Sermons

RESPONSIVE READING ~ by Peter T. Richardson (a partial reading)

Our Covenant

Love is the power that holds us together.

Accountable to one another, we affirm these values:

 

Justice.  We work to be diverse beloved communities where all thrive, with use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions.

We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression.

 

Equity.  We declare that every person, having inherent dignity and worthiness, has the right to flourish.

 

We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.

READING ~ NYT Opinion “A Witch Hunt for the Vulnerable in Tennessee” July 3, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET.  B Margaret Renkl. Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South.

We live in two countries now: one in which basic civil and human rights are recognized and enshrined in law, and another in which ideological extremists can decide how everyone else lives.

 

READING ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter to Birmingham Jail

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.

SERMON

In the first episode of "Call the Midwife"—a British show about post-WWII midwives—the main character Jenny Worth is just starting as a midwife in the East End of London. She experiences a moment of disgust and overwhelm at witnessing the awful experience of one of her expectant mothers.

She apologizes later to the nun she works with by saying, "I'm sorry. I didn't know people lived like this."

Sister Julienne replies, "But they do... and it’s why we're here."

Rev. Forrest Gilmore is the Executive Director of the Shalom Center, a resource center in Bloomington, IN for people experiencing extreme poverty. He tells this story about Midwife Jenny and then he goes on to say ….

“Perhaps the most important thing I've learned from people in poverty is that what they’re experiencing is real no matter what my own personal feelings about it are — whether it's right or wrong, whether it should be or shouldn't be. Their experiences don't go away simply because I don't want those experiences to be there. Their lives are real. And so before anything else, before solutions or judgements or disgust or even overwhelm is the simple gentle call to witness, cleanly and openly, what is real. The only word I have for this is love.”

“To me, this is a tribute to all the people throughout the ages who have witnessed the horrors and hardships of humanity and rather than turn away, judge, or fix, simply began with, “But they do, and that's why we're here."”

NASHVILLE — Two weeks ago, while the rest of America was absorbed by the hunt for a doomed submersible, people in Tennessee discovered that their attorney general was conducting a witch hunt.

As part of a “run-of-the-mill” inquiry into possible billing fraud — as officials described their investigation — the attorney general’s office demanded that Vanderbilt University Medical Center hand over a vast array of documents from its clinic for gender-affirming care. According to Tennessee Lookout, a nonprofit journalism site, those documents include, among others:

• complete medical records for an undisclosed number of patients
• résumés of clinic physicians
• information about the clinic’s Trans Buddy volunteers
• emails sent to and from a public portal for questions about L.G.B.T.Q. health
• the names of people referred to the gender-affirming clinic for care

This disturbing news is from the NYT Opinion essay, “A Witch Hunt for the Vulnerable in Tennessee” July 3, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET.  B Margaret Renkl.     She goes on to say, “We live in two countries now: one in which basic civil and human rights are recognized and enshrined in law, and another in which ideological extremists can decide how everyone else lives.”

Augusta, Maine. Those of us in Maine learned that just this week, our Governor vetoed the bill that would bring more equity and justice to the Wabanaki People; a bill passed by both houses of the legislature with bipartisan votes and supported by a majority of Mainers. Then, the vote to override the veto failed.  And so, justice for the Wabanaki People has been delayed – again.  Justice delayed is justice denied.

Ours is a world of hurt.  There are people who suffer or who are oppressed everywhere.

To suppose that this is not true is to deny in the most disrespectful way the lives and experience of those people.

Ours is also a world of tremendous resources.  When there is trouble, look for the helpers.  They usually come. They come in many ways.  They come because they see that people are living with less than Equity and Justice. Again, we hear the voice of Sister Julienne …, "But they do... and it’s why we're here."

When compassion meets suffering, we have a chance to live into our UU values of equity and justice.  Remember, Cornell West, philosopher, political activist, and now presidential candidate, said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”  Our work, the work our values call us to do, is the public work of love.

Equity and Justice are two of our seven UU values.  Here they are again.

Equity. We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.

Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive. We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions.

How does the call for equity and justice for all relate to us?

Let me offer three thoughts about that.

First, here at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine, we are the recipients of tremendous generosity - through our endowment, through our current givers, and through the dedication of our volunteers.  Together, these resources comprise our Ministry of Philanthropy and Justice.  What we do with our resources matters.  Of course, it matters to those who receive financial, material, spiritual, and human support.  It matters to us too because this ministry of ours is our love in action.  In other words, we care about equity and justice as a critical aspect of our philanthropy.  Without justice, our investments do not result in long term gains.  It is necessary to be about the work of relieving suffering where we can.  This short-term relief alone is necessary – and, it is not sufficient.  We are also investing in long-term change, change that moves us ever closer to the world where every person may flourish and where every person has worth and dignity.

We are called by our faith and our humanity to use our resources to increase equity and justice.  And this congregation has been very intentional about doing that work. And, there is always more to do.

Here’s my second thought.

As Dr. King said, we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

There is little separation between what happens to the least of our neighbors and what happens to each of us.

If we have the conviction of our faith and if we take seriously the values that guide us, then we surely must know that when we work to right the wrongs that deny equity and justice to a few, we also work to preserve these rights for all, including ourselves.

We are living the fact right now that equity and justice are fragile.  Despite our founders statement of the self-evident truth that all of us are created as equals and that all of us are to enjoy life, liberty and happiness, there are those who are determined to reject equity and justice for all and replace that truth with a caste system in which only some people have human and civil rights while others are intentionally and systematically denied these rights through force of law.  We who think we are in the protected castes may find out tomorrow or the next day that our rights and liberty are under assault.

Working for the well-being of others results in the secondary consequence of strengthening our own well-being.

When we assure the rights and happiness of others, our own is reinforced.

We show up for others, and we all benefit.

When we fail to show up for others, we all lose.

So, our UU values make us accountable for showing up. …. Practicing Love in Public.

Now, here’s my third thought – last but not least.

We must care for ourselves as we care for each other.

When asked, Teacher, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said:

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

John J. Thatamani, who is the Associate Professor of Theology and World Religions at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, puts it this way, in the form of a serious, not rhetorical, question.

“Do our traditions intimate that we are ourselves priceless treasures, that we ought to desire our own well-being, not at the expense of others but as a precondition and prerequisite for loving others? An important moment prompted me to take this theme with greater seriousness. In the Eastern Religions classes I taught many years ago, I showed a now-dated but lovely film, "The Footprint of the Buddha." In that film, the interviewer and narrator Ronald Eyre asks a Buddhist monk the question, "Can a person who does not love himself love another?" And the sagacious monk responds with an irrepressible chuckle and emphatic seriousness, "It is impossible."”

The Buddhist Loving Kindness Meditation bears witness to the eternal truth that to engage in compassion and to work for equity and justice, we must include loving kindness toward ourselves.  This is a serious practice; one that takes time, intention and effort to even begin to be effective.  Sharon Salzberg—one of the world's leading loving-kindness meditation teachers—offers us a profound sense of connection through her teachings, guiding us to live our lives with greater intention and compassion.  She says to begin this way: “May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live my life with ease.” We begin with ourselves.  Then, and only then, we can expand our loving kindness outward.

When we think about the Native American concept of reciprocity, as explained so well by Robin Wall Kimmerer, we come back to the place of understanding that we ourselves are included in the circle and process of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and interdependence.  If I am not strong, how can I be helpful?  If I do not claim my rightful and appropriate place in the web of all existence, how can I be helpful in restoring and preserving health and balance?

In our song, How Can Anyone? By Libby Roderick, the question becomes deeply moving.

We so often think of others as we sing this song – and rightly so.

But, just for a moment, I invite you to turn your focus inward and imagine that these words so familiar to us are about you.  Imagine your own compassionate heart singing to your less-than-perfect self.

How could anyone ever tell you
you were anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you
you were less than whole?

Are we, are you, am I, able to take in the compassion of these words and let that compassion flow through us?  This is truth for the head, strength for the body, food for the soul, and love for the heart.

Equity and Justice are two of the seven values our Unitarian Universalist faith that are central to who we are, how we understand ourselves, and how we show up in the world.

Three thoughts I leave with you this day.

1. Our Ministry of Philanthropy and Justice matters.
2. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
3. We cannot care for others unless we care for ourselves.

Taken together, how can we fail to move this world closer to the Beloved Community we imagine but cannot yet experience?  This is our faith.  It can move mountains of injustice and inequity.

My Dear Spiritual Companions, Let this precious faith of ours refresh and sustain you for the journey we share toward wholeness.

Blessed Be.   I Love You.   Amen.