Sermon –
My heart has been breaking over the death and destruction in the Middle East. Every time I hear of another suicide bombing I feel devastated. Every time I hear of more Palestinians shot down in cold blood I ache with pain. I’m sure you’re feeling the same agony.
How can they do this to one another? How can they hate each other with such passion and kill each other with such ease? How can they so easily cut themselves off from each other’s humanity, from each other’s pain?
I believe both sides have valid reasons for their political positions, but those rationales do not give them the right to slaughter each other with homemade bombs and massive tanks. I have a hard time comprehending such violence and hatred, though it frightens me to wonder what I would do if I was a Jew in Israel or a Palestinian on the West Bank. How would I respond if I grew up in that environment of distrust? Would I shoot down civilians or strap explosives to my body if I believed the lives of my family and my people were threatened? I honestly don’t know.
I do know that we must find an answer to this crisis – and by “we” I mean you and me. We can not leave it up to the Israelis and the Palestinians because they cannot see beyond their own small world.
We need to educate ourselves to what is happening, why it is happening, and ways that we can keep it from happening. Most importantly this is an opportunity to implement our Unitarian Universalist values to help bring peace and justice to a land and people who desperately need both. What are those values? The visit by Rev. Jakab Benedek and his family from our Partner Church in Transylvania is an opportunity for us to be reminded of those values and how we can embody them.
For those of you who may not be familiar with our Unitarian history, Transylvania is our holy land, the place where Unitarianism came to life. Though the only impression most Americans have of Transylvania is associated with Dracula and vampires, it is a beautiful region in northern Romania with rich roots in the Hungarian culture.
My wife, Terry, and I were fortunate to have visited Transylvania in 1992 when we led a group of 53 people from our church in Cleveland on a tour of Unitarian sites in Eastern Europe. We also visited our two Partner Churches, one in Budapest and the other in the small village of Badeni, Romania.
Traveling in Transylvania was like taking a time machine back several centuries. It is a scenic area, not too different from the landscape around northern Virginia, with rolling hills and mountains, family farms and scenic villages, but there is little industry or technology. Farmers harvested their fields by hand. Few cars or trucks were on the roads and they competed with donkeys and carts for the right of way.
I found the people of Transylvania to be friendly and welcoming. Our group was greeted warmly wherever we went, especially by the Unitarians who seemed to feel strong bonds with their cousins from across the Atlantic. Though the language was certainly a barrier, we found it easy to relate to these sisters and brothers who have clung tightly to our faith for over 450 years.
We brought with us medication, clothes and money for our Unitarian friends, but we came away with something more valuable, and that was a profound sense of our tradition and values. By visiting the wellspring of our faith we gained a larger perception and deeper connection to our greater religious movement. And we came away convinced that we could make a difference in the world.
The history of Transylvania is similar to that of ancient Palestine. It’s a small region that has been a major crossroad in Eastern Europe and caught in the crossfire between major powers and the crosshairs of those who were power hungry.
Transylvania was conquered by the Romans and then overrun by Barbarian tribes in its early history. Beginning in the 16th century this small region was fought over by Hungary, Austria and Turkey, sometimes dominated by one and at other times divided between the three, but finally becoming an integral part of Hungary.
Transylvania was ceded to the Romanians following World War I, but during World War II Hungary regained control, only to have it returned to Romania following the war. Under Communist rule the Hungarians in Transylvania suffered terrible repression, and even now, though Romania is a democracy, there is still significant prejudice against the minority Hungarian speaking people of Transylvania.
What’s truly astonishing about the history of Transylvania was a brief period of in which it became one of the most enlightened and liberated places in Europe. The time was the early 16th century, and the catalyzing event was the Protestant Reformation. The young rebellious Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenburg in 1517. And then all hell broke loose.
The Protestant Reformation was a historic upheaval, causing massive chaos and violence throughout Europe. When the Reformation drove the Vatican out of northern Europe a climate for change was created that opened the door for religious liberals to finally come out of the closet and proclaim their heretical beliefs. For them it was an opportune time to throw off oppressive doctrines and creeds and to once and for all stand up for diversity of opinion and the freedom of religious expression.
It was in Transylvania – which at that time was a part of Hungary – where Unitarianism took root and began to grow and bloom. Of all places, it was in this out of the way outpost, in the outback of Europe, where religious liberals took a stand for the values they held dear – and that we still hold dear today.
What are those values? Earl Morse Wilbur, a Unitarian minister and historian, pointed out that the liberal religious movement which came to be called Unitarianism has been characterized by three basic beliefs:
- "First, complete freedom in religion rather than bondage to creeds or confessions;
- ASecond, the unrestricted use of reason in religion, rather than reliance upon external authority or past tradition;
- "Third, generous tolerance of differing religious views and usages rather than inistence upon uniformity in doctrine, worship or polity."
"Freedom, reason and tolerance,” Wilbur continues, AIt is these conditions above all others that this movement has from the beginning increasingly sought to promote."
I would add that these three principles have been bought at an incredibly high price. Our history is one of many courageous individuals who were condemned, imprisoned, and executed for their beliefs. And it is those individuals who fuel the flame of our faith today. My hope is that it is these same values that can help bring peace to the Middle East and the world.
First of all, we need to promote “complete freedom in religion rather than bondage to creeds or confessions.” In Transylvania Unitarian leaders vigorously preached religious toleration and freedom of conscience. These beliefs were not indifferent platitudes but an affirmation of the human spirit and the love of God. "There is no greater mindlessness and absurdity," said Francis David, the leader of the Unitarians in Transylvania, "than to force conscience and the spirit with external power, when only their creator has authority for them."
For Unitarians the work of the reformation had been only partially accomplished. What Christianity needed was an ongoing reformation that would continually challenge the religious beliefs of its followers. But that reformation could only come about if the free exchange of ideas and opinions was allowed and encouraged.
There are few places where we see this kind of free exchange taking place today. Too many religious faiths use their dogma and creeds to keep their doors shut to the revelations of other beliefs. What we see happening in the Middle East today is a religious apartheid where Judaism and Islam, two of the great religions of the world, are severed from each other, even though they are both “Religions of the Book.”
A conversation between these two religious traditions would be a vital step towards peace. If religious leaders could start the search for commonalities between their faiths and cultures, if Jewish synagogues and Moslem mosques could open their doors to each other, then perhaps the politicians would follow. Peace will only come when all people have the freedom to worship and to learn from each other.
Secondly, we need to promote “the unrestricted use of reason in religion, rather than reliance upon external authority or past.”
The Unitarians of Transylvania demanded a reexamination and reappraisal of the Christian religion, maintaining only those tenets that had a foundation in the gospel and were consistent with reason. They believed the Sermon on the Mount to be at the heart of Christianity and sought to live the ethical life Jesus had demonstrated.
They also believed the Trinitarian dogma to be an abstract, theological speculation that was irrational and meaningless. In the place of the dogma of the Trinity, they taught the indivisible unity of God that unites all people. Those early Unitarians attempted to restore the Biblical teaching of the one God in its original purity. In Transylvania the name "Unitarian" was first used to describe those liberal Christians who believed that God was one and not a trio.
What is needed now in all the religions of the world – and especially in the Middle East – is a revelation that we all worship one universal God, one ultimate reality, one ground of all being, , that gives support and nourishment to all while challenging us to be compassionate and loving. Our world can no longer afford these tribal gods that are used to condemn others and lead nations into war. We cannot allow these small gods to feed the nationalism and hatred of the vulnerable.
We need a religious movement that can help to bridge all the religions of the world by proclaiming one universal God for all people, for all nations, for all times, a God of peace, not war, a God of love, not hate, a God of justice, not persecution. And I believe our Unitarian Universalist faith should accept that challenge.
Thirdly, we need to promote “generous tolerance of differing religious views and usages rather than insistence upon uniformity in doctrine, worship or polity."
This was the greatest accomplishment of the Unitarians of Transylvania. Francis David was so convincing in his arguments for Unitarianism that he actually converted the King of Transylvania, John Sigismund, to our faith. Sigismund was the one and only Unitarian king in history. One of the most important moments in western history took place in January of 1568 when King Sigismund called for a Diet to meet at the town of Torda in Transylvania where a decree of toleration was enacted that protected the right of all Christian churches to co-exist in peace.
It was the first time in the history of Europe a sovereign had declared that all Christian churches were free to practice their religion as they wished. Unfortunately the edict did not apply to non-Christian churches, but the Edict of Toleration was truly a monumental accomplishment in achieving the right of conscience for all people.
The Edict of Torda essentially legalized Unitarianism for the first time in history. When Francis David returned to Kolasvar after convincing the king to issue the edict, it is said that he mounted a large boulder at the street corner and proclaimed the simple unity of God with such persuasive eloquence that they took him on their shoulders and bore him to the great church in the square to continue the theme, and the whole city accepted the Unitarian faith then and there. It just goes to show that even Unitarians can exaggerate from time to time.
In the Middle East there is not only a deadly intolerance of each other’s religion but of nationality, culture and race as well. I find it shocking that people who live so close together and who have so much in common can have such hatred for each other. But they are not alone. Americans have a shameful legacy of intolerance and prejudice as well, and even now many of us struggle with our bigotry towards minority groups, including Muslims.
Our Unitarian Universalist faith needs to be in the forefront of a movement not simply to tolerate other faiths and people but to enthusiastically welcome and embrace the joys of diversity. Kathie Ross, the chair of our board, told me recently about her daughter, Kerry, who is spending several months in Uganda as part of her college education. Kerry is proud of being a Unitarian Universalist, but whenever she mentioned it to people they had no idea what she was talking about. Finally she ran into a professor far out in the hinterlands who responded in a much different way: “Oh yes,” he said. “I love the Unitarians! They love everyone!”
That’s about the best definition of our faith I’ve ever heard. But unfortunately it’s not true. The best we can say is that we try to love everyone. I’m proud of that. And that’s the spirit of tolerance and acceptance of diversity we need to spread throughout the world: “We try to love everyone!”
Unfortunately the Unitarian passion for freedom, reason and tolerance did not save the world or even Transylvania in the 16th century. When King Sigismund died the Catholic, King Stephen, took power, and over time slowly eroded the rights of Unitarians as well as other faiths until finally our church was banned and Unitarians forced into exile.
Yet, in spite of over four hundred years of persecution there are still 80,000 Unitarians in Transylvania. Many of them live in small villages and attend country churches. As you might expect, Unitarian theology is more conservative and Christian oriented in Transylvania than it is here. But the commitment to freedom, tolerance and reason is the same.
And that’s the commitment we need to proclaim in our world today. I know the problems of the Middle East are far too complicated for simple answers, but there can be no doubt that we need higher values that can help bring peace and justice to their land.
Let us lift up those values now, embodying them in our work to save the lives of both Jews and Palestinians, as well as to save their future and our’s. It was Francis David who proclaimed in the midst of chaos and turmoil, AWe need not think alike to love alike.@
How true! “We need not think alike to love alike.” May we honor the many differences in thought as well as religion and race and culture, and may we help others not to fear our differences but to embrace them and to learn from them.
Amen.
Spoken Meditation & Prayer:
Spirit of Life, God beyond all gods, divinity within us, between us, and around us,
Help us to better see and sense and feel the one sacred reality that binds all people and all being together.
Help us to understand that no matter how different we may seem to be from those of other religions, nations, races and cultures, our commonality is so much greater.
Help us to look deep into each other’s souls so that we might feel each other’s pain and fear as well as the joy and love.
Help us to reach across oceans and borders and the walls of religious differences so that we may grasp each other’s hand in friendship and fellowship.
May we see the oneness of God and the oneness of humanity, and may we live out that unity in our lives.
Amen.
© UUCA 2002
