"Our Faith Today, Part I"

You have to go all the way back 

        to the beginning of Christianity

                to understand our faith today.

In the early years after the death of Jesus,

        vigorous debates about the unity of God 

                and the salvation of all souls

                        could have taken Christianity in another direction.

Our predecessors argued for unity and universal salvation.

Their promising and fertile affirmations lost out, however, 

        in the struggle for control of the church, 

                which labeled them as heresies

                        and banished them to the margins forever.

 

Our tradition grew

        out of these stifled but hardy roots.

It bears little similarity – at least in content –

        to the faith we practice here and now.

Yet the tensions and potential that were present 

        three hundred years after the death of Jesus

                were formative for us

                        and inform our faith today.

 

Unitarian Universalism still offers a compelling alternative

        to the dominant view of religion –

                an alternative that opens minds to diversity

                        and hearts to all humanity.

It is simple, 

        in the sense that it avoids unnecessary distinctions

                and exclusions.

And it is sophisticated, 

        because it challenges the mind to grasp pluralism

                and oneness at the same time.

How we understand and practice this faith

        has a lot to say to our world. 

 

Joseph Hough, president of Union Theological Seminary in New York,

        has given memorable interviews recently

                on National Public Radio and in The New York Times,

                        sounding a provocative and timely call 

                                to come to grips 

                                        with the reality of religious pluralism

                                                in our world.

He spoke as a Christian theologian

        struggling with his own tradition

                in the grim but illuminating aftermath 

                        of the terrorist attacks.

Christians need a "new theology of religions,"

        he said.

We cannot make sense of diversity any other way.

People have very different ideas about 

        who God is 

                and what God asks of them

                        and how to be a religious community.

What this means 

        and how people of diverse faiths 

                should view each other

                        are questions this "new theology" must answer.

A pluralistic worldview allows the possibility

        that different faiths in different cultures

                each help people to seek what they need –

                        God, 

                                redemption, 

                                        an ethical life. 

Each path that people follow 

        has its own integrity,

                its own sense of truth.

 

These are allowances that traditional Christianity –

        and most traditional religions, actually –

                have not been willing to make.

Hough observed

        that Christianity operates by an "exclusionary principle,"

                an assumption that only Christians have received 

                        the revelation of God.

Though believers may teach and practice tolerance,

        such tolerance has little meaning

                if other faiths are seen to have lesser value.

A new "theology of religions" would teach

        that others faiths have wisdom and value too,

                expressed in diverse ways.

 

What Joseph Hough wants

        is something of a breakthrough 

                for Christian thinking about religious pluralism.

Relinquish the "exclusionary principle."

Other faiths have their truth too.

Learn about them 

        and understand their power.

"There is ample evidence," Hough said,

        "in the best of the world's religions,

                including our own,

                        that God's work is effective.

Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others

        have been and are being transformed 

                by a powerful vision of God

                        that redeems them with hope

                                and infuses their religious practice

                                        with compassion, justice and peace.             

Wherever there is peace

        and movement toward peace,

                where there is justice 

                        and movement toward justice,

                                God is present and working."

 

Hough's struggles within his Christian tradition

        are a profound validation of our own.

The power of what remains

        when the "exclusionary principle" is relinquished

                is what has inspired Unitarian Universalists

                        for hundreds of years.

This pluralistic edge is what has made us different

        from other faiths:

                now our heretical, 

                        intensely humane 

                                and imaginative grasp of the world

                                        in all its diversity

                                                may finally come into its own.

 

We have our own work to do, however.

As expansive as we have been 

        in embracing religious pluralism,

                we are not always clear about our own place in it.

Although we are rooted in Christianity,

        we no longer define ourselves 

                in terms of any exclusive faith tradition.

The inclusive stance is what matters to us:

        our sanctuaries are places 

                where we want everyone, 

                        of any religious background,

                                to feel welcome.

 

We are free of the "exclusionary principle."

But our openness lacks definition.

We have journeyed along for years now,

        seeking the enrichment of religious pluralism

                without engaging in a rigorous examination

                        of what makes us a unique faith.

 

This is not all bad.

Religion is essentially about 

        what resides beyond definition.

Human attempts to reduce the wonder of life

        into something we all understand

                may miss the point.

 

But religious pluralism is not by itself, a faith.

It is what the world is –

        and it makes a great deal of difference to the world

                how we look at it

                        and what we see.

But simply to say that all religions are equally good,

        and all practices and wisdom equally salutary,

                and all scriptures equally insightful –

                        well, then we're back to A Tale of Three Ralphs.        

As you heard earlier in the service,

        there was once a husband and wife 

                who decided to treat all their children equally, 

                        no exceptions.  

The first born child is named Ralph.

So is the second,

        and then the third.

The situation is absurd almost from the start.

In a misguided attempt to ensure equality and fairness,

        no allowances are made for difference.

Treating each child the same, 

        with no exceptions,

                ends up being unfair to all the children.

 

Relinquishing the "exclusionary principle"

        does not minimize the very real differences

                there are in the world.

Building an inclusive community does not suggest 

        that all religions are all alike.

Belonging to a tradition that embraces religious pluralism

        does mean that our faith is a journey through possibility,

                a process of discovery

                        that leads us to growth.

 

Joseph Hough describes faith 

        as "a response to the experience of the presence of God."

As a Christian, he is comfortable with these theological terms.

Perhaps another way of saying what he means

        is that faith is a response to the possibilities in life –

                possibilities that shape us,

                        shake us up,

                                change us forever.

 

Our Unitarian Universalist faith today 

        seeks these life-changing possibilities.

We seek them because we sense the presence of God –

        or if not God,

                then the power of goodness –

                        in the human capacity to live ethical lives,

                                to change for the better,

                                        to participate in creation

                                                as a positive force in evolution.

We hold out the hope that anyone,

        of any age, ability and background,

                can have access to the life-changing power of goodness

                        and can grow.

 

This hope has been embedded in our tradition since the beginning,

        surfacing in various ways,

                many of them now archaic,

                        but no less relevant in their time.

One church historian [David Bumbaugh] has described 

        the struggle for "the soul and the mind" of early Christianity 

                as the conflict between an ethical religion and a creedal one.

Our predecessors argued for an ethical religion,

        based on character,

                while their opponents argued for a creedal faith,

                        based on correctness of belief.

The other side prevailed,

        but the original vision of our predecessors

                has steadily evolved anyway.

And it is the faith we have today.

We choose the path of ethics and character,

        not creeds and belief.

And because we choose

        and test our choices by how well we live our lives,

                we can function in a pluralistic environment

                        without compromising our faith.

 

We all understand how this works,

        because we are all already doing it.

Some of us may lean 

        towards one tradition or another.

We are drawn to the story

        or the customs

                or the holidays.

Or our family history roots us there,

        and our identity is tied to it.

But none of us defines ourselves exclusively

        in terms of that tradition.

If we did,

        we wouldn't be here – 

                we would be there.

 

We choose to stay open instead.

We are one part of a whole,

        where diverse traditions coexist 

                in the common quest for character

                        and a better life.

It's an instructive model in a world 

        that cannot seem to find the way

                to make peace with diversity.

 

Our faith today has evolved a long way

        from the early Christian church,

                and it will evolve into the future.

But whatever challenges we face 

        or conditions that change in the world,

                what continues is our simple affirmation

                        that we do not all need to believe alike

                                to see each other's humanity;

                                        and we do not all need to be alike

                                                to grow together.

Our common quest:

        to live fully,

                to grow in character,

                        to give something good back to creation,

                                only gets better

                                        when we learn from each other.

References used in preparing this sermon include Unitarian Universalism: A Narrative History, by David E. Bumbaugh (Chicago: Meadville Lombard Press, 2000); interviews with Joseph C. Hough, Jr., on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition January 27, 2002 and in The New York Times, January 12, 2002.