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A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOTERIOLOGY Rev. Scott W. Alexander Preaching Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach Sunday, February 24, 2019

So this morning, my dear friends…hold on to your spiritual hats… [THE FOLLOWING IS PROJECTED UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS] A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOTERIOLOGY

because in the next 25 minutes or so, I want to sketch out (for your intellectual and spiritual consideration) a “Unitarian Universalist Soteriology.” Now…let me state right up front that I realize this word “SOTERIOLOGY” (which is basically a word only professional theologians throw around) is NOT one most of you are familiar with…nor is it often spoken of in liberal UU circles. But Soteriology (as esoteric a word as it may be) is perhaps the most central and pressing theological question that can be asked of any person or religion. It comes from the Greek word “Soteria” [SO‐TER‐IA] which means “salvation.” So “soteriology” is the study of various ideas about salvation…which is (or should be) a core concern of all religions, including (I believe) our own. How is it (Soteriology asks) that one can say one has BECOME “SAVED” from death, evil, and meaninglessness? How is it (in one’s existence) that one achieves salvation (or another, more positive, way of putting it) how is it that one fulfills the ULTIMATE PURPOSE, DESTINY, SATISFACTION AND MEANING of his or her life? So soteriology is a central question of all religion.

But many Unitarian Universalists are rightly “gun shy” about this word “salvation.” This is (first and foremost) because many of you out there in these pews this morning came to this liberal tradition out of a more traditional or conservative religious background (Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, fundamentalist Christian, etc.) that talked constantly about salvation, and may have even brow‐beaten (or shamed) you with it. Many of you grew up having a theology of salvation thrown at you like a sharp spiritual spear, intended to keep you in line or fundamentally change (or control) who you were. In many traditional Christian traditions in particular, it is taught that to achieve salvation you must, MUST, believe certain things (for instance that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior), or do certain things (like attend Mass every Sunday, or be so pietistic that you never offend God with your behavior or thoughts). But this is not the way Unitarian Universalists have ever spiritually approached the question of salvation…again, the question of how human beings can “save themselves” from death, evil, and meaninglessness…and thus achieve their ultimate destiny and purpose in life. So…for some pretty good emotional and intellectual reasons…we religious liberals have long shied away from this word “salvation.” But let there be no mistake about it, over the hundreds of years of our spiritual and theological history, we have (in spite of ourselves as non‐traditionalists) had a THEOLOGY AND A PERSPECTIVE ON SALVATION, but it looks far different (spiritually) from that usually espoused by our more traditionally‐religious our neighbors and friends. So, let’s get at it. 2

[PAUSE…] Alright…It seems to me that whenever a religion or a person talks about SALVATION, it is (first and foremost) a spiritual attempt to ANSWER the biggest existential and (ultimately “spiritual”) question life poses to us…DEATH. How do we “save” ourselves (make meaning and find purpose in our lives) in the face of the stark – and universal ‐ experience – of death?

[PICTURE AND CAPTION OF REV. CHURCH GOES UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS]

The Rev. Dr. Forrest Church As I told you recently in another sermon from this pulpit, The Rev. Dr. Forrest Church – who served Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City with distinction for 30 years, and wrote no less than 23 outstanding books ‐‐ famously said (for the entirety of his career) precisely this: that religion is all about humanity as a whole (and persons individually) trying to “answer” death. Religion (to Dr. Church) is all about the spiritual journey of trying to find meaning and purpose for our lives in the face of our inevitable (and terribly obvious) mortality. I now quote him precisely,

[THE FOLLOWING QUOTE IS PROJECTED UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS] “Death is central to my definition of religion. Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die. We are not the animal with advanced language or tools as much as we are the religious animal. Knowing that we must die, we question what life means…Where do I come from? Who am I? Where am I going? What is life’s purpose? What does all this signify?”

When I was in seminary back in the 1970’s, I took a class with a world‐famous professor of theology who went even further than Dr. Church in spiritually tying DEATH to RELIGION. This learned theologian said that he suspected that if there was no such thing as death and mortality (in this creation) there probably would not be any religions either, for without the powerful shock and reality of death people might not feel the need for religious faith. Now I think my professor went way too far in asserting that without death there would be no religion – for I believe that even if we human beings could somehow live forever, we would still (as thoughtful, spiritual, seeking creatures) build religions and faith around us to put our lives in a meaningful and hopeful context. But I do agree that the existential fact that we all must face death (and the stark reality that our lives as we know them will someday end) does lead us to SPIRITUALLY SEEK TO 3

“ANSWER” DEATH…in ways that bring comfort and purpose and meaning to our lives. This is what Soteriology (that’s what a belief about salvation) is all about.

[PICTURE AND CAPTION OF DR. FORREST CHURCH IS PUT BACK UP ON CHANCEL SCREENS]

The Rev. Dr. Forrest Church

But back – if I might ‐‐ to Dr. Church. His career‐long theological assertion that religion is all about “our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die” took on a personal poignancy in his late 50’s (at the peak of his career) when he was suddenly diagnosed (just like his Father Senator Frank Church had been in his late 50’s) with terminal cancer. And what did Dr. Church do in response to this terrible and premature death sentence? Well, he wrote another book of course!

[PICTURE AND CAPTION OF BOOK JACKET IS PROJECTED UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS]

Love and Death: My Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Personally facing (as he puts it) “the valley of the shadow” he focused all his spiritual attentions (in the final days of his life) on the theological question of SALVATION, and 4

how, as Unitarian Universalists, can answer death in a way that brings grace and meaning, comfort and hope to our lives. As one Unitarian Universalist, I find myself in full agreement with the straightforward “theology of salvation” which Forrest puts forth in his final “epitaph” book...and I believe it is, in fact, a quintessential expression of Unitarian Universalist Soteriology ‐‐ how we (as non‐traditional liberals) answer death in a meaningful way. In a nutshell, Forrest affirms that it is LOVE ‐‐ the possibility of human love and care that is always at our disposal ‐‐ that answers death in a way that saves and ennobles us and makes our lives meaningful. I quote him at some length:

Death is not life’s goal, only life’s terminus. The goal is to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for. This is where LOVE comes into the picture. The only thing that can’t be taken from us, even by death, is the love we give away before we go…Only our unspent love dies when we die……What I’m talking about here, by the way, is SALVATION. The Latin root, SALVE, means “health.” The Teutonic root cognates HEALTH, HALE, WHOLE and HOLY all share the same root. Being an agnostic about the afterlife, I look for salvation HERE – not to be saved from life, but to be saved by life…in life…for life…[Forrest then goes on – and remember he was in his final dying days himself ‐‐ to encourage all of us to begin the work (the life‐work) of salvation now, and not to wait until death is imminent] Today’s works of love and acts of conscience weave themselves into a plot that will continue long after you are gone….Not only do our finest actions invest life with meaning and purpose, but they also live on after us. Two centuries from now, the last tracings of our being will yet express themselves in little works of love that follow (bead by bead) in a luminous catena extending from our dear ones out into their world and then on into the next, strung by our own loving hands…Life may not be immortal, [Church then concludes] but love is immortal. Its every gesture signs the air with honor. Its witness carries past the grave from heart to heart. [And then Forrest ends and summarizes his whole Soteriology] Together we do love’s work, and thereby we are saved.

[PAUSE…]

I am deeply moved by Dr. Church’s disarmingly simple (and heart‐felt) theology of salvation. He implored each of us to live a life rich in love and care for others and you will thereby live on (for many generations to come) in that “luminous catena” (which simply means an unbroken spiritual chain) which is gently passed down (human generation to human generation) so that this world can be a better, more loving and just place. This theology of salvation through love (and human care), of course, is very much like the traditional Greek and Jewish (philosophical) idea of “the lasting immortality of influence,” which postulates that after death people (who are upright and noble in the conduct of their earthly lives) live on spiritually (and thus achieve a 5

measure of immortality) through the individuals and communities that were positively influenced by their goodness, kindness and decency. [PICTURE OF PEBBLE BEING DROPPED INTO A POND IS PROJECTED UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS]

The physical image that helps me visualize this spiritual idea is that a human life well lived is like a pebble which is dropped into a calm pond of water…waves of ripples work their way out from where the pebble has touched the water, and can be seen and felt long after the pebble has sunk to the bottom, out of sight. This spiritual truth is affirmed by the current Dalai Lama who wrote, “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far‐reaching effects.”

[THE FOLLOWING PHRASE IS PROJECTED UP ON THE CHANCEL SCREENS] IN THE 19TH CENTURY BOTH THE UNITARIANS AND UNIVERSALISTS TAUGHT “SALVATION BY CHARACTER”

This is the same idea which the 19th century Unitarians and Universalists gave voice to when they talked frequently about “Salvation by character.” We are “saved” (find our ultimate purpose, destiny, and meaning in life) by the quality of our love and care for the world and one another…here and now on this earth.

[PREVIOUS “SALVATION BY CHARACTER” SLIDE COMES DOWN OFF CHANCEL SCREENS]

And thus it is that I would offer my own (slightly expanded) articulation of a Unitarian Universalist THEOLOGY OF SALVATION…of a personal Soteriology that I find spiritually helpful and comforting in my own life. Like Dr. Church, I believe that we are “saved” – and that our lives are made whole, beautiful and purposeful…right here and right now in this earthly life ‐‐ by our LOVE AND DECENCY. It is the LOVE AND DECENCY (that we are able to embody and express in our daily lives) that make our lives works of shining purpose and lasting worth. While I, as most other Unitarian Universalists, do not anticipate or rely upon the promise of personal immortality (that I will somehow “beat death” and live on forever as a conscious and eternal spirit or soul), I do take great comfort and meaning in my life on this earth from believing that a certain measure of meaningful immortality is possible for me…but only if I take care in the conduct and the fabric and the quality of my life here and now! If I live in loving and compassionate and 6

decent ways (caring for persons around me…being compassionate toward others in need…serving the causes of justice, equality, and peace in my community and the wider world) not only will I live on THROUGH “the lasting immortality of my influence,” I will also be able to achieve a measure of heavenly bliss while I still walking the earth (for to live a life of love is to find joy and fulfillent) . If, during my lifetime, I am able to frame my life in with ever greater measures of LOVE and DECENCY, that “living lovingly and right” carries with it (as Ralph Waldo Emerson proclaimed almost 200 years ago) its own eternal earthly reward. The more I live with nobility, decency and care, the more I shall know “the qualities of heaven,” (if you will) right here and now in the fabric of my daily life…for a life well lived (I passionately believe…and Unitarian Universalism has always believed!) is a life bathed in satisfaction, meaning, and peace. [PAUSE…] Now…as I’m sure you all understand, any such “here‐and‐now” Soteriology (which spiritually places both the work and rewards of salvation IN THIS EARTHLY LIFE before death claims us) puts us at spiritual odds with many faith traditions. As you all know, many religions (most especially the more traditional Christian traditions) teach that life’s ultimate fulfillment and joy happens only AFTER we are gone from this earth...only after we have relinquished our bodies and our mortal ways. The bold promise of salvation made by many faiths is nothing less that you can (with the right beliefs and behaviors) transcend and out‐live death…thus in a literal sense defeat death altogether. One my best friends had an aged mother, who was a devout Roman Catholic all her life, who (in the twilight of her life) ardently (and literally) believed that her husband of some 60 years (who predeceased her) was up in heaven building the actual house they would live in together for all eternity. Now she was not (I assure you) thinking metaphorically or spiritually here, she believed that her deceased husband was literally up in heaven physically building a house with a foundation, walls and roof. Now while I of course would never contradict or dismiss someone else’s religious beliefs (for after all everyone is entitled to find just as much comfort and reassurance in this life as is possible…and must be respected to answer death in their own way) while I would never contradict or dismiss someone else’s hope, I must honestly say that this vision of salvation (the promise of a conscious eternal afterlife with loved ones who have already departed) makes absolutely no spiritual sense to me. As one mortal human being on this terribly mortal earth, I simply cannot believe that I will have the luxury of continuing on (after death) as a discreet and conscious soul. For me – and for most our faith tradition over the centuries ‐‐ salvation is rather something that is achieved INCRUMENTALLY, as we purposefully weave DECENCY AND LOVE into the fabric of the lives we have now. No human being, of course, will achieve this fulfilment to perfection…salvation is never completely complete (or perfectly perfect). We human beings are all limited and flawed creatures…we all have weaknesses and demons that haunt us, and prevent us from living with perfect nobility (perfect love and decency)…we all fall short of our envisioned best! But that acknowledgement of our universal imperfection does not prevent faithful Unitarian Universalists from devoting a lifetime to expanding and deepening their expressions of DECENCY and LOVE. For us the journey of salvation is just that, a JOURNEY, a journey that (as Forrest Church affirms) continues on (even after we are gone) in that “luminous Catena” of love and decency that others embody and express 7 because we have lived. As Forrest Church so eloquently states in this heart‐felt little book, salvation is “Life‐Work” not “Death‐Work”…it is something we must intentionally be about NOW…in the holy fabric of our daily lives on this rich and interesting earth) with the resources and heart and soul we already have at hand.

Our Soteriology (although if often goes unexpressed in traditional theological language) is that we human beings are saved (and made whole) not in some eternal afterlife, but by the “luminous” love and care and decency we spin out into our earthly lives – the goodness we spin out to our immediate families, to our friends, to our neighbors and communities, and untold strangers all around the globe. Like my friend Forrest, most Unitarian Universalists are spiritually unwilling to wait past death for the opportunity to achieve of fullest and finest meaning as human beings. If there is such a thing as eternity, it can be known now, in the steadily‐woven fabric of a life well and lovingly led. And (as Church affirms) we will spiritually live on (well past our earthly lives) in immaterial form as the energy of our love and decency is passed on (in spiritual succession) by those of future generations who knew us and were influenced by our best (and most loving) selves.

Salvation, then, for us is not something perfect that is somehow achieved all at once…we are not suddenly “born again…for all eternity…because we believe, do, or say all the right things. Salvation, rather, is a LIFE‐LONG JOURNEY that we, as Unitarian Universalists, are challenged to spiritually undertake. We answer death not by somehow cheating it forever…but by living on this earth lovingly and well. We are saved not by creeds or beliefs, but by the steadily growing:

Amplitude of our hearts… Compassion of our hands… Generosity of our spirits… and the depth of our love.

For Unitarian Universalists…that is heaven enough! AMEN