Give Them Hope, Not Hell

by Posted in Audio available, Meg Barnhouse, Sermons, Video available

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Rev. Meg Barnhouse
September 21, 2014

John Murray’s rowing ashore in New Jersey in September of 1770 was the beginning of Universalism on this continent. What is the Universalist element in our faith? Our good news is that no one goes to hell.

Sermon: A UU faith story: John Murray

This morning I’m going to tell you about John Murray, who came to the New World in 1770, a defeated man, trying to start over again in a land where he could disappear. He was 29 years old, a widower. His wife Eliza and their one-year-old baby died in England, and medical bills had crushed him, landing him in debtor’s prison.

John Murray lost everything because he was converted to Universalism in England. He had been a lay preacher and Bible scholar with the Irish Methodists, and he loved good preaching. He visited every church in London, which is how he heard James Relly, a Universalist preacher. The idea that God was loving and that everyone would be saved in the end appealed to him and to his wife Eliza. Their friends begged them to come back to normal church. Their families cried. His business dried up. When he ended up bereaved, in prison, bailed out by Eliza’s brother, he just wanted to disappear, never preach again, never talk theology again, start all over with no history where no one knew him and he didn’t have to face either looks or words of loving concern or a self-righteous “I told you so.” He booked passage on the Hand In Hand, which was sailing for New York. The captain landed in Philadelphia instead, due to a miscalculation. Lots of the passengers got off. They sailed again for New York, but ran aground on a sand spit off the coast of New Jersey, at Good Luck Point.

Asked by the Captain to row ashore to look for food and water, came to a clearing in the pines and saw a large house and a trim looking church made of rough sawed lumber. A tall farmer stood in front of the house cleaning fish.

The following dialogue is imagined in the collected stories for UU children called “UU and Me.”

“Welcome” called out the farmer. “My name is Thomas Potter.”

“And I am John Murray, from the ship Hand in Hand.”

“Yes,” said Thomas, “I saw your ship in the bay, stuck on the sand bar, she is.”

“May I buy your fish to take back to the ship’s crew?” asked John.

“You can have them for the taking, and gladly:” answered Thomas, “and please come back to spend the night with my wife and me. I will tell you all about this little church and why it is here.”

John gratefully carried the fish to the sailors, and then returned to Thomas’ home for the night.

“Come, my friend, sit in front of our fire, this chilly fall evening,” said Thomas. “I’m so glad you have come. You may be the very person I’ve been waiting for.”

Potter told Murray that he had often heard the Bible read, and had thought a lot about God, coming up with ideas that made sense to him. He built the little church hoping for a preacher who would teach about things that made sense to him.

“Today, when I saw your ship in the bay,” he said to Murray, “a voice inside me seemed to say, “There, Potter, in that ship may be the preacher you have been so long expecting.”

John said quickly,” I am not a preacher.”

“But,” said Thomas Potter, leaning forward, “can you say that you have never preached?”

“I have preached,” answered John slowly,” and I believe, as you do, in a loving God.”

“I knew it! I knew it!” shouted Thomas.” You are the preacher for whom I have waited for so long! You’ve got to preach in my church on Sunday!”

“No,” replied John firmly. “I never want to preach again. Tomorrow, as soon as the wind changes, I will be on my way!”

After John went to bed, he couldn’t sleep. He wrote later that he thought to himself as he tossed and turned,” I just want to get away from everything…if I preach I know there will be trouble. Why start all of that over again? “By Saturday night the wind had still not changed, and John finally agreed to preach the next morning. Thomas Potter was happy. And so, on Sunday morning September 30, 1770, the first Universalist sermon was delivered in America. Thomas Potter, a Universalist before he even heard John Murray, heard a preacher talking about love instead of an angry God and a fiery hell.

I would say that John Murray is the patron saint of people who are stuck. Our life runs aground, and the way we get it going again is by doing what we were born to do. Circumstances may conspire like border collies nipping at your heels, driving you to the place where you realize what you need to do. May we all find a guide like Thomas Potter, who will give us the push we need in the right direction.

The Revolutionary War came, and John Murray worked as a chaplain to the troops, under the orders of General George Washington. When the war was over, and the new US was founded, in 1779, John Murray organized the first Universalist church in America in Gloucester, Mass.

(Owen-Towle, The Gospel of Universalism, Introduction, p.v). (Scott, These Live Tomorrow, pp.25-26)

Unfortunately, you still can hear a good many sermons preached by people who believe in hell. We are surrounded by people steeped in that belief, preachers who will use a funeral service to warn the grieving family and friends that they won’t see their loved one again if they don’t repent and believe in just the right way, so they will end up in heaven. Our UU children, along with the Presbyterian, Methodist and other more progressive denominations’ kids, hear from classmates at school about how they are doomed to eternal torment for not being the right kind of Christian. We call our movement Unitarian Universalism because we believe in Universal salvation. That means we believe a loving God would not send anyone to hell.

I think a belief in hell makes people dissociated – holding two deeply rooted opposite thoughts in their minds at the same time, not really able to look at either of them, not able to be a whole and integrated person because of that. I heard a songwriter from Lubbock on NPR years ago. He said “We learned two things in Sunday School. One, God loves you and he’ll send you straight to hell. Two, sex is dirty and dangerous and you should save it for the one you love.”

We prosecute parents who burn their children even once for disobeying. Do we believe we are more moral than God? Would anyone you know send one of their children to hell for eternity for any kind of misbehavior, much less for having the wrong thoughts or beliefs? No! Are we better parents than God is? To hold in your mind that God is love and that he will send you to hell requires a twisting of good sense and a good heart. To believe that we should be one way as humans, but worship a God who behaves in a less moral way doesn’t make sense. It would build your understanding on a deep fear and mistrust, and it would make you abandon trust in your own sense.

What about now? We are surrounded by people whose belief in Hell has death-dealing consequences.

Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth, up to 42 percent identify as lesbian or gay, and a disproportionate number identify as bisexual or transgender. Why do LGBT youth become homeless? In one study, 26 percent of gay teens who came out to their parents/guardians were told they must leave home. LGBT youth also leave home due to physical, sexual and emotional abuse LGBT youth report they are threatened, belittled and abused at shelters by staff as well as other residents.Http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/HomelessYouth.pdf

LGBT youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers. Even teens who are questioning their sexuality are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.

One prominent minister in California says if a member of his listening group finds their kid is gay and won’t repent of their “sin,” they need to shun them completely and “turn them over to Satan.”

Parents are desperate to show their kids that they have to change, and throwing them out of the house is seen as tough love. These kids are on our streets. They are suffering in our town. One of the reasons we participate in the pride parade is so that the kids can see that there is a church, an actual church that does not teach that they are sinners because of their sexual orientation.

“Hell” is a mistranslation of the Bible. Current views draw on Dante’s Inferno and Miltons “Paradise Lost.” There are levels of eternal torment supervised by the demonic lackeys. In Milton, Satan and his rebel angels are chained in a lake of fire. Dante has you descend through all the levels of hell, until you reach Satan, who is stuck waist-deep in ice.

Three words in the Jewish and Christian scriptures are translated “hell.”

Sheol: from the Hebrew, meaning the place for the dead.

Tartasus: a Greek word for a place where the dead were, now separated by a river, the good on one side and the bad on the other. Able to see one another. Rabbi Jesus cited this view in his re-telling of the Babylonian parable about Lazarus and the rich man.

Gehenna: The valley where the trash was burned. Outside, destruction. Sometimes in the Christian scripture, the writer wrote “sheol,” and translators wrote “hell.”

In the Jewish scriptures, the dead go to Sheol. It’s not a place of torment at all. You are there, watching your descendants live their lives. Then, the Greek idea of Hades began to be known in the area because it was all part of the Roman empire. Rabbi Jesus was referencing this idea now and then. In other passages, the reference is to the smoldering trash heap outside the city walls.

My friends, this knowledge is there for anyone to find if they study. No one has to believe in hell. Our forbear William Ellery Channing preached that.

We have good news. This is a hell-haunted society. It’s not just theoretical. People make hell for one another, sometimes because they believe in a literal hell. We are called to speak to the root cause of some of this wickedness.

Theodore Parker said, “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”

Where does the Universalist part of our faith lead us to stand? One, we believe that all will be well, in the end.

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

Most sermons delivered at the First UU Church of Austin during the past 14 years are available online through this website. You will find links to them in the right sidebar menu labeled Sermons. The Indexes link leads to tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on the topic to go to a sermon.

 

Big Gay Sunday

by Posted in Audio available, Marisol Caballero, Sermons

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Rev. Marisol Caballero
September 14, 2014

This Sunday we prepare for Austin Pride by looking back at our involvement in the struggle for LGBTQ equality, and look ahead to how our faith is calling us to action in the days and years ahead.

Call to Worship 
By Wayne Arnason

Take courage friends.
The way is often hard, the path is never clear, And the stakes are very high.
Take courage.
For deep down, there is another truth:
You are not alone.

Prayer

Source of Life that binds us, Some call you God,
Others call you Mother, Father, Universe, Love…
We give thanks today for your presence in this room today, For your presence in our hearts.
We invite this loving Spirit to dance with us, Sing with us,
Celebrate this family’s uniqueness,
Knowing that we’ve travelled a long road to arrive at today, And we have an unpredictable path laying before us, still, That will take us from tears to elation and back again.
We will gather our strength for this journey From You, our Eternal Source,
Who reminds us that loving community is Always a place for a weary traveler to rest Or to find that second wind.
May it be so.

Amen.

Sermon “Big Gay Sunday”

Unitarians and Universalists have been among those supporting equal rights and full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people for many decades. The first gay marriage performed by one of our clergy in one of our churches, reportedly happened in the late 1950’s. This Sunday, we are getting into the spirit of the upcoming week by having our first ever, Big Gay Sunday! This will be the biggest, gayest worship service you’ve ever attended … at least within the past few weeks.

Some may wonder, what does it mean to gay-up a Sunday service? I’m glad you asked. The verb, “to gay-up,” as in “to gay-up” something or someone, means to embellish, to give a flamboyant flair, to celebrate the wacky, the outlandish, the loud, the divergent, the counter-cultural outsider. These are, of course, not words that describe the personality of every person whose sexual orientation or gender identity is apart from what the dominant culture expects of them or holds as “normal.” Not all gay men are flamboyant. Not all lesbians are butch, or masculine. Not all bisexuals are traveling through a promiscuous phase of confusion. Not all gender variant folks are drag queens. In fact, most of them are not.

These tired stereotypes are not at all what we mean by Big Gay Sunday. In the alphabet soup of the incredible diversity that makes up the “queer community,” otherwise known as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, and allies, when we call anything “Big Gay,” a huge dose of joy is implicit. To some who prefer the umbrella term “queer,” the term “gay” may sound exclusionary, as it leaves out the LBQIA and focuses only on the G. Some lesbian feminists have also noted that the term “gay” as a catch-all for the entire world’s queer population is inherently misogynist, as it’s an androcentric label, invented to describe homosexual men.

I disagree. Personally, though I understand the value in common vocabulary in movement-building and understand the term “queer’s” rise in popularity among academics and activists, to “queer” something and to “gay something up” have hugely different meanings. “To queer” means to analyze or approach a subject from an LGBTQ perspective. In seminary, we often spoke of, “queering the Bible,” or “a queer reading of Paul’s epistles,” for example.

Why go through so many changes about semantics when we just want to get down to the gaiety of this Sunday? I’m glad you asked that, too. Well, lance tried to commiserate with a gay friend about how folks always seem to assume that everyone is straight until proven otherwise. I confessed that I’ve often been guilty of this bias, myself. He responded, “Really?! I always assume that everyone’s gay until proven otherwise!” So, I suppose that I am approaching today with the biased assumption that, to many in this room, this may be the first experience of a Big Gay Sunday, or a Big Gay anything, for that matter. And, with this crowd, I will own that that is a huge assumption to make!

The truth is, this congregation has been involved in the work of welcoming all who come in good faith for quite a while. But, it took quite a bit of convincing for this church to get behind the idea doing the work required by the Unitarian Universalist Association to be officially recognized as a “Welcoming Congregation” to LGBT folks. I spoke with some of those who were involved in spearheading this effort, who remember those days. Folks spoke ofthis place, as were most institutions ofthe 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, very patriarchal and heterosexist. Though there were women’s dances held here for Austin’s lesbian population, a few out gay men, and Interweave was formed as gay/straight alliance, the unspoken message was that First UU Church of Austin was a culturally straight church. Folks at that time might have had to strain their imaginations to think about a time in which this church could be led by out gay clergy.

Among those who initiated the push for our congregation to receive the honor of being named a welcoming UU congregation, was Margaret Nunley and her partner, Jenny. The minister, Fred Wooten, was ambivalent, the board needed some persuading, and the congregation was confused about why we needed to bother engaging in a series of anti-discrimination workshops. “Aren’t we already welcoming to those people?” Margaret recalls how the help of a few staunch and fearless allies made all the difference in getting everyone on board. In particular, without the help of Doris & Henry Hug and Jim Burson, only but a few would have even shown up at the initial workshop.

Doris remembers, with pride, how adamant Henry was about these workshops moving forward. “He was ahead of his time,” Doris remembers. As the father of girls, he worked for the rights of women and, though he may not have used the word himself at the time, he would have certainly embraced it now- he saw issues of sexual orientation as feminist issues. The resistance by the congregation shocked these straight allies, but was no surprise to gay folks. Doris was taken aback when she heard such comments like, “Why do we even need to do this?” “I don’t think it’s something we need to talk about when they can just come to church, anyway.”

Change is difficult, especially when it requires taking note of personal prejudices and challenging views of what is “normal.” But, though the voices were few, love won out. About twenty-five participants began and completed the Welcoming Congregation curriculum and the congregation voted to apply for recognition of being a Welcoming Congregation within the first two years of the denomination launching the certification program! Make sure and take a glance of our plaque our in the lobby, now that you know what it took to get it there!

Among the requirements of Welcoming Congregations is a commitment to ongoing, continued education. This spring, we will honor that commitment by participating in the Welcoming Congregation renewal program, Living the Welcoming Congregation.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the landmark blockbuster, “The Wizard of Oz.” The theme of this year’s Austin Pride celebration is, “Welcome to the Wonderful Land of Oz-tin.” Our church is, once again, participating in the festival and parade, happening this coming Saturday, Sept. 20th, but there are Oz-themed pride events all week long. It all kicked off yesterday with the annual “Big Gay Brunch.” We invite you to show up here.

Folks often wonder about the connection between The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland, & the larger gay community. No one can say it better than Pandora Boxx, star of TV’s greatest gifts to humanity, RuPaul’s Drag Race, wrote in a Huffington Post editorial

“They [weren’t] called “Friends of Dorothy” [in the 40’s and 50’s] for nothing! A pretty young gal gets swept away in a tornado, lands in a colorful magical land and squashes (literally) the one ugly being around. She then gets fabulous sparkly new shoes, meets three members of a Gay Men’s Chorus who help her get to a hologram Wizard. She then goes on to defeat the hag of the monkeys. That all sounds like a night out in West Hollywood on molly.

Ultimately, it’s about knowing that the power is within you. Again, the gays love their boozy, pill popping, messy, yet wickedly talented, divas and Judy Garland was one of the first. Divas, sparkly shoes and musical numbers? Need I say more?”

Yes, the movie is escapist and over-the-top campy which, as I mentioned early on, is not only something that gay culture admires, but the art of ironic exaggeration is one that we have perfected. Judy Garland, herself, was great at this, also, whether or not she intended to be. But, that isn’t the only reason that she is a gay icon. As Pandora Boxx notes, she was a tragic figure who overcame so much of what life threw at her, a quality that is sadly alltoo relatable. But, Ms. Garland was known for adoring gay people, who not only included her throngs of fans, but her father and many of her closest friends. She is reputed to have once said, “When I die I have visions of fags singing ‘Over the Rainbow‘ and the flag at Fire Island being flown at half-mast.” But, what’s more is that legend has it that on the night of the Stonewall Riots in New York’s Greenwich Village, the event which sparked the beginning ofthe modern Gay Rights Movement, began the night of Judy Garland’s funeral.

Time Magazine reported, decades later that, “The uprising was inspirited by a potent cocktail of pent-up rage (raids of gay bars were brutal and routine), overwrought emotions (hours earlier, thousands had wept at the funeral of Judy Garland) and drugs. As a 17-yearold cross-dresser was being led into the paddy wagon and got a shove from a cop, she fought back. [She] hit the cop and was so stoned, she didn’t know what she was doing – or didn’t care.”

That was 1969. We now have nineteen states that allow freedom to marry and fourteen states in which judges have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, including Texas! So, why does pride still matter? Why do we still need festivals & parades? CNN contributor, LZ Granderson says, “Because Congress has yet to pass a law requiring people to hide the fact they are straight. Because the streets are not filled with children who have been kicked out of their homes for being straight. Because there seems to be a lack of stories in which someone has been beaten, tied to a fence and left to die or shot in the face at point blank range because they were straight.”

Marriage equality is important, but it is not, by far the only inequity suffered by queer people. Until I can walk into any grocery store (or church) while holding my fiance’s hand and not be given the stink eye, be spat at, called names, or be made to fear for my safety – all of which have happened to me and many others – Pride is necessary. For as long as we, as a historically marginalized community, hold memories of a painful, violent past, we will need to come together with each other and with our allies to be fierce!; to celebrate life lived brave and proud.

In this way, Pride is not just for “the gays,” it’s for our allies, too. So, I urge you, no matter which way you were born, to join us this Friday evening, 6-8pm for float decorating, and Saturday at our festival booth or to march with us in the parade! You can get more information and sign up at the Lifespan Religious Education booth after service. In keeping with the Oz theme, Meg will be the queen of our float, dressed as Glinda, The Good Witch, and I’ll be marching as Dorothy. Come in costume, in your Standing on the Side of Love T-shirts, or come as you are! We hope to see you there, gaying it up!

Benediction

Go gayly forth to be fierce in demonstrating love. Werk!

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

Most sermons delivered at the First UU Church of Austin during the past 14 years are available online through this website. You will find links to them in the right sidebar menu labeled Sermons. The Indexes link leads to tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on the topic to go to a sermon.

 

Water Communion Service

by Posted in Audio available, Meg Barnhouse, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Rev. Meg Barnhouse
September 7, 2014

It’s time again for one of our favorite UU traditions, the Water Communion service! This is a UU ingathering service practiced by congregations across the continent where we bring water from a place where our spirit was refreshed. The water may literally be from a special physical place or it may be symbolic of that place. We are invited to share a few words to describe where the water comes from and its relevance. This is an intergenerational service with activities for small children.

 

Welcome to our Water Service. We bring water from places that refreshed our spirits this summer.

Once there was a drop of water that rained down into a lake where the water came from for a whole town full of people.

It was singing as it fell: “I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain what a glorious feeling, I’m happy again…”

Soon, after traveling through miles of pipes and pumps, he found himself wiggling with excitement inside the kitchen faucet of a house. In the house lived a kid, a mom, a grand dad, and a brown dog. Will I be used for washing? Drinking? Cooking? Making ice? The kid turned on the faucet and the water found himself falling into a glass. Yay! He thought. I get to be a drink for her. I get to help her be healthy and run fast and see far. I’m so happy! Last time I was a drink it was a dinosaur that drank me. (Because water never goes away, you know. It’s been here on the planet since the very beginning. Is that cool?) She ran outside with the glass and put it down on the grass so she’d have something to drink when she got hot. The brown dog, though, thought it looked interesting. He went over to it and knocked it over. OH NO! thought the water as he fell down through the grass and into the ground.

Sadly he sang: “Been a long time since I rock n roll. Been a long time since I did the stroll. Got to get back, got to get back got to get back. Baby where I belong. Been a long time been a long time been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely time…”

He sank down through the ground, downhill, since that’s the only direction water can go on its own. Soon he was in a river, and it was cold! He was scared and disappointed, and he couldn’t help but feel that he’d done something wrong to not be able to help his kid. He slipped along, almost fighting the flow of the rest of the water.

Soon, though, he started to sing.“Conceal, don’t feel. Don’t let them know. But now they knoooooooow Let it go, let it go, can’t hold back any more. Let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door. I don’t care what they’re going to say. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway.”

We will leave our water on his way down the river and to the ocean, and we will find out what happens next in the break between families coming up and telling one another how their spirits were refreshed this summer.

…..

The little water floated in the ocean for a while, eager to get started as drinking water again. The air absorbed it, and it became part of a beautiful heavy gray cloud! The cloud moved over the land, filled with water.

He hummed to himself as they sailed over hills and ranch land. “The itsy bitsy spider came down the water spout…” when it came to the “DOWN CAME THE RAIN” part he sang really loudly, trying to give the cloud the hint that it should rain!

Finally the rain started, and there was his kid! Holding out a glass in the rain! He was going to get another chance! He fell happily into her water glass, and to his delight, she drank —- half of him. The other half she brought to her UU church’s water communion because she loved the rain so much.

 

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

Most sermons delivered at the First UU Church of Austin during the past 14 years are available online through this website. You will find links to them in the right sidebar menu labeled Sermons. The Indexes link leads to tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on the topic to go to a sermon.