The Transforming Power of Love: The Second Source
Reverend Roberta Finkelstein
January 22, 2006

What are the sources of our faith? That is one of the foundational questions theologians ask. The Statement of Principles and Purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which we voluntarily affirm, identifies six sources, which are the basis of an irregular sermon series this year. In November we talked about the first source - the personal experience of transcendence. This week we look at the second: Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

What does it mean to be prophetic? Our English word prophet comes from the Greek “prophetes” and means “one who speaks for another.” The Hebrew term, nabi, is one who is chosen to declare a message given to him – or her – and who speaks with the authority of the one who sends the message. Classical Hebrew prophets often begin their speeches with, “Thus saith the Lord . . . “ and it was understood that the words that followed were indeed the word of Yahweh. The place of prophecy in ancient Israel was not simply to rail against injustice or immorality. It was hoped that the message, once delivered, would bring about a change in the people - the impact was intended to be redemptive.

Our contemporary understanding of what it means to be prophetic is both broader and narrower than the classical definition. Modern prophecy, at least in liberal religion, is narrower in that we no longer give credence to prophets being literal messengers of the divine. We would not, no matter how anybody began their speech, believe that they were literally delivering the word of God, would we? Modern day prophets are more likely to say, “After giving this issue a great deal of thought, considering the pro’s and con’s, I believe that . . . “ That may not have quite the impact of “Thus saith the Lord . . . “ but it is more credible to contemporary ears. Modern prophecy is still concerned with confronting people about practices that are unfair, unjust, and immoral. It is still about speaking truth to power, with the aim of changing a practice from one that is selfish and exploitive to one that is, for the community, redemptive.

In another sense, modern day prophecy is broader in scope than the traditional definition. To be prophetic is not necessarily to come from the margins of society, bellowing about injustice. Today we can work from within the structures of our institutions, and insist that those institutions conform to our stated values and norms. Being prophetic does not require that you rant and rave and smash pottery at the gate of the village the way crusty old Jeremiah did in order to be heard. It does require you to see, and hear, and think clearly. It requires you to feel passionately and compassionately. Prophets may not be poor or marginalized or despised, but they certainly do not accept their own success or comfort as an affirmation that God is on their side. No prosperity gospel for the modern day prophets in our midst.

Those prophets of old who believed themselves to be messengers of God did not believe in a comforting God. They experienced God as prodding, insisting, restless for justice. Modern day prophecy is religious witness. It is seeing what needs to be seen, saying what needs to be said, standing where a stand needs to be taken. But it is not just about critique of society, it is not about confrontation and assigning blame and making people ashamed. Religious witness is about bringing to bear the real truth that a message of love can overcome hate, that the structures of evil can be transformed, in the long run, by the practice of compassion and love. Prophecy is not about tearing down, it is about rebuilding in a different image.

What modern day prophets do have in common with their ancient ancestors is the ability to communicate clearly. Today speaking the truth to power is more likely to mean writing a letter to the editor or an email to your congressperson than it is to mean standing on a soap box in the village square. But still, the reason for speaking is to hold a mirror up to the face of injustice, to force those who take part in unfair practices to recognize themselves, and to bring about change in individuals and in the structures of society that is redemptive – a change in the direction of fairness, gentleness, and loving kindness.

Let’s move up in history beyond the ancient Israelites and take a look at somebody from our own Unitarian and Universalist traditions who have brought love to bear on evil practices, and see what we can learn from our history. Margaret Fuller was a member of the Transcendentalist circle that dominated the intellectual life of New England in the mid 19th century. This circle included Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott and others. She became editor of the Dial, a literary magazine, and in her writings she articulated the struggle for women's rights. She was herself well educated, exceptional for a woman at that time. Fuller hosted "Conversations" for women encouraging them to express opinions on religion and politics, and out of those conversations she wrote what has been referred to as that notorious feminist tract, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. She became the first female foreign correspondent, went to Rome, and directed a hospital for wounded freedom fighters. Fuller died in shipwreck on her return trip.

Hear her words. “A new manifestation is at hand, a new hour is come when man and woman may regard one another as brother and sister, able both to appreciate and to prophesy to one another. What woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intelligence to discern, as a soul to live freely and unimpeded, to unfold such powers as were given her. Man does not have his fair share either; his energies are repressed and distorted by the interposition of artificial obstacles. We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to woman as freely as to man. Were this done, we believe a divine energy would pervade nature to a degree unknown in the history of former ages. A new manifestation is at hand; a new hour is come.”

Those are extraordinary words when you consider when they were written! Fuller was not a male-bashing feminist, but one who recognized that change is necessary for both women and men, and that change will benefit both women and men. I could offer you a litany of UU’s who could be called prophetic: Pete Seeger, Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Horace Mann, Joseph Priestley, Malvina Reynolds, James Reeb. But these are the famous names – the ones you learn about in history class. We are of a tradition that claims not only the Reformation notion of the priesthood of all believers, but the modern notion of the prophethood of all believers. We cannot leave the job of modern day prophecy to a chosen few. It falls to all of us. The relevance of our history is that we can learn from our forebears, be empowered by their successes, sustained by their words, inspired by their successes and sobered by their failures. We can learn from them how to be prophets.

Rev. Meg Riley, Director of the UUA Washington office, has spent years taking on the Radical Religious Right, and empowering other us to do likewise. Meg advocates an approach that involves holding up a positive vision of liberal religion and the hopeful promise that Unitarian Universalism offers. She says that our faith in human nature, or at least in the possibilities of human nature, is a great spiritual gift that we have to offer. That faith can bring strength and hope to those who seek an alternative to the religious fundamentalism that is sweeping the land.

I want to be clear that I am not Christian bashing when I talk about fundamentalism. But there is a well organized and well funded movement, that some call the Radical Religious Right that represents values that I find unpalatable. When I say that I reject that message I am not rejecting either Christianity or conservative political belief. I am talking specifically about those members of organizations like the Christian Coalition who wish to eradicate the barrier erected between church and state - who wish to make America a Christian country, who arrogantly assert that there is only one way to be a Christian and a citizen and that is their way - and hold out the dire possibility that we will all go to Hell if we don't get on their band wagon. I am talking about people whose platform is intolerant of diversity and difference - people who are racist and anti-Semitic and homophobic. We have a job to do. There is a place for our prophetic vision and words and our message of the transforming power of love on the contemporary American religious landscape.

But there are so many of them, and their message is so clear and so simple. How can we, a small group of admittedly complicated Unitarian Universalists, take them on? Meg says to start by explaining with stark simplicity, "Bigotry is against my religion!" Now that statement is not unique to Unitarian Universalism. Bigotry is against the religion of many Christians and Jews and Bahais and others who are working to take religion back from the narrow minded fear mongers whose well financed media campaign has made such inroads into the psyche of the American public. Our job is to take our place in that chorus of voices for reason and compassion, so that together we can bring the good news of transforming love to a scared and fragmented world.

As I ask you, in this sermon series, to consider the sources of our faith, I am really asking you to live those sources. This is a call of sorts; a call to claim your history and a call to claim your own power. We do have a proud history of people of liberal faith who were willing to point out injustice, even at the risk of their own lives. But we also have an uneasy relationship with our own ability to speak truth to power. We are sometimes more comfortable thinking of ourselves as victims of history and current events rather than it’s authors.

Sam Keen, in his book Hymn to a Dancing God, talks about the importance of a spiritual BS detector. The problem of distinguishing false from true prophecy is as old as recorded religious history. UU theologian James Luther Adams reminds us that it was Jesus who had the simplest and perhaps best principle of discernment: by their fruits shall you know them. Not all bold speech is prophecy. Not all institutional critique is an honest attempt to bring the transforming power of love to bear on a troubled world.

In order to reclaim our place in that historic stream of religious witnesses, we have to apply carefully our own principle of discernment. Last week you heard the personal witness of several members of the Social Action Committee, people who are actively living out of our Sources. The tree blooming on the far wall demonstrates that there are many among you who go out in the community and speak and act in faith. The organizations named on those leaves and apples try in various ways to bring the transforming power of love to bear on a hurting world.

Lets all be about that business. Let’s be, in Rebecca Parker’s words, a community of people who seek to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with the God of their understanding, who call on the strength of soul-force to heal, transform, and bless life. Healing, transforming, and blessing. That is what the world needs. Don’t wait for a prophet to come thundering out of the wilderness. Be one. Be a prophet for the transforming power of love.