Walking with Grace. (Version 2a) A Sunday service led by the Reverend Michael Walker, Interim Minister

Transcription

1 Walking with Grace (Version 2a) A Sunday service led by the Reverend Michael Walker, Interim Minister Presented on October 4, 2015, at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

2 CALL TO WORSHIP (by Rev. Michael Walker) Walk with grace into this sacred space, Walk with this community for a time. Be welcome in this house of love, Step into the arms of this embrace... Share your burdens and your cares, Know that we hear you and hold you. With a sense of grace do we receive... The gifts of this community. With a touch of grace do we give... Our care and attention to each other. For all these things and more, Do we light our flaming chalice today. May it ever be so and blessed be you all! CHILDREN S MESSAGE: Mussa and Nagib 1 Once, two friends named Mussa and Nagib made a journey through the mountains of Persia on camel back. They came after a time to a place where a stream flowed by a sandy bank and trees gave shade. There they had a discussion, which turned into an argument. Nagib grew angry, and for the first time ever, he slapped Mussa across the face. Mussa was stunned. He felt angry. He wanted to slap Nagib back. But then he thought, I cannot be too mad at my friend because I could have done the same thing. We are alike, and I care about him, and I don't want to fight with him anymore. So he walked over to 1 Adapted from Malba Tahan (Julio Cesar de Mello e Souza, ). October 4, 2015 Page 2 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

3 the trees instead and picked up a stick. With the stick he wrote in the sand, Today my best friend slapped me. Then he and his friend stood in silence and watched as the desert wind blew the words in the sand away. By the time the writing had disappeared Nagib had said that he was sorry. The friends got back on their camels and rode to their destination in a distant city. On their trip back through the mountain pass they stopped again at the same river. This time the two friends decided to take a swim. Since their first visit, the rains had made the current stronger and river much deeper. Mussa, the friend who had been slapped, stepped into the water first. Right away, he slipped on a rock, was dragged under by the current, and began to drown. Nagib jumped in without a second thought and pulled his friend to safety. The two friends again sat in silence for some time until Mussa had regained his breath. Then he rose and went to his saddlebags. There he found a carving knife. This time he went to a rock near the river. Into the rock he carved these words, Today my best friend saved me. Again the two friends sat in silence. Finally Nagib spoke, My friend, after I hurt you, you wrote the words in sand. Now after I saved you, you wrote the words in stone, why? Mussa replied, When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. This way our hearts are free from bitterness, and we can renew our friendships. October 4, 2015 Page 3 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

4 But, when someone does something kind for us, we must engrave it in stone and in our hearts so that we will never forget. Thank you my friend, said Nagib. I am very grateful for our friendship. I don t ever want to hurt you again. The two friends embraced and continued on their journey together. JOYS AND SORROWS (Clover Lane) We hold these Joys and these Sorrows in our hearts and minds, so that our friends do not carry them alone. And, furthermore, let us offer a prayer for the sorrows of the wider world, as well... PASTORAL PRAYER (by Rev. Michael Walker) Spirit of Life and Love, Fount of Grace within ourselves, We pray. We pray with heavy hearts, After yet another day of senseless violence That has taken the lives of young people at school. Calling on this Fount of Grace within ourselves, And knowing that our prayers are only words Which must necessarily accompany our actions... We pray we hold our elected leaders accountable, Seeking to change a pattern of violence in society; Guns do kill people, when we allow unstable people access to guns. Finally, and most importantly, we pray... For those whose lives were cut short, Or who were injured in the shooting in Oregon. It is for peace, and the end of violence, that we pray. May it ever be so and blessed be you all! October 4, 2015 Page 4 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

5 OFFERING This congregation offers a liberal spiritual home to seekers from all walks of life. We are proud of the work we do in the community, the classes we offer for children and adults, for the care and concern provided by this community and it s staff, and for these two beautiful campuses that have each become a spiritual home for so many. If you are here for the first time, we invite you to let the offering basket pass you by. You are an honored guest. And if you have made this your spiritual home, that works with partners on issues of economic, immigration and environmental justice in Pennsylvania. UUPALM educates opinion leaders, policy makers, UU congregations and the public about these issues, with an emphasis on linking UU values and spiritual development to our advocacy. If you are writing a check, please specify on the Memo line whether this is for your Pledge, an offering to UCH, or for the Share-the-Plate recipient. Thank you, all, for your generosity. This morning s offering will now be received. we thank you for your continuing generosity. Every month, we also collect donations during the Offering, to support a worthy cause. This month, our Share the Plate recipient is UUPALM, an organization October 4, 2015 Page 5 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

6 Walking with Grace Reverend Michael Walker some to be an aspect of human behavior: not just graceful, but also gracious. There is an old Unitarian teaching: It is by our deeds, not our creeds, that we are saved. 2 In other Grace is an ethereal concept, not very grounded in mundane life, or so it may seem at first glance. Some think of grace as a virtue, given as a gift from on high, which we did not ask for, nor had a reasonable expectation that it was our right to receive it. Others see grace as the moment in time in which your karma and reality meet, and you chose to drive your karma on the high road. For some folks, grace may be some innate quality of natural ease and charisma in any situation, that one did not seem to have to work to achieve. And finally, of most concern to me, grace is thought of by words, that it is by doing good work in the world, rather than what we believe in, that places us squarely into a state of grace. And, like all of our human values, it is somewhat aspirational something we work to achieve, knowing that on some days, we may miss the mark. But tomorrow, we can get up and try again! Sometimes, it is difficult to live up to the admonitions of the spirit, to embody grace, and to aspire to exceed the minimum of expectations that are placed upon us by ourselves, as well as by others. I know 2 Attributed to William Ellery Channing. October 4, 2015 Page 6 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

7 something of this... There are days in which I feel I have not lived up to the very high bar I set for myself. There are some days that I feel I did not embody grace or live up to the admonitions of my spirit. And then, I get up the playing with you. You re going to take my toys! Rather, it seems as if all is forgiven and grace is extended, when one is looking at the world with the eyes of a child. next morning, and I start over again. An old friend once shared a delightful thought with me. She asked: Have you ever noticed how two children play together? Well, of course, we all have. Watching them, we might notice that one day, while playing together, one child takes the other child s toy. Wow, the one who was playing with that toy will get really upset! There s lots of crying and commotion. But, by and by, it all gets worked out. And, have you noticed, the next time those children get together to play, they just start playing? The one does not say, Oh, no! I m not In recent years, I have found it challenging to see and appreciate grace, in all its glory and beauty and hopefulness. I believe that grace is all around us within us, without us, around, over and under us it is everywhere. And yet, it is sometimes difficult to see it in the fog surrounding us and our lives. You see, life is so full of chaos most of us have something that occupies the majority of our time, like work, school, raising a family or other important pursuits that fill our lives. And most of us have important responsibilities. They may October 4, 2015 Page 7 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

8 include spending time with spouses or partners, caring for children or elderly parents or both, or perhaps some sort of public service or many other types of responsibility. And many of us have other activities that call to us, such as the time we may spend at church, or helping the neighbor with yard work, or learning to play a musical instrument, or many other interests. Our time is quite full, our responsibilities are quite big, and there is never quite enough time for those things that really interest us. In short, life is hectic; it is chaotic. This chaos is like a fog that settles over us, making it difficult to see anything else. And so, in the midst of all of this, it is sometimes difficult to see grace. Recall a small favor that someone did for you, without you asking. Or, the fact that someone decided not to take offense, when you or I said something in a rush, something that might have been worded better, something that could have hurt their feelings, except that they chose to take in those words gracefully and gave a gracious response in return. There was also the time that your arms were full of stuff, and a stranger held a door for you. And that time when someone you care about called you out of the blue, just because they were thinking of you. Maybe you have been the beneficiary of such graces; maybe you have been the benefactor In truth, I believe that they are actually one and the same. That those who give grace, receive grace; and that those who receive grace, give grace. Yes, that may seem a little puzzling; so, let s further unpack the concept of grace. It seems to me that October 4, 2015 Page 8 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

9 grace is one of those words that is not easily defined; it applies to attitudes, and virtues, and actions, and points in time, and Grace crosses borders, and is a word that means something deeply profound, so deep, we find it difficult to speak of it, precisely and concisely. There is another word that may help, when unpacking a word like grace that has been so much a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage. That other word is agape, sometimes known as platonic love, or divine love, or both. It is an extensive form of love for humanity, for life, for existence. It is this regard for the other, having a sense of care and compassion for our fellow people that makes us special. And, as a spiritual practice, I believe that grace is the outward manifestation of that feeling, The Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber once said, Next to being the children of God our greatest privilege is being the brothers of each other. Setting aside the non-inclusive language of his era, Buber was known for his philosophical ideas regarding relationships. Of particular interest to us today, he spoke of an I-Thou relationship, that is discernible between any two beings a relationship without a definitive format, which conveys no particular message. It s just a magnetic moment of connection: between two people who make eye contact from across the room, between me and my cat, between an artist and their landscape, between a person praying and the Eternal Thou that they see all around them. It is that emotion, that we call agape or platonic love. October 4, 2015 Page 9 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

10 an eternal dialogue that needs no words. A scholar of Buber s philosophy has written, I-Thou is a relationship that stresses the mutual, holistic existence of two when for no particular reason one of us performs (consciously or not) some kindness for another. You don t have to know the stranger for whom beings. 3 It is not a measurable phenomenon, but it is you opened the door, in order to love and respect them as discernible by one with a discerning eye. That is: It can be seen by one who is looking for it. So, what do we have here, in all the complexity of our theological ideas? First, there is the I-Thou relationship that each of us has with every other being in existence that we ever come into contact with It is a relationship that we further foster with agape or that love we hold for humanity, for life, for existence. And that is a love that is expressed through grace, the little moments 3 Kramer, Kenneth, and Mechthild Gawlick. Martin Buber s I and Thou: Practicing a Living Dialogue. Paulist Press, 2003, p. 39. a living, breathing human being, struggling through the trials of life, just as you are; just as we all are. And the small kindness that you offer to such a person that is grace. However, doesn t it seem a little too easy, maybe a bit too simplistic, to just leave it there? There must be more to grace than that! It is precisely when life is just too crazy, too busy, too stressful, too painful, that one is most in need of grace. It is when confronted by one we know well, as opposed to that stranger, when we find it most difficult to October 4, 2015 Page 10 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

11 offer some grace. It is when communication has broken down, when emotions are running high, when it is difficult to see the inherent worth and dignity in the person across from us, that grace could be of some help to us, and to them. Stop. Take a breath. And then another. And try to look at this person you care about, but who has made you so angry, and try to see them with the innocent eyes of a child. Try to perceive them with a sense of grace, realizing that their day has been just as bad as yours. And, realize that you will get up tomorrow, and try again to seek a state of grace within yourself. And, so will they. We can forgive each other; we can forgive ourselves. Let me take a few moments to share a story of agape, with a slice of humble pie to go with it... In 2008, I spent a year serving the big church in San Diego as their Intern Minister. To give some context: they claimed to be a thousand-member congregation, with 20 staff, and three of those were ministers. There were also five community ministers affiliated with the church, so there was a whole bunch of ministers running around there and I was the lowest on the totem pole. And, being the lowest ranking member of the leadership team, it fell to me to organize the annual Christmas potluck. In the context of this big church, this event was actually fairly small, usually attracting around 50 people. Most of them were homeless, fed by October 4, 2015 Page 11 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

12 members of the congregation very few members actually came to be part of a church social. I m told that it began as the biggest event of the church year, decades ago, but it has since evolved (or devolved, depending on your point of view) into a small, but important, public service. I had been told that a particular member of the congregation had been the hostess of this event for decades, sometime in the distant past. This is something that she had done with her late husband. There was a likelihood that she would wish to be involved, that she would have many strong opinions, and that she would be very critical. I decided that I was going to try to take the what she felt she might want to be involved with, and she chose to be responsible for the decorations. She was feeling her years, and didn t feel quite up to much more than that, and that was just fine. Well, the process for planning went on for about a month, and we finally arrived on Christmas day We opened our doors and we had a meal. This member had beautifully decorated the hall and many, many other members had brought food, including several turkeys. The table was overflowing. And we had a full house of guests. During the course of the morning, for reasons that are still unknown to everyone who was there, this lady was heard to exclaim loudly, This man is so high road, and I reached out to her and asked for her advice before she thought to come to me. I asked her incompetent, he cannot plan a potluck! business being a minister! He has no October 4, 2015 Page 12 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

13 Please do not misunderstand me, because I m not making fun of this person, at all. You see: we were expecting this. This person had a reputation. She was so well known in the congregation, that one of the wellmeaning matrons of the church was attending specifically for the purpose of helping to run interference with this member. And, when this occurred I reminded myself that she had shown me pictures of the church s Christmas dinners, back in the 1960s and 70s. It was a black tie affair, with china and silver and crystal goblets. It was a beautiful event that she used to host with her beloved husband, who is now deceased. I suppose it s a good thing that I knew all of these things, and so did not take her judgment personally. She was grieving her loss, and it had very little to do with me. Something else happened that day. A gentleman walked up to me. He was not a member of the congregation, he was not well dressed, and he probably had not bathed. Clearly, this gentleman was homeless, and may have been one of the several men who lived in the canyon outside the windows of the church sanctuary. He walked up to me, and he said, I want to thank you. I was very hungry. That was it. There was a group of people, most of the people there, who had only one place they could go for a family Christmas dinner. And that was this church. On that Christmas day, the gift of grace, the gift for me to realize, was learning to live in the tension between the very different expectations of very different people. And, to learn to love them both. Agape is a love October 4, 2015 Page 13 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

14 for all of humanity, with all of its wrinkles and foibles and idiosyncrasies. You love everyone, because you love life, and everyone is sharing that life with you. Life is too short, to not spend life as one full of love and grace! BENEDICTION (by Rev. Michael Walker) Let each of us give and receive grace With every thought we have, With every word we utter, With every action we take. We each need only express ourselves with all the grace we can muster, and be prepared to receive the same in-kind. And, if it happens that we don t receive the same, let s offer up even more grace. It is our challenge to see grace in the fog of our busy lives, in the midst of chaos, and when faced by high emotion that will fade to a whisper, if only we are graceful enough to let that happen. May the compassion of this gathered community Go with you on your weekly sojourn Through life, and work, in joy and pain, Whenever you need and wherever you go. Until this community comes together again, May you walk through life with Hope, love and grace, everlasting. May it ever be so and blessed be you all! May it ever be so and blessed be you all! October 4, 2015 Page 14 Unitarian Church of Harrisburg