It Means Everything to Me

a sermon by Reverend Lynn Thomas Strauss

Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville, September 10, 2006

"The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise"
Psalms 51:17

This morning I ask you to think with me, to feel with me, what it means to live with a broken spirit, what it means to come to church with a broken spirit. For I think we all come with broken places within us…we all come with hearts broken by the tragedies of life, we all come with our will and energy sapped by doubts about ourselves, and the knowledge that we are not always courageous, kind, or generous.

We know that sometimes we are like the turtle, we just don’t feel like helping out…or like the Toucan, we stand back and judge and think that someone’s suffering and pain will be a lesson to them…and sometimes we don’t help cause we are afraid, and sometimes we turn away because we are hurting and we feel no one is helping us.

You know it isn’t easy to speak the truth. It isn’t easy to talk about those things that mean the world to you. But I’ll try to both – to share with you the hard stuff, the real suffering that is part of our lives and the life of this congregation…and I’ll try to speak of how much it all means- and how what we do or don’t do matters.

We also come to church in search of meaning, seeking a new perspective, a new say of being and living.

Like the children’s story, The Ant and the Elephant, our personal and family stories, and the stories of our country and the world, often begin with big needs, big problems; war, illness, violence, loneliness- the pain and suffering that comes to us all at times in our lives.

The truth is we are all broken. The truth is we are all in need of help.

How many of us are here this morning? 230? If we counted everyone…and then acknowledged one hurts, one needs each…that might add up to about 460 needs, 460 men, women and children needing help.

And that’s only in this room…that’s not even thinking about the needs and pain that exist outside these walls.

If we’re all hurting, if we all in need…if there are 500 needs here and now…what are we going to do? What on earth are we going to do? Who is going to help? And how is this going to change my perspective about life, change it toward an open and transforming truth?

Well, first of all, I am sure that if we name our hurts and our needs, we are at a good starting place…if we acknowledge need, and speak of the broken places…then there is some hope…then there is an opening, then there is the possibility that some help might actually come.

Perhaps this is part of the insight of the passage from the Psalms…”the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit”… Why sacrifice…why is it a sacrifice to admit, to offer up our broken spirit?

Because it is an offering that is true. Because to say what is real for you, to open yourself and allow others to see your broken heart is a gift…and an opportunity.

So often, we’re like elephant, thinking, saying…oh, I’m big, I will never need help. It is my job to be a helper, it is my calling to serve others…I don’t need help from anyone, I can take care of myself.

This is hubris…this is denial, this is ridiculous…we all need help… The wise author Bill Peet, and the wise author of the Psalms both agree… We humans…and animals too apparently…we all are in need of others…and that’s ok, that acceptable, even to God. And its an opportunity.

So part of my job as preacher is to name the broken places, for that is where we must begin. We begin in need. As individuals, as families, as a community, as a nation, as a world, we begin in need…we approach with a broken spirit.

And as I said, speaking the truth is not easy. Too often I want to protect you from the truth. Too often I want to work behind the scenes taking care of the needs of this community and shielding you from the painful things. Too often I think I am an elephant. I worry that you will be hurt if you know the full brokenness of our congregation and of our world.

Too often, I suppose, I am afraid that I or we won’t be able to do enough…won’t be able to help adequately. Too often I don’t offer you the opportunity you need most.

Too often I forget the power of healing…the healing power of this community, the depth of helpfulness available within each of us…for in addition to brokenness…we are also all blessed with strength, with abundant gifts, with love and compassion. And we have the power, the wisdom to find the meaning within brokenness.

It is impossible to experience grace…if we are closed, if we are tight, if we admit to no vulnerability. For grace, like generosity, follows need.

There is so much on my heart this morning…I am so aware of the brokenness in the world; President Bush has admitted to the world that our nation has held prisoners in secret detention camps – our country has taken men from their wives and from their children and put them away in secret…I can scarcely believe it.

And the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has released documents that prove that the justifications for going to war against Iraq were false.

And in Kabul, 14 Afgans and 2 American soldiers were killed
And in a city near New Delhi, Muslim worshippers were killed
And in Darfur, families are living and dying in camps
And in Lebanon, the peace is tenuous

And tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of the September 11th…
And we are all remembering the shock and the loss and the devastation-
And we’re still in shock. And we still in mourning as a nation.

Is there any doubt that the world is broken…that the world is in need of healing?

And I am so aware of the brokenness…of the pain and suffering that is part of the life of this congregation.

So many living, struggling, suffering with cancer.
So many living, struggling, suffering with mental or emotional illness.
So many facing difficult surgeries and painful recoveries.
So many out of work, or worrying about money.

So many alone and afraid.
So many facing scary life transitions.
So many living like elephants, or turtles or toucans or lions
So many closed hearts

Is there any doubt that we are broken…that we are in need of healing of help? In need of new meaning, new perspective- transformation on a soul level.

And so what is the good news, you might ask? Well, our brokenness, our need, is the good news! For how do you feel when someone helps you, when someone truly sees your need and acknowledges it…how do you feel when there is a moment of grace in your life, or a light of hope…when you realize you are not alone…the moment when tears come to your eyes because you know that someone cares. Because you see a possibility you didn’t see before.

When the elephant helped the ant…it was for the elephant a simple thing, a small matter…but for the ant…it was huge…for the ant, It meant everything. It changed his life, it saved his life.

What has meant everything to you?
It means everything to me, a friend said, that my boyfriend took in my aging cat. His apartment building doesn’t allow pets, but I couldn’t leave my cat behind, he is too old to be separated from me. So we have been sneaking the cat into the apartment, keeping him a secret. And my boyfriend doesn’t even like cats…but his generosity in sharing the care of my beloved geriatric cat…has meant the world to me.

It has been a gesture, a gift that has shifted my perception, renewed my optimism, made everything possible again.

Speaking for myself, it means everything to me, that I can call my best friend and share all the bad stuff I feel. I can admit envy and jealously, I can talk about my fears, I can cry…and nothing I have ever said has caused the friendship to waver. My friend has loved me through it all, and that has meant everything to me.

Everyday there is a new possibility for me, a new way of seeing things, understanding myself-because my friend loves me, no matter what.

I want to close by sharing another truth - another truth about this congregation….yes, we are all broken, and yes we all need help…but another truth is that UUCR is a congregation of ants…a congregation of helpers. People are helping one another all the time.

People are writing cards, visiting nursing homes, making casseroles, Making phone calls, picking people up for church, baking cookies for memorial receptions, asking after one another, listening to one another, Inviting one another to dinner and a movie…the helper ants in this congregation are busily working to help with the 500 needs that we are bring. There is grace at work in this church. When we share our need, there is a response of generosity and care…that is grace.

We need to pay attention to the suffering in the world, to those in need around us, and to the broken places within ourselves.

To know that a broken spirit, a broken heart is acceptable might free is all, in ways we can’t even imagine.

Know too, that your kind gesture, your gift of caring might mean everything to someone else.

Let us go forward meditating on these things in our hearts.

Amen/Blessed Be/Shalom