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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
February 5, 2023
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Love is fundamental for fulfillment in our lives and central to our theology as Unitarian Universalists. Love brings us great joy, comfort and so many other wonderful feelings. And to love will mean to experience loss. Love is not just an emotion but also involves behavior in which we must engage to keep it alive. Love calls us toward our best selves and beckons us to build the Beloved Community.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

Loving only ourselves is escapism; loving only our opponents is self-loathing; loving only others is ineffective. All three practices together make love revolutionary, and revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.

Love is more than a rush of feeling. Love is a form of sweet labor: fierce, bloody, imperfect, and life-giving – a choice we make over and over again.

– Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

Sermon

“Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby-awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.” That’s a quote from Lemony Snicket, pseudonym for author and musician Daniel Handler.

During February, we will be exploring “The Path of Love” as our spiritual subject. I loved that quote because, to me, it captures in a humorous way how love is so much more complicated than the sentimentality often portrayed in greeting cards and made for TV movies.

Certainly, love can involve extremely feel good emotions. It can be sentimental, romantic, even joyous.

Valarie Kaur, whom we heard from in our reading earlier, describes it like this, “…that rush of oxytocin…that rush of feeling, being swept away, and it’s delicious, and it’s delirious, and it’s what we live for. It’s glorious.”

However, she goes on to say: “And it’s fleeting.” “And it’s something that happens to you, right? “

The point she goes on to make is that love is more than a feeling. To keep love alive, to express love to its utmost dimensions, to channel and amplify that great river of love that flows through our universe, we must choose love, as she says, “over, and over, and over again”. Love makes demands of us. It calls us to engage in loving actions.

It lures us toward joyfully making love the primary occupation of our lives.

My spouse Wayne and I have been together for almost 32 years now. I truly believe that part of the reason that we are still together and still in love is that we have engaged in keeping love alive. We have done the work of love.

Through all those years, even in difficult times, even when it was tough, we have both always been willing to come to the other and say, “Can we find a time to talk?”

Now. I’ll admit that sometimes when Wayne has come to me with that, what I was really feeling inside was: “Oh, OK.”

“How about three years from next Thursday?” But I always said, “yes”. And I know Wayne has also felt that way at times when I have come to him, and he has always said “yes.” And those difficult conversations have kept our love filled with vitality. Another thing we have always done is something quite simple. One of us will just go get the other one and, for example, say, “Come see this with me. The night sky is unbelievably beautiful from our front porch tonight.” That brings me to what research psychologists John and Julie Gottman have called, “Bids for emotional connection.”

Here is a short explanation of this.

SERMON VIDEO

I still need to work on that “putting away your screens” part. Similarly, researcher Dr. Sara Algoe has found that the simple act of expressing gratitude, especially if we are specific about what we appreciate, is a key aspect of living out our love for each other.

And it is important to note that these ways of doing the work of love:

• Being willing to engage in crucial conversations;
• Turning toward bids for connection;
• Expressing gratitude;

All of these can also benefit our relationships with other family members, friends, co-workers, here at the church and out in the world of forming solidarity for social justice.

Now, Valerie Kaur also says though, “Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love.”

To make love the primary occupation of our lives, we must also accept that to know the joy of love we will also suffer loss.

At memorial services, I sometimes quote Kahlil Gibran:

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

 

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?..

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”

And, as a spiritual task, we must also know that there are times when love will drive rage within us, especially when we witness injustice. We must allow that at times, anger is a necessary part of loving. As Audre Lorde, who described herself as “”black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” wrote, “My fear of anger taught me nothing. Your fear of that anger will teach you nothing, also.”

But, as Kaur also says, we must know that returning to the wonder of love is how we sustain the struggle for justice. If we dwell only in love’s anger, we will cease to know the joy of love.

And all of this is KEY to our faith as Unitarian Universalists. It is at the core of our shared theology.

Though we may have many different individual beliefs, what holds us together as a religion is that we are covenantal. We make promises to one another that we will walk together in the ways of love.

Our Unitarian ancestors believed in the oneness of God, rather than God as the the trinity of the father, the son and the holy spirit. In time, for many Unitarians this became about the oneness of all of us and of all things.

Our Universalist forebearers proclaimed that God’s love is universal. That he would not condemn any of his children to eternal hell.

Because that would be child abuse and quite severely patriarchal. Over time, we have often come to broaden this as a calling to universal love for others and for all that is.

Currently, a study commission of the central organizing and support structure for our faith, the Unitarian Universalist Association (or UUA) has recommend that we, the constituent congregations and faith groups of the UUA, consider a change to the bylaws for our association.

Paula Cole Jones, co-author of the 8th principle serves on that commission. The commission is proposing a new covenant for our religious movement composed of a set of religious values that embody the essence and intent of our current principles, as well as incorporates key language from each of them. I will be offering a session to learn about and discuss this recommendation on February 19 after the worship service.

Briefly for now though, here is their graphic representation of the proposed values.

SLIDE

What is striking to me is that love once again shows up as the core of our faith – our theological anchor. Once again, love is calling us to make it the primary occupation of our lives. And that means love is also calling us to love beyond our family and our immediate circle, beyond even this religious community.

Love calls us to get outside of our daily lives and beyond these church walls. It is so easy, especially for those of who experience one or more forms of privilege, to remain in this sort of bubble of our closest loved ones and associates, who are often very much like us. We may vote in ways that support greater justice. We may say the right words and know the language of justice. Still though, when the going gets tough, many of us have the option of escaping to our bubbles. We can look the other way.

Holocaust surviver and author, Elie Wiesel, said that “the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference.”

So, we must guard against indifference settling in just beyond our immediate awareness. It can lure us into a comfort that denies where love is calling us – to justice. As Cornell West famously said, “Justice is love showing up in public.”

So love is calling us to show up. It is calling us to speak out. Love calls us, for instance, to cry out for dismantling and re-envisioning a criminal justice system that privileges some of us with protection while damning others to terror, mass incarceration, abuse and slaughter at the hands of law enforcement.

Love calls us to rage against police beating to death Tyre Nichols as he pleaded, “I’m just trying to go home,” as he cried out for his mom. This bloodbath in the streets of modern America must end.

Love demands that we continue to demand responsible gun regulations and put a stop once and for all to the massacre of innocent people that continues to plague this country.

Love calls us to denounce the continued efforts in this state to violate the very humanity of our trans siblings.

Love beckons us as love warriors against the decimation of reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy we are witnessing through draconian anti-abortion, anti- LGBTQ laws and so much more.

Love weeps for us to act now in outrage over the practices and policies that are threatening devastation within that sacred web of all existence of which we are a part and have propelled us into a climate crisis. The very future of our children is at stake.

And my beloveds, these are only just a few examples of the ways in which love is calling us to show up in our world for justice.

Our Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry is holding a legislative action day at the state capital on March 13. May love lead as many of us as possible to be present.

So, love moves our outrage toward a sustained and ever growing struggle for justice as we reach for the dream of the Beloved Community fully realized.

Now, I want to close though by returning to some of the words from Valarie Kaur. “Anger protects that which is loved…wonder is the act that returns us to love…revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.”

Again, we need the anger that love drives in us to protect that which is loved, but we cannot exist in the anger. Always, always we must return to the wonder of love.

And we must direct that love even toward those with whom we disagree. We must find love even for those who act in ways that we may view as reprehensible, harmful and immoral. This is how we avoid becoming the same way. This is necessary to making love our primary occupation.

And we need community to hold on to the wonder that makes this possible. Spiritual community like that found here at first Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. A spiritual community where we care for each other so that we can keep manifesting love in our world.

A couple in our church recently said something to me that I thought was very wise. Like we must love ourselves before we can fully love others, we must care for each other within this religious community so that we are able to help build Beloved Community beyond it. Rev. Jonalu and the Co-Chairs of First UU Cares will be holding a conversation on March 12 on how we may best do that.

I believe that love is calling this religious community to be a righteous voice for it in this, the heart of Texas.

May the universal river of love flow through us. May the unity of all bring us great wonder and give us unwavering strength. May we answer the call of love throughout our days together, bringing into being the Beloved Community, within which divine light radiates.

Amen.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 23 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

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Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
January 22, 2023
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We bring our pets for our annual pet parade and animal blessing. We explore how our animal companions so often bless us by helping us find our center.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

For all that dwells below the skies,
let songs of hope and faith arise.
Let peace, goodwill on Earth be sung,
or bark or howl by every tongue.

– Rev Laura Kim Joyner

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

Ask the animals and they will teach you. Or the birds in the sky and they will tell you. Or speak to the Earth and it will teach you. Or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know the breath of the devine has done this. In whose care is the life of every creature and the breath of all human kind.

– Job 12, 7-10

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 23 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
January 1, 2023
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

For New Year’s Day, we will hold our annual burning bowl service. We contemplate what we would like to let go so that we may more easily find our center. Then we whisper that which we would like to let go into pieces of flash paper, toss them into a fire and watch them burn away.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

When you have the courage to shape your life from the essence of who you are, you ignite, becoming truly alive. This requires letting go of everything that is inauthentic. But how can you even know your truth unless you slow down, in your own quiet company? When the inner walls to your soul are graffitied with advertisements, commercials, and the opinions of everyone who has every known and labeled you, turning inwards requires nothing less than a major clean-up.

Traveling from the known to the unknown requires crossing an abyss of emptiness. We first experience disorientation and confusion. Then if we are willing to cross the abyss in curious and playful wonder, we enter an expansive and untamed country that has its own rhythm. Time melts and thoughts become stories, music, poems, images, ideas. This is the intelligence of the heart, but by that I don’t mean just the seat of our emotions. I mean a vast range of receptive and connective abilities, intuition, innovation, wisdom, creativity, sensitivity, the aesthetic, qualitative and meaning making. It is here that we uncover our purpose and passion.

–Dawna Markova, From “I Will Not Die an Unlived Life”

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

BURNING THE OLD YEAR
Naomi Shihab Nye

Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do
crackle after the blazing dies.

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 23 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
December 18, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We join together for the awe and wonder of our Annual Christmas Pageant as we hear and perform the famous story and sing beautiful carols.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

WINTER SOLSTICE
By Rebecca Parker

Perhaps
for a moment
the typewriters will stop clicking,
the wheels stop rolling
the computers desist from computing,
and a hush will fall over the city.
For an instant, in the stillness,
the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs poised
in the crystalline darkness, and then
gracefully
tilts.
Let there be a season
when holiness is heard, and
the splendor of living is revealed.
Stunned to stillness by beauty
we remember who we are and why we are here.
There are inexplicable mysteries.
We are not alone.
In the universe there moves a Wild One
whose gestures alter earth’s axis
toward love.
In the immense darkness
everything spins with joy.
The cosmos enfolds us.
We are caught in a web of stars,
cradled in a swaying embrace,
rocked by the holy night,
babes of the universe.
Let this be the time
we wake to life,
like spring wakes, in the moment
of winter solstice.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

WORDS OF WISDOM
by Dr Howard Thurman

There must be always remaining in the individual life some place for the singing of angels — some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful and by an inherent prerogative, throwing all the rest of life into a new and creative relatedness — something that gathers up in itself all the freshets of experience from drab and commonplace areas of living and glows in one bright light of penetrating beauty and meaning — then passes. The commonplace is shot through with new glory — old burdens become lighter, deep and ancient wounds lose much of their old, old hurting. A crown is placed over our heads that for the rest of our lives we are trying to grow tall enough to wear. Despite all the crassness of life, despite all the hardness of life, despite all the harsh discords of life, life is saved by the singing of angels.

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
November 27, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We have been experiencing a great deal of change and uncertainty in our lives and even within the church. Change and uncertainty are inevitable in life – sometimes even desirable. What sustains us though, what do we hold onto during times of greater than usual uncertainty?

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.

– Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

There’s a thread you follow.
It goes among things that change.
But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die;
and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

– William Stafford

Sermon

Several years ago, I was a student chaplain at what was then the public hospital for our area, Brackenridge, which has since been replaced. The floor to which I had been assigned had a section of rooms that were for in hospital, hospice care to, as much as possible, keep people out of pain while we worked to get them into a hospice out in the community or arrange home hospice.

I got to know a woman who, through a great deal of hardship, had immigrated from Korea. I’ll call her Lillie though that was not her real name.

Lillie had been diagnosed with end stage lung cancer. She had a teenage son and daughter. She and her children had been the victims abuse by her former husband. Her greatest concern was for her children and what might happen to them after her death.

Lillie was a part of an evangelical, very conservative religion, and yet as we talked together, we found spiritual common ground in our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

She also had a deep reverence for the interdependent web of which we are a part. She had been an avid gardener and hiker before she got sick. Nature, the interdependent web was where she said that she most strongly experienced the God of her beliefs.

Sometimes, she would ask me to pray with her.

I’m not sure what she thought of my “spirit of love and life” language, but she seemed to find comfort through the prayers.

Over time, she accepted the inevitability of her condition. A social worker and her nurse helped get her set up for home hospice care so that she could spend her last days without pain and with her children.

On the day Lillie was scheduled be discharged, the pastor and several members of her church visited her at the hospital. They convinced her that God was going to cure her cancer. God was going to save her life. They talked her into canceling the hospice care and took her home without pain control. Within only a few days though, her condition got much worse.

She suffered needlessly, until she reached out to her social worker, finally re-establishing home hospice care at the urging of her children, who did not want her to suffer such terrible pain.

Our spiritual topic this month is change and uncertainty. I share Lillie’s story with you because it illustrates how false certainty can be more harmful sometimes than living in uncertainty.

The truth is, there is very little certainty in life. Things are always changing. And that can be good. Creativity-creation itself only occur if there is change and uncertainty. And yet, change and uncertainty can still feel scary to us.

What sustains us, what do we hold onto, especially when change is even greater than the usual – times are even more uncertain? And let’s face it, we have been through a lot of change and uncertainty in, oh, the last decade at the church.

We tore up our building. The end results are this beautifully expanded sanctuary, a magnificent art gallery, a new kitchen and restrooms that make us proud. Still, that was a lot of change and disruption.

We have seen so much social and political upheaval.

We have a new majority in the House of Representatives – there’s no telling what they might do. We have witnessed the rise of explicit racism and other forms of bigotry. We have seen hate come out of the closet.

And of course, we went through a pandemic and sheltering at home, practicing virtual church for two years.

Then there was the snowpocalypse. Locusts and murder hornets. And then there is global climate change.

We are also in an interim transition period here at the church, after our former senior minister, now minister emerita had to retire.

That is a lot of change and a lot of uncertainty and I’m sure there are things I missed.

So, how do we sustain ourselves through such times?

Well, author and researcher Jonathan Fields coined the term “certainty anchors” for that which we can hold on to even during the most uncertain of times.

Building upon his work, as well that of others, here are the five “R-words” of how we might sustain ourselves during uncertain times.

The first R-word is RITUAL. Meditating, praying, a daily gratitude practice, the candle lighting we do here at the church, as well as our other rituals can help us through changing times. They provide a steadiness and help calm the anxieties that can arise from change.

Closely related to ritual – having REGULAR ROUTINES can help us feel anchored when the world seems to be changing all around us. Jogging each morning, coffee with the morning paper (or iPad), working out at the gym regularly, frequent nature hikes, saying to our spouse “I love you at the end of each day” – our regular routines can give us something to hold onto through changing times.

When Wayne and I first moved to Austin from Houston (or tried to) his initial job in Austin fell through. So, he had to go back to his prior job in Houston, and for over a year, we lived in separate cities. That was a big change!

One of the ways we made it through that challenging time was that we established regular routines that kept us connected and feeling anchored talking on the phone each evening, taking turns spending the weekend in each city and the like. The routines helped us maintain a sense of steadiness.

The next “R” word is REWARD. It can help sustain us through changing times when we reward ourselves and each other. What’s something you have done that was great? Tell yourself how great it was!

I love this poem by Derek Walcott:

 

Love After Love

The time will come when,
with elation you will greet yourself
arriving at your own door,
in your own mirror and each will smile
at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger
who was your self.

Give wine.
Give bread.
Give back your heart to itself,
to the stranger
who has loved you all your life,
who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters
from the bookshelf,
the photographs,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Reward yourself.

Likewise, ask yourself what has your spouse or partner done lately that you really appreciated. Tell them how great it was. How about your children? The rewards we give ourselves and others provide us all with a sense of stability and accomplishment even in the midst of great uncertainty.

Now, here is an “R-word” that I loved – REVERENT PURPOSE. Well, one word starts with an “R” anyway! Holding our values with deep respect, having a mission we embrace with great awe and veneration can help steady us as we travel the seas of change.

Now, we say our mission together every Sunday. Another ritual! It is good though to also remind ourselves of the values from which our mission arises. Our values are beautiful statements about who we are as a congregation. Let me repeat them for you now:

• • TRANSCENDENCE – To connect with wonder and awe of the unity of life

• • COMMUNITY – To connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch

• • COMPASSION – To treat ourselves and others with love

• • COURAGE – To live lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty

• • TRANSFORMATION – To pursue the growth that changes our lives and heals our world

My beloveds, those are values worth living.

Our values and mission together help keep us focused on what matters most even when the world gets turbulent – they provide us a with a vision for moving into the future together no matter what changes and surprises may come.

Well, our final certainty anchor is that most vital of “R” words – RELATIONSHIP. We hold on to one another through times of change.

We anchor and steady one another. Our loved ones can sometimes be the anchors we cannot always provide for ourselves, especially in the midst of storms – uncertainty hurricanes or ambiguity tornados. We do not have to weather these alone.

And in this religious community, we have a covenant – a set of solemn promises we make to one another about how we walk together in the ways of love.

These are our promises for how we channel a river of love that flows through our universe with one another and hold one another steady through the tides of change. Then, we go out beyond these church walls living our values and mission and bringing the change we hope to see in our world, rooted in love and justice. And that river of love keeps flowing through our universe.

And sometimes we forget that we can find ways to dive into it and let it carry us through the change that is life, even when that change may feel like chaos.

We can breathe, in the river of love. We can rest in its currents.

We can hold on to one another and float toward distant shores we are only beginning to imagine.

There is so much change right now, some welcomed, some not so much, some about which we may feel ambiguous. This will not change:

I am with you.
The river of love is still flowing.
It is the constant in which we may choose to swim in life.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
October 30, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

At Halloween, we assume other identities by putting on costumes and masks. Metaphically though, we may sometimes wear masks throughout our lives. How do these masks protect us? How might they be holding us back? Might they even be a part of our personal and spiritual development sometimes?

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

The word persona is the Greek term for “stage mask.” Masks and armor are perfect metaphors for how we protect ourselves from the discomfort of vulnerability. Masks make us feel safer even when they become suffocating. Armor makes us feel stronger even when we grow weary from dragging the extra weight around.

The irony is that when we’re standing across from someone who is hidden or shielded by masks and armor, we feel frustrated and disconnected. That’s the paradox here: Vulnerability is the last thing I want you to see in me, but the first thing I look for in you.

– Brene Brown

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
September 18, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We know that a sense of belonging is a basic human need – vital to our well-being. As humans, we seek belonging in life. Perhaps though, we may find our greatest sense of belonging by creating more of it for everyone.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

When it feels like lament
is the only sound and need,
the only way of being.
Here is that one warm room
where you know that you belong.

You know this waiting, open, ready
Here is that place you remember
where you are remembered
in this too cold world,
this place called now.

Softly come into the circle
where you know you belong.

– Rev. Dr. David Breeden

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

There was a headline in a newspaper several years ago, saying, “We’re entering a state where, for the first time in over 350 years, the world will be led by a non-Christian, non-white country.” And what it was saying is, we should be afraid. So the early debates around integrating schools – the white segregationists were, “We can’t have integrated schools, because black and white children might get to know each other and might marry each other and have babies.”

The white segregationists were right. You bring people together, they will actually learn to love each other. Some of them will marry and have children. And so it will, actually, change the fabric of society. When people worry that having gays in our community will change what marriage really means, actually, they’re right. When people worry that having a lot of Latinos in the United States will change the United States, they are right. We’re constantly making each other. And so, we can’t hold onto a notion that “This is what America is. So, Latinos, don’t affect us.” So part of it is that, our fear; that we are holding onto something, and the other is going to change it. The other is going to change it, but we’re going to change the other. And if we do it right, we’re going to create a bigger “we,” a different “we.”

– John A Powell

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Kelly Stokes
September 4, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

This Sunday is our annual Water Communion service, a special day when we all come back together after the summer, bringing with us water from a place or time that is special to us. We will share with each other why the water we bring is meaningful, and then pour the water into a common bowl where it will mingle and blend, a symbolic act that reminds us of our shared faith coming from many different sources.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

THE RETURN OF THE RIVERS
Richard Brautigan

All the rivers run into the sea;
yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from whence the rivers come,
thither they return again.
It is raining today
in the mountains.
It is a warm green rain
with love
in its pockets
for spring is here,
and does not dream
of death.
Birds happen music
like clocks ticking heaves
in a land
where children love spiders,
and let them sleep
in their hair.
A slow rain sizzles
on the river
like a pan
full of frying flowers,
and with each drop
of rain
the ocean
begins again.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

You are not a drop in the ocean,
You are the entire ocean in drops.

– Rumi

Sermon

Water Communion brings together three things I love: water, ritual, and this church community.! Now, I’m more accustomed to the classroom than the pulpit, so my first inclination is to say, “okay, who can raise their hands and tell me about the water cycle?”

I thought I understood the water cycle: the rivers flow into the sea, the water evaporates to become clouds, the clouds rain down and turn into rivers . . . wash, rinse, repeat. Right? If I thought about my place in the water cycle it was turning on my faucet and trying not to put pollutants down the drain.

And then along came …. respiratory droplets. I mean, sure, they were always there, but I didn’t think about them. And I know we’d rather not think too much about them right now, so let’s imagine we’re outside. It’s a sunny day, we sip some water, we sweat just a little. We breathe in peace, we breathe out love … and respiratory droplets . . and all those little droplets of water from our skin and our breath go up, up, up into the sky and gather together with their other little water droplet friends to become . . . . Clouds” Water from our bodies turns into clouds”

And not just from our bodies, right, but from dogs, and cats, and armadillos, and those foxes that were living on our church playground, and from live oaks and mountain laurels and from Town Lake and Shoal Creek and Barton Springs.

The water cycle doesn’t exist outside of ourselves. It moves through our physical bodies, connecting us to every other thing that holds water on our planet.

In our seventh UU principle we agree to affirm and promote “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Nowhere is this interdependence more tangible to me than in our connection to water, and through it, to everything else.

The water that moves through our bodies connects us to glaciers, wetlands, snowpeople, koalas, narwhals, pandas, orchids, ancient redwoods, coral reefs, and, whether I like it or not, fire ants and poison ivy and white supremacists. We are all connected by the water we carry.

Now, all these things carry water, but not like a plastic water pitcher, or even the big pot that Gie Gie carried on her head in our story, containers that you fill up and when you pour it out the water is the same. Instead, we act as a filter, taking what we need from the water, and leaving what we don’t, changing it in the process. Everything in nature does this too.! As the water passes through underground rock, it picks up minerals, which it takes to the river. If the river is polluted, it picks up chemicals, which it carries downstream.

There are other streams passing through us besides water, streams of information and ideas. We act as a filter for this stream too, taking in certain ideas, discarding some, releasing others back into the stream. The ideas we hold onto inform what we believe about ourselves and our world, they impact how we feel and how we speak and how we act. And in this flow of ideas we are just as interconnected as in the water cycle. That means that what we believe and what we share with others doesn’t only impact us, but enriches or pollutes everyone downstream.

So what makes up this filter? Where does the thought filter come from?! I think it might come from our experiences and the way we were taught to interpret those experiences, from the cultures we live in, and from our chosen values.

As a religious educator, I’d love to think that our values make up the biggest part of this mental filter, but unless we are purposefully reflective and conscious about our thinking, it’s really easy to be influenced by our Twitter stream, by old family patterns, by the people at work or school, even the ones we don’t particularly like or agree with, by what we see on TikTok, and, whether I like it or not, by white supremacy culture, which flows through and around all of us.

So how do we cultivate a values-influenced filter? How can we make a conscious choice to be a filter for good, taking in whatever polluted waters of thought and ideas are given to us, filtering them through our sense of justice, our belief in the power of community, and our faith in our ability to be resilient, to make change?

There are lots of ways, right? I’m going to focus on two today.

I believe the first step to tending our mental filter is self care and spiritual care. When we are tired, burned out, traumatized, feeling empty, depleted, alone, anxious, or purposeless it is so hard to tend our filters, or even to care about them, and all too easy to be influenced by whatever feels easiest, to return to default mode. This is normal, and if you’re feeling this way, you are not alone. Don’t be hard on yourself.

But, whether we like it or not, the default systems in our culture are systems of oppression. So, if you’re feeling up to it, tend your filter by taking care of yourself. Tend your spirit. Find your own black muddy river to walk by and find a song of your own to sing.

Another way I think we make sure our filter is serving us, allowing us to hold onto and release into the world thoughts and ideas in line with our values, is to be clear about what our values are.

!Here at First UU, we have a self-guided, video-based curriculum called Parents of Preschoolers that helps families begin the process of faith development at home. In the first session it asks parents and caregivers to identify their personal values and determine the most important values for their family.

I don’t think we should do this only when we’re raising children; it’s a valuable exercise for all of us. Which values are most important to you?

Now, I may not be able to ask you to raise your hands and give me your answers while I’m up here, but hey I’m still a teacher,! so I’m sending you home with a worksheet. I made some copies for you and left them on the table right outside the sanctuary. There’s also a link to the worksheet and the curriculum on the worship page on our website, if you’re interested.

We can’t know if we’re speaking and acting from our values if we don’t know what they are. And not only does this impact those downstream, but how we see ourselves. I might be feeling guilty for not doing a particular thing well, but then I realize that doing that thing well isn’t actually something I value, it’s just an expectation I’ve picked up from white supremacy culture. Identifying our values helps us live our most authentic lives.

So today we’re going to try another way to identify our values, by examining what’s important to us and looking for the values that support it.

Every year we bring our own sacred water, and share it with our church community. This year, we’re going to ask ourselves, What does my sacred water have to teach me about my own values?

• •  Maybe you have brought water from your beach vacation. Why is it sacred to you? Is it because when you’re at the beach you feel a connection to nature, perhaps a connection to the divine? Is it because you always meet up with your family at the beach, and that water represents the love you build and rebuild together every year?

• •  Maybe you brought water from your kitchen sink, representing your value of expressing gratitude for the gifts of every day life, or your value of staying aware of what you have that others don’t, like access to clean, drinkable water.

• Maybe you brought water in the bottle you carry to the Capitol when you protest the harmful laws being passed in our state, representing your commitment to justice.

Next, please find someone nearby that you didn’t come with and briefly share the story of your water with them and, most importantly, the values this water represents. If you didn’t bring physical water with you, share your story anyway.

We know this may be difficult for people with social anxiety or trouble hearing, especially when people are wearing masks. Feel free to opt out or, if you do share, just do your best, trusting in the process of sharing.

If you’re watching on the livestream, we invite you to share in the comments.

We’re going to give you 6 minutes and will let you know when half the time is up so you can switch. So, where does your water come from and what value does that represent to you?

From the
PARENTS OF PRESCHOOLERS HANDOUT

What do we value?

Our church is made up of values we hold and rituals we practice. Consider the values listed below. Which ones most resonate with you? Are there values that don’t appear here? If so make a note of them.

Write down the values that hold the most significance to you. Spend time noticing how they tend to show up in your daily life. When do you find yourself practicing or modeling them?

Links to resources on this topic:

Values Worksheet

Parents of Preschoolers Curriculum Password: YouGotThis2020

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 21, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Members of the church submit their questions about the church, our UU faith, spirituality and the like and Rev. Chris answers as many of them as time allows.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

We are here to abet creation and to witness it, to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed. Together we notice not only each mountain shadow and each stone on the beach but we notice each other’s beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house.

– Annie Dillard

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

– Maya Angelou

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
& four church members
August 7, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

LGBTQI Pride Week in Austin is happening in the next few days. Several church members and Rev. Chris will share what it has meant to us to become a part of an LGBTQI welcoming reigious community.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

WE ANSWER THE CALL OF LOVE
By Julia Corbett-Hemeyer

In the face of hate,
We answer the call of love.

In the face of exclusion,
We answer the call of inclusion.

In the face of homophobia,
We answer the call of LGBTQ rights.

In the face of racism,
We answer of justice for all races.

In the face of xenophobia,
We answer the call of pluralism.

In the face of misogyny,
We answer the call of women’s rights.

In the face of demagoguery,
We answer the call of reason.

In the face of religious intolerance,
We answer the call of diversity.

In the face of narrow nationalism,
We answer the call of global community.

In the face of bigotry,
We answer the call of open-mindedness.

In the face of despair,
We answer the call of hope.

As Unitarian Universalists,
we answer the call of love – now more than ever.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

LET US MAKE THIS EARTH A HEAVEN
By Tess Baumberger

Let us make this earth a heaven, right here, right now.
Who knows what existences death will bring?
Let us create a heaven here on earth
where love and truth and justice reign.
Let us welcome all at our Pearly Gates, our Freedom Table,
amid singing and great rejoicing,
black, white, yellow, red, and all our lovely colors,
straight, gay, transgendered, bisexual, and all the ways
of loving each other’s bodies.
Blind, deaf, mute, healthy, sick, variously-abled,
Young, old, fat, thin, gentle, cranky, joyous, sorrowing.
Let no one feel excluded, let no one feel alone.
May the rich let loose their wealth to rain upon the poor.
May the poor share their riches with those too used to money.
May we come to venerate the Earth, our mother,
and tend her with wisdom and compassion.
May we make our earth an Eden, a paradise.
May no one wish to leave her.
May hate and warfare cease to clash in causes
too old and tired to name; religion, nationalism,
the false false god of gold, deep-rooted ethnic hatreds.
May these all disperse and wane, may we see each others’ true selves.
May we all dwell together in peace and joy and understanding.
Let us make a heaven here on earth, before it is too late.
Let us make this earth a heaven, for each others’ sake.

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
July 31, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

The mission we say together every Sunday is our ultimate end (or purpose). We have other ends that help us move toward that mission though.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

Say Yes. Whatever it is, say yes with your whole heart, and, simple as it sounds, that’s all the excuse life needs to grab you by the hands and start to dance.

– Brian Andreas

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

DREAMING
Chris Jimmerson

In the night, I dreamt of a world made better by our togetherness.

Of reaching toward never before imagined horizons, Made knowable and possible only by living in mutuality.

I saw distant lands made out like visions of paradise, Replenished and remade through a courage that embraced interdependence.

We dwelt in fields of green together, Fertile valleys nurtured by trust.

We built visions of love and beauty and justice, Nourished by partnership, cultivated through solidarity.

I dreamt of lush forests thriving with life,
Oceans teaming with vitality,
Mountains stretching toward majesty,

Our world made whole again.

These things we had done together.

These things we had brought to pass with each other.

These dream world imaginings seemed possible in the boundless creativity we only know through our unity.

I awoke, And still, the dream continues.

Our Values

• • Transcendence – To connect with wonder and awe of the unity of life

• • Community – To connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch

• • Compassion – To treat ourselves and others with love

• • Courage – To live lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty

• Transformation – To pursue the growth that changes our lives and heals our world

Ends:

• • We live our Unitarian Universalist faith and values, teach them to our children, and act on them in the world

• • We support and challenge one another in worship, spiritual growth and lifelong learning to practice a rich spiritual life

• • We engage with one another to care for the Earth and the interdependent web

• • We care for one another in intergenerational community and connect in fun and fellowship

• • We embody the principles of Unitarian Universalism and invite people of goodwill to find a spiritual home with us

• • We partner with other organizations and faith communities to dismantle a culture of white supremacy and other systems of oppression, within ourselves, within our church community, and beyond our walls

• • We provide leadership to and collaborate with the greater Unitarian Universalist community to expand the reach of our movement

• We are generous with time, talent, and treasure to realize our mission

Sermon

The year was 2017. The month – November. The leading cast of characters – our Board Trustees at the time. Their objective, should they decide to accept it, was to begin a process within the church to review our values, mission and ends. That’s how our story today begins.

Last week, I talked about how our values, mission and ends first came to be articulated back in 2010.

If you missed that service, our current values, mission, and ends are listed on the handouts we have placed around the sanctuary, within your digital order of service, and on a poster in the fellowship hall, as well as on our website and Facebook page.

One might suspect we want it to be easy for you to know about these things. To quickly review, values are the broadest, deepest aspect of our vision as a religious community.

Our values are the core of how we want to be in the world. Our mission then arises out of those values. The mission is our common purpose as a religious community – the overarching differences we are here to make.

The mission then gets further defined by that we call “ends”. It might help to think of ends as more detailed descriptions and goals for how we will live out our mission.

Ends embody what specific, measurable differences we hope to make. Well, seven years later after 2010, acting in accordance with commonly held best practices, the board engaged the church in a review of the values, mission and ends at they existed at that time. The board recruited volunteers to facilitate sessions with congregants, naming those sessions “Courage and Wonder: Visioning Our Future Together.”

Notice that Courage and Wonder” are directly drawn from among our values Statements In the sessions, congregants gathered into small groups of about four and were invited to share with each other based upon the following prompts: The first was,

• • Tell me a story about an experience at First UU:

• • a time particularly grounded in courage and wonder;

• • a time when you and others were living lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty, open to and curious about the unknown;
• a time when you felt especially alive, involved, and engaged with this religious community.

Then, folks were asked to share as second time:

“As you think about courage and wonder shaping our future at First UU, imagine there are no obstacles, that all you hear is “yes, we can do that together!” What 3 wishes would you make for what courage and wonder help our congregation create in the future?”

That was before the pandemic.

I wonder how we might answer those inquiries now?

Finally, the groups were given art supplies and pictures taken from magazines. They were asked to imagine that 10 years later the wishes they had come up with earlier had come true. Based on that, the groups each created a magazine cover using the art supplies they had been given that addressed the question:

“How is First UU changing lives now that your wishes have come true?” The board then took the magazine covers and summaries of the answers to the two inquiries and re-examined the values, mission and ends.

They found that the five values listed in your handouts still held true for the congregation. However, they slightly changed the mission from what it had been:

“We gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives and do justice” to our current mission, which is on our wall and that we said together earlier. They did so to reflect a bolder commitment within the church to anti-racism, anti-oppression and multiculturalism that had come out during the sessions. The term “build the Beloved Community” captured that bolder commitment and gave a desired outcome to the mission. But the ends were where the real action happened.

The board created an entirely new set of ends to more fully express that new boldness and desired outcome. It’s those ends that I want to talk about more today, because they still inform all of our ministries and programs.

There are eight of them, so I’ll just touch briefly on each one for now.

Our first end is “We live our Unitarian Universalist faith and values, teach them to our children, and act on them in the world.”

We do this through our worship services, music, Religious Education (or RE), and our social justice activities, which include our children and youth. For instance, a group of us is attending a reproductive justice resource fair and rally this evening at 6:30 You can find out more at the social justice table in the fellowship hall after the service. In recent prior months, our terrific social justice chair, Carrie Holly-Hurt, led several of our folks in publicly decrying horrible legislation that harms trans people, as well as in working on the “UU the Vote” voter turn-out efforts. We’ve lived our faith and values by becoming an immigrant sanctuary church, a reproductive freedom congregation, an LGBTQ welcoming congregation, a green sanctuary church, and by adopting the UU 8th principle, which calls us to dismantle racism and oppression in ourselves and our institutions.

Whew, I’m out of breath.

That’s a lot, and it is only a few examples of how this church is living out that first end.

The second one is, “We support and challenge one another in worship, spiritual growth and lifelong learning to practice a rich spiritual life.”

Because of this end, we have learned that to grow spiritually, we must challenge ourselves. Sometimes we can’t be in a space that feels entirely comfortable and safe – we have to be in a brave space. For instance, our moment for beloved community can be challenging sometimes. Once again, we also fulfill this end through worship, music and RE.

Our “chalice circle” small group ministries, Wellspring spiritual reflection groups, our meditation group, book groups fellowship and fun activities and other ministries also contribute towards folks practicing a rich spiritual life.

AND, one of my favorite reflections on spiritual growth came from something one of your fellow congregants shared with me a while back. They said something like, “I experience the spiritual when I am out working with others to struggle for greater justice in our world.”

Third End – “We engage with one another to care for the Earth and the interdependent web.”

As I mentioned, we are a UU Association accredited green sanctuary church.

We have a strong green sanctuary team, led by the dynamic duo of Beki and Richard Halpern, who have spearheaded our participation in so many environmental and climate justice efforts I can’t possibly name them all now. They and their team have truly made this church a leader in such efforts in our area.

I encourage you to talk with them and get involved. We also teach our children about and involve them in caring for the interdependent web.

Our fourth end states, “We care for one another in intergenerational community and connect in fun and fellowship.”

Celeste Padilla and her merry band of folks with our fun and fellowship team have organized a number of great, intergenerational events, including the best online variety show of all time, during the pandemic! My spouse, Wayne and I were thrilled to provide some off the worst jokes ever for that show.

We have at least one intergenerational service each month. We have an active care team for folks who are facing life challenges. Our RE programs promote intergenerational interaction, including our awesome summer camp that we just held.

The fifth end is, “We embody the principles of Unitarian Universalism and invite people of goodwill to find a spiritual home with us.”

Our wonderful congregational administrator Shannon and a group of terrific volunteers provide several “Path to Membership” classes each year to orient potential new members. Our excellent transformation through connection and service team helps folks find ways to get involved, which also helps folks get to know other church members. Since we’ve returned to in person services, we’ve engaged in several ways to try and invite people of goodwill to find that spiritual home with us.

Here are a few examples: We’re upgrading our playground and classrooms to make them more inviting. We’ve changed the church website to more directly feature worship services and ways to get connected. We’ve placed signs in the building, inviting visitors to speak with me after the service. And, we recently ran a targeted promotion on Facebook, promoting our values, principles and mission. Last week, we ran a sponsorship on our local NPR radio station, KUT, to do the same and inviting folks to visit the church website, as well as the church itself!

End number 6 is, “We partner with other organizations and faith communities to dismantle a culture of white supremacy and other systems of oppression, within ourselves, within our church community, and beyond our walls.”

This one is so rich and complex that I cannot even come close to covering it all this morning. We’ll address it more in the weeks to come though. We work with a large number of other organizations to carry out this end.

And, one of the vital things we’ve learned from this end is that it’s often most effective for those of us from a majority white, majority privileged congregation to follow the lead of those other organizations – for instance anti-racism groups led by people of color. Many of our sermons and the moment for beloved community encourage us to dismantle systems of racism and other oppressions.

Each year, your board of trustees reads and discusses an anti-racism book, and we’ve recently formed a new book group within the church that will be studying such a book together.

Our RE programs contain anti- racism/anti-oppression subject matter and activities. And of course, again, many if not most of our social justice efforts address this end. Both your board president, Nesan and I have noted how similar this end is to the UU 8th principle we recently approved. This end, then, is in close alliance with the priorities of our larger UU faith.

Our 7th end is, “We provide leadership to and collaborate with the greater Unitarian Universalist community to expand the reach of our movement.”

We serve as the “hub” congregation in our area, often coordinating local social justice efforts, working with other churches to provide Our Whole Lives, age appropriate sexual education classes and the like. Many of our sermon videos have been picked up and used by other UU churches, as has our music, and we’ve developed an online following with UUs across the nation and even overseas on our livestream. Our ministers, staff and some church members have served in various national leadership positions within our faith. I continue to serve as a mentor for other ministers, and our minister emerita, Meg, now provides counseling for other ministers. Our Inside Amigos immigration justice program and our immigration sanctuary efforts have served as models throughout our faith.

Well, last but certainly not least, “We are generous with time, talent, and treasure to realize our mission.”

What more can I really say on this one except, you certainly do, thank you!”

All of our ministries from RE to Worship to music to social justice to fun and fellowship to our governance – every aspect of this church is only possible because of our generous, talented and good-looking volunteers.

During the pandemic, like most other churches, we saw a decline in membership. Yet, we did not see a corresponding decline in pledging because those of you here today, online or in person, rose to the challenge and kept us going. So thank you, thank you, thank you for your time, talent and treasure. Wow, I know that was a lot and fairly didactic by its very nature. I think it’s important for us to be aware though, of what our ends are; why they matter.

Please know that the handful of examples I’ve had time to give you today of what we are doing to make progress toward them is just a small sampling. We’re doing and will do even more. Progress toward our ends is a large part of the way in which we gauge how well we are living our mission and values. Our ends proclaim who we are through what we do.

They require that we join together and strive toward them as a community. They call us to work in solidarity with others. They move us toward mutuality, unity and celebration of our interdependence.

Our ends our how we say “yes” to our mission and the vision that radiates forth from our values. So let us say, “yes” so that life can take us by the hands and start the dance.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
July 24, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Our church has expressed a set of five religious values. We don’t talk about them that often though. We’ll review our values and what living them in our world might look like.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

LIVING OUR VALUES

Transcendence
To connect with wonder and awe of the unity of life

Community
To connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch

Compassion
To treat ourselves and others with love

Courage
To live lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty

Transformation
To pursue the growth that changes our lives and heals our world

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

The reason we roll our eyes when people start to talk about values is that everyone talks a big game but very few practive them. Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them. We walk our talk – we are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with those beliefs.

– Brene Brown, Dare to Lead

Sermon

Here’s a little not so long ago church history for you. In 2010, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin was coming out of a challenging time. Some of you were here then and will remember all of this.

Feel free to correct me after the service if I get anything wrong. At the end of 2008, the congregation had held a vote to dismiss the then senior minister. The vote was fairly close. There was controversy.

There were folks who felt very hurt. By 2010, the church was engaged in the second year of interim ministry and had also brought in additional outside assistance, which helped bring about much healing and set the church on a course toward restructuring and renewal. One of the folks the church brought in to help was Dr. Peter Steinke, who, sadly, died a couple of years ago.

Your current board of trustees is reading and discussing a book that Dr. Steinke wrote. One of the things Dr. Steinke helped the church to understand was that the congregation had no clear sense of mission at the time.

We had a mission statement, but it was from many years before and was very long and super detailed and pretty much wordsmithed into abstruseness. Additionally, it had, apparently, been added to the top of a legal document and promptly placed into a file drawer never to see the light of day again. Well, the church then brought in our friends from Unity Consulting of Unity Church Unitarian, St. Paul Minnesota, to help the congregation discern our mission.

Unity Consulting still works with our board on good planning and governance practices, even these days. Back then, one of the things they helped us to understand is that a mission with profound meaning for us had to arise our of our most deeply held religious values.

So, the first step in discovering our mission was to look within for those deepest values. The mission the church eventually identified has since been revised slightly to become our current mission.

I’ll get into the story of how that came to be next Sunday. Today though, we will spend some time on those values that we found within ourselves back in 2010, because they remain this church’s expressed religious values today. We read them together in our call to worship earlier.

Unity consulting defines values as those timeless, transcendent, foundational qualities of our religious community we will carry forward with us into our future. Dr. Brene Brown, who we heard from in our reading earlier, writes, “A value is a way of being or believing that we hold most important.”

Either way, I don’t think we talk about our values in the church enough. In fact, the last time we reviewed them during worship was back in late 2015 and early 2016. And we need to talk about them, because as both Unity consulting and Dr. Brown point out, our best decisions happen when we ask, “what do our deepest values tell us about this?”

So, how did those values statements we read together come to be? Well, funny you should ask, ’cause I’m gonna tell ya.

During the church’s process in 2010, Unity Consulting helped us facilitate an exercise they called the “Experience of the Holy”. We held sessions wherein we put folks from the congregation in pairs and asked each of them to tell the other of a time when they had experienced the holy.

Unity Consulting described such experiences like this: “I invite you to reflect on an experience of the Holy in your life – A time when you felt connected to something larger than yourself, a time when you felt your heart and mind expand.”

As a spiritual practice, try asking yourself this sometime, as the exercise of doing so turned out to be very powerful. People were often moved to tears during it. The individual stories of what prompted peoples’ experience of the holy varied widely. Some people spoke of it happening right here in the church. Some spoke of their first time holding a new born child. Other people spoke of quiet times surrounded by the beauty of nature. Some spoke of being moved into the experience through listening to music, viewing a wonderful piece of art. Still others told of experiencing the holy during the simple or the seemingly mundane – just working in their garden in the early morning sunlight.

One war veteran told of holding a dying buddy in their arms, of being the last person who would hold and comfort their friend. Well, folks were then asked to talk about what values arose for them through these stories.

There was then an iterative process by which the pairs were grouped with one another, and the values lists eventually whittled down to about three and then recorded. The board of the time then took the data on values from all of the sessions that were held in the church and found what similar themes came up repeatedly. Eventually, they presented the values statements to the congregation, which heartily affirmed them.

And here we are, still guided by those same religious values 12 years later! Good job congregation 2010! I want to spend just a few moments going over each of them a little more thoroughly.

Transcendence – to connect with wonder and awe of the unity of life.

This was the set of concepts that came up the most times by far. It also a value also shows up in our larger Unitarian Universalist faith, which names six sources from which we draw that faith. The very first of those sources is stated like this, “Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.” And science has begun to verify that these experiences can, indeed, renew our spirits and connect us with a sense of compassion and belonging that does uphold life.

Community – to connect with joy, sorrow, and service with those whose lives we touch.

What a beautiful value and one that is the core of why church exists in the first place. I think we have to be careful though to avoid thinking about community in a kind of greeting card slogan way. To maintain the deep connection required to build true community, we must be willing to be vulnerable. We have to realize that we will disagree sometimes. We will make mistakes and let one another down sometimes. That’s why this church has a covenant of right relations, a set of promises we make to one another that can help us keep our community alive, connected and thriving. You can find the covenant at austinuu.org. We’ll be talking about it more in the future. In this church, we have also been fortunate, as we are now, to have a group of non-anxious leaders who can help us maintain the bonds of community as we move through times of transition.

Compassion – to treat ourselves and others with love.

Author Tim O’Brien tells of his patrol being attacked one night during the Vietnam war. In a flash of sudden bright light, he saw that one of his buddies, a friend he had known since their school days, had been hit. He ran to him, but there was nothing that could be done. He didn’t want to leave his friend’s body there, so, he picked his friend up and began carrying him toward their camp. And then he saw the North Vietnamese soldier staring straight at him, rifle raised and pointed toward him. They locked eyes.

He realized that holding his friend’s body as he was, he was vulnerable and might not be able to grab his own weapon in time. He wondered if he was about to die too. And then, the North Vietnamese soldier looked down and saw that O’Brien was holding his friend’s blood soaked body in his arms. The North Vietnamese soldier looked him in the eyes again, but there was something different in the stare. They began backing slowly away from each other, the North Vietnamese soldier’s rifle still pointed directly at O’Brien, until they disappeared to one another in the darkness of the night.

In that moment, two enemy combatants recognized their shared fragility. For one brief moment, a battle was halted through embracing shared vulnerability – shared humanity – shared interconnectedness.

These are the roots of empathy, and empathy acted upon becomes compassion.

Courage – to live lives of honesty, vulnerability, and beauty.

I love the way we define courage in this statement. I love it because living in such a way really does require courage. It requires us not to put up the barriers. Not to numb ourselves out with substances (or shopping)! Or any of the many other ways we find to NOT feel. It requires us to open ourselves and live wholeheartedly, speak our truths, pursue what is beautiful to us, even at the risk of criticism or scorn from others.

And as a church, it requires us to live out these values and our mission even when it is hard and risky – such as when we offered sanctuary to immigrants who came to live on our campus. Like when our own Peggy Morton got herself arrested for refusing to be ignored or silenced about the rights of our friends who were in immigration sanctuary at the time. That’s courage. Courage we will need again now, when we must and will speak out and take action for reproductive justice. I count myself fortunate indeed to serve as minister for a courageous congregation.

Transformation – to pursue the growth that changes our lives and heals our world.

All of the other values kind of lead to this one, don’t they? And this one is explicitly stated in our mission, when we say that together, we transform lives. And, I truly believe this church and our faith can be transformative.

It was certainly transformative for me. When I walked through those glass doors into the foyer just outside of our sanctuary here 16 years ago now – at my spouse Wayne’s insistence, because I didn’t know what Unitarian Universalism was and didn’t want to go to church – I walked through those doors having pretty much left all organized religion behind. Little did I know I would end entering the UU ministry within a few years. I found my purpose. I found my people. I found a deep rooted spirituality and a number of causes that matter deeply to me. My personal friends, all round the country, are now either Unitarian Universalists are folks who should be. And though, of course, not everyone becomes a minister, this story of transformation through our faith has happened over and over again. I hope it is happening for you.

Having a community of faith can be so helpful, because we rarely achieve transformation entirely by ourselves. Though we may go by ourselves into the wilderness for a while, the paradox is, as Dr. Brown points out, that time in the wilderness is intended to reconnect us with others and our world even more profoundly than before. So we need community to transform ourselves, and we most certainly need it to transform our world.

I’ll close by sharing Brene Brown’s steps for living into our values.

Step One, she says, is We Can’t Live into Values That We Can’t Name. That makes sense.

To live them out we have to be able to articulate them. That’s part of why we are reviewing them today. And, we will be listing our values, mission and ends in your order of service from today on. (We’ll talk more about what our ends are next week.)

Dr. Brown says that step two is taking values from BS to behavior. In other words, we have to walk our talk. It can help to think about what behaviors would be consistent with our values. So, for instance, for “courage”, that might be something like, “I will speak out when I witness racism or anti-trans behavior, even when it’s hard – even when I might get criticized or even ostracized.” For “compassion” that might look like, “I will be compassionate to myself by scheduling several times each day for rest and relaxation, a spiritual practice or just doing something I enjoy.

We’ve given you these sheets to take with you. Under each of our values on the sheet, I encourage you to take some time later to list several behaviors that would be consistent with that value.

Finally, Dr’ Brown’s step three for our living values is that we need empathy and compassion. To hold to our values in challenging times, we need empathetic folks in our lives who understand and hopefully even share those values. Folks who will both support us in living our values and hold us accountable to them. Hmmmm. Sounds like we might find that right here, in this religious community.

In addition to such empathy from others, Dr. Brown also says we need self- compassion. She urges us to treat ourselves to time for relaxation, and sleep; to eat well; exercise; find connection and belonging; make room for fun, joy and spirituality. That sounds pretty great to me! So, let us live our values, my beloveds. It is how that spark of the divine within us glows and grows. It is how our inner light shines most brightly.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
July 17, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Traditional Christian European thought has distinguished the sacred (of God and religion) as separate from the secular (of the world outside of God and religion). However, other cultures do not necessarily make such a distinction. What might we as Unitarian Universalists learn from perspectives that see the potential for the sacred in all things.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

There is no less holiness at this time- as you are reading this- than there was on the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the 30th year, in the 4th month, on the 5th day of the month as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Cheban, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of god. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree at the end of your street than there was under Buddha’s bo tree…. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch of souls in trees.

– Annie Dillard

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Meditation Reading

ANIMAL VEGETABLE MINERAL
Carol Lee Sanchez

Sermon

Text of this sermon is not yet available.

SERMON INDEX

Most sermons during the past 22 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.

PODCASTS

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them by clicking on the podcast link above or copying and pasting this link. https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/first-unitarian-universalist/id372427776