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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

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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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Chris Jimmerson and Carolyn Gremminger
July 10, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

Researchers have called practicing gratitude the ultimate spiritual practice. The operative word though, is “practice” – it must be put into a form of action. We’ll explore some gratitude practices, their many potential benefits and why gratitude is vital regarding both the good times and times of challenge.

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

TO YOUR KNEES

Life will eventually bring you to your knees. Either you’ll be on your knees cursing the universe and begging for a different life, or you’ll be brought to your knees by gratitude and awe, deeply embracing the life that you have, too overwhelmed by the beauty of it all to stand or even speak. Either way, they’re the same knees.

– Jeff Foster

Affirming Our Mission

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

Meditation Reading

DRINK THE CUP OF LIFE
Henry Nouwen

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
June 19, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

In 1989, psychologist and researcher Dr. Carol Ryff developed her six-factor model of psychological well being, which she has updated and many others have validated since. The model focuses on how we might not only cope, but thrive. Might these six factors also apply with our spirituality, as well as to our religious community thriving.

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

Now let us worship together.
Now, let us celebrate the sacred miracle of each other.

Now let us open our hearts, our souls, our lives,
for the blessings of the sacred miracle.

Now let us be thankful for the healing power of love,
the gift of fellowship, the renewal of faith.

Now let us accept with gratitude the traditions handed down
to us from those who came before us,
and open ourselves to begin anew, with those that will follow.

Now let us worship together.

– Chris Jimmerson

Affirming Our Mission

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

Meditation Reading

This making of a whole self takes
such a very long time: pieces are not
sequential nor our supplies. We work here,
then there, hold up tattered fabric to the light.
Sew past dark, intent. Use all our thread.

Sleeves may come before length;
buttons, before a rounded neck.
We sew at what most needs us,
and as it asks, sew again.

The self is not one thing, once made,
unaltered. Not midnight task alone, not
after other work. It’s everything we come
upon, make ours: all this fitting of
what-once-was and has-become.

– Nancy Shaffer

Sermon

In 1989, psychologist and researcher, Dr. Carol Ryff developed what she called the six-factor model of psychological well being.

There is even a self-test you can find, along with a Google document on how to score the test, to help you determine how well your own well-being is hanging in there.

Dr. Ryff has updated the model and demonstrated its reliability in the years since. Other researchers have also verified its reliability and validity. Dr. Ryff’s six factor model was an early predecessor of “positive psychology”, which is a relatively recent branch of psychology that is characterized by:

• recognizing the need to address mental health challenges, while also making psychological flourishing the eventual goal.
• finding meaning, deep satisfaction and purpose in life.

“Finding meaning, deep satisfaction and purpose in life.” Hmmmm. That sounds a lot like what we try to do here in church, doesn’t it? So, I thought it might be interesting to explore Dr. Ryff’s model as it might also apply to our spiritual life and to the life of our religious community.

I don’t know about you, but these days, I could do with a little psychological, spiritual and religious well being.

So the first factor in Dr. Ryff’s model is Autonomy. When we have autonomy, we are independent. We regulate our own behavior independent of social pressures.

An example statement for this psychological criterion is “I have confidence in my opinions, even if they are contrary to the general consensus.” Yeah, like Unitarian Universalists have a problem with that. Spiritually, this factor might show up as remaining true to our values even when they are challenged. One of the values that I hold is to remain in relationship even with those with whom I disagree. I struggle with how I hold that value when folks with whom I disagree are acting or voting in ways that are in opposition to other values that I hold:

– the inherent worth and dignity of every person,
– treating ourselves and others with compassion and love,

What do I do when people whom I love act in ways that I believe are oppressive and harmful to other people? What do I do when it is members of my own family that I feel are doing so? Struggling with the sometimes difficult interactions among our most cherished values, I suspect, is one of the greatest ongoing challenges to our spiritual well- being with which all of us struggle. I don’t have an easy answer to this, but I do know my own sense of autonomy requires that I keep trying.

As a religious community, you all exhibit autonomy in calling your own senior minister, electing your own governing board. This congregation functions as a free and independent church that is a part of the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations, or UUA. The administrative body of the UUA provides guidance and support; however, each congregation ultimately determines its own path, as this church did when we twice decided to provide sanctuary to an immigrant to help them avoid devastating consequences if they had been deported.

Ryff’s second factor is “Environmental Mastery” – making effective use of our opportunities and having a sense of control regarding environmental factors. An example of what we might say about this criteria is, “In general, I feel I am capable of responding in a healthy manner to the situation in which I live”.

Now like a good Unitarian Universalist, while I like that statement, I would argue with Ryff that we can never have complete control over environmental factors.

I prefer the term agency.

We can influence our environment and try to control our reaction to what comes our way, but I think one of our spiritual challenges in life is coming to accept that do not have absolute control.

I remember something my spouse Wayne said when he was going through a disabling and potentially life threatening health situation. He is doing fine now, but at one point during that time he said, “I used the feel like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I finally realized there was never rug.”

I think the way that this religious community has weathered so many challenges, especially the recent time of having to do church entirely virtually because of the pandemic, demonstrates environmental mastery.

May we continue such resilience as we join together during this time of transition, after the retirement of a beloved senior minister.

The third factor of well-being is “personal growth”, characterized by the ability to continue to grow, be open to new experiences. For this factor, we might say something like, “I think it is important to have new experiences that challenge my world view”

Spiritually, we can nurture this aspect of well-being by trying new spiritual practices, exploring other worldviews and theologies, remaining open to mystery and that which is larger than us.

As a religious community, we can be open to new forms of worship and ritual. We can engage with other faiths and in social justice and interfaith activities. I think our growth as a religious community has recently been demonstrated by how we have adapted to new ways of doing things because of the pandemic and have carried some of those new ways with us even though we have returned to some in person activities.

Dr. Ryff’s fourth factor is “Positive Relations with Others”. If we are living out this aspect of wellbeing we might say, “I am willing to share with others. I am willing to be vulnerable and giving.”

Developing our spirituality in this area might involve working toward defining ones self not as a separate entity but as inextricably linked with other people and the web of all existence.

Our religious community is by definition one of covenant. We promise to walk together in the ways of love. We find common ground and ways to work together even with those whom may have different and even contradictory religious beliefs.

For instance, several years ago, we hosted an undoing racism session over the weekend here at the church. Near the end the event, a person of color and from a much more conservative religious belief system made a comment about our church minsters being openly gay.

She said that the next undoing racism workshop should be held somewhere that did not violate her values.

Those of us at the session, including this gay minister, had to find a way to express our strong disagreement, while also remaining committed to the anti- racism work of the group.

The fifth factor of wellbeing is finding purpose in life. “My life has direction and meaning”.

This aspect of wellbeing involves a sense of calling – most often that embraces serving others.

Spiritually it, again, often involves a sense of being a part of something larger than ourselves.

We may find that in art, music, service to others, doing justice, and the like. As a religious community, I think we live into this with our strong commitment to our values, principles and mission.

So many of you engage in fulfilling activities, both individually and communally – from the arts, to volunteerism to working for justice to getting out the vote to other forms of political activism.

And speaking of a religious community inspiring a sense of calling, in my time with this church, I have witnessed at least 6 members who have heard a call to Unitarian Universalist ministry, including this guy standing before you. We have three folks in seminary right now and at least a couple of more thinking about it.

The final aspect of wellbeing is self-acceptance. We actually get to like ourselves. “Dude, you’re pretty cool”, we might say to ourselves.

Spiritually we cultivate self- love. We affirm our own inherent worth and dignity.

Now, I know affirmations can seem hokey sometimes but every once in a while tell yourself what you like about yourself.

And we are a part of a larger faith, Unitarian Universalism, that I believe has a saving message.

We can rejoice in being a part of that larger faith that proclaims each of us, each of us, has inherent worth and dignity.

We are a part of a faith that strives to make a difference in this world – in the here and now. I shared a story very early on after I entered ministry with this church, that I want to share with you again because it speaks to the power of our faith. Several years ago, my spouse Wayne and I joined a group of Unitarian Universalists from across the state to support a large rally held on the steps of the Texas State Capital.

The rally was protesting the atrocious attacks on the rights of women that had occurred here in Texas, as well across the nation.

Scary that we are still dealing with these same attacks, except even more so, all these years later.

Anyway, we all showed up in our bright yellow tee shirts bearing the Unitarian Universalist “Side with love” public advocacy motto. The folks from our church gathered around our large, bright yellow “First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sides with Love” banner.

The women’s rights groups that had organized the rally absolutely loved it, so they put us right behind speakers for the rally. The event drew a huge crowd, and near the end of the rally we noticed that all eight of us holding up the banner at the women’s rights rally were men.

Being Unitarian Universalists, that did not seem so unusual, so we just had a good laugh about it. As I was walking to my car though, a woman I had never met touched my shoulder. I turned to her. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I just want you to know how moving it was for me to see a group of all men holding up your banner.”

Then she turned away briefly, turned back to me and said, “You know, I don’t think of myself as religious, but I’m going to have to find out more about you folks.”

I suppose we were both stunned by the movement of something sacred that was occurring between us in that moment, because neither of us said anything for a while. I don’t remember how long we just stood there or which of us broke the silence first, but I do remember that at some point she asked where she could get one of our bright yellow Tee Shirts, so I gave her the Side with Love web address and some information on our local churches.

I don’t even remember if we ever exchanged our names.

I will tell you though – I have never been happier to call myself a Unitarian Universalist than I was in that moment.

I have never been more grateful to be reminded that ours is a faith that calls us to show up – to live our values and principles in our world.

So, I think Ryff’s factors for wellbeing are a great fit for us as Unitarian Universalists:

• Autonomy
• Environmental mastery (Agency)
• Personal growth
• Positive relations with others `
• Finding purpose in life
• Self-acceptance

Yep, that sounds like us.

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
June 12, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

How might we express a Unitarian Universalist concept of a blessing? How might we be blessings for one another? What are the blessings to be found in day-to-day living? We will explore these questions and more as we discover how me might celebrate our blessing that may be greater than we often realize.

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

So what, then, does it mean to offer a blessing, to be a blessing?

To bless something or someone is to invoke its wholeness, to help remind the person or thing you are blessing of its essence, its sacredness, its beauty, and to help remind yourself of that, too. Blessing does not fix anything. It is not a cure.

A blessing does not fix us. It does not instill health or well-being or strength. Instead, it reminds us that those things are already there, within us.

– Elea Kemler

Affirming Our Mission

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

Meditation Reading

BELOVED IS WHERE WE BEGIN

If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.

Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved,
named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.

Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.

That is what
this journey is for.

I cannot promise
this blessing will free you
from danger,
from fear,
from hunger
or thirst,
from the scorching of sun
or the fall of the night.

But I can tell you
that on this path
there will be help.

I can tell you
that on this way
there will be rest.

I can tell you
that you will know
the strange graces
that come to our aid
only on a road such as this,
that fly to meet us
bearing comfort and strength,
that come alongside us
for no other cause
than to lean themselves
toward our ear
and with their curious insistence
whisper our name:

Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.

– Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace

Sermon

BLESSING WHEN THE WORLD IS ENDING

Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.

Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.

Somewhere
it has gone completely dark.

Somewhere
it has ended with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.

Somewhere
it has ended with
the slammed door,
the shattered hope.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.

Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break your heart.

But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.

It has not come
to cause despair.

It is simply here
because there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.

This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;

it will not talk to you
about one door opening when another one closes.
It will simply sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins again.

– Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

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
June 5, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

While change be difficult sometimes, it is also ever present in our lives. Out of change and even loss, we so often find enhanced faith, greater resilience, and creative renewal. Out of it, new beginnings emerge. We will engage in a ritual of faith and renewal.

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

Transitions are a part of life, allowing for perpetual renewal. When you experience the end of one chapter, allow yourself to feel the emotions of loss and rebirth. A bud gives way to a new flower, which surrenders to the fruit, which gives rise to a seed, which yields a new sprout. Even as you ride the roller coaster, embrace the centered internal reference of the ever-present witness.

– David Simon

Affirming Our Mission

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

Meditation Reading

NOTHING IS STATIC
by Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti

The ground shifts, sometimes slowly,
sometimes like an earthquake,
reminding us that the solidity
we often love and seek
is an illusion.

The crumbling dust of the desert plains,
the moist fertility of farmlands,
the eroding coastline of tidal shores,
all are changing.

Committees dissolve or are created,
leaders retire or step away,
ministers come and go,
by-laws are amended.

New experiences
lead to new truths,
which foster evolution;

the natural course of life
always pushing us
toward greater understandings
of what it means
to be human.

Everything about our existence
points toward change,
flexibility,
and dynamic re-creation.

And it’s hard because
change involves loss.

Can we hold the losses well,
while not holding ourselves back?

The ground shifts, sometimes slowly,
sometimes like an earthquake;
nothing is static.

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
May 15, 2022
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

We tend to think of beauty as something we experience, but we also are capable of creating it. Nurturing beauty in our lives may be essential to our spiritual well being.

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

Beauty awakens and admonishes us.

We are here in a religious community not to hide from the anquished cries or the tender lullabyes.

We are here as a religious community not to protect our hearts from breaking.

We are here together to borrow courage with the task of coming alive.

We are here so that together we might heed the admonitions of beauty to answer the call to create, protect and preserve.

– Mary Katherine Morris
UUSC

Affirming Our Mission

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

Moment for Beloved Community

8 REASONS
Amanda Gorman

 

• • When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.

 

 

• • Through forcing them into motherhood before they’re ready, these bans steadily sustain the patriarchy, but also chain families in poverty and maintain economic inequality.

 

 

• • Pregnancy is a private and personal decision and should not require the permission of any politician.

 

 

• • For all time, regardless of whether it’s a crime, women have and will always seek their own reproductive destinies. All these penalties do is subdue women’s freedom to get healthy, safe services when they most need them.

 

 

• • Fight to keep Roe v. Wade alive. By the term “overturn Roe v. Wade”, the main concern is that the Supreme Court will let states thwart a woman’s path to abortion with undue burdens.

 

 

• • One thing is true and certain: These predictions aren’t a distortion, hypothetical, or theoretical. Women already face their disproportion of undue burdens when seeking abortions. If the sexes and all people are to be equal, abortion has to be actually accessible and not just technically legal.

 

 

• • Despite what you might hear, this right here isn’t only about women and girls. This fight is about about fundamental civil rights. Women are a big part of it, but at the heart of it are freedom over how fast our families grow goes farther and larger than any one of us. It’s about every single one of us.

 

• This change can’t wait. We’ve got the energy, the moment, the movement, and the thundering numbers.

Meditation Reading

WALKING AMONG TALL GRASS
Rev. Chris Jimmerson

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