HomeSharing Our Thanks
David Bryce – Hastings – November 27, 2005
Good Morning!
I hope your Thanksgiving was happy and joyful.
I cooked Thanksgiving dinner three days in a row; that is a long story, but by last night I was grateful to merely reheat what was already cooked.
We had thirteen people at the dinner table; among them close family, some cousins and some old friends. It was wonderful to have them all present with us.
The Thanksgiving story celebrates the feast held by the pilgrims and their Indian patrons back in 1621. Those Pilgrims were Puritans. They were staunch Calvinists whose congregations became the Congregational Churches of New England, and it was from those churches that the Unitarian branch of our religious movement sprang. In fact, Fist Parish Church of Plymouth, founded in 1620 by those very Pilgrims, is a Unitarian Universalist congregation.
However, as Calvinists, the Pilgrims held a very different theology that we do today.
Of course, change comes to all. I am reminded of the minister who, in accepting a call to his new congregation informed them that he never wore a tie. Today he perhaps over-dresses.
The Calvinists were the dour wing of the Reformation then in full swing in Europe. Calvin believed in the sinful nature of humanity, believed that only 144,000 would be saved from sin and go to heaven to be with God, and believed that all others would suffer the torments of hell for eternity.
Calvin and his followers preached to instill fear and trembling in the minds and souls of their listeners. They literally tried to “give them hell” by bringing to life the terrors of eternity in the fires. The goal was to bring each person to the point of prayer to God that they be among the saved.
Our Universalist forebears preached that there is no hell, that we all go to Heaven. Universalists had differing ideas about this. Some said that Jesus died on the cross and in doing so cleansed each of us of all sin. Other said that Jesus’ death cleansed us of original sin only, that we must suffer punishment for own sins but that we all would end in Heaven.
Universalists were accused of encouraging immorality with this theology: If there is no Hell, why be good?
Even the Unitarians despised the Universalists.
Unitarians and Universalists had this difference: Universalists accepted the sinful nature of humanity, but believed that Jesus saved us all.
Unitarians believed in inherent goodness of human beings, but believed those humans could sin and go to Hell. So they too disputed the Universalist claim and derided it as encouraging sinful behavior
Universalists countered by asking, where is the sin?
They responded by saying that when hearing Good news, people will be so grateful to God, so thrilled by God’s overwhelming love and infinite forgiveness, that they would naturally feel an ecstasy of joy and would therefore live lives of goodness, kindness and decency. They would also wish to share their Good News with others.
Also, Universalists made a practical argument; they pointed to the fact that crime among Universalists was extremely low, nearly non-existent. So, they said, how could one claim that Universalist theology encourages sin?
Instead, they pointed out, Universalists were involved in efforts to feed the poor, to educate the illiterate, to end slavery, to care for the sick. And there was truth to this. Universalism, they said, encouraged not sin but service.
That last argument is the piece I want to speak to this morning. Universalists claimed that their theology liberated people from the burden of sin and encouraged acts of service through the gratitude that comes from knowing you are free and saved and will have an eternity of bliss and joy in Heaven with god.
What do our personal theologies claim about gratitude and changes in our behavior?
If Thanksgiving is about counting blessings and finding gratitude, and if I am grateful today, how does that change what I do? That is, do I express my gratitude outwardly, or is it just an inner experience, one that, from the outside, is indistinguishable from boredom or anger or loathing?
On the personal, internal level, has counting my blessings changed how I see the sky, the rain, the sun? Has it changed how I look at a bird in flight?
In the area of human relations, has it changed my relationship with people in any way? Do I express myself to them differently? Am I more likely to tell them I love them or appreciate having them in my life?
On the social level, do I engage more in acts of human service because of my gratitude? Do I make extra efforts to feed the poor, speak to the lonely, comfort the sick?
In Society, do I take greater part in political and social service work? Do I engage in greater service to my local community or to my nation?
How have I changed?
Does my religion, does my gratitude, encourage works of goodness, kindness and decency, or does it encourage sloth and selfishness?
How will my gratitude today for the blessings I counted this past weekend change my behavior towards the world?
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