A Sermon by
The Reverend Bill Clark
About three ago at General Assembly Ministry Days, guest speaker, Stephen Gray gave a talk on money, ministry and stewardship. When asked what a congregation could do to raise money beyond canvas campaigns, themed potlucks, beyond service auctions and garage sales, he said simply, "Try religion."
And so we are trying religion. Gone this year are perhaps funny skits and songs about money. Gone are special dinners for special donors. Gone are times of pleading, begging and applying guilt. We are trying religion. We are asking you to support this Unitarian Universalist Congregation from a place of commitment - commitment to your religious and spiritual values of receiving and giving.
Now some of you may be thinking I have this a bit backwards. It is not about receiving and giving, rather it is about giving and then receiving. This is the supposed to be the money sermon, Bill, this is our canvas campaign remember. It is about giving....giving.....giving!!! You give to receive, get it!!
But we are trying religion. Religion. Religion, as William Ellery Channing, the father of Unitarianism stated, "Is to awaken the soul, to excite and cherish spiritual life."
Religion is about receiving. We receive something from this faith. Our soul is awakened. Our mind is challenged. Our heart is opened. Our hunger for justice, equality and peace are fed. We receive a sense of community. We bond with like-minded people. We take steps along a spiritual path where we find others walking as well. We forge onto a new path knowing that we are not alone. We receive the experience of spiritual community. We receive religion! And in a world with so much hatred and violence, we need a religion that proclaims the inherent worth and dignity of very person.
And now from this place of receiving is where the giving begins to flow. Now you all know me pretty well by now. You know how I am a visual person. You know how much I love the language of the deaf culture. As I have taught the signs for receiving and giving before you may recall that they are exactly the same. The meaning changes through their directions. We call these directional verbs. And as the song goes 'from you I receive, to you I give.' There is that movement. Same sign. Different direction. (demonstrate song) And when we move them back and forth. Receivng and giving. Receiving and giving. Giving and receiving. The movements becomes one. The movements create an energy, a flow, a synergy, if you will. This is the energy I call God. Call it God, call it humanity, name it divinity, name it whatever you wish. It is not the naming that is important. It is the receiving and giving that is paramount. This is what makes our receiving and giving religious acts, holy acts that offer us spiritual nourishment and support.
And participation in the process - this movement - in this choreography - if you will takes another religious value. It takes commitment. Religion takes commitment. And in a world with so much brutality and fear, we need a religion that seeks justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
The commitment to participate in the receiving and giving within this religious community can be for a variety of reasons. Choose any of the reasons stated in this mornings reading of why you should support a Unitarian Universalist church; you want to support it because it is open to men and women of whatever race, creed, color, or place of origin. Or you want to support it because it is a place where children can come without being saddled with guilt or shame of terrified of some celestial peeping tom. Whatever your reason may be... I am here to tell you that your support of this Unitarian Universalist Congregation is needed. And it is needed, not from a place of obligation rather from this place of receiving. Your support is needed, is asked for, because you have received from this faith and this community gifts that nurture your spirit. You received, thus you give.
There is a wonderful story that my UU colleague in Concord, the Reverend Gary Smith tells. It is a story out of the Middle East that speaks to this interchange.
It seems whenever the Cadi who governed the village and gave judgments in the courts was absent, the role was given to the Hodja (a holy one). It was under this circumstance that a most unusual case was presented to the court. A local innkeeper brought suit against a poor student in these terms;
"He has lingered outside my restaurant, holy one, and thus has stolen from me."
"And what has he stolen?" inquired the holy one.
"The good smell of my good food," replied the innkeeper. "Unwilling to pay for the food itself, he has lingered around the door of my kitchen daily and availed himself of what was not his: the aromas of my cooking. Thus I work and slave and this scoundrel takes advantage of my labors and will not pay."
"Is this true, young man?" the Hodja demanded.
"It is holy one. I am a poor student scarcely able to pay for my room and my books. I live on scraps which I beg wherever I can. But the wonderful smells from the inn I could not resist, and so daily I hang about the kitchen and imbibe those odors and thus imagine that I am eating those very delicacies."
"And have you now any money on you?" asked the Hodja.
"Only a few coppers, holy one," was the reply.
"Hand them over."
As the poor student passed his last coins to the Hodja, the innkeeper smiled with satisfaction. The Hodja turned to him then and said, "Innkeeper, close your eyes and listen well to my judgment."
Puzzled the innkeeper did so. And then with his eyes tightly shut, he heard the student's coins being jingled in the Hodja's hand.
"Do you hear, innkeeper?" asked the Hodja.
"I hear, wise one," replied the innkeeper.
"Good! The sound of the coins has paid for the smell of the food," replied the Hodja, as he returned the coins to the student.
The sound of the coins has paid for the smell of the food. A creative interchange of receiving and giving and yet my message for today is my friends, that if you have received something beyond the smell, we are asking for more than a jingle.
My friends, if you have received support, nourishment, challenge, comfort, community, discomfort, dialogue, determination, we need the commitment and giving of your financial support.
What happens here today at this hour is truly our commitment to the health and well being of First Parish - our beloved church home. Yet it is also a commitment to this our chosen faith of Unitarian Universalism. A commitment to our religion. And in a world with so much inequality and strife, we need a religion that strives toward the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
Commitment is a powerful religious (tool) value. For when one firmly makes a commitment there is a change. There is no longer any hesitation or yielding. There is only movement towards full potential and unimagined possibilities.
I know I realized the power of commitment when I first entered seminary. Going back to school at the age of 45, taking out loans and beginning all over again, one's mind can be filled with hesitancy, doubt and fear. Yet none such hindrances could shake my commitment to my call to do this work. As I walk the path of dhamma and commit myself to the practice of Vipassana meditation, I gain a powerful strength from this religious value of commitment.
"Until one commits, writes Wolfgang Goethe, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no one [man] could have dreamed would have come their [his] way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
Commitment unlocks the imagination and allows the genius of creative power to flow forth. This is what I am asking for on this Sunday. The boldness, power and magic of your commitment to First Parish - the boldness, power and magic of your commitment so your lives, this community and this bruised and hurting world can be transformed by our religious message of acceptance, tolerance, peace, justice and love. In a world with so many persons abused and neglected, we need a religion that calls us to accept one another and encourage one another to spiritual growth.
My friends, may the boldness, power and genius of your commitments flow forth this Sunday as we honor through ritual your gifts of receiving and giving. Ritual is a powerful tool that helps create a hallowed and holy space where the holding and releasing of energy allows for the creation of our vision for the future of our church home. After all we are the historic white church on Lexington Green, the church that is building the beloved community that stands for peace, with liberty and justice for all.
In a few moments we will begin the ritual, but I wish to first explain some of its elements and symbolism.
The ritual will begin with our children's choir - after all what our commitments are doing here today is for our children - they are the future of First Parish, this faith and the world.
Following our children's choir entering, the scared space will be established with voice, drumming and signs as we create the perfect synergy for the holy acts of receiving and giving.
As the space is held by drumming, singing and signing, the ushers will ask you to come forward, down the center isle, row by row, to place your pledge cards in the gifting basket. After we have received your commitment I ask that you move forward as we give to you two gifts. The first is a rose. The rose represents your spirit. Through your commitments to your church home may your spirit, your heart, mind and soul, blossom and open like a rose. I know this rose will open.
The next gift is a dollar coin. I ask that you take one per family and place it on your home altar if you have one or in the area where you pay your bills. May this serve as a reminder that how we choose to spend our money is a reflection of what we value. As you look at this coin may you be forever reminded how much your minister and your church values each of you.
You may then return to your seats with deep gratitude and thanksgiving for your commitment and support. If you have already sent in your commitment pledge card, please come forward and receive a rose and a coin and our deepest thanks.
What will happen here this morning is a ritual of commitment - commitment that Gendler reminds us is married to joy. What is happening here this morning then is a joyous commitment to our lives, our church home and to our religion of Unitarian Universalism. In a world with so much uncertainty and despair, we need a religion that teaches our hearts to open and our hands to serve.
May it be so. Blessed be.