Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.
Nancy Mohn Barnard
April 28, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Lately, bad news is omnipresent: climate change, polarized politics, and inequity abound. But Unitarian Universalism offers a message of good news; we just need the courage to share it.
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
YOU ARE BELOVED AND YOU ARE WELCOME HERE
Joan Javier-DuvalVoice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: Whether tears have fallen from your eyes this past week or gleeful laughter has spilled out of your smiling mouth
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: Whether you are feeling brave or broken-hearted; defiant or defeated; fearsome or fearful
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: Whether you have untold stories buried deep inside or stories that have been forced beyond the edges of comfort
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: Whether you have made promises, broken promises, or are renewing your promises,
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: Whatever is on your heart However it is with your soul in this moment
Voice 1: You are beloved and you are welcome here
Voice 2: In this space of welcome and acceptance, commitment and re-commitment, of covenant and connection,
Let us worship together.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
I WANT TO BE WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU
Dana WorsnopOften people say that they love coming to a place with so many like-minded people.
I know just what they are getting at — and I know that they aren’t getting it quite right.
I don’t want to be with a bunch of people who think just like me.
I want to be in a beloved community where I don’t have to think like everyone else to be loved, to be eligible for salvation.
I want to be with people who value compassion, justice, love and truth, though they have different thoughts and opinions about all sorts of things.
I want to be with independent-minded people of good heart.
I want to be with people who have many names and no name at all for God.
I want to be with people who see me in me goodness and dignity, who also see my failings and foibles, and who still love me.
I want to be with people who feel their inter-connection with all existence and let it guide their footfalls upon the earth.
I want to be with people who see life as a paradox and don’t always rush to resolve it.
I want to be with people who are willing to walk the tight rope that is life and who will hold my hand as I walk mine.
I want to be with people who let church call them into a different way of being in the world.
I want to be with people who support, encourage and even challenge each other to higher and more ethical living.
I want to be with people who inspire one another to follow the call of the spirit.
I want to be with people who covenant to be honest, engaged and kind, who strive to keep their promises and hold me to the promises I make.
I want to be with people who give of themselves, who share their hearts and minds and gifts.
I want to be with people who know that human community is often warm and generous, sometimes challenging and almost always a grand adventure.
In short, I want to be with people like you.
Sermon
When you hear the word evangelism, what comes to mind? For many of us the word evangelism can have negative connotations, bringing to mind religious trauma from our pasts, in which we were maybe proselytized to or pressured into being saved. Indeed, nowadays the word evangelism has come to be associated with a particular sect of Christianity and not the actual dictionary definition, which means to spread the “good news” of the gospel. Evangelism no longer represents good news, but rather, has become a negative word with which we want nothing to do.
As Unitarian Universalists, our tradition has become a haven for those who have experienced trauma from evangelism. And yet, today I’m going to make an argument for reclaiming the word evangelism, specifically for the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Though many of you may cringe — I’d like to argue that evangelism is needed in the Unitarian Universalist church. Now, I realize that the thought of an evangelical Unitarian Universalist tradition may be triggering. Indeed, for many years, anything that even hinted at evangelism triggered me. But over time, as I have recovered from my past, the negative connotation of evangelism has slowly lessened.
Evangelism first became a loaded and negative word for me back in 1992, when I first moved to Georgetown, Texas. At the age of sixteen, in the middle of my sophomore year of high school, my parents uprooted my northern California family to relocate there. The culture shock was real. Whereas back home religion was something that people kept to themselves, at school, the “What’s your name?” question was inevitably followed up with “where do you go to church?”
Even the public school had undercurrents of Christianity. For example, one day the administration called a general assembly, and we all filed into the gym, prepared for the usual pep rallies, student recognitions and school announcements. The gym, however, had been transformed into what looked like a prototype of the modern CrossFit gym. Gymnastic mats lined the gym floor; one foot stacks of plywood were dispersed throughout the set; and a variety of weights, ropes and other props filled in the remaining spaces. This assembly was obviously no ordinary school function.
The principal excitedly announced that today we had special visitors. And as he gave introductions, ten, huge, Hulk-Hogan looking men entered the gymnasium and took up positions around the floor mats. They then proceeded to put on an electrifying show that involved karate chopping through stacks of plywood along with other feats of strength. At the end of the show, the students cheered with wild abandon, and the men invited us to another show that evening-a show that promised even more amazing strength stunts.
My friend and I decided that we would absolutely attend that evening’s show. After all, what else was going on that night in our small town? Hours later we pulled up to a church on the outskirts of town, which struck us as an odd venue for a muscle show. However, it could easily be explained by the lack of suitable venues in the area. We entered, took our seats and soon, the same muscle men were entering the auditorium, flexing and showing off their muscles, but this time, Christian rock and not heavy metal blasted through the speakers.
Things only continued getting weird. The muscle men led the audience in an opening prayer. What then followed was almost two hours fined with one testimony after the next. Each of the men got a chance to tell their stories. Stories about losing one’s path, finding Jesus, and God gifting them with supernatural strength; the latter of which allowed them to put on shows, travel around the United States and testify. As audience members, we were there to witness the abilities with which the Lord had endowed these men. The primary message was that the Lord provides-and even rewards-those who are faithful and willing to proselytize in his name.
Now, I’m not fond of bait and switch situations, and although 1 wanted to see them perform more feats of strength, I couldn’t handle the evangelism that was the show}s focus. I was also annoyed by the knowledge that the school knew what this group represented, and yet, never warned the student body that the evening’s show would have a Christian focus. My friend and I decided that we were done and headed to the exits to leave. As we stepped outside the auditorium, a huge guy — who looked like a bouncer — stopped us. He began to grill us on why we were leaving, and we tried to explain that we had seen the show earlier that day. Soon the conversation changed tones, as the man began to question us about our beliefs in Jesus and the power of God. My friend and I eyed the exit door with longing, calculating whether or not we could make it to the parking lot and lose this guy who was doing his best to keep us there. But we were intimidated by this man who towered over us. And finally, we decided to give up and hopelessly slunk back into the auditorium.
When the show was finally over, I was fuming — I resented that we had been pressured to stay; I was annoyed that the man had intimidated us, and moreover, that he had intentionally done so. Instead of making me feel fired up about Jesus and God, I began to suspect that Christianity was a scam full of con artists that used scare tactics to elicit belief. Indeed, this experience had the opposite effect of what it had intended-instead of celebrating the gifts that faith can bring, it made me want to run as far away from Christianity as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, this incident was one of several evangelizing experiences that I had encountered in the first few months I spent in Georgetown. All of the experiences felt like someone was pushing views onto me — rigid views that did not invite discussion. Moreover, in several of these encounters, I was told that I was going to hell, despite the fact that — at that time –I was a Christian. Indeed, these experiences had the after effect of me leaving the Christian church for good. It took me years to recover from some of these experiences.
Fast forward to last year when I had to take a mission and evangelism class at my Presbyterian seminary. I dreaded taking the class, for despite the many years since my traumatic experiences, the word evangelism still elicited a negative reaction. However, the class surprised me. Instead of encouraging us to evangelize and find ourselves some Christian converts, it instead examined evangelism from an academic, colonialist perspective. When we were expected to read a book on evangelism and present our findings to the class, I was excited when my professor allowed me and two of my fellow Unitarian Universalists to form a group and research evangelism in our own faith tradition. The book we chose was entitled Seeking Paradise: A Unitarian Mission for Our Times, and it was written by Stephen Lingwood who is a British Unitarian.
The book focuses on Unitarian evangelism and missionaries in Britain. For example, it talks about Richard Wright, who spread the message of Universalism long before the merging of the Unitarian and Universalist churches in 1961; and Joseph Tuckerman who created a mission in London and worked on behalf of the poor. My favorite example, however, of Unitarian evangelism was Charles Dall, a Unitarian missionary who went to India to seek converts. Dall, however, ended up being the convert when he decided to join a liberal Hindu reformist movement. I find this anecdote to be particularly amusing, as Dall’s conversion is such a Unitarian Universalist move-his openness to the Hindu faith exemplifies our fourth principle, which is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. In his attempt to spread the values of the faith, he remained open to truth and meaning and found it in Hinduism. This is all to say that the Unitarian Universalist church does have a history of evangelism, though as we have furthered ourselves from our Christian roots, we have also stopped evangelizing efforts. But today, my friends, I’d like to argue that it’s time to restart our evangelizing efforts, for in 2024, the Unitarian Universalist church has a heretofore unseen opportunity for growth.
According to the Pew Research Center, an increasing number of Americans are leaving Christianity and instead identifying as “Nones” (spelled n-o-n-e-s and not n-u-n-s). The term “nones” refers to those with “no particular religious identification,” which includes atheists and agnostics. Indeed, in 2019, the Pew Research Center showed that over the past ten years, Christianity had lost approximately 12% of their population. This Christian attrition can be seen across the northern hemisphere, although Christianity continues to grow south of the equator. Meanwhile, research tells us that 26% of people now identify as “Nones.” And although I have not conducted a formal survey, I can tell you anecdotally from my work in Religious Education both with children and adults that Unitarian Universalist Churches have a significant number of If Nones” in our congregations. Just because people are atheist or unable to identify with a mainline tradition doesn’t mean that spiritual needs do not exist. People long for communities and connections; for a space in which they can unite with others in the name of social justice. The Unitarian Universalist church can fulfill that need.
And yet, few people know about the existence of our unique and welcoming tradition. Even at seminary — where I am surrounded by people who are smart and knowledgeable about faith traditions, many people are unfamiliar with the Unitarian Universalist church. Often people simply refer to us as Unitarians, while being unaware of how important the Universalist name is to our identities. While the word Unitarian reflects our belief in one God, no matter what the name, universalism reflects our belief that everyone is elected; our faith is one of universal love-a message that is much needed in today’s isolating and lonely world. In many ways, my fellow UU students and I have inadvertently found ourselves acting as evangelists on behalf of our faith, as we try to educate others on the meaning and importance of being both a “Unitarian” and a “Universalist.” And I must say that my peers have been nothing but curious and gracious.
But if even seminarians lack a full understanding of Unitarian Universalism, imagine the population at large. Many of my friends know that I’m involved in the Unitarian Universalist church and that I’m in seminary, working towards ordination. But no matter how many times I tell them that I’m not Christian, they inevitably forget; “church” only has one meaning to them, which is Christianity. When I explain what our Unitarian Universalist church is like, they often look at me in disbelief. “What do you mean there are atheists in your church? Why would an atheist go to church?” At this point in the conversation, I often point out that just because people don’t believe in God doesn’t mean that they’re not seeking meaning, truth and knowledge. Moreover, many people are looking for a community in which their questions and beliefs — no matter how unusual — will be welcomed with open arms. The Unitarian Universalist church is the answer that many people are inadvertently seeking, as we welcome all who are welcoming and affirming; all who are willing to enter into covenant as we work towards justice and truth.
Unfortunately, few people know of our existence and what we stand for. But it’s time to correct this problem; it’s time to tell the world of our existence. More and more I’m receiving questions from people who are interested in this faith. I suspect that even with our silence, word is slowly spreading.
Now is the time for the Unitarian Universalist church to come into its own. Our faith tradition is both beautiful and unique. It is a tradition that welcomes a” inquiry; a tradition that acknowledges the validity of all sources and experiences; a tradition that cares about equity for a” humans. Though it pains me to think of myself as an evangelist, I nonetheless can no longer be shy about sharing this faith with others, for the Unitarian Universalist truth is truly the Good News that many people seek.
SO, if you have friends or family who find themselves in need of a spiritual community-particularly one that embraces all those who are welcoming – please tell them about the Unitarian Universalist church. And though I know it may feel distasteful, I encourage you to invite people to our services. Studies show that people are more likely to attend a church service when they are invited by a friend. Or don’t be afraid to wear your Unitarian Universalist shirts whenever you can. Tell people what we are about; tell people that we are affirming and believe that everyone is of the elect; spread the good news that there is a place for everyone within our walls, for we are Unitarian Universalists, and we recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person as they engage in the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
Extinguishing the Chalice
We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.
Benediction
Go forth in simplicity.
Find and walk the path
that leads to compassion and wisdom,
that leads to happiness, peace and ease.
Welcome the stranger and
open your heart to a world in need of healing.
Be courageous before the forces of hate.
Hold and embody a vision of the common good that
serves the needs of all people.
Most sermons during the past 24 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 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
