I like to tell about my Homiletics class, that is preaching class, when I was in seminary, particularly that first day. The professor, the Reverend Doctor James Chuck, MDiv, ThD stood watching as we entered for our first class, a small seminar of about a dozen people. Neatly dressed in a pinstriped three-piece suit, he seemed to glare at us while idly fiddling with his Phi Beta Kappa key, which hung as a pocket watch fob. Once we were seated he launched into a brief exposition on the general decline of intellectual capacity among seminarians since his day. But more importantly, after which he explained the truly great preacher has three sermons. And, he added, somewhat dryly, it would behoove each and every one of us to figure out quickly what our meager sermon might be.
His point was that we have themes we are going to return to, over and over again. Just the way it is. Even the greatest preacher really only has a handful in them. And most of us get by with one.
That little speech happened almost twenty years ago. Since that time I’ve been embarrassed to note while I have three sermons, that’s not what I have to draw upon, rather that’s the total I’ve come up with over the years. At first my sermon was “can’t we all get along.” Then it shifted to “form is emptiness and emptiness is form.” Today it’s “For goodness’ sake, do something.”
Not that there isn’t some continuity. But truth be told I haven’t preached on the first one in ages. Although I hope that desire for people to act like other people matter continues to inform me, and what I have to say. Even if possibly bragging, I’m pretty sure the second one hasn’t actually disappeared from my preaching. It is, after all, an endless well. It can be explored theologically, as a pointer on spiritual disciplines, and is the grounding for all my thoughts on how we should be engaged in the world where we are both unique as individuals, and completely and totally woven out of each other.
But, mostly, you come to church and what you hear is the third one. I’m finding my thinking and my concerns as I consider the grave responsibility of the charge to care for that awesome historic pulpit I serve, is how do we engage the world.
And so. For goodness’ sake, do something.
Of course, we need a background for that doing. We need to know who we are. We need to have a sense of where we want to go. This cannot be ignored, or is ignored only at our peril. But, also, we don’t need to wait until we’ve achieved “complete and total awakening,” or whatever our preferred stand-in for that place where we’ve figured it all out. There’s much to do that needs doing right this moment. Ready or not, now is the time.
For me the baseline is always going to be simple acts of direct service. Nothing in the universe quite compares to handing a hungry person a sandwich.
But there is much more to do. The teaching someone how to fish thing is important. As is, in our democracy, flawed as it is, in pushing the machinery forward. Right now there are some pressing issues. Racial relations run like a poison through the body politic and need to be engaged. These days in particular we need to engage the questions of boundaries and immigration in ways that are open-eyed and open-hearted. If we are one and many and the two things are inseparable, and therefore we are family, we need to publicly stand for openness in the process and equal access to things like education and health care. We need to see that our culture doesn’t let people go hungry or not have a place to call home. These are moral responsibilities. These are the first half of that sentence “for goodness sake.”
And here in Rhode Island something enormously exciting I afoot. Current polls suggest we in this state are ready to embrace marriage for same sex couples as well as opposite gender. Both the Democratic and Independent candidates for governor have declared for marriage equality. Clear majorities of the state house of representatives are in favor of marriage equality, and we are within reach of the state senate supporting marriage equality.
It is genuinely possible our state can pass marriage equality in the spring of 2011.
Bottom line, it seems that one little sermon might be of some value.
And here’s the sermon.
There’s something to do.
Something for the ages.
Something to right ancient wrongs.
Pick something, there’s so much opportunity.
But, for goodness’ sake, do something.
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