What an incredible event this is! How amazing to have so many of us - over 900 - together under one roof to celebrate ourselves and create our future.
I've now been at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington for six months, and I must say that I've been so impressed by the warmth and friendliness of this congregation, the extraordinary talent and enthusiasm, and the desire to keep growing and reaching out into the community.
My family has also fallen in love with this area. But enough with the snow already! I thought we were moving to a milder climate, but since we moved here we've experienced a drought, two hurricanes and a major snow storm.
I did enjoy hearing about the new supercomputer that failed to predict this latest storm. I applaud the unpredictability of nature, though there are times when I wish that humans were more predictable.
You wouldn't believe the amount of anxiety experienced at this time of year when the church asks for a financial commitment from our members and friends. And then the Donor Development Committee decided to do something this church had never done before: to have a Commitment Sunday when the entire congregation comes together for one grand worship service. Great idea, but would it work? Would people come? Would there be another snow storm? Who could predict?
I've been telling people that Commitment Sunday will work because this is a generous congregation, and I believe it will be especially generous this year because the enthusiasm about our new team ministry and the optimism about our future.
Along with my colleague, Joan Gelbein, I predict that we will have a Storm of Generosity right here this morning. Instead of a foot of snow we will have a blizzard of bounty, a cascade of commitment, a deluge of dedication, and gales of goodness. Do you believe that there will be a Storm of Generosity here this morning? If you do, then say " I Believe!"
I was spoiled when I took part in the Martin Luther King service at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church. The congregation immediately got in the spirit by saying " That's Right," and "Tell it," and an occasional "Amen!". So I'm asking you to get in that same spirit this morning and let me know when you agree with what I'm saying by giving me a "Right on," or whatever works for you. If you don't agree then you can whisper an occasional "Ambivalent" or "Skeptical" or whatever pushes your buttons.
The reason I believe in this Storm of Generosity is because we do have a church worth celebrating and supporting. We do have a "Stone Soul Soup" congregation, don't we? We put into our cauldron the stone of beliefs and values that we hold dear: our belief in the "free mind which sets no bounds to its love," and our dedication to the " free church...which bursts through rigid tradition."
Around this stone of values and beliefs we add people and programs. From the youngest to the oldest, rich and poor, gay and straight, black and white and every color, liberal and conservative, theists and atheists, we come together under one roof to attempt to live out the best that is in us: the highest ideals, the deepest compassion, the broadest inclusive spirit, and the most conscientious ethics.
We are here today to proclaim that these beliefs and values are what we need in our lives and what we need in our world. Am I right?
But there is another reason I believe that there will be a Storm of Generosity here today. Last week Joan and I led our new Pastoral Associates Covenant Group. At our meeting we discussed why each of us is called to help others. We read these words from the book How Can I Help by Ram Dass and Paul Gorman:
At times, helping happens simply in the way of things. It's not something we really think about, merely the instinctive response of an open heart. Caring is a reflex. Someone slips, your arm goes out. A car is in a ditch, you join the others and push. A colleague at work has the blues, you let her know you care. It all seems natural and appropriate. You live, you help."
In the same way, generosity is a natural response, isn't it? Most human beings need and want to give to others. We live, we give. Yet often that spirit of generosity is blocked for one reason or the other.
One of the blocks to generosity is an obsession with possessions. This addiction to stuff is supported by a culture that depends on our constantly purchasing material goods - whether we need them or not. Our problem is not how much stuff we own but whether the stuff owns us.
This is a struggle every single one of us undergoes. It's the struggle of being versus having. Do we live in order to have, to possess, to own - or do we live in order to be, to help, to give?
A symbol of this struggle is the closed fist versus the open hand. Close your hand into a fist and see how it feels. Do you feel the tension, the rigidity, the potential violence? A fist shuts out everyone and proclaims itself as all powerful.
Now slowly open your hand and see what that feels like. Do you feel the tension turning to relaxation, the isolation turning to receptivity, the rigidity turning to softness? The open hand represents an open mind that is receptive to new ideas and an open heart that gives compassion and generosity.
When we hold each other's hand at the end of our worship, it's a way of expressing our willingness to open ourselves to each other, to share in community with those in this congregation and through them with the greater world.
Let's keep in mind that the way people use possessions articulates their relationship with the Spirit of Life. If we grasp possessions with closed fists then our lives will not be open to the deeper currents. But if we hold our possessions with open hands, appreciating them for what they are and what they do, letting them go when we need to instead of allowing them to control us, then we experience a freedom and richness of spirit.
Joan reminded us last Sunday that stewardship is not a bad word. Stewardship is a spiritual practice that describes how we relate to the world around us, from managing our households to managing creation itself.
It's true that in some churches stewardship is code language for "Here they come again for our money." In a "Kudzu," cartoon - which is one of my favorite -- the parson is praying, "Lord? If you disapprove of the way I try to raise money for my ministry, just let me know!" There's a huge ZAP! of lightning and the poor parson is reduced to a pile of ashes. "Well," he says, "So much for the stained glass tatoo parlor!"
I know that there is a sensitivity and even a frustration with the many requests for money in churches. But keep in mind that these requests are not attempts to shame you into giving your hard-earned cash to fly-by-night causes. Instead, they are opportunities to express your values in one of the most effective ways possible. They are commitments to do with your life what you promise with your lips.
A colleague and friend, Carolyn Owen-Towle, says this about giving:
I can fathom no other purpose for human life than to give of our spirit and our works to foster the betterment of life... My experience tells me that the time of childhood and youth is one of preparation, of learning and being nurtured in order that as adults we may give. Why? Because to give is to love. And the giving and receiving of love is at the core of what life itself strives to realize.
The most important fact about giving is not what it does for our congregation but what it does for you. Life is always giving to us. Each one of us is a product of unfathomable generosity on the part of our parents, ancestors, friends, teachers, government, church, and on and on. The food we eat is a gift as is the air we breath and the earth we walk upon. We are surrounded and constantly supported by the generosity of life.
Our purpose as human beings is to reciprocate that generosity. We are meant to be givers. It makes us feel whole and complete. Those of us who are parents know how good it feels to give to our children. Those of us who are children know how good it feels to give to our parents.
I recently came across a fascinating web site called "The Generosity Game." The basic idea of the site is to encourage random acts of kindness. For example, you could pay the toll of the car behind you at a tollbooth. Or you could go to a bakery, and buy a treat for the next person who walks in the door after you leave.
When you practice a random -- and anonymous -- act of kindness, you're asked to leave a card behind for the person who is the recipient of your kindness. The cards reads:
This is for you! Now it's your turn: go do something good for someone else.
The idea is to create a chain of generous acts. It's an easy and enjoyable way to make someone's day, and maybe even to restore faith in humanity.
Real generosity comes when we give until it really feels good. Do you know what I'm talking about? My advice is if giving doesn't make you feel good, then give some more. Give until it feels good.
Stewardship is a gratitude issue. When we feel gratitude for the blessings of life, then we naturally want to give back. What if I told you that I want you to give according to the blessings you've received during this past year. Some of you may have had a difficult year in terms of personal loss or economic hardship. And yet when you reflect on the gifts you have been given, the blessings bestowed upon you, then how can you not want to be generous.
Did you ever think about the fact that all we have is what is on loan to us? We certainly can't take it with us, and we only have these resources for a short time. So what are we going to do with these resources? The question is not how much we can afford to give but how much can we afford to keep.
I admit that I am a bit prejudiced in asking you to give to our church. But I do believe that the mission of our church is to be a conduit so that people can give back to life, not only financially but through their shared ministry to each other and our community.
I want to see our church be a powerful Storm of Generosity sweeping through our world, dumping huge quantities of compassion, healing, justice, beauty and enlightenment in each of our lives and in our community. Don't you want to see that?
If we do want to see our church be that Storm of Generosity, then it is up to each one of us to be a Storm of Generosity ourselves.
In the words of Robert Rodenmayer:
There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving.
Grudge giving says, "I hate to."
Duty giving says, " I ought to."
Thanksgiving says, "I want to."
The first comes from constraint, the second from a sense of obligation, the third from a full heart.
Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving since the "gift without the giver is bare."
Something more happens in duty giving, but there is no song in it.
Thanksgiving is an open gate.
I invite you to walk through that open gate so that your life may be open to the deeper currents of meaning and purpose, of love and joy.
Amen! Amen! And Amen!
