Sunday Sermon - The Truth will set you free.

Luke 23:35-43 The Message (MSG)

34-35 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”

36-37 The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”

38 Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.

39 One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”

40-41 But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

43 He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”

Today's gospel reminds me of Donald Trump putting down and smearing the truth tellers at the impeachment hearings.

Trump's Republican defenders join in the sneering with Nunes and Jordon being the worst, but all the Republicans got in their licks.

Adam Schiff and many others, trying to get to the bottom of things for the American people, get attacked, mocked, villified, bullied, and made fun of.

The Repubicans and their supporters have no fear of God, or maybe deep down they fear punishment and vengeance, otherwise why would they behave as they do?

The impeachment hearings have become a major morality play being performed in the front of the American people and the world. And in light of today's gospel WWJD, What would Jesus do?

Jesus would calmly take it all in and not judge and nor condemn. Jesus would forgive and for those who acknowledge their sins, and accept forgiveness, they would join him in paradise. But for those who don't and continue to be bitter, resentful, scared, and attack, they are already in their own hell and it will continue until they chose otherwise.

The story of the crucifixion is not about a man being murdered by the State as much as the Truth being butchered, mocked, belittled, subject to extinguishing by the powers that be. But the Truth cannot die because the Truth is that which is. The Truth can be ignored, defamed, distorted, denied, but it cannot be killed. You might think that we humans would have learned this lesson by now. However we are too self serving, too self deceptive, too arrogant, to acknowledge the Truth even when it is apparent before us.

The lesson of Jesus' crucifixion is not about blood sacrifice as so many Christians insist. As the Universalists know, God does not require nor want sacrifice. What God wants is the acknowledgement of Truth for without it we are consigned to hell and with it we enter into heaven.

The Truth will set us free, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, but there are those who are afraid of the Truth and they create a living hell in our midst. Jesus shows us that the way to deal with deceit and injustice is to forgive for Jesus is quoted as saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

This Thanksgiving as families gather there will be plenty of forgiveness opportunities. There is no need to defend and argue for the Truth for if you have accepted Truth into  your heart, you will already be free.

Preaching - Whose needs are being met?

I enjoyed a short piece on the America Magazine blog entitled, "Preaching and feedback."

As I listen to sermons, the two big questions that ring in my head as I am feeling bored, annoyed, and having to strain to follow the thread of the sermon are:

Why is the preacher telling us this?

and

Why did the preacher pick this topic to preach on? Is it something of  interest to the preacher or does the preacher, for some reason, think that the congregation needs to hear this?

For the life of me, with many of the sermons I have heard in my lifetime, I have no clues on how to answer these two questions.

It would be nice if preachers maybe met with the pulpit committee and negotiated some themes over the the coming church year. It also would be nice if there were powerful enough sermons that they led to some spirited discussions and feedback on the topic.

I have no experience of this happening in my church except very rarely.

If you would like to read the short essay in America Magazine click here.

Having said all this, I have pretty much stopped going to church.

 Church attendance in all mainline churches in the United States and first world countries is rapidly dropping. Apparently, what churches are offering their communities is no longer relevant enough or compelling enough to motivate attendance.

Apparently, I am not alone in my absence. Football, and shopping seem to be much more popular or perhaps just sleeping in. When you can get 80,000 people in a football stadium and millions more on TV, but you're lucky if you can get 80 people in a church on Sunday, something is seriously amiss with religion in America.

The absence is not about a lack of entertainment, but a lack of meaning. If I am going to make the effort to drive 22 miles on a Sunday morning and sit in a large space for 60 + minutes, it has to be worth the time, effort, and expense. For me and increasing numbers of other people, it is not. People vote with their feet.

So, it is unclear who the preachers think they are talking to, and why they are preaching what they are preaching. The sermons seem unrelated to spiritual struggles of the audience and without relevance they will continue to preach to empty pews. When the church becomes irrelevant to life in society, it loses its function and will die. We are witnessing its slow death and in another twenty years, unless there is a significant revival, most mainline churches, like many species will be extinct.

Who are the Bills playing this week?

Ask Alexa: How do get to heaven?

Alexa: How do I become one with everything?

You forgive everyone and everything their imgained responsibility for your unhappiness.

Alexa: Where do stir-fry cooks come from?

All woks of life.

Ask Alexa - Can I get to heaven by myself?

Alexa: Can I get to heaven by myself?

No, you are part of a whole, and as the Universalists have taught, it is everyone or nobody. All for One and One for All.

Alexa: Did you hear about the pet grooming buinsess in the strip mall?

Yes, I've been by there and I believe it is called Laundramutt.

Ask Alexa - Can I hate my brother and still get to heaven?

Alexa: Is it true that I cannot hate my brother if I am to get to heaven?

Yes, the Universalists have it right that Unconditional Love is all inclusive.

Alexa: Did you see the sign in the optometrist's office?

No, I couldn't see it but someone read it for me and it said, "If you can't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."

What does a life of gratitude look like?

Jesus said that in order to pursue and bring about the reign of God one had to be in the world but not of the world. It is an interesting idea.

We are captured by a political discourse, an economic discourse, a religious discourse, a legal discourse and others. I am using "discourse" to mean system. We all are captured by and participate to various extents in these various systems. We, unfortunately, from a spiritual perspective, give value to our standing in these systems. Jesus reminds us, as does the Buddha, that this is all nonsense. Our standing in these systems will all pass away. These systems have very little to do with what Jesus called the Kingdom of God.

What is the Kingdom of God and how do we bring it about? The Kingdom of God, I believe, is very similar to what the Buddha called enlightenment. The Kingdom of God and enlightenment involves our becoming fully realized, fully conscious human beings and that we participate in life in a peaceful, compassionate, and generous way.

To what extent does Unitarian Universalism inform its members ability to achieve the "Kingdom of God" or enlightenment in their lives? Jesus says that the way to the kingdom is to "love as I have loved". As Galen Guengerich says in his sermon on Gratitude, the Jewish answer to the question of how to get to the Kingdom is through obedience to the law. The Muslim answer is through submission to the will of Allah. Rev. Guengerich suggests that the Unitarian Universalist answer might well be "gratitude."

The way to the kingdom in Unitarian Universalism is to cultivate and practice a life of gratitude. Interesting idea. What would a life of gratitude look like? Is that an attractive way of life for people to pursue? What obligation and discipline does it require of us? How does one build a life on gratitude? What are the implications for each of us in terms of our personal development and in terms of the health and quality of the communities and world we live in? Would the practice of a way of life based on gratitude bring about the fulfillment of human kind?

Of course, gratitude cannot arise without forgiveness and forgiveness in the spiritual sense means giving up making other people and situations responsible for our unhappiness. Once we forgive others and situations then we open the path to gratitude.

Ask Alexa - Do I really gain when someone else loses?

Alexa: Is it true that I only gain when someone else loses?

Only on the path of the ego does one gain when another loses while on the path of the Spirit all gain together or all lose. Which path do you prefer to walk?

Alexa: Did you hear about the name of the cheese shop in Nazareth, Pennsylvania?

Yes, it is called Cheeses of Nazareth.