A sermon by the Reverend Diane Teichert
Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church
February 27, 2011
Now, when it first came up that Mary and Lillian and their friend Nirvana would dance for us to the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” I admit to having reacted like the typical Unitarian: what are the words?
Actually, the words are not very UU-friendly. They would suit us better if God, not Jesus, were the “he” whose eye is on the sparrow.
While it may be true that some Unitarian Universalists have the heart-felt belief that Jesus is their constant friend, one of the two historic tenets of our faith tradition, the one from our Unitarian side, is that only God is God, and that Jesus was just a man — a man whose eye was on his followers 2000 years ago, but not on us today.
For us, Jesus was the great leader, revolutionary, teacher, and preacher of God’s love. For us, it would be God who is a presence, our reliable comforter and companion when we feel discouraged, when (as the song goes) “the shadows come, when our hearts feel so lonely and we long for heaven and home.”
So, I concluded, let’s not have them dance for Together Time, when the younger children are here, because these are fine theological points, which I don’t want to have to explain to six year olds!
Not only that, but the words may be biblically incorrect. In passages that are attributed to Jesus, he never said he would watch over his people after his death. He was all about God and the kingdom of God here on earth. He was all about God being a God who loves us, looks out for our needs, and wants us to do justice, love goodness and walk humbly on this earth.
So, as we heard in the first part of our reading this morning from the gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 6-7, it was Jesus who said, “Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” And about the larger, but equally ubiquitous ravens, he said, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”
When you feel anxious or are carrying heavy burdens, how do you find rest and relief? Jesus gave advice that sounds amazingly contemporary, so it must be that human beings have been stressed out for at least two centuries!
“And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?”
Jesus considers adding a single hour a small thing. Isn’t that the one thing we wish for, more time? At my house earlier this week, the refrigerator and cupboards had never been so empty. It wasn’t for lack of money, which is a worry for many in this economy (and I thank you for paying me to do work I love!). It was for lack of time.
Working long hours isn’t new to our times. Proof of that can be found in the Ten Commandments, originating fifteen hundred years before Jesus, one of which is to keep the Sabbath, one day out of every seven when no one shall work. One day out of every seven for rest and renewal. We can learn from this that humans have been working too much for at least 3500 years!
Jesus continued, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.”
At the time of Jesus, life was extremely hard for the Jews. They lived under occupation by the Romans. The ruler Pontius Pilate was described by first century historian Philo as “by nature unbending and severe… accused of taking of bribes, wanton insolence, rapacity, outrages, countless and continuous murders, endless and most painful cruelty.” (The New Testament: An Introduction, N. Perrin, D. Duling, page 20). Jewish uprisings before, during and after Jesus’ life were brutally put down, as was his ministry after – as the story goes – only three years.
What to wear may have been the least of their worries. I don’t think Jesus was making a fashion statement – as if they were merely choosing between outfits or ties.
What to eat and drink, yes, I imagine those were real worries for the people who gathered on the hillside to hear Jesus speak. How to live as Jews, first under the Greeks and then the Romans, those were heavy challenges. Their oppression and anxieties were many generations old.
And, the words are still of comfort to us today. We know what it is like to worry ourselves sick over our hardships. We know what it is like to fret over inconsequentials. We know what it is like to let worries about the past and worries for the future captivate our our attention and draw it away from the present, where it ought to be.
Yes, the words are still of comfort to us today, and beg for the quieting melody of the gospel song “His Eyes Are on the Sparrow” which (according to the on-line source Wikipedia) is a staple in African-American churches, though its author and its composer were white.
On-line (Wikipedia), the author, Civilla Martin, is quoted as telling the story of the song. “ Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York.
We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s reply was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.’ The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” was the outcome of that experience.”
It’s said that the next day she mailed the words to the prolific gospel hymn composer Charles H. Gabriel and he provided the tune.
To return to the Bible passage that gave Mrs. Doolittle hope, Jesus continued “For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
This kingdom to which Jesus referred is not in the after-life. It’s the term he uses throughout his teaching for the ideal community, or what Rev. Martin Luther King Jr called “the beloved community,” for the way that people ought to live together on this earth, the only heaven we know. And, he is saying, if we strive to live like that, our material needs will be met. And we will be rich in the most important commodity: love.
So when it first came up that dancers might dance to “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” I worried about the words. It didn’t occur to me to ask about the recording to which the girls would dance until this week, for attribution in the Order of Service.
Do you remember the popular movie “Sister Act” (nearly twenty years ago) in which Whoopi Goldberg plays a lounge singer who accidentally witnesses a brutal murder carried out by her gangster boyfriend and is provided protective custody in a convent while the police try to bust his criminal operation?
Well, “Sister Act” is a lesson in church growth. Church growth is a hot topic among Unitarian Universalists…as conveyed in the sub-title of the recent Institute for Excellence in Ministry which took me away from you a couple weeks ago, which was “Be Changed” and in the question which our worship leaders and seminar presenters were asked to answer: “What is required for Unitarian Universalism to live into its promise and become a transformative religion for our people and the world?”
In “Sister Act,” Goldberg’s character is hardly invisible. She is the only black nun in a white convent. In an early scene, we witness the excruciatingly painful performance of the convent choir in the nearly empty sanctuary of its associated church. The camera pans from the empty pews in a cavernous cathedral to the busy street scene outside populated by young adults of many ethnicities.
At first, she busies herself figuring out what work she can take up as a nun that won’t do damage to her nails. She succeeds when the convent choir elects her to be its choir director. She raises not only the choir’s musical standards, but also its energy. She jazzes up the standard anthems and provides religious words to pop tunes, gets their hands clapping and bodies moving on the chancel, and gradually young people are drawn inside to hear better and see what’s going on. Soon the pews are packed with a rainbow of people, of all ages, alive to the spirit and, the viewer assumes, the Roman Catholic message.
What if it was our Unitarian Universalist message?
This past week, I had a great time watching YouTube videos of “Sister Act” songs. In the comments from viewers, I found: “If all nuns were like this I would be in church every Sunday.”
Well, I’m very glad all nuns are not like Whoopi Goldberg! The Roman Catholic church, even in its weakened state, turned out lots of folks in opposition to our Marriage Equality bill last week and will continue to do so this week, when it is voted on by the House where it is predicted, but not guaranteed to win (that’s why there is a phone bank here tomorrow night, in need of volunteers). And, when it’s passed, you know the Roman Catholic Church will put its resources behind the referendum campaign that Worship Associate Tish Hall is worrying about (I had the same reaction, so I guess I’m no lily either!).
Here is another comment from YouTube viewers of Sister Act songs, “im not religious but i think i could go to a church if they would get down like this”
Believe it or not, the worship for our Institute for Excellence in Ministry moved in the direction of “getting down” and it was fun!
More importantly, the message was ours: about hope, love, joy, peace and justice, the inherent worth of each of us and how we are inextricably and deeply connected to all other humans, all living things, the earth, the galaxy, the universe.
And it was about how we are all held by love, love that holds us when we “feel discouraged, when the shadows come, when our hearts feel so lonely and we long for heaven and home.”
Let us, here, be about the joy of loving each other, and loving others through their shadows and into the bright of day.
Amen.