Saving Stories – Julia J Aegerter – Dec. 1, 2002
There may have been a point in time when people celebrated their own religious holidays – not knowing there were others or at least unimpeded by others.
But tribes and religions and nations no longer have the luxury of maintaining distance. The barriers of distance have been broken and we for good or ill must learn to live together.
Today we have the confluence of at least three great saving stories for it is Ramadan, Hanukkah, Advent.
The story of Hanukkah is represented by our first hymn, Rock of Ages. In early Judaism, making sacrifices at the Temple was understood to be the way to God. As such the Temple was the focal point of Judaism. The Greeks were the rulers of the area in which the Jews lived and they had decreed that Judaism and other local religions should be stopped. Kosher food, circumcision and celebrating the Sabbath were outlawed under pain of death. Many Jews were filled with admiration of Greek culture and began to assimilate. But others were deeply committed to the Torah and were enraged at the oppression of the Jews and the complicity of many of their fellow Jews.
One priest and his five sons, who came to be known as the Maccabees led Jews in a three year guerrilla war against the Greeks. In 166 BCE they won and set out to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem. (this legend is told in the Bible in the books entitled 1st and 2nd Maccabees. When they got to Jerusalem they found the temple in ruins- the altar had been desecrated, the gates had been burnt down, and the courtyards were overgrown with weeds.
First, they mourned and then they began to build a new temple. Two years later when the Temple was ready they dedicated it with hymns of Thanksgiving to God. It is said that they only had enough holy oil to burn for one night but that somehow the oil lasted for eight.
And so it is at this time of year that Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lighting candles for 8 nights. Night after night the light increases and night after night Jews experience and feel the turn to light from the moment of darkness, the turn toward salvation from the moment of despair.
For many people the saving story of Christianity has been the resurrection which is why Christmas has become an important holiday. It celebrates the birth of the one who is thought to be the messiah.
The power of this story is demonstrated in a film titled, The Body. In this film an archaeologist has discovered a body and suspects that it might be the body of Jesus. It means a various things to various people. A young Jesuit has been sent from Rome to determine whether or not it is the body of Jesus. As we watch we learn the significance of this finding to various groups of people. To the archaeologist it means the discovery of a lifetime. To the Palestinians and the Israelis it is a token to be used in a political game. Matt, the Jesuit, tells why it is important to him that this body not be the body of Jesus. The obvious reason is that if it was the body of Jesus than Jesus could not have been resurrected as believed by Christians.
But this story has personal significance for Matt. He grew up in a South American country and was a gun toting troublemaker until he met Fr. Manuel, a Jesuit priest. Fr. Manuel took Matt under his wing and was like a father to him. Fr. Manuel was a liberation priest and one day he enlisted Matt as a soldier of Christ. This meant not only that he became Christian but that he began fighting with the revolutionaries. Matt became an intelligence agent. It turns out that one day he passed on a bad piece of information to his friend the priest and the priest was killed. Matt has been carrying around responsibility for the death of his friend for many years. He says – I sent Fr. Manuel to his death – if this body is that of Jesus them I sent Fr. Manuel to oblivion to nothingness.
The mandate of the Qur’an is to “transform the world through action in the world.” For Muslims not just belief but also practice is imperative. One month each year, Muslims must fast from dawn to sunset. It is a time for reflection and spiritual discipline. It is a time to express gratitude to God for God’s guidance, to develop an understanding of human frailty and to remember and respond to the needs of the poor and hungry.
Ramadan is the month that the Qur’an was revealed.
One of the things that I have observed about Islam is that their heroes and prophets are all good. In the Jewish bible we read of kings like David and important men like Abraham and they are meant to be well regarded but they are also shown to be human – they are not gods – they have many foibles – they lie, steal. When we read the accounts of these same men in the Qur’an we find that they are perfect people. In Christianity there is some tolerance for joking and irreverence – in Judaism it is perfectly acceptable and in Islam it is forbidden.
I believe the difference has to do with the saving power of the stories for the followers. In Islam these figures were chosen by god – they are not to be mocked nor any dispersion caste on them. These figures attest to the power of God and to a Muslim salvation lies in the submission to the will of God.
You can tell a saving story by the tenacity with which it is held.
What, I wonder is your saving story?
A few weeks ago Brandon Scott, a biblical scholar, told a story of going to a UU Church to present his understanding of parables. He said that the people who seemed to have the most difficulty with his ideas were the humanists in the group. He surmised that this was because they had gone through a painful separation from the churches and beliefs of their childhoods and now they did not want to be presented with a story which said they could hold these stories and their doubts too. They could not afford to be wrong about leaving Christianity.
Unitarian Universalism has a saving message. The message is that each of you has inherent worth and dignity. It’s not something you earn by virtue or education or how much money you earn or the wealth you have accumulated. It has nothing to do with your skin color, age, sexual orientation or gender. It is yours by virtue of being and it is yours always. And your dignity is something you claim not something bestowed on you.
In a time when so many are devalued and demeaned. It is an important message. Our insistence that this is true coupled with our seventh principle which says we are all interconnected is perhaps the most important message we can take into a bruised and war torn world.
After the Columbine massacre – a UU minister from Columbine spoke to his colleagues and told us how one of the youths in his church came to him and told him the story of how he had been picked on in school and that he thought that if it wasn’t for the UU church in Columbine he could have been one of those shooters.
Children are under tremendous pressure to conform. Some of them cannot. Some of them are not smart enough to be in honors classes. Some are not athletes. Some are not beautiful. Some are not straight. Some cannot achieve the standards their parents set for them. All of them need to know that they still have worth.
In this church we invite the participation of children with us on Sunday. They take the collection or pass out hymnals if they want. They light candles and share their concerns with them. We clap for them, sing to them. Sometimes they are noisy and or disturb the atmosphere some of us would like. If they bother you try to remember that by having them here we are telling them that we value them. It is a very, very important message.
Thursday, I was down at United Caring Shelters along with many people from the congregation. And I struck up a conversation with a man there. He told me how he came to be here in Evansville and now eating there at the shelter. When he found out that I was a minister he seemed to feel compelled to tell me he wasn’t a very good Christian, which is not an uncommon response. It seems that as soon as someone finds out I am a minister they either begin to go on and on about their faith or sheepishly confess that they are not good Christians.
For some reason – I said don’t worry – Unitarian Universalists aren’t necessarily Christian, which proved to be a conversation starter in this case. He was happy to learn that we valued the truths found in all religions. He said that the creeds had always been a stumbling block for him. He said that when he got himself together he would come to our church.
I have one regret from our conversation and that is, that I didn’t say “you don’t have to get yourself together to come to our church.”
I believe that if we have a message here – it is to be that all are welcome. And I hope that being here will help people to get themselves together.
I hope you think that way too. Sometimes Unitarians have prided themselves on being smart people or educated people. Sometimes Unitarians have worried about their standing in the community.
Some of us may be highly educated, many may be smart but this is not the saving message we bring to the world. The world will not end because there aren’t enough people with Ph.D.’s in it.
One of my colleagues said, “it is our mission to enhance human dignity and create circles of love.”
We are developing a reputation for being a friendly congregation. I hope that when folks ask you about your church you will speak of it as friendly and welcoming.
I have recently become part of a three year interfaith study group which is applying for a grant to study the topic of hospitality both experientially and intellectually. In reflecting on Evansville and our individual congregations we decided that one of the serious challenges was welcoming the stranger.
When our grant is funded and our program starts I will be letting you know more about it. I hope it provides us with some things to think about.
I hope that we can build on what we have here. That we can continually expand our own individual circle of comfort to take in more and more of that which may seem strange to us. That we can continually challenge each other and this congregation to become a place where people not only come to tell their own stories but to hear the stories of others.
That we find here the strength and support so that we may stand up in the wider Evansville community for justice and love of the stranger.
Amen and may it be so.