September 9, 2004

Rev. Henry Ticknor
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley

No Greater Love

This morning we have heard the deep convictions of three members of this congregation. They have shared with us what motivates them to work for justice and equality in their world. This Sunday is the first of two Sundays this month that will focus on social action and social justice. The next Sunday, September 26, will provide the congregation an opportunity to explore ways in which we can all participate in a variety of important arenas.

But I suppose the question must be asked, “Why are we UUs always looking for causes to espouse, why do we feel it is our responsibility to look after the world. In short, I suppose the question is, “Who or what made us think that we are in charge of correcting the ills of the world?”

In some of our Unitarian Universalist congregations there is significant controversy about involvement in social justice programs and I would guess that ours is no different. Who gets to decide what the issues are and how? Is the social justice committee given carte blanche to pursue whatever issues the individuals of that committee feel are important or is there a more democratic process? And then there is the question, “Who speaks for the church?” If the UUA General Assembly decides to take a stand on an issue that is very controversial are we as a congregation bound to also take up that issue?

If you’ve been a UU for some time you know that social justice issues such as the war in Viet Nam, Black empowerment, gay and lesbian rights, women’s rights and so on have seriously divided many of our congregations.

Now there are probably as many reasons for and against engaging in social justice issues, as there are members of our congregations. There are disagreements about whether a congregation should take stands on controversial issues or even if a congregation should respond to social justice issues as an institution. There are disagreements about just which issues to focus on. And, as I said earlier, there are disagreements over who speaks for the congregation on matters of public policy.

Our UU congregations are unique in many ways, but one of the most important aspect of who we are, is our belief in congregational polity—our belief that each church is autonomous and can act in its own best interest. We call our own ministers, set our own budgets and determine our own courses of action. A couple of years ago the UUA issued a report that noted:

For some of us this church is a sanctuary, a refuge, from the turmoil and conflict of everyday life. Those who feel this way would argue that the church should be a place of serenity and a refuge from what some have dubbed, “the culture wars.” For some the whole purpose of the church is to be a community of healing and wholeness.

Opponents of social justice actions by the church may argue that taking stands on issues or forming action groups is in opposition to our principle that stands for the right of conscience and may cause some members to compromise their beliefs. There is always the risk that if one group in a congregation takes on an issue—and they may even be in the majority—that group will be imposing its views on others. These individuals would argue that just as the liberal church does not impose a theological point of view, it shouldn’t impose political points of view either.

Now the proponents of social action programs will say that the congregation can be a sanctuary and a refuge, but it also can be a place where social issues can be debated in a safe and reasoned way. These folks believe that a congregation can have an active role in informing the members of the church about issues in the larger community and bolstered by a sense of community they are willing to take their ideas out into the public square.

The involvement of churches in social justice is certainly not new and the involvement of Unitarian and Universalists in various movements has also been well documented.

At the end of the nineteenth century and during the first decades of the twentieth this country experienced a religious movement called the social gospel movement. The proponents of the social gospel held that churches needed to interact with the political, social and economic forces. Writing in his book, The Social Gospel, Ronald White indicates that “The social gospel was born in post-civil war America and grew to maturity in the era of progressivism…Emerging again with renewed vigor in the turbulent 1960’s as one of the not always recognized roots of the variegated social justice movement.”

White continues, “Toward the end of the progressive era, the social gospel was defined by one of its adherents as “the application of the teachings of Jesus and the total message of Christian salvation to society, the economic life, and social institutions…as well as to individuals. Social gospel, also known as Christian socialism, was moral reform movements of the late nineteenth century that helped pave the way for the progressive movement. Rapid urbanization and industrialization in the 1880s and 1890s aroused the interest of many Protestant clergymen in the need to secure social justice for the poor. They aimed to expand their appeal in the cities, where the Roman Catholic Church was especially popular among the large immigrant population. The leaders of the social gospel movement were Washington Gladden, who sympathized with workers and urged them to seek unity in Christianity, William Dwight Porter Bliss, who worked with the Knights of Labor and the Socialist party, and especially Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister in New York City who called for a democratic cooperative society to be achieved by nonviolent means.

The social gospel movement had mixed results. It attracted a number of followers and helped liberalize organized religion and link Christianity with progressivism. It contributed to the efforts of political and social reformers like Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jane Addams, all of whom were moved to look at reform in moral terms. But it failed to win over many urban immigrants, and it proposed few lasting solutions to urban problems.

The social settlement movement was formed as a ministry to immigrants and the urban poor. University-educated men and women settled in working-class neighborhoods to try and help the poor and learn about the real world. Most settlement houses started with clubs and classes, and then campaigned for housing and labor reform. As they aided people, settlement houses also tried to instill middle-class values and often had a paternalistic attitude toward the poor.

Among Unitarian Universalists, progressivism was taken up by the reformers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Names like Francis Greenwood Peabody and John Hayes Homes spoke out on the need for Unitarian and Universalist churches to have a role in improving the living conditions of individuals especially new immigrants living in the large cities. Holmes, minister of Community Church in New York City advocated that is was the preacher’s duty to speak out on social issues and to address the economic injustices of the industrial age.

And so throughout the last 100 years there have been Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay people who have worked for justice, understanding and compassion in human relations.

For me, the primary reason to be involved in social justice and social action as individuals and as a church is not that we should strive to be martyrs for a cause; but rather that we need to be engaged with the world beyond our parking lot. The Reverend Bill Gardiner, Director for Anti-Racism and Social Justice Empowerment Programs in the UUA office of Advocacy and Witness puts it this way:

Engagement with the world. Being in conversation with those who are different from us; who are poor; who have little formal education; who struggle against the barriers of language, culture and assimilation. Being engaged with the world means stepping out of our own comfort zones; both individually and institutionally. Being engaged with the world means being open to new ideas and new possibilities. Being engaged with the world means not always being right.

Many members of this congregation are involved in the work of social justice. We have members and friends who work in social change positions—teachers, social workers, therapists. We have members involved in social agencies and we have people who serve on community boards for organizations like PFLAG. We have folks who work in business, government and universities who are working to make these places more just and caring institutions.

So, let me tell you about how one person in this congregation went about changing the world for one of her students. Several years ago, Barb Peters and I worked together at Herndon Middle School in Herndon, Virginia. When I first met Barb she was working with students with learning disabilities. At the time, a number of students for whatever reason managed to fail seventh grade twice and eighth grade twice. Now there isn’t much a middle school has to offer a 15 or 16 year old. This was back in the day when schools still enjoyed a fair amount of autonomy and so the principal and I decided to implement an alternative day program for these students who we affectionately referred to as “lifers.” Rather than the usual seven period day this program would provide academic instruction in the morning and the students would then be transported to a nearby high school for placement in a variety of vocational and technical programs. Much to the chagrin of some central office types we decided to offer high school credit in English and Math for students who had passed either of these subjects in 8th grade. The goal was to give these youngsters a chance to be able to catch up with their peers.

After complementing ourselves on what an innovative idea we had, we began to search for someone willing and able to teach these difficult and often troubled youth. Barb was willing to give it a try.

In September she began with a handful of students and over the course of the year she earned their trust and they began to learn and experience success in school. Now one of her students was the tall silent type. In fact I don’t think he spoke to her unless he absolutely had to and then it was monosyllabic, almost whispered responses.

And that is the end of the story, except for one thing. On the last day of school this particular student’s mother brought Barb, as I recall, a fruit salad. At some point in the year she must have expressed a fondness for such salads and although the student was unable to express his appreciation to her directly and with words; he got his message across loud and clear.

Now Barb could have stayed in her previous position. She could have worked with challenging students; but she chose to work with the most challenging youth in the school. She chose to be engaged with the world and not ignore these students. She chose to be open and honest with them and over several months many of them became open and honest with her.

In her capacity as a classroom teacher she choose to change the world one teen at a time. I’d like to think that all of her students went on to be productive citizens, no doubt some remained in their cycles of failure. I have no idea whatever happened to the boy whose mother brought the fruit salad. What I do know is that in one classroom one teacher treated all of her students with fairness, with respect, with compassion and with high expectations. For Barb and me the rewards of seeing these students succeed in school, many for the first time, far outweighed all the tears, toil, and frustrations of working with such difficult students. I suppose the fact that in one isolated classroom we managed to create a safe place where caring and respect were the norms is no great claim to fame. The fact that Barb was changing lives was.

As individuals and as a liberal church we must be able to both comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. As UUs we can do this by living our faith. By acting upon the values of love and justice in the world.

We do not live alone. We live together. We depend upon one another. Let us be engaged with the world beyond our doors. Let us act is if life matters. If we wish to live in peace…let us work for justice.

Amen.