The Reverend Richard R. Davis

WHOSE ARE WE?

The Reverend Richard R. Davis

Not long after accepting a call to my first ministry at EmersonUnitarianChurch in CanogaPark, CA. in 1987 I realized I had pretty much figured the whole thing out - I saw how this congregation of wonderful people functioned (or, “dys-functioned, as I saw it”),and I could clearly see what they needed to do to get up to speed and fulfill their true potential. It was as plain as day to me. So I drew up an organizational blue print showing how various teams and committees – membership,fellowship,social action, worship, pastoral care, denominational connections, building and grounds and religious education – could all follow the agendas I had created and fulfill their various functions, and the church would soon be humming along like a well oiled machine.

I summoned the leaders and volunteers to a week night meeting so they could learn how to get with the new program. They listened politely to my description of this new way of doing things,and then went off to meet in their various committees. After a time I floated around to see how things were going in those meetings, and I discovered a remarkable consistency among them. No one was doing as their new minister had so carefully instructed. To be sure, some of tamer oneshad made a brief effort to comply, but they quickly lapsed back into their old dysfunctional patterns and undisciplined ways of being together.

It then occurred to me that perhaps I had not really figured the whole thing out, that there were limits to my power and control and that the poet Robert Burns had nailed it when he lamented “the best laid plans of mice and men/ gang aft aglay (go oft astray). My carefully drawn blueprint for a utopian congregational society had been fed into the shredder of congregational reality and lay in tatters. Arrrgh!

At such moments it is good to remember what the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart once observed: “when you are thwarted, it is your own attitude that is out of order.” In my case I was thwarted by my own expectations of how things should be and when this didn’t come to pass I was frustrated. That’s OK – we can learn from our pain and frustration. And I needed to learn – I needed to become aware that congregations are not machines just looking for some administrative/congregational technician who can lubricate the gears and“fix” them (as though they were somehow broken in the first place). It was my attitude and approach that was most dysfunctional, not EmersonUnitarianChurch. I needed to slow down, accept the congregation as it was, build relationships, earn trust, open myself to what the members had to teach meand then work with the congregation, honoring it as an organic, unique, living entity.

Yet have you noticed how it’s not so easy to slow down, to accept things as they are and enter into genuine relationships with the life around you? It thwarts our need for speed, certainty and security, andthat’s why idolatry is such a perennial problem in life. Wait! Did I just say idolatry? Now that’s a quaint old theological term, but what’s it got to do with us?

Well, consider the original account of idolatry in the 32nd chapter of Exodus. Moses, who had led the Hebrews out of bondage in Egypt, abandoned them down on the desert plains for forty days and forty nights and went up on the top of Mt.Sinai doing God knows what. But the people didn’t know what their absent leader was up to, and they grew increasingly restless and afraid. In their anxiety they pressured Moses’ brother Aaron to DO something. Being a responsive sort, he addressed their immediate need. He collected and melted down all their golden jewelry and fashioned it into a golden calf, which the peoplesimply considered to be a physical representation of the God of Israel. They didn’t say to themselves “now let us take the path of wickedness and perversity and worship a false god.” No, they justneeded a tangible object of devotion out there in the wilderness – a theological quick fix. So they fashioned this image of god which met their immediate spiritual needs, that’s all. Was there a problem with that?

Well, when Moses, who had been tipped off by God about what was happening among his people, came down the mountain, he judged this to be a HUGEproblem, and in response to “the sin of the calf,” as it became known,he flew into a towering rage and… well, we don’t need to go there today. If you must know the gory details, read Exodus 32. It’s brutal, bloody, primitive, patriarchal theocratic tyranny in action, capped off with painful divine retribution. And an enlightened, modern person could well be inclined to dismiss the whole story and conclude there is nothing in it for us.

Yet there is something significant embedded in this ancient tale of the golden calf, a seed of wisdom here - a momentous theological insight, that took root and grew over the centuries, profoundly shaping the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions (aka “The Abrahamic Traditions” since they trace their religious lineage from Abraham). It’s the concept of idolatry.

Now there has long been a simplistic understanding of idolatry afoot in the world that completely misses the finer point. When some Westerners see Buddhists bow down before Buddha statues or Hindus worshipping before one of their many images of God they imagine that this is idolatry – bowing down before “graven images.” Such a crude misunderstanding is what led the Taliban militia in Afghanistan to wheel their big guns up the BamiyanValley in central Afghanistan a few years ago and blast away the two towering, ancient images of Buddhas carved into the sandstone cliffs in the 7th century. Whatsenseless destruction of humankind’s religious heritage. (There was also an aspect of ethnic persecutionat work here – the majority Pashtun Taliban often persecute the minority Hazara people who live in the Bamiyan valley). Buddhists and Hindus don’t “worship” idols – they use such symbolic images to focus their hearts and minds on transcendent truth, much as we do with our flaming chalice. These are religious symbols, not idols, graven images.

To be sure, bowing down and worshipping falseimages is what idolatry is all about – it’s just that the images we bow down to and worship are mostly invisible to the naked eye. They don’t come with skull and crossbones warning labels saying: “Beware of Idol!” “Danger: Graven Image!” Most often, an idol is only recognized in retrospect.

So the question is: “What do you worship?” I’ve had conversations with Unitarian Universalists over the years who would say they don’t “worship” anything and they are troubled by any use of the word. And for good reasons - this word conjures up images of people debasing themselves before aninsecure, authoritarian God who has a perpetualneed to be praised and adored. That may be some folk’s idea of worship, but it surely doesn’t exhaust the possibilities. Worship comes from an old English word “worthscipe” which simply means to ascribe worth to something. Everyone worships in that sense – everyone does ascribe worth to something. If you’re living and breathing, you’re worshipping something - it’s unavoidable.

Emerson saw this andalso recognized the profound implications of this. As he put it: “A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”

Simply put, worshipping – i.e, ascribing great worth - to the wrong thing is idolatry. Or as the 20th Century Protestant theologian Paul Tillich put it: “idolatry is giving ultimate value to that which is not ultimate.”

Here’s why this is a huge problem. Giving ultimate value to that which is not and should not be ultimate rends the fabric of our interdependent web of life, causing great harm to self and others. That is why idolatry deserves to be called a sin,not because it offends a jealous authoritarian deity who demands complete devotion. If we habitually enshrine the wrong thing at the very center of our daily lives, if we place the wrong value up on the altar of our ultimate concern, our liveswill get seriouslyout of balance.

Just take just a cursory glimpse atthe vast pantheon ofidols beckoning for ourultimate devotion:

There is the great, glistening idol of Greed, which has countless, unquestioning devotees, from Wall Street bankers, who put the desire for money at the center of their lives and manipulate the flow of money in our economyso billions flow into their vaults, even though this creates havoc andresults in extreme economic inequality. Likewise, there are the corporate executives who place short term profit above all else and exploit people and destroy the environment. And of course there is alwaysthe common street criminal who values what you have over who you are.

Closely related is the idol of Power whose worshippers include political leaders whose blind lust for powersubverts and corrupts governments. Affiliated with them are those who worship the idols of Nationalism, Sectarianism, Ideology, who seek to defeat or destroy all who are different or who oppose their narrow views and agendas.

On a more personal plane there are those who worship the seductive idol ofPleasure, who place the desire for temporary bliss at the center of their lives therebyself destruct, harm others and tear apart families.

Then there are those who worship the idol of anger, bitterness, hatred and vengeance, who refuse to forgive, to let go, who perpetually cherish and review and cherishtheir many grievances.

There are those who worship the idol of conformity, who will do whatever it takes to fit in and be accepted, even if that means betraying one’s true self.

Finally, let me mention those who become hypnotized by the idol of fear and anxiety, whose habitual focus is on potential worst case scenarios.

I could go on, for the pantheon of idols is vast indeed – I could tell you aboutthe idols of success or sloth or workaholism or many other things because any attitude or belief can be melted down and fashioned into an idol.

Now here’s the confusing thing about idols - they are made from good, golden raw material – in their original forms they can serve a useful purpose: there’s nothing inherently wrong with a yearning for material security, the use of power or the enjoyment of pleasure or prestige and fear and anger even have their legitimate role in the grand scheme of things. These things only become idols when they are melted down and put upon the altar in the center of your heart.

Yet, as Emerson rightly notes, we will all worship something. We simply can’t avoid ascribing ultimate worth to something. So the question remains: what shall that be?

Many will say we should worship God, and that may very well be just right for you, but great caution is in order her. So many folks claim to worship God when, in fact, they worship their own bigoted, intolerant projections, and theological systems, imagining that this is God. A great deal of human ignorance, hatred, intolerance and outright bigotry are regularly projected onto the blank screen we call God. I’m not saying “stay away from God,” but I am saying “be very mindful of the God you worship.

As for me I’ve learned to keep it simple. That which I aim to worship is the spirit of boundless compassion, or agape love, which is the Greek word for unconditional love. Perhaps the most sublime vision of agape love can be found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians wherein it is written: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Since love has many levels of meaning in our culture, and since I tend to lean in the direction of Buddhism in my personal spiritual life, I am more drawn to the concept of “boundless compassion.” Unconditional love. Boundless compassion. One and the same, really. Can you think of anything in heaven or earth more deserving of our ultimate loyalty? Practicing this will not be a theological quick fix. It is not a short cut. It does take time and patience and persistence and requires that you enter into a more authentic relationship with all around you. But this slow path bears much sweet fruit.

Do you remember what Emerson said about becoming the thing you worship? Here’s what happens when Love and Compassion are at the center of your life. In the beginning you may think you carry love and compassion in your heart, but over time you may realize that this is not so. You do not have love and compassion. Love and compassion have you. It will take possession of you and dominate your life. Don’t take my word for it, though. Try it out for yourself.

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