Love Can Build a House that Stands Forever ©
Reverend Janet Parsons
Gloucester UU Church
October 20, 2019
I received an unexpected gift on Wednesday afternoon. A very special gift, in the form of 29 youth, and their adult leaders, who visited us from the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis. For the second year in a row, they have added Gloucester and this church to their annual visit to Massachusetts to learn more about Unitarian Universalist history. So on the appointed day and time I arrive, and open up the front door, and listen for the approaching sound of excited young voices as they round the corner from Middle Street onto the allee, and then come charging up our front stairs and into our Entry House.
It’s a beautiful moment, watching a large group of young people pouring enthusiastically into our building. And the most beautiful moment of all, the opening of the gift, came when one young woman stopped dead in the doorway to the sanctuary, took in the magnificence of this space, and exclaimed, “Wow!”
Wow, indeed.
I could have cried.
We get so used to our surroundings. And so I’m going to take a moment now to invite you to look around, look up and all around you, and see this sacred and beautiful space through the eyes of those youth, who had never seen anything quite like this space before. Out came the smartphones for photos, up they went into the gallery, as they noticed everything through new eyes, and peppered me with questions.
This Coming of Age program from First Universalist in Minneapolis is unusual in that the group does not just visit a church, but it actively engages. They took their seats – in the front rows! – and began by singing Spirit of Life. I lit the chalice, and they then launched into their covenant, the Blake Covenant from our hymnal, recited by heart. “Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.” (James Vila Blake, SLT #473) Their UU identity was evident: strong and beautiful.
After my talk about John Murray and our history, after our tour of the sanctuary and the historical room, they sang Blue Boat Home from memory, we extinguished the chalice, and they headed off to Jalapenos and then on to Concord. They left behind this exhilarated minister, who was given the gift of hope for the future of our faith tradition, hope that we are growing young UU’s who care, and who will be committed to our principles, our traditions, and our values.
It is so easy for us, Universalism’s first congregation, to forget how important we are to our history and our tradition. I wanted to talk about this week’s visit partly because it was so heartwarming, but also because it is just one of a number of visits that take place here each year. Youth groups come, but UU’s visiting Cape Ann from all over the country, and even other countries such as Germany, love to stop in, to attend a service, or just take a few minutes to look around.
It matters that we are here. One of the chaperones last Wednesday asked me if we’ve been continuously in existence since 1779: people sometimes have a hard time believing that we have been right here; bearing witness to all the changes in our world, adapting to the times, offering our beacon of light and hope to all those seeking a new home, a new way, a new life. About a year ago I was talking to a friend from seminary who serves in the Midwest. He commented to me, “You’re older than the country!” Visitors look at the print in the Historical Room of the original church building, the little cabin that ended its life as a barn on a Babson farm, and it offers them, and us, a vision of the flowing river of years that we have navigated, and will continue to navigate. It matters that we are here.
Visitors invariably ask about today’s congregation – how many members we have, how diverse we are, our role in today’s Cape Ann. When they hear how small we are you can almost see them wondering to themselves how we do it. I tell them our whole story: how we count among our founders a formerly enslaved person, Gloster Dalton, but we also count owners and captains of slave ships, and people who earned their wealth in the slave economy, and who were the ones to donate the land to build this building. I tell them how we are working hard to uncover our complete history through the Cape Ann Slavery and Abolition project, and plan to share it soon on an educational website. I take pride in talking about the creativity of the Meetinghouse Foundation and the commitment of TownGreen 2025 to take a leadership role in combatting the climate crisis. I share how members of the congregation show up for demonstrations and vigils and rallies. I share how the impact we make isn’t just the story of our past, but is the work of our present and future as well. We are not a museum. It matters that we are here.
A couple of weeks ago, since our theme this month is Belonging, I invited you to consider the question, “Whose are you?” Not, who are you, but whose are you? To whom, or what, do you know you belong? What are you committed to?
I haven’t had a chance to talk with many of you about your thoughts, but I heard one of you say this week that you belong to Unitarian Universalism. And so do I, and so do the 35 people who visited us on Wednesday from Minneapolis. They showed me, in their enthusiasm and in their words, just how much they belong to Unitarian Universalism. And it struck me perhaps as never before, how much this church, this congregation and this building, belong to Unitarian Universalism. We are not here just for ourselves alone; indeed, we belong to everyone, on a national and even international level. We are not just here in this moment, but we are the current holders of the flame, the torch, that we will pass along to those who come after us. We are here, flowing along in the river of time, literally keeping the faith, not only holding our faith’s traditions, but moving forward with it at the same time. It is famously said that the Dean of the Universalist seminary at St. Lawrence University, the Reverend Lewis Fisher, was once asked to describe where Universalists stand. He replied, “The only true answer…is that we do not stand, we move.” (https://www.uuworld.org/articles/can-uu-change)
We do move, but over the centuries we have also stood firm, committed to our truths and our beliefs. Our history is one of commitment, and willingness to sacrifice. Our Unitarian ancestors were martyred for their beliefs, one burned at the stake. Our Universalist founder, Reverend John Murray, lost his ministry in England after his conversion to Universalism, ended up in debtor’s prison, and when released, set sail for the American colonies. He endured having rocks thrown at him, but he could not be silenced. His followers, his congregation here in Gloucester, faced constables breaking into their homes to take their belongings to pay the taxes they had refused to pay, but they maintained their commitment to Universalism.
Our history is one of commitment. We would not be here today without the vision of people like John Murray, the Sargents from down the street, Gloster Dalton, who stood up for what they believed in, and had the vision to move toward. The torch – the vision – fired by this commitment has been passed, from hand to hand, all the way down to us. And we hold it, and look to pass it forward.
Today is a day to talk about commitment. And blessedly, we can be quite confident that, committed as we are, we will not end up burned at the stake, or have rocks thrown at us, or have our belongings looted.
Today is a day to talk about belonging, and what belonging means to us. Researcher and author Brené Brown wrote, “Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us.” ( https://ideas.ted.com/finding-our-way-to-true-belonging/) I saw that on Wednesday when the youth group visited: we are part of something much larger than us. We belong to them, to our entire living tradition, and they to us.
Today is a day to talk about love. For beneath commitment and belonging, love must be present. We commit to what we love. We love that to which we belong. We look around this space, and wonder how our spiritual ancestors accomplished it.
As the choir sang earlier, “Love can build a house that stands forever.” Underneath everything, the foundation of that house has to be love. Love for one another, love for the saving message of universal salvation – that no one would be left behind, that all would ultimately find their place in the great Love that surrounds us, that God belongs to us and in us, and we belong to and in God.
This church community, this congregation and its history, is larger than each of us. It belongs to history, to our spiritual ancestors, and to all those who walk with us into our liberal religious future. At the same time, it is our spiritual home, where we find each other, find those who can accompany us through the hard and joyful times in our lives, those who are willing to explore and engage, and fight for what we believe in. And in order to belong, we need to make a commitment. In making a commitment, we strengthen our belonging.
Beginning today this church’s leadership and I will be asking you to decide on your financial commitment to this church for 2020. I ask you to begin by taking a look around, and saying ‘wow’ to yourself. I ask you to think about everything that this congregation is doing to make Gloucester and Cape Ann a safer place with a secure future, and to commit to being a part of that future, however you can. I ask you to commit to the work of justice, of anti-racism, of kindness, of care of the Earth, of all the many things that Love calls us to care about and work for. And I ask you to please be generous with your financial commitment; to remember that this place and this work is so much larger than each one of us. Please remember that there are so many ways to show your commitment, through your time and creativity, to help with all the many things that this house and this community need to keep moving toward the future. A church asks for a lot from its people, from making soup to visiting the sick, to cutting down tree limbs to organizing the church fair, and everything else in between. This church needs all of you, your commitment, and your sense of belonging. In return, you create the container, the vessel, in which Love is held and shared.
This can be a house that stands forever. I offer you my commitment to work with you to create a place where Love can triumph, and where we can belong to each other. I offer my own financial commitment as well, as I do every year, because I believe in you and in our future, and in all that Love can do. I invite you to join me in pledging a higher amount than is requested this year, if you are able to do that.
“Give thanks for the past, for those who had vision,
Who planted and watered so dreams could come true.
Give thanks for the now, for study, for worship,
For mission that bids us turn prayer into deed.” (What Gift Can We Bring, SLT, #404)
My friends, may this be a house where you enter and say ‘Wow!’. Let it be a place where you feel both at home, and also challenged to grow. Let it be a place where you bring your own gifts, and receive gifts in return. May it be a place where you know you belong. And may the Love that binds us, that commits us, be with you and with this house forever.
Blessed be.
Amen.
