Sermons

Preacher: Rev. Margaret A. Beckman

READINGS

Isaiah 9:5-7 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,
to establish it, and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Words from Standing Rock
“The hearts of all people’s faiths must now unite in believing we can change the path we are now on. We, from heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the world to unite for our children’s future. Already we have witnessed many nations of life are now dying because of contamination: those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, the plant nation, the four legged, and now the two legged.

We are asking the religious people to come and support our youth, to stand side by side with them, because they are standing in prayer. If you can find it in your heart, pray with them and stand beside them. The police department and National Guard would listen to each and every one of you.

This is a very serious time we are in. I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel this is long overdue. It is time that all of us become leaders to help protect the sacred upon Mother Earth. She is the source of life and not a resource.

In a Sacred Hoop of Life, where there is no ending and no beginning.”

Pray with Us
Oceti Sakowin Camp
Sunday, December 4, 2016 at 10:00 AM Central Time (11:00 AM Eastern Time) 
From Chief Arvol Looking Horse,
19th Generation Keeper of White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle,
Spiritual Leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations

From Karen Brammer who is right now praying and working with thousands of others at Standing Rock. Her blog post from Friday . . .

The crystal clear focus is water, and the planet and next generations’ ability to live through water that is clean.
We have love in community – a powerful vision and reality built imperfectly and persistently each day at camp, and radiating out beyond camp into the world.

We have the deep, prayerful leadership of the native communities that we are learning, again very imperfectly as white people, to hear and follow. It is so exciting to me to see this not only here but in Black Lives Matter and so many other movements today.

We have thousands of social media users, and many dozens of independent film-makers, photographers and archivists who currently and in the future will counter more mainstream sources which miss or distort so much in historic story-telling.

I end today’s blog as I began; in awe and full of gratitude for the Water Protectors and the Source that has sustained them, and all of us, for millennia.

Water is Life. Blessed Be.

Thank you.
Karen
 

SERMON
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
their old familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet the words repeat
of peace on earth, goodwill to all.

And in despair I bowed my head:
There is no peace on earth, I said,
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to all.
These words come from the poem, “Christmas Bells” written on Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863 when our country was locked in a fierce and bloody Civil War. There was no peace on that Christmas day.

The same might be said of Christmas this year.

Close to home – there is Standing Rock. Today, we pray with all the people there. We long for a solution. Something will happen, but will it bring peace on earth, even a little bit more peace on earth?

Peace.

When we say Peace – what do we mean? Surely, peace is more than an absence of war – though that alone would be a substantial improvement in human relations.

Shalom – a Hebrew word with a vast meaning. Shalom is about wholeness and completeness. Between people. Between people and God. Among the nations. With Creation. With Earth.

Do we mock the song? Is there no peace on earth? Is there no possibility of Peace – the kind of peace that Christmas promises?

The promise of Christmas is embodied in the birth of a child. He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We are fond of repeating the words of Sophia Fahs – each night a child is born is a holy night. Each child carries the promise of peace, for every child is the embodiment of divine and human love and any child may grow up to be a wonderful counselor and a bringer of peace. These are not just the musings of a tired and confused UU minister trying to make sense of the suffering and complexities of our world. When we say that our faith is about Love, a Love Beyond Belief, we are making a statement of fact and we are sending out the most fervent and precious aspirational prayer our hearts can offer.

Love is a miracle. Pure and simple – it is. We can’t really say how it comes about – it just does. We can’t invent it and, now listen friends, we can’t extinguish it. There is an endless capacity of love. The more you give, the more you get. Love is a power that can, and does, change lives – – – and the world. It might be the only power that can. Without love, there is no peace. It will require all the love we can share – human, divine, past, present, and future – to achieve peace. Love is the human face of the divine – born in each child. Justice is the work we do together as the demonstration of love. Peace is the outcome we seek. It requires all that we are, all that we have, all that we can give, and all that we are able to receive. It requires that we believe that the common good is the good we seek. It requires us to set aside individualistic cravings that manifest as greed and fear and to see the universal love in all. None of us can have real peace until all of us have peace. This is the peace for which we wait during Advent. This is the peace of Christmas. This is the peace we seek at Standing Rock.

We need a miracle at Standing Rock, a miracle of Love and Peace. It looks rather hopeless from here. But, no, because miracles do happen every now and again. The elders at Standing Rock are keenly aware of this and for this reason they ask everyone to pray and to remain peaceful and non-aggressive in what they and we do to protect and save Earth. Peace will not come if our protectors resort to violent actions, speech or thoughts. We know that both violence and love have a multiplier effect. We pray for love.

No one wants to see people hurt or killed. And yet it may happen. Well, it’s already happening. Several, perhaps many, protectors have been hurt – some seriously. And winter is arriving on the vast plains of North Dakota. It will be very cold there – for everyone.

Tens of thousands of people are sending supplies to help the protectors get through the winter as they stay put for as long as it takes to bring their miracle. It’s not just the protects who are standing out in the cold and the wind. All those law enforcement people are there too.

The good folks in the camp are getting supplies that include lots of stuff to help them stay warm and safe as they bear witness to their cause for water. The North Dakota county sheriff has asked for help to keep his people warm and safe as they do their job with the pipeline builders.

So, here’s a little miracle that might just have that multiplier effect we so desperately need.

Some of the protectors learned of the sheriff’s request for hand warmers for the law enforcement officers. And they went to their supply tent and retrieved bundles of hand warmers just arrived from their many supporters. And they carefully and deliberately walked over to the fencing that separates the two groups and they handed over the top of the barbed wire fistfuls of hand warmers to the police standing there in the cold North Dakota wind.

You are not my enemy. You stand in opposition to what I stand for, but you are not my enemy. You are my neighbor.

This action out in Standing Rock is about so much more than one pipeline and one company trying to make a bundle on the extraction and sale of fossil fuels while there is still a bundle to be made. We see a gathering of people who regard the earth as sacred and not as a thing to be used for human profit. This action is about saving life for life. This action is organized and guided by the spiritual leaders of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people and all their relations and friends and allies who care about Earth and who are saying, “Enough is enough. It stops right here and right now.” The Earth is our Home. Water is Life. We are praying for Life.

It might be hyperbole to say that what is at stake in the Standing Rock action is the future of Earth. But it might not be. The tag line – Water is Life – is not an exaggeration. It is a simple statement of fact. For the Standing Rock Protectors, this is about Life.

Water is life. Oil is not. It is just that simple. It is just that complicated.

As a fully engaged person of deep faith, and in light of what I understand, how shall I live and what can I do?

I want to offer three concrete things you might do as your commitment to Standing Rock, to water, to Love. Fund. Pray. Advocate.

There are many ways to help finance the Water Protectors. You can go online and make a contribution directly to Standing Rock. You might wish to help in a more personal way. Karen Brammer is there. She is part of the team helping with supplies and logistics. There is a GO FUND ME campaign to raise funds for her efforts. gofundme.com/karenatstandingrock. As of today, that campaign has pledges of $2620 toward a goal of $3000. They are $380 short of that goal. We could push that campaign to success before we leave here today if we want to.
There is power in prayer. That is why Chief Arvol Looking Horse asked for the world to pray with them at 11:00 am our time. Prayer is energy. Keep praying or meditating or sending healing and loving thoughts – it’s all energy of love working toward peace. Don’t diminish the effect of the impending miracle by dropping out of the circle of care.
Exercise political power of citizenship. President Obama can engage more directly with efforts to see a peaceful and positive conclusion to this action at Standing Rock. Letters and phone calls matter. You can make a difference with your words and your direct specific request to President Obama to stop the pipeline and regroup and reimagine what is right for the common good. We can ask Senators Collins and King to work for resolution. We can ask Representatives Poliquin and Pingree to do the same.

A fourth approach is also possible – go there and be part of the direct action. Our Unitarian Universalist congregation in Bismarck is deeply involved. Our UUSC is involved. Find out what they need and go get it to them.

It‘s Advent and our minds and hearts would rather be engaged in something more pleasant than the struggle for the control of the Earth and her resources. The four weeks of Advent carry the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. That sounds good to me. Week two – Peace. I’m good with that. Really, I am.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to all.

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to all!
And so, we are waiting. Waiting with the world – for the celebration of the birth of a child so long ago; for the peace that passes human understanding and will prevail; for a peaceful resolution to the seemingly irreconcilable standoff at Standing Rock. This is not a quiet inactive waiting. It is a fully engaged and working without ceasing through love waiting.

Peace on Earth, Good will to All. My dear Spiritual Companions, we long for peace in our hearts, in our homes, in our nation, in the world, and for all of Creation. We also know in the depth of our being that it takes all of us to make it so.

What do we mean by saying, Peace? We mean that we are fully and completely engaged with the divine, with each other and with all our relations – we are All In, as the saying goes – in waiting for, praying for, working for, and expecting the miracle of Peace. It is not beyond possible.

Blessed Be.   I Love You.   Amen.