Sermon by Rev. Alan Taylor
Preached at Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation
February 22, 2004
Reading 1:
From Whistling in the Dark, by Frederick Buechner
Imagining is about as close as
humans get to creating something out of nothing the way God is said to do. It is
a power that to one degree or another everybody has or can develop, like
whistling. Like muscles, it can be strengthened through practice and exercise.
Keep at it until you can actually hear your grandfather’s voice, for instance,
or feel the rush of hot air when you open the 450 degree oven. … If you want to
know what loving our neighbor is all about, look at them with more than just
your eyes. The bag lady settling down for the night on the hot-air grating. The
two children chirping like birds in the sandbox. The bride as she walks down the
aisle on her father’s arm. The old man staring into space in the nursing home TV
room. Try to know them for who they are in their skins. Hear not just the words
they speak but the words they do not speak. … When Jesus said, “Come all ye that
labor and are heavy laden.” he was seeking the rich as well as the poor, the
lucky as well as the unlucky, the idle as well as the industrious. He was seeing
the bride on her wedding day. He was seeing the old man in front of the TV. He
was seeing all of us. The highest work of the imagination is to have eyes like
that.
Reading 2:
From Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, by
Lewis Thomas
There is nothing at all
wonderful about a single, solitary termite, indeed there is really no such
creature, functionally speaking, as a lone termite, any more than we can imagine
a genuinely solitary human being; no such thing. Two or three termites gathered
together on a dish are not much better; they may move about and touch each other
nervously, but nothing happens. But keep adding more termites until they reach a
critical mass, and then the miracle begins. As though they had suddenly received
a piece of extraordinary news, they organize in platoons and begin stacking up
pellets to precisely the right height, then turning the arches to connect the
columns, constructing the cathedral and its chambers in which the colony will
live out its life for the decades ahead, air-conditioned and humidity
controlled, following the chemical blueprint coded in their genes, flawlessly,
stone-blind. They are not the dense mass of individual insects they appear to
be; they are an organism, a thoughtful meditative brain on a million legs.
Sermon:
Gil Rendle, in his book
Leading Change in Congregations suggests that congregational leaders who are
working with a new minister engage in a little game. Everyone splits into pairs.
One person is asked to take the role of the newly arrived minister who is very
glad to be here because he or she sees the rich potential in the congregation
and can’t wait to get started. The other person takes the role of a member of
thirty years who has been in leadership positions for twenty-seven of those
years and “knows how thing are done here.” Once the roles are clear, the person
in the role of minister is asked to pantomime what they think is important for
the congregation, express the congregation’s potential and the direction it
should go while the role of the long-time member is asked to respond from their
perspective. The latter person puts up his or her hands to communicate “No!” to
everything the minister is seeking to convey. Those in the role of minister are
told that perhaps the resistance comes from not being clear enough, and so they
are asked to try to make themselves clearer, and then watch out for the ensuing
wrestling match!.
Whenever a new minister arrives at a congregation, there is
inevitably a dance that occurs between the minister and the leaders of the
congregation. This dance typically looks like one figure miming what is
possible, and the long-time leaders often putting up their hands. I must
confess, I am amazed how many long time leaders here are dancing out
possibilities to others and to me. Thus making it very natural for me to put
front and center the questions: What are we called to as a congregation? What
will the next chapter in our congregational life history look like, what do we
want it to look like, and how do we get there?
I don’t know the exact answers to these questions. But I
know one especially important question to pay attention to: What is the dream
here? What is the dream here? This is a tremendously rich question, the answer
to which I have only seen the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been here only six
months, and I feel like I have just started to get acquainted with the wider
congregation, certain that future holds so much, but uncertain exactly what all
that will be.
As we move forward, I shall strive to keep the conversation
alive and active, continuing to ask “what is the dream here?” and allowing the
vision to be shaped by past history, current practice, and future opportunities
and call. My goal is to equip as ever more of you who are ready and willing to
use your gifts for the expanding of our shared ministry, to move forward in the
direction that the essential spirit of this congregation wants to go.
I truly believe a congregation is more than the sum of its
parts, just as is a critical mass of termites that builds its own extraordinary
home. When a congregation reaches a certain size, so much is possible. A clear
identity, agreed upon goals and missions, and a cadre of committed volunteers
are what it takes for a congregation to operate as an organism. Congregations
operate as complicated systems just as other complex groups. Sometimes there is
more intelligence and ingenuity than any one person could have, and therefore
more than anyone would imagine.
Dr. Lewis who wrote about the termites also conducted an
especially fascinating study about bees. The experiment made use of a sugar cube
that was first placed near a hive so that the bees could easily find the sugar
and learn the rules of the game they were about to play. The sugar was then
moved at regular intervals at a distance of 25% longer than each previous
distance. And so each time the sugar moved, it was moved ever larger distances.
It was not long before the sugar cube was moved hundreds of feet at a time.
Thomas writes, “Sooner or later, while this process is going on, the biologist
shifting the dish of sugar will find his bees are out there waiting for him,
precisely where the next position had been planned.”
Doesn’t it seem rather unsettling that bees could figure
out a complex “game” and even predict its next steps? Apparently the hive has a
greater intelligence than any of the bees or even of all the bees, but it’s when
the hive works as an organism that it becomes more than the sum of its parts.
The same goes, I believe, for congregations that learn to walk together, to work
together, and to engage in authentic community.
Walter Wink, a liberal Biblical scholar, says that just as
every corporation has a culture, every congregation has an integrated identity
or personality that is expressed in its wholeness. Wink describes the essential
spirit of a congregation as being composed of two voices. First, the voice of
“personality” which reveals where the congregation has come from and who and
what was significant in bringing it to the present moment, and second, the voice
of “vocation,” which tells us where the congregation is going, what the
congregation is being called to do in the future.
The voice of personality answers the questions: Who are we?
Where have we come from? While the voice of vocation answers the questions: What
ministry are we called to give? What business are we in? What do we need to
learn, in order to prepare ourselves for what we are called to do? Regarding the
essential spirit of our congregation here at Unity Temple, the role of minister
is to honor and uphold both voices, seeking not to convince others of what they
are but integrating the two by listening closely to the needs and longings of
the people.
There are other questions also to ask, important but not of
the essential spirit of the congregation. These questions address the management
of the congregation: Are things going smoothly? Are we covering the bases? We
have administrative paid staff and several lay leaders, including a board, a
program council, and specific committees that are responsible for the management
of the church. For the most part, the minister doesn’t focus on these things.
Instead the minister focuses with the lay leadership on
questions about the shared ministry in which we are engaged. Is our ministry
faithful to our understanding of our purpose? Is it responsive to a viable
future? Do the changes we are considering help us to respond to our
understanding of our purpose? Will change help us overcome the barriers to the
future that we are seeking?
So I bet you are curious what I am about to say is our
future. I’m not. Instead I am going to tell you what I can imagine—and let you
tell me through your conversations with me, your involvement, and your
commitment where our congregation can go. Because it isn’t the minister that
ultimately decides where we go but the hive, the committed members working
together. So allow me to share with you what I can imagine, including a number
of directions already put in motion, others that may take more than a decade,
and notice what resonates in you.
I can imagine our congregation hosting Friday or Sunday
evening worship services, once a month a dynamic service for young adults that
brings together multi-media including poetry, music, and ritual; once a month a
music service that invites people into a transcendent space; once a month a fun
intergenerational worship service designed for all ages, including
kindergarteners, a service that conveys our principles through the enactment of
a story by our youth and those adults that want to participate; and once a month
a healing service, a redemptive worship service that makes use of ritual,
sharing joys and sorrows, and acknowledging our longing for wholeness. Imagine
every week a compelling form of worship on Friday or Sunday evening.
I can imagine our religious education program expanding to
serve ever more children but not without considerable creativity and intention,
for right now, we are nearly maxed out on current space during our second
service.
I can imagine a capital campaign fund to transform Gale
House, building on to it, or if the Village allows, replace it altogether.
Either way, we will have a more functional building for our education and office
needs.
I can imagine more intergenerational events during the year
such as a congregational Seder, ecological service projects bringing people of
all ages together, indeed a monthly opportunity for all members to participate
if they so wish.
I can imagine one of our youth groups traveling to Boston
every other year, giving our young people an opportunity to learn about the
extraordinary heritage from which our faith tradition has come.
I can imagine cultivating a relationship with a
congregation that is predominantly African-American in the Austin or Maywood
areas, allowing interfaith and intercultural connections to enrich both them and
us.
I can imagine cultivating a relationship with a sister
congregation in Transylvania, starting with a group of twenty-five of us here
heading to Transylvania for a pilgrimage to the land where religious liberalism
and Unitarianism flourished 400 years ago, and not only to see the sights but
also to become acquainted with the people and customs and challenges of our
Unitarian bothers and sisters who are ethnic Hungarians in what is today a part
of Romania.
I can imagine our congregation giving at least ten percent
of its income to organizations outside our walls.
I can imagine our congregation creating a mini-seminary for
people both within our congregation and people beyond who want to join us in
thoughtful exploration of religious studies, spiritual deepening, and engaging
with the world more thoughtfully.
I can imagine Unity Temple creating an annual internship
program for seminary students who are preparing for the Unitarian Universalist
ministry.
I can imagine our small group ministry program, that is our
Chalice Circle Program, multiply the number of circles we have, bringing
together ever more people who are seeking human community, thoughtful
conversation, and a place to be themselves.
I can imagine our congregation cultivating a strong
relationship with other Unitarian Universalist congregations in the Chicago
area, pooling our efforts to get our faith more into the public eye.
I can imagine the majority of our members wanting to give
four to five percent of their income to the congregation, making it possible for
us to do all that we want to do, such that this congregation exudes a sense of
abundance in spirit, in resources, and in commitment to making the world a
better place to live. I can imagine long-time members making gift bequests to
build up our endowment.
I can imagine our congregation learning and honing the fine
art of imagination, but I cannot imagine what it is that we will imagine
together!
I can imagine our Sunday morning worship services being
broadcast on radio or on public access television, making available our Sunday
morning messages to a wider audience.
I can imagine our congregation being instrumental in
celebrating the centennial of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in 2008 and 2009
and working creatively with Unity Temple Restoration Foundation to promote the
capital campaign for this building’s comprehensive restoration.
I can imagine the general public becoming aware that Unity
Temple is not only a historic building but also a vital liberal faith community
addressing the challenges of today. In other words, that Unity Temple is not so
much a place to worship but a place for worship.
I can imagine our congregation serving many, many more
people in the Oak Park area who are spiritually seeking, people not unlike
ourselves who crave genuine community where the free responsible search for
truth and meaning is affirmed.
I can imagine a lot of conflict along the way, and I can
imagine these conflicts being handled creatively, attending to the needs of the
people here and bringing forth new life, transformed lives, and real change
occurring because we were willing to invite change and the inevitable challenges
that come with it.
There is so much possibility, that I get dizzy just
contemplating the many possibilities. I get enthused about all these ideas, and
I need your help in discerning which of these we will make a reality in the next
five years and which further down the line. The way you can help me is by
letting me and other leaders know where your passion resides and patiently find
a way to connect your passion with needs among us. In the not too distant future
we shall further the work already done in equipping volunteers to make use of
your unique gifts.
In some of our endeavors, we will inevitably fail. But that
doesn’t mean we shouldn’t foray into the unknown, experiment, or attempt to find
our way. We are a human institution. We need a hope that is made wise by
experience and is undaunted by disappointment. We need an anxiety about the
future that shows us new ways to look at new things but does not unnerve us.
For me, personally, the criteria on which to base these
future directions is what people truly long for here and what will lead to
spiritual depth, personal growth, and the possibility of transformation, both
individual and communal.
In fact all that I have shared with you as to what I can
imagine pales in comparison to the imagining that we are called to do as a
religious people, that is, to be able to imagine ourselves in the situation of
others, to be able to empathize with others’ needs and to reach out to serve one
another. To love our neighbor as ourselves requires that we inhabit one
another’s hearts. This is the essential premise of both the Bodhisattva ideal in
Buddhism and the Christian gospel that serves as the foundation of the beloved
community. The liberating message of the sages of all traditions is that
empathic imagination frees us from the bondage of self-absorption.
May we imagine together a congregation where every stranger
is welcomed and every member knows that one’s gifts are valued. May we put our
gifts to use, learning to work ever more collaboratively, ever more in sync
until a greater consciousness emerges among the congregation as a whole.
Over the last thirty years, this congregation has come a
long way. First those core families that provided a foundation for this
congregation through the potlucks of a generation ago. Secondly those who walked
together through a turbulent time of change that likely laid the groundwork that
allowed the third spurt of growth during which the congregational leadership was
empowered to create a shared congregation under the steady stalwarts of the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Park with the enthusiastic tireless folk
that had navigated Beacon Unitarian through thick and thin.
Now ten years after the merger, we are here at the
beginning of a new ministry, headed by an able but sometimes overly earnest
young minister—a minister who in six short months has fallen in love with his
congregation. I am touched to find so many thoughtful leaders already dancing
out the possibility of this congregation. It is with extraordinary pride and joy
that I shall stand before so many of you this evening as you formally install me
as the minister of this extraordinary congregation.
As we look forward, I ask of you to not only walk with me,
or even dance with me, but know that your gifts and talents are welcomed on this
shared adventure, know there is a beckoning from deep among us, a beckoning
within, among and beyond us, calling us to be who we are capable of being. I
trust that we will have many years together.
May it be so.
Amen.
© Copyright 2004 Alan C.
Taylor, All Rights Reserved.
