no longer
something we can accept or have faith in…
it can feel like a betrayal and like our entire world has been flipped
on its head. If you’re 17, and have an
American flag stamp, you might decide to stick it upside down so that it’s
flying in the same direction as the rest of your world – which has just been
inverted.
So, what are we to do when our world gets turned
upside down? We know what we were told
to do after the tragic events of September 11th 2001. We were told to “go back to normal,” meaning,
“keep the status quo.” Don’t change
anything. At one of the most significant
moments in recent American history, at a time of our collective heartbreak, our
highest national leaders told us that “the best thing we could do is go
shopping!” Remember that? At a critical moment in time, that was
pregnant with possibility, when there was a will and an opportunity for our
nation to become more introspective, when people were realizing that something
was not as it had seemed and something new might need to be tried or created, our
nation was lulled back to sleep.
Our hearts were broken open, but our collective grief
and anger and fear were not transfigured into something sacred or
life-affirming. Quite the opposite, they
were channeled into two wars and countless coffins and numerous distractions.
Looking around, we can see a lot of people in this
country who are alive, but they seem asleep, or like they are the walking dead. More and more people are abusing drugs and
alcohol to escape and cover over the breaks in their hearts. Gambling and sex addiction, consumerism, workoholism
are all on the rise. There are too many
people in this world who are alive, but due to the state of their
relationships, their career, their addictions, they’re the walking dead. And if we are going to help resurrect such
people, we are going to have to stand up and speak truth to power. Who says Unitarian Universalists don’t believe
in resurrecting the dead? In fact, it’s
probably one of our most important jobs.
We can even see how people use religion and
spirituality as an escape. Some religions
tell us that this life is an illusion, or this life is not what really matters,
but that it is the next life where our reward and justice will be found. Some look at all the scary things happening
in our world today and they see an apocalyptic vision and tell us “the end is
near!” Of course, the root of the word apocalypse means “to lift the veil, or
to uncover.” And in that sense, maybe
this is an apocalyptic time, because the
past 8 to 10 years have been pretty revealing!
We’ve been seeing under some of the
veils of our society. I’ve heard author and
storyteller Michael Meade talking about this and he refers to such things as the
2000 presidential elections and the way the Supreme Court elected the
president. And the voting irregularities
in states like Ohio and Florida.
These are a lifting of the veil of our democracy. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans – (whew!) – that was a lifting of
the veil! The Enron scandal and now the
sub-prime mortgage scandal have been a lifting of the veil uncovering types of
corruption in business for all to see. The
Catholic Church scandal was a lifting of the veil which has exposed a frightening
corruption that has pervaded that institution probably for a very long time, and
no denomination has come through that scandal with their hands completely
clean. And we have received test results
demonstrating huge failings and disparities in public education in our country.
We have seen the veil lifted on some of the major
institutions that this country is founded on: Democracy, business, religion,
education... Yet we know that doesn’t
mean the world itself is coming to an end.
But the world as we’ve known it is coming to an end. And we need conscious, progressive,
open-minded, broken-hearted people who will stand up and help re-imagine what
will come next. With a breakdown of
trust in the major institutions of our culture, you and I must become serious about
re-imagining culture and religion, education and politics and our relationship
with the natural world. There’s no time
to waste. It’s a calling for us.
Keep in mind that throughout many of the major transitions
in the history of this country, Unitarians and Universalists have taken important
stands and played significant roles. Often
our influence has been disproportionate to our numbers. From the abolition of slavery, to the
civil-rights era and the woman’s rights eras and the gay rights era significant
leaders and ideas have come out of our tradition and our churches. And one reason is, because time and time
again, when we’ve discovered our world is upside down, we have refused to simply
“go back to normal.” We are determined
to stand up and speak truth to power.
Doing so means speaking the truth about the dangers
of religious literalism. Just imagine the
day when religious liberty replaces religious literalism. Consider Jerusalem.
If people keep thinking of Jerusalem
as a literal place, the world may never know peace. Sure, Jerusalem
today may also be a literal place, but what Jerusalem truly stands for is a vision of
something much bigger than any one piece of land. With a mythic and poetic understanding of
scripture we can see Jerusalem
as a reference to the ideal of human community with justice. In this sense, Jerusalem is not a geographical reference; it’s
an archetypal reference to the soul of the world. Or, as author Michael Meade puts it, “Jerusalem is that Holy
place that is always trying to occur” everywhere, in every time, among every
person and community. And so what
humanity is about, is creating such a Jerusalem
wherever we are. Because if we posses a
connection to the holy center of our soul, if we have a community built on
compassion and justice and freedom and love, if we have Jerusalem
– then we do not have to fight over Jerusalem.
What needs to happen is a
re-imagining of religion so that literalism which is narrow, and rigid and often
deadly, makes way for the mythic and poetic which is imaginative, liberating and
life-affirming. That is to say, we
cannot “return to normal” and survive. And
it means re-imagining our culture in ways that are not standardized, franchised
and disposable. That means re-imagine
our sense of who we are, what we stand for, and what we are called to do with
our lives and our churches and our Association of congregations. Something big is dying, my friends, and
something new is trying to be born to replace it. The question is, whether we see a role for
ourselves and our faith in this re-imagining of religion and society.
I will tell you one thing; we’re not going to do it by
turning the flag upside down. That
doesn’t change anything. More
importantly, the flag and what it stands for may be one of our greatest allies and
tools in the struggle. The United States
flag is a symbol that has such a powerful hold over the American psyche, that
when left in the wrong hands, is incredibly dangerous. Just like the Bible, when it’s left in the wrong hands. For many people, the flag represents a powerful
vision of what our nation could (and I’d say must) become. In other
words, those of us trying to re-imagine our society should not be the ones
flipping the flag upside down to reflect society’s inversions. We need to be about flipping society back
around – toward its highest ideals and possibilities.
Our forbearers, as flawed and human as they were, stood
up and spoke truth to power in their times to try and leave us with the vision
of a new and different kind of nation. A
nation based on the ideals of human rights.
A nation that has been drawn from all the peoples of the earth. A nation drawn from all nations. As A. Powell Davies said, “We are not a
country bound together by blood and soil, but rather by faith in liberty,
equality and justice. It’s the pursuit
of these noble principles that must unite us as one people. In fact, our faith in human rights must be so
strong that we believe they belong to people of every tribe, tongue, territory and
tradition on earth.” In that way, America, much like Jerusalem, is not so much a place, as it is a
faith in the brotherhood and sisterhood of humankind. A faith that transcends nations and creeds and
unites all people upon this earth in a mutual longing for a world of harmony and
peace where no one is defiled, where no one goes to bed hungry, and wherein all
God’s children come to know and to cherish one another. It’s the America that has never been, but
yet must be!
Now, some will say, “But who are we to make any real
impact? We are just a tiny band of liberal
religious people in an enormous country and an even larger world!” Let us remember that Jesus and his followers
were also just a tiny band of slightly eccentric people. The American Revolutionaries began as a tiny
band of men and women.
I’ve learned something about tiny bands. Do you remember a minor rock band named the Boomtown
Rats? Do you remember who the lead
singer was? It was Bob Geldof. Geldof is remembered a little bit for his
music, but more importantly for the LIVE AID concerts back in the late 80s and
what he’s done since then. Most people
don’t realize that when Live Aid began,
Bob
Geldof did not set out to hold a major concert on two continents with many of
the world’s most famous musicians. At
the time he was the leader of a band that had one popular hit years before. Remember what it was? “I don’t like Mondays,” not exactly a great
contribution to western civilization!
One day he saw pictures of the mass starvation of
woman and children in Africa and it broke his
heart. And he decided he wanted to try
to do something about it. He and his
band were playing concerts in small pubs around the UK.
He knew a pub owner, and he asked if his band could play a benefit
concert in his pub. The owner said okay. So Geldof began putting up flyers about this
benefit concert. Days later, Geldof got
a call from a man, named Mick Jagger, who had seen the flyers and wondered if
it would be okay if his band joined Geldof’s band for the concert. Geldof said, “Yeah, we’d love to play with
the Rolling Stones!”
Before long, the concert had to be moved from the
small pub, to a stadium in London. When word got out that the Rolling Stones were
involved in a benefit concert to end hunger in Africa,
then Elton John wanted to take part, and Sting, and Eric Clapton. Pretty soon the concert spread into two stadiums,
one in London and the other in New York.
Every major rock and roll personality got involved and it was simulcast
on television stations around the world.
They raised hundreds of millions of dollars and saved millions of
children from starvation. And it didn’t
start because Geldof planned it that way.
It was because he had a concern.
Something broke his heart and he asked himself “What can I do?” He had a band and knew someone who had a pub.
He
worked within his little circle of influence and in so doing he made a huge
impact.
People who are effective, those who change the world,
and affect the course of history, are men and woman who put their time and
energy into areas where they actually have influence. Of course, there are many issues that you and
I are concerned about. Many issues that
break our hearts. Like domestic abuse,
homelessness, declining public schools and more. Yet we’ve got a limited capacity as
individuals, and even as congregations and as a denomination, to support all
the causes worthy and in need of our help.
But imagine if every Unitarian Universalist church started giving away
its Sunday offering every week to help organizations like Disabled Veterans,
Food Pantries and Homeless Shelters in their local area. When we started doing this here at All Souls,
we did not ask what we could do to help homelessness in Toledo,
Tucson and Tuscaloosa
and in Boise, Baltimore
and Boston. We asked, “What is within our reach?” And by doing that, our influence now reaches people
from coast to coast.
Last Sunday, before more than 3000 leaders of UU
Churches across the country I challenged them to all start giving away their
collection plate offering every week. If
they take up the challenge, together we will impact people in over 1000 cities and
towns across America
every week. Imagine what would happen if
one day it became the culture of churches all over the country to give away
their Sunday collection plates?! I
believe we are called to help spread a culture of generosity throughout the
land – from the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters. And it starts in our local communities, where
we actually have influence.
Then I told them about our own Betty
Morrow, who I described as a tiny and tireless, red-headed retiree in her 80s
who has helped us start 32 micro-credit banks around the world. And I challenged every Unitarian Universalist
church in America
to start at least one bank a year from now on.
If they do it, then next year we will start over 1000 banks that will change
the lives of up to 100,000 of the world’s poorest women and children. In one decade, millions of our poorest
brothers and sisters around the globe would be lifting themselves out of
poverty due to this small, but significant act.
Twenty years from now, our efforts will have changed the lives of hundreds
of millions of people and will be a huge step towards ending poverty as we know
it.
I talk to people all the time who see the state of
the world’s problems and they often feel powerless and demoralized. Yet, how empowering it is to be part of a
church that is not only transforming our own lives, but also having a profound
impact across the country and around the world!
To close the General Assembly I said, “Let us go home
from this week not fretting over all that needs to be done. Let us go back home, determined to stand up
and do what we can realistically do. You
and I can, and must, take a stand to help make America again. The country it has never been, but yet can
be. A truly new and different kind of
nation. A non-racialized, non-homophobic
culture that respects the feminine and the masculine in all of us, that makes
room for the physically challenged and cares for the mentally ill, that is
generous with all her people whether they have a government issued ID or not.
For too long the vision of our country has been
obscured by –isms and schisms and false patriotisms, but we live in the time of
the lifting of the veils. We live in a
time when we must remember what the name Jerusalem
stands for, so we can stand up and create Jerusalem
wherever we are. A time when we must
remember what America stands
for, so that we can stand up and help make America again. It’s not enough to stand up for the pledge of
allegiance
It’s
not enough to stand up for the national anthem.
That means nothing if we don’t also stand up for what’s right.
Rosa Parks sat down to stand up for
her rights. Soldiers and freedom
fighters are laying down their lives to stand up for people’s rights. I must remember what I stand for, and you must
remember what you stand for. Because the
place where heaven and earth meet is the place where your feet are touching the
ground. When you stand up for what’s
right, you bless the world.
Will you stand up (in body or spirit) right now with
me? In this world of ever-challenging
social evils, in a world where the fangs of injustice and intolerance bite with
a venomous sting, and
where precious hearts are broken everyday…
In this fierce and uncertain world, it gives me deep joy to stand up here
today with meaningful work to do, surrounded by fellow pilgrims to do that work
with me. May you stand by this faith, knowing
that this faith will stand by you even in the worst of times. It cannot prevent your heart from breaking,
but it can help you transform your pain into passion for faith, hope and love. And of course, the greatest of these is love.
I love you!
Amen.
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