Sermon

INTRODUCTION: Sometime back, I saved this story, told by John Searles, a philosophy professor at UC Berkeley. It was his recollection of an encounter he had as an undergraduate with Bertrand Russell, the mathematician, philosopher, and Nobel Prize for Literature recipient, who died at age 97 in 1970. He was also famous, or infamous, for his atheism.

It seems that several undergraduates were invited to a dinner with Russell. The format for the evening was to include an opportunity to question Russell about his views on God.

Being undergraduates, Searle and his friends decided to get together and come up with a really tough question, which they went about doing. At the dinner, when question time came, they asked Russell this question:

“Dr. Russell, suppose you died and went to heaven, and there you were, an atheist, standing before God: What would you offer in your defense?”

So what do you think he said? Without missing a beat, he answered, “I would say, ‘You didn’t give us enough evidence.’”

Will James said, “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.”

That is another way of describing our attempt to understand the 4^th Principle and Practice of Unitarian Universalism, namely, A Free and Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning.

To introduce our examination, I would like to share with you the text from my very first sermon ever, at age 19 or so, on a Sunday evening, at the Agnew Pentecostal Holiness Church in Oklahoma. It signaled the beginning of a lifetime of preaching, including time as a Pentecostal evangelist, a United Methodist pastor, and for the past 20 years, a Unitarian Universalist minister.

My first text of my first sermon was from the Gospel of John, which read as follows: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

Many of you may have seen the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., which has those words etched upon it. And of course, many of you have read Thomas Jefferson’s commentary on that verse, when he wrote, “It may set you free, but first it will make you miserable.”

The mere act of choosing that text for my first preaching exercise set me on a course of searching for the truth. For certain, some discoveries along the way made me very miserable…at least for a while. But I want to use that text in relationship to our topic this morning: the fourth principle – “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”

The first thing we need to note is the presuppositions which inform each of them. Now what does that mean? Precisely this: The scripture presupposes the possibility of knowing the truth. It presumes that you and I can find and upon finding, know the truth. “Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

Whereas, the UU principle focuses upon, searching for truth. Please note that “searching” is not synonymous with “finding.” We do not covenant together to promote a “finding” of the truth; rather, Unitarian Universalists are committed to a free and responsible search for truth.

Also, the scripture quotation states, “You shall know the truth,” whereas, the 4^th principle states, a “search for truth” – not the truth – “and meaning.”

I want to submit that of all the distinctions and differences that come into play between us and other religious groups, this is the one that truly sets us apart from so many, and yet it allows us to affirm and support peoples of all faiths. Simply put, the difference between believing one has the truth, as opposed to searching for truth – with no article before it.

What is causing so much of the religiously inspired conflict in the world today? Those who proclaim to “have found the truth.” They believe that they and their adherents, are right and everyone else is wrong. The fact that there are millions of other who believe something very different, with equal or more fervor, but about a different, contradictory truth, doesn’t seem to bother.

It’s like the old story about heaven. St. Peter is giving a tour to new arrivals, and as they approach one area, he asks them to be very quiet and not make any noise. When asked why, he replies, “They people believe they’re the only ones up here.”

There is a Buddhist teaching story in which a monk encounters a man who has spent his life looking for truth and beauty. The monk asks, “Have you found what you were looking for?”

To which the man reacts, “What do you mean by saying my unfulfilled search is wonderful?”

I’m sure many of you remember the story I’ve told of the woman of middle years who went to the store and asked the clerk to cut her 40 yards of pink chiffon. The clerk said, "What can you possibly want with 40 yards of pink chiffon?" She explained, "I'm making a nightie for myself."

The clerk responded, "But, ma’am, you're so small. Surely, you don't need 40 yards of material to make a nightie." To which she answered, "Yes, but my husband is a Unitarian and he'd much rather look for something than actually find it."

A “search for truth and meaning,” is the opposite of focusing on the past. There are those who say we are saved by our affirmation of what happened 1,400 years, or 2,000 years ago, or 3,000. There are those who say that not only must we focus on that past, but we must believe certain things about that past that contradict the way we know and live today.

But let me say this: The lessons of life are never the same. They may look the same and sound the same, but every day and every moment is a new moment that stands before us inexperienced and awaiting our decision. When we are in the midst of a search, it means we are looking towards the future…we are tuned to tomorrow…for new information and discovery.

You and I have the capacity to keep searching, to keep looking, to keep our eyes peeled for the new morning which always awaits us, to rush to the corner to discover what a new day brings. And the process itself brings enlightenment.

Listen if you would to a rather famous quotation from the German poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, which he wrote to a young man who was impatient with the lack of answers he was getting in his studies. Rilke writes:

Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.

The truth is that we have not been programmed to live with questions. In fact, we’ve been taught just the opposite.

Think for just a moment of the Scientific Revolution that really began in earnest in the 17^th century. From thinking that the Earth was the center of the Universe, we moved to believing that the sun was, and in 1610, our Western world, thanks to Galileo, discovered the Milky Way Galaxy, where our sun and solar system are one of millions upon millions of stars, and most probably, billions of planets. But it wasn’t until 1929, that Hubble discovered that there were other galaxies, besides our own. We know now, in fact, that there are at least 100 billion galaxies. Later on, in the 20^th century, we went to the moon. Further, there is now a satellite station in orbit in which astronomers from different nations study and work. Scientists are continually discovering more more, out there.

And although it may not seem like it at times, there have been equally important breakthroughs in theology. Much of their evolution has to do with the evolution of science.

For example, the first creation story in the book of Genesis was believed by most in the West, to be the way the world, that is, Earth, came into existence…in six days. And like a good Jew, the Creator observed the Sabbath and rested on the 7^th day.

Part of faith was belief in exceptionalism. What happened on this planet was decisive for the rest of the world. And the way we saw and interpreted and explained was the way the rest of the world was.

So Christian scriptures like John 03:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life” – that was a cosmic statement about the exceptionalism of things happening on Earth.

But now? How quaint to believe that what happens here is decisive for everyone out there. We don’t know if there are other life forms, and if there are, what form of evolution they took, and what their self-understanding may or may not be. Other life forms may have taken care of their planet unlike ours…other planets may have inspired levels of compassion, learning and self-understanding that far surpass ours.

But it’s a question, not an answer. It’s one that requires a search for truth and meaning.

There’s a wonderful story that I just reread this past week, and want you to hear again, because it helps make the point so well (with apologies to our chemists, Pat, Lou, and any others).

It seems that there was a New York plumber with English as a second language, who wrote the National Bureau of Standards about a discovery he had made: hydrochloric acid would unplug clogged up drains. He wanted to know if they knew about it and what they thought.

A scientist at the bureau wrote back as follows; “The efficacy of hydrochloric acid is indisputable; but, the corrosive residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.”

The scientist who had written the letter showed the response to his supervisor, who wrote the plumber a follow-up letter, which said, “We cannot assume responsibility for the production of the toxic and noxious residue resulting from the use of hydrochloric acid, and suggest that you find an alternative procedure.”

The plumber wrote back, “Thanks, it was really nice of you to write again. It really works good, doesn’t it.”

Finally, the boss of the bureau heard about the exchanges and wrote this letter:

Our language has an incredible ambiguity to it. This past Friday night I participated in a community event initiated by Mr. Abdul ‘haq Muhammed. It was held in the Dunbar Community Center. And some of the rooms we met in for the event were also used as classrooms for adults studying English as a second language. The lesson plans were on the bulletin board, and the black boards were filled with instructions, explanations, etc. As I looked at the material, I realized again, what a marvelous capacity English has to communicate about the wonders of the world. But it also has an incredible ambiguity in some instances. “I love Mexican food,” or saying to my granddaughter, “I love you,” or for a couple to “make love,” are three very different meanings of the same word.

That’s also true in religious language. In it, there is a vocabulary that opens up a whole new world of spiritual self-understanding. But it requires that we be willing to be flexible, and not to insist that words have only one meaning.

And when we do, we discover that the search for truth and meaning can plumb new depths of discovery. Its poetry can become tools whereby we discover new dimensions of self-understanding that we never knew before.

Several years ago, I went to the hospital to visit a member. While there, I casually checked the registration to determine if there were any other members who might be there. I found the name of a woman listed as “Unitarian,” whom I did not know. Thinking it might be someone whose name I did not recognize, I went up to her room and walked in.

I introduced myself and said who I was and where I was from. Her response was, “I don’t give a damn about ministers or churches.”

I laughed and explained that I was only visiting her because she had put Unitarian on her form, and that there were so few of us, that I thought I ought to check on her.

Then I asked, “By the way, how are you doing?” She then proceeded to tell me her story. The upshot of it was that she was scared and worried.

As we talked, I discovered how active she had once been in a Unitarian church in her hometown in the North, but she hadn’t been in any church for years.

Eventually, I went to leave. I took her hand, looked her in the face, and told her I appreciated our time together, and I hoped that everything went well. Tears came to her eyes and she told me thanks for stopping by, and she apologized for what she had said.

All of us a one time or another have probably felt like that woman. We get down on ourselves, our friends, and relatives, and on the world. But we all respond to a word of encouragement, the touch of a caring hand, the concern of another human being.

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning is never divorced from the reality of life. We all need each other. We need courtesy, understanding and caring, while we search, while we live the questions. The rest comes with the territory.

[1] Given October 24, 2010 at the All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, located at 2756 McGregor Boulevard, Ft. Myers, FL, by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Robinson, minister.