I was reminded by my trip to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Meadville, Pennsylvania for Julie and Craig’s wedding what an amazing thing is this religious movement of ours. In a totally different setting (the were gathered in 1827 and the brick New England Meetinghouse with its box pews was built in 1836) I was comfortable and felt at home. The wonderful pianist for the church played at the wedding, and we were instant friends. I often wonder what holds together such unlikely congregations of people. I often have faced this issue, both professionally as your minister and personally. I have explained our ties together as a congregation several ways, among them:

We find religion in the heart of each person: the mark of our humanity, that spark of the divine, the essential worth and dignity belonging to every human person. It is this ultimate respect for humanity and for the natural world that is the foundation of our presence here this Sunday, our membership in this congregation, and our participation in the course of free religion. In one approach, this notion forms the spiritual core of our mutual religious identity. In another way of seeing things, this core gives us the spirit that characterizes our communion: warm and friendly, active for justice and peace, open and accessible to new ideas and practices.

I almost entitled this service "The Spirited Free Religion," that is, spirited with a "d." This is part of our secret, for folks do not expect liberals to have all that "enthusiasm" we see in fundamentalist churches -- everyone standing, waving their arms, and singing at the top of their lungs. No, that is not our type of spirit (at church anyway), but we have a spirit that does combine boisterous and friendly personal greetings on Sunday mornings with our dedication to noble causes that benefit others than ourselves.

Sure, I would like more energy on Sundays, more spirit. I find it spiritually moving to lift my voice in vigorous, if offkey, singing. (By the way, I heard a Pittsburgh TV announcer introduce an a capella choir member as also their accompanist; what a great position for a person of my musical abilities: accompanist to a choir eschewing musical instruments!) I remember sitting at the Highlander Center singing folk songs, and the spirit left me energized for weeks, more committed than ever to ending racial segregation. I have been moved to tears by the prayers of my colleagues, the personal stories of so many laypersons, and the liturgical acts of communion and joys and sorrows.

If we were spirited only on Sunday morning, however, we would be failures. The strength of our reputation among intelligent and dedicated people lies not in the enthusiastic participation of members in worship. Our strength lies in the work we do in the community and in the wider world. This winter Ms. Kathy Sreedhar will speak to us about her work in India on behalf of the UUA. There she works primarily with the Untouchables and other outcasts of that strictly segregated society, especially with women. You will be amazed at what we UUs have done with relatively little.

Yet so many people out there expect nothing less from us. For centuries we have spoken brave words and, far more often than most people, backed up those words with brave actions. Beginning with the Abolitionist movement to free American slaves, our forebears, both Unitarians and Universalists, have worked to express their respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person not only in words but also in actions.
 

1. The core

This is the core of our spirit: a respect for others, all others, not just those who agree with us, who are our friends, neighbors, fellow Americans. Our tolerance for the opinions and interests of others is rare in religious groups, if it occurs at all. We UUs actually study other religions and respect their insights and wisdom! So many people think religions are competitive at best, essentially mutually exclusive. We do not, and I suggest to you that the number of people who share our opinions is growing, growing rapidly. I say to you, they have no where else to worship as freely as in our UU churches.

About two hundred years ago in America we created from scratch a religious movement that focused on respect for the worth and dignity of all people, rather than on respect for those who followed a particular prophet or tradition. We are the first in human history to do this ? the first. Oh yes, the heritage is much older; people always have tried to do this. Unitarian groups did get started in Western Europe before America, and some of our basic ideas have been proclaimed, with little obvious effect, since ancient times. Yet, no other group managed to establish a movement that lasted past its founders ? and improved on their efforts! ?like this movement of ours. You could say I am proud of our heritage. It is a tremendous gift to me.

Our spirit comes from this core value and from its results in our lives. First, it gives us freedom, particularly the freedom to open ourselves to the interests, talents, and personalities of other people and other cultures. What a gift this is, broadening our horizons, stretching our minds, inspiring our creativity, and liberating our political and economic goals.

Second, it encourages us to be reasonable and rational, to discipline our passion, to use these marvelous brains of ours. I remind you that this approach to reason ignores race, tribe, clan, class, and all the other potential divisions of humanity -- it is inherently inclusive. Third, our spirit nurtures the human spirit. It does not burden it with either authoritarian leadership or dark visions of devils and ogres of all kinds. We are empowered to unite reason and passion in the cause of human advancement and development. Now this is religion!
 

2. A flexible core

If this great tolerance, acceptance, embrace of the magnificent diversity of the universe and of human nature is our core value, it is an amazingly flexible core. Now, "flexible" is not a word often used in religion, or at least not in a positive sense. Many a religious demagogue damns democracy and modern ideals as flexible, in the mistaken belief that religion must never change, that God must brook no human interference, much less cooperation, and that the universe is forever fixed in its makeup. But all modern people know that third idea is false: the universe is amazingly adaptable, evolving and changing without ceasing. So, too, notions of the divinity have broadened and become ever larger in their underlying concepts, moving from magic to wisdom as the human species has gradually adapted itself to this planet. If the universe and God change, so too does religion.

In some instances we find our tolerance and freedom give us more to agree upon than is found in many other churches. Without a common theology or a definitive tradition, we find an amazing amount of common opinion here on those major intangibles that form the basis of life. Oh, it is most certainly true that we disagree on many things. The range of personal opinion on issues philosophical, theological, social, political, and personal is greater in our churches than anywhere else. This does not apply solely to the details of religion: whether or not one needs to be dunked to be baptized, or even if one needs to be baptized at all. We disagree on the nature of God, even allowing those who believe that it is meaningless to talk about god to be members. So, not only in theology but even in the larger issues we usually consider religious, we lack required beliefs, or religious dogmas.

Since even a few minutes among us will prove my assertion that we do not agree on religious issues, one eventually must face the question, upon what do we agree? We might say things like Love, Peace, Humanity (that's Brotherhood degendered), Justice, and the like. While there is some truth to a statement like this, it also misses the point. What holds us together is so primitive, so basic to our constitution as human beings on this planet, that it cannot be adequately symbolized in even the greatest of abstract notions. No matter how hard we try, we can never capture the essence that unites us. So, we just go ahead and be friendly, trust and love one another.
 
 

3. Religions and denominations

In a statement that would surprise everyone except a UU (and, indeed, this may be a good test to see if friends or visitors are closet UUs), I say that we do not come here as UUs. That's right, we do not come here as loyal members of a particular denomination. While there are many reasons why we might skip a Sunday, there is only one reason why we do make the effort. It is because we sense here a participation in, and homage to, that greater unity which joins all peoples -- all races, classes, and beliefs -- in the larger unity of Creation itself. In this church we can worship the largest God Imaginable, one not interested in the petty obeisance of mortals, one not so insecure as to require sacrifices, one not so simple as to require choirs of angels and gangs of devils in order to make Godly actions intelligible.

Now this can be disconcerting if one is the minister, the pledge drive chairperson, the congregation's president, or the R.E. Director looking for a parent to teach. There are times when outsiders cannot believe we manage to carry on as a corporate enterprise. We are so conscious of the individual's freedom, so afraid of authority and bureaucracy. We are marvels of committee inefficiency, and we can quibble for days over the color of a wall or the purchase of a $30 calculator. We just will not come up with the volunteer time or money other churches obtain from their members. We lack a certain commitment: we do not come to church because we are Unitarian Universalists, but because this is the only place where we can worship freely.

Membership in our congregation has very little to do with your beliefs, which can be very frustrating to some people all the time and everyone at some time. Yet it is so; be prepared to be frustrated! Membership has everything to do with the basis for the beliefs and values which your life expresses. It is that approach to life itself, that undergirding of all you believe in and are willing to sacrifice for, that makes one a UU.

There is in this a kind of wondrous anarchy. We are a movement that shall never know order, simplicity, organization, a common code or dogma or ritual. We shall ever be in a state of apparent -- and all too often real -- confusion. Chaos reigns, and if the truth be known, we rather enjoy it that way. If we were to choose a new denominational symbol, I for one believe the Tower of Babel would not be inappropriate.

It is a marvelously inspiring and creative movement when it is working. When we come together, when we trust enough to share our beliefs and ideals, then we have the most vital spirit, effective community, and the most positive religion. When we trust the Creation and the wonderful variety and mix of humanity, when we learn from another as well as teach, when we respect differences without trying to change them and share fully our own growth and love, then we are truly sparks of the divine notion of a better world. The minor note that we don't know how to spell God is completely inconsequential to our religious health. The details simply do not matter when you have the great spirit within, that shining vision of dignity and respect for all people and the universe.
 

4. The Church Community

Our life together as a congregation is meant to develop us as people. It gives us time for celebrations, worship, play, and support through life's changes, and respect. It renews our resources and directs our attention to what is truly important in our lives. It gives us breadth of vision, depth of experience, and the vitality of creative interchange with a broad mix of people and ideas, all this as an antidote to all that is parochial and narrow in our culture and life. It brings us out, moving us beyond self-interest, beyond tribal or ethnic interest, beyond national or regional interest, to universal involvement. The church is life; it represents some of our best efforts at creating intentionally what we desire for ourselves and for the world.

It seems that it is life itself that holds us together as a congregation, and nothing less will suffice. For we share a special approach to life, one that recognizes our personal role and responsibility and yet is blessed with love and hope for all people. It is not merely the beauty of another person but all the variety and uniqueness that others have to contribute to Creation and to our lives that makes our vision so large and magnificent.

Can we find another group like UUCR anywhere that is so friendly, supportive, and flexible, yet which in ways big and small calls us back to the values and beliefs that make up the depth and meaning of our lives? Certainly not. We have come for those positive experiences of faith and hope which make all limitations worthwhile. For we know these are human limits, and there will always be some vision or need which can be better met. But nowhere is the vision larger, the hope greater, the love more inclusive than in our free faith. No matter how weak the details may be, no matter how limited we may feel as human beings in particular circumstances, in this church, among members of this congregation, there will always be the universal perspective of love and trust and respect for all humanity and for the universe in all its majesty and grandeur.

Particularities shall never promote freedom and democracy and human creativity. The details shall never call us rise above petty selfishness and narrow thoughtlessness. It is never the speck in another's eye which holds back a better world, but the mote which remains hidden in one's own eye. For lack of a higher vision, a more profound depth of love and trust, a more inclusive sense of identity, all the details become insignificant and trivial.