“The Five Smooth Stones of Liberal Religion”

Unitarian Universalism is a LIBERAL RELIGION.
But what does that mean?

Does it mean that we’re all left-leaning democrats? Does it mean that we all support liberal political ideals? That every person in this room voted for Obama – both times?

No. Liberal religion is defined as “a religious tradition which embraces the theological diversity of a congregation rather than a single creed, authority, or writing.”

And Unitarian Universalism fits this definition to a tee. We do not require that you accept a creed in order to cast your lot with us. Our membership in this faith rests on covenant, not on creed. In our covenants we agree to walk together in the ways of Love, to serve one another and the church, to seek truth. This is the promise we make to each other each week.

We approach the questions, while many other faiths are sharing their answers. We don’t claim to have the answers. We support each other in our individual searches for our own answers.

You do not belong in this faith because of your affiliation with any particular political party or outlook, or because your prefer either coffee or tea. You belong to this faith because your approach to the questions of ultimate value, worth, meaning and purpose is a religiously liberal approach. You don’t believe there is only one answer.

In this faith we do have beliefs in common, its not complete chaos… we have our 7 principles, the inherent worth and dignity of every person, justice equity and compassion in human relations, acceptance and encouragement to spiritual growth, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, the right of conscious and use of the democratic process, the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, and a respect for the interdependent web.

These principles unite us, they inspire us, but they are not the only tools we have.

We have six main sources of inspiration: direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder, words and deeds of prophetic women & men, wisdom of the world’s religions, Jewish & Christian teachings of God’s love, Humanist teachings of reason and science, and spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions.

And theologian & Unitarian Minister James Luther Adams gave us the “five smooth stones of liberal religion”.

Seven principles. Six sources. And now five smooth stones?

We shared with you this morning the story of David and Goliath, and we’ve all heard it before because it’s in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures, and it’s made its way to the heart of our contemporary cultural imagination. Goliath the Philistine is big, beefy and belligerent. David the young shepherd boy from Bethlehem steps out of obscurity, waves aside the clumsy armor offered him by Saul, the king of Israel, and, taking five smooth stones and a slingshot, leaves Goliath biting the dust.

Smooth stones. Not the jagged, pointy weapons you might think to pick up in a fight for your life. Thats what I would grasp for anyway. But instead he took stones that had been weathered and evened out by years, eternities of rushing water – grinding down their rough spots, leaving only a soft, smooth face.

We Unitarian Universalists don’t fight our battles with jagged edges. We don’t wield pointy objects. Our largest national social justice campaign is called “Standing on the Side of Love.” There are no jagged edges there.

And so when James Luther Adams wanted to give us instruments for victory within liberal religion – he gave us five smooth stones. This is our armor. This is what we have to fight with. They are our center, the heart of our shared faith, the tools that we carry with us and which help us find our way.

[LEARN]: The first smooth stone is this: Revelation is open and continuous. There are those on the orthodox side of the spectrum who believe that revelation is set down in one book only, and is sealed. Sealed! We, on the other hand, believe that not only is revelation not sealed, but it comes in a variety of forms. The truths that we learn, that get us closer to being the people we are capable of being and closer to the world we are responsible for building, come to us in many ways. A bible verse, sure. But also a Buddhist sutra, a therapist’s observations, a work of fiction. In words, yes. But also in the particular tension of a chord in a particular song, in the way the light hits the trees just so, in the silence of a Quaker meeting. Revelations–glimpses of truth, of meaning, of purpose–may break into our lives an any moment. Any person we meet, like us or different, may contain just the next piece of revelation that connects our personal lives with the broader human and cosmic story. Thus, we covenant to promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people. They are all potential instruments of revelation, along with our books and learning and contemplations and dreams and scientific conclusions. We are open to all of that. We believe in possibility. We believe in opening our minds to new information- and to never stop learning.

[RESPECT]: The second smooth stone reminds us that authentic human relationship is consensual. It is mutual, and never coerced. Our churches are built on covenant, not on hierarchies. Our membership, too, is based in the mutuality of covenant, and not on the tests of a creed. Likewise, our relationships with one another are mutual ones. “We need not think alike to love alike” said the 16th century Unitarian minister, Francis David. Our love for one another does not rest in our willingness to be persuaded to another’s truth. Our love for each other does not depend on the same understandings of God. Our community does not depend on a pecking order. Rather, it depends on all of us choosing to be a part of this faith of our own free will. It depends on our walking together…and on helping one another back to the path when we stray from it. We believe in love which is, after all, the spirit of this church. We respect one another and our beliefs.

[LOVE]: We know that the love between individuals must find expression in the community as a whole, as well as in the wider world. The third smooth stone of Liberal Religion is our obligation to the establishment of a just and loving community. In this faith, we understand that we have a moral imperative to create communities, large and small, that are just and loving for all people. We believe that we must be on the side of justice and love–we believe in the courage that such building can take. We know that love is the answer.

[ACT]: We must gather our courage because of the next truth, the fourth smooth stone: We deny the immaculate conception of virtue. Good in the world does not just appear magically, set down among us by a giant heavenly hand. Good in the world is brought about by hard work, and our human hands must be set to the task of building this good. The just and loving community is not created out of nothing, anymore than the earth was created in six days. It is created when we look into the eyes of another, when we walk together, when we bridge divides, when we insist on equality for all people, when we change our personal and social systems to heal this wounded earth of ours, when we speak up for the voiceless, when we raise our fists against oppressions, when we acknowledge our own participation in broken systems and seek to make amends. We can not sit on our porches, sipping drinks, while off in the distance the battles rage on. The just and loving community does not just appear out of thin air. We know that ultimately, we must get in there and be part of its birth. We believe in human responsibility. Its not enough to believe in good, or to speak of goodness. We believe in action.

[HOPE]: God knows that there is work, yet for us to do, and that task of building the beloved community can seem, at times, impossible. But our faith does not fail us. In the fifth smooth stone, we are given hope. The fifth smooth stone assures us that resources are available–both human and divine–that can help to bring about the changes we seek. These resources are a reason for optimism. James Luther Adams, writing on the other side of World War II, is quick to point out that this does not always mean immediate optimism, but rather in an enduring spirit of humility and renewal which is the foundation of continuing progress. There are resources that are human–our collective knowledge and experience, our never-ending drive toward life, our capability to love, our ingenuity and creativity. There are resources that are divine–the mysteries of grace and coincidence and synchronicity, the unfolding book of the Universe, an unassailable and ever-present interconnectedness and overarching Love. Because revelation is open and continuous, no doubt we will discover more resources along our way. Our optimism–our hope is justified.

These stones are our armor- but what armor do we need today? There are no giants here. What battles are we fighting?

In an article he wrote this past week, Unitarian Universalist minister Rev Josh Pawelek put the feelings in my heart into words. He said:

“Racism is bigger than George Zimmerman, the lawyers, the jury and the judge. It’s bigger than Florida. But it’s alive and well in this story which, at least for now, concludes with the message that it’s OK to kill young black men. Racism wrote that ending. And while racism is not the greatest writer, it is utterly prolific—so prolific that we who inhabit White America often fail to notice that the ending is a lie. The truth is that it’s not OK to kill young black men. There’s nothing OK about it.

I’m not worried about God’s wrath. I don’t believe in a God who punishes us for the injustices we perpetuate against each other. But I do believe in a God who teaches us to abhor injustice with every fiber of our being; who calls us to resist injustice with our words, our songs, our bodies, our sermons, our poems, our marches, our dances, and every other tool we have available. I believe in a God who expects us to struggle and fight for justice and to not quit until we have obtained it, even if we know it will not come until long after we have departed from this earth. And I believe in a God who expects us to love one another. I tremble for my country because we aren’t heeding that God. I tremble for my country because we aren’t treating young black men in a way that is consistent with the teachings, the longings, the vision, the commands and the love of that God. We need to heed that God. We need a different ending to the stories we tell of the lives of young black men. We need to stop letting racism write the endings. It’s time for justice and love to write the endings.”

And after hearing Rev Josh’s words, we have to wonder where do we even begin? How do we overcome as big an issue as racism in this country? How do we answer that call to justice and dignity for ALL?

We are not a religion of violence. We’re not a religion of conversion or creed. What do we have?

Our smooth stones. Learning. Respect. Love. Action. Hope. These are our weapons. Our armor.

Learning: We open ourselves to the revelations that the experiences of others can bring us. Racism is a difficult thing to understand when you haven’t experienced it. You might not even believe it still exists in this country in any real way. But the story of Trayvon Martin has been a revelation to many of us.

Respect: As Unitarian Universalists we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person- which means even those that disagree with us, fight against our beliefs tooth and nail – they deserve our respect as fellow human beings. Everyone is on a different place in their life journey – some of us have have more revelations than others. Communicating with respect will get you further than screaming and shouting.

Love: We stand on the side of love. Our image of the divine is a loving God, and love will overcome hate.

Action: You cannot change the world by sitting on your couch. You can’t even change it by posting angry messages on Facebook. Good intentions are not enough. You have to act. I’m not just talking about loud, public actions- protests and demonstrations – which do have their place… but you have to act every day in ways that help create the world we hope one day to live in.

Hope: And we do hope to live in that world we dream of. We hope and believe that we can make this world a better place. Unitarian Universalists are not just killing time in this life, waiting to be rewarded in the next one. Many of us believe this could be all we get. And so we must continue to hope that it will be better – for us, for our children, our children’s children. Things can get bleak. Some days are black as night. But we do hope – if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here together today.

And so back to our story of David and Goliath… Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

There are giants in our midst. Forces that stand between us and wholeness, between what we are and what we are capable of being. Forces that seek, by their own might and power, to render the beloved community merely a pipe-dream, a naive vision of silly liberals and our disgusting bleeding hearts. There are giants in our midst. Consumerism. Polarization. Fear. Hatred of the stranger. Intolerance. Violence. Apathy. Greed. These are the battles of our age. These are our battles. And we will not fight these with a sword; we will not shield ourselves with unwieldy armor. It is not our way.

Here, on the front lines, we can stand with our feet firmly planted, holding the legacy and the tools of our faith. Five smooth stones. Learning. Respect. Love. Action. Hope. Today I’ve given you a physical representations of these stones this morning to help you keep them close to you, and the words on them are my own interpretations of James Luther Adams’ ideas – but I purposefully used action words, Learn, Respect, Love, Act, Hope because in order for these tools to be useful, we have to actively use them.

And when used with a little skill, the giants don’t stand a chance.

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