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I do not call for martyrs but for teachers.

As you read the teachings of the Apostles, remember that I told them myself that there was much they would understand later, because they were not wholly ready to follow me at the time. I do not want you to allow any fear to enter into the thought system toward which I am guiding you. I do not call for martyrs but for teachers. T-6.I.16:1-3

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Most religions teach fear. That’s how the clergy controls people. Jesus tells us that his teaching is quite different. He is not teaching religion but spirituality. Religion is for people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is for people who are there, or have been there.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to engage in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This truth and meaning appears differently at different stages of our development. People at lower stages are not ready yet for the higher stages. Development to higher stages of consciousness will be realized if we can overcome our fears and seek it.

Today, it is suggested that we take a few minutes and consider our level of spiritual development. The stages of spiritual development can be conceptualized as a ladder. Which rung are you standing on most of the time: lower, middle, higher? What would it take for you to make the next step?

The point of the crucifixion is to teach that the response to attack should be love.

These are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, although its gospel is really only the message of love. If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.” This is clearly the opposite of everything I taught. Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas as they did, if they had really understood me. I could not have said, “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” unless I believed in betrayal. The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did not. The “punishment” I was said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar mistake. Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible? T-6.I.15:1-9

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The teachings of Jesus are often distorted by people who don’t understand them. A Course In Miracles offers a correction of the distortions and misinterpretations. In this passage Jesus tells us that the drama of the crucifixion is intended to demonstrate the power of love in the most extreme of circumstances and yet human beings project their fears and belief in retribution and vengeance onto the circumstances of the situation.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in our human relations which is something that Jesus not only taught but demonstrated in the stories about his ministry.

Today it is suggested that when we are inclined to retribution and vengeance we ask ourselves “What would love have me do?”

Misguided attempts to protect what we are attached to.

The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: Teach only love, for that is what you are. If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. The Apostles often misunderstood it, and for the same reason that anyone misunderstands it. Their own imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear they spoke of the “wrath of God” as His retaliatory weapon. Nor could they speak of the crucifixion entirely without anger, because their sense of guilt had made them angry.T-6.I.13:1-2, T-6.I.14:1-4

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The saying “Religion is for people afraid of hell, and spirituality is for people who have been there.” Religions are based on fear of a wrathful god. Christianity is based on the idea of sacrifice to appease a vengeful God. The crucifixion, Christians are taught, is a blood sacrifice to exonerate our sins before a judgmental punishing power.

In A Course of Miracles Jesus is telling us something quite different when he says that the point of the drama of the crucifixion was to demonstrate that Love will overcome any assault no matter how horrendous.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and support for spiritual growth which involves the demonstration that we need not think alike to love alike.

Today it is suggested that we rise above the drama of attack and assault and persecution and see it for what it is: a misguided attempt to protect what we are attached to.

Know that we are a manifestation of our Transcendent Source.

The crucifixion cannot be shared because it is the symbol of projection, but the resurrection is the symbol of sharing because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to enable the Sonship to know its Wholeness. Only this is knowledge. T-6.I.12:1-2

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The crucifixion is a dramatic example of how an assault on the body makes no difference to the soul which is part of the Oneness. Knowing this Jesus was able to say, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is called “rising above it” or a resurrection. We can aspire to be at this level of consciousness.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This worth and dignity arises from the soul not from the body. When we are aware of this we leave the world of the ego and enter the Kingdom of God.

Today it is suggested that we take some time to relax, get quiet, go within and know that we are part of the Transcendent Source out of which we were created.

If God is with you, who can be against you?

You are not persecuted, nor was I. You are not asked to repeat my experiences because the Holy Spirit, Whom we share, makes this unnecessary. To use my experiences constructively, however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them. My brothers and yours are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. My one lesson, which I must teach as I learned it, is that no perception that is out of accord with the judgment of the Holy Spirit can be justified. I undertook to show this was true in an extreme case, merely because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those whose temptation to give in to anger and assault would not be so extreme. I will with God that none of His Sons should suffer. T-6.I.11:1-7

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Jesus reassures us that none of us is expected to “take up his cross and be crucified as he was.” However, Jesus tells us to learn from his most extreme example that anger and assault in the face of persecution is not appropriate for those who believe along with him that God’s will is not that any human being suffers. Persecution and attack are of the world of the ego and have no part of the Kingdom of God.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. This means that we treat ourselves and others as the creations of God which we are. We choose the will of God not the things of the ego.

Today it is suggested that we remember that Jesus as he was crucified said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” We can rise above the persecutions and attacks we experience remembering that we are the beloved creation of God.

Against Illiberalism by David Cycleback. UUAWOL book discussion video #2