Order of Service - Script
for Sunday: March 19, 2023
Spiritual Warfare
With mutual trust and good faith, our nation may well progress in important ways, despite the efforts of fundamentalists.
The funny mentalists, as my late wife, Beth, called them, have tried to own the term, "spiritual warfare".
I think our UU approach would be valuable in providing more open mindedness in human spirituality.
NIUU, Jeanie Donaldson, Pastor Fred
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Prelude - "Where Beauty Walks" - by Jeanie Donaldson
Welcome and Announcements:
We welcome all who have chosen to worship with us on this day.
For us UU’s the act of worship is not exclusively directed toward a recognized supreme being above all other beings.
We worship as we ascribe worth to life itself and to each other.
Come into this circle of love and compassion,
Come into this community where we can dream and
Believe in those dreams—
Welcome to North Idaho Unitarian Universalists where we accept, we support, we transform: Ourselves, Our Community. Our world.
Lighting the Chalice:
Where there is fire of commitment, there is both light and heat. In our time, we UU’s need to emphasize the light.
In lighting our chalice, we have both the light and heat in view. My hope is that we can learn new ways to shed more light and kindle less heat and anger.
So mote it be.
Opening Words:
Amid all the noise in our lives
By Tim Haley
Amid all the noise in our lives,
we take this moment to sit in silence --
to give thanks for another day;
to give thanks for all those in our lives
who have brought us warmth and love;
to give thanks for the gift of life.
We know we are on our pilgrimage here but a brief moment in time.
Let us open ourselves, here, now,
to the process of becoming more whole --
of living more fully;
of giving and forgiving more freely;
of understanding more completely
the meaning of our lives here on this earth.
Hymn #1008:
“When Our Heart is in a Holy Place”
Chorus:
When our heart is in a holy place,
When our heart is in a holy place,
We are bless’d with love and amazing grace,
When our heart is in a holy place.
When we trust the wisdom in each of us,
Ev’ry color ev’ry creed and kind,
And we see our faces in each other’s eyes,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
When we tell our story from deep inside,
And we listen with a loving mind,
And we hear our voices in each other’s words,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
When we share the silence of sacred space,
And the God of our Heart stirs within,
And we feel the power of each other’s faith,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
Chorus
Covenant:
Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek truth in love,
And to help one another.
Joys and Concerns (with lighting of candles of caring)
Story: The Temptations of Christ according to St. Luke
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Meditation:
Let Us Make this Earth a Heaven
By Tess Baumberger
Let us make this earth a heaven, right here, right now.
Who knows what existences death will bring?
Let us create a heaven here on earth
where love and truth and justice reign.
Let us welcome all at our Pearly Gates, our Freedom Table,
amid singing and great rejoicing,
black, white, yellow, red, and all our lovely colors,
straight, gay, transgendered, bisexual, and all the ways
of loving each other's bodies.
Blind, deaf, mute, healthy, sick, variously-abled,
Young, old, fat, thin, gentle, cranky, joyous, sorrowing.
Let no one feel excluded, let no one feel alone.
May the rich let loose their wealth to rain upon the poor.
May the poor share their riches with those too used to money.
May we come to venerate the Earth, our mother,
and tend her with wisdom and compassion.
May we make our earth an Eden, a paradise.
May no one wish to leave her.
May hate and warfare cease to clash in causes
too old and tired to name; religion, nationalism,
the false false god of gold, deep-rooted ethnic hatreds.
May these all disperse and wane, may we see each others' true selves.
May we all dwell together in peace and joy and understanding.
Let us make a heaven here on earth, before it is too late.
Let us make this earth a heaven, for each others' sake.
Hymn #1028: “The Fire of Commitment” (STJ)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eXqm5j_Dik
Sermon:
I’m asking everyone who is hearing or reading this week’s sermon to think in terms of mythology.
For today’s story, I’ve chosen an interesting myth from the New Testament, specifically from the Gospel according to St. Luke.
It’s the story of the temptation of Jesus, and this story has long been regarded as a clear example of spiritual warfare.
The way the story is told, it represents a choice between one kind of Messiah rather than another.
According to this myth, Jesus chose to be a Messiah who would be one of the people, not someone who would try to be over and above them.
He did not want to be the kind of Messiah people would believe in because of spectacular things he did.
He was known as a wonder-worker in the ancient world, and that designation of wonder-worker has remained a part of his story.
The Temptation Story is more complex than all that, with the appearance of a supernatural being, the devil.
The presence of a supernatural being and supernatural events make the story a myth.
My purpose in sharing the myth of the temptation of Christ is to provide a classic example of spiritual warfare.
The battle is simply good against evil.
If we are able to understand spiritual warfare as a form of contemporary mythology, we can suspend our disbelief for a little while and so understand some of the events of our own time better.
Attitudes of many religious people are deeply affected by their understanding of the particular kind of mythology that we are calling spiritual warfare.
Mythology is, after all, a kind of extended metaphor.
In using metaphors, even extended ones, we are putting two ideas side by side in order to make the meaning of one or both ideas clearer.
It is almost always a mistake to consider mythological themes to be literal, factual realities.
There are many realities and myths that we celebrate, some of which come to us from nature, and many of the stories and metaphors around nature include elements of myth.
Among my favorite mythological celebrations are the Seasons, beginning with the Equinoxes, like the Spring Equinox, which is tomorrow, or the Fall Equinox, which will arrive in about six months.
Also there are the Solstices, in June and December, officially starting Summer and Winter.
These natural events are not themselves myths, but we humans and our cultures have added mythological elements.
The celebration of nature is an important part of our spiritual practice as UU’s.
Yet it is a source of controversy among many religious people.
Gods and goddesses are often associated with our nature celebrations, and so the celebrations have become myths.
I think of Persephone and the Green Man and their association with Spring.
Personally I’m thrilled that our UU spiritual practice includes nature based celebrations and the gods and goddesses associated with them.
The need for us to defend our own faith is one of our most important sources of conflict and spiritual warfare.
There really is such a thing as spiritual warfare, but it is not what many people who use the term are thinking about when they speak of it.
All too often the concept of spiritual warfare is used as a poor excuse for defending one’s personal opinions.
“Fighting for Breath” may be a better metaphor if we want to consider what spiritual warfare really is.
After all, spirituality concerns breath first of all, and warfare usually involves some form of fighting, even if today’s wars can sometimes be fought with considerable distance between the combatants.
Those who are fighting for breath, either literally or metaphorically, are obviously engaged in some sort of visible struggle.
Those who are fighting respiratory infections or distress are generally struggling (or fighting) to breathe - quite literally and immediately.
Those who are struggling against opponents who are threatening their lives and well being are sometimes less obviously fighting for breath, but their warfare is no less real.
Battles for hearts and minds are also being fought every day, and the results of the battles may deeply affect the well being of all kinds of people.
As an example of the battle for well being (or breath), some of us probably remember a practice called “redlining.”
It was the way banks and other lending institutions would provide resources more freely to certain people at the expense of other people.
Those who did not receive fair treatment were most often members of minority groups or those who were at some kind of disadvantage (like lower incomes) than many others.
Redlining was a way of using money as a weapon.
In terms of fighting for our breath, almost anything can be used as a weapon.
If it’s true that COVID-19 came into being as a result of the accidental or deliberate release of the virus from a lab in Wuhan, China, then the disease could conceivably have been used as a weapon, even if the intent was only an experiment.
In the last week, some evidence has become public that the virus indeed began to spread from the infamous wet market in Wuhan, and it appears to have clear animal origins.
So I have my doubts about the reality of weaponization of the virus, but the whole process can be seen as an object lesson to teach us that those who fight others rather than seeking to negotiate with them will not do well in the struggle.
After all, the worst initial outbreak of COVID-19 took place in Wuhan, where the suspect lab and wet market are located.
The long hiding of information about origins of the virus has only served to increase the suspicions of many people about what really happened.
In any case, many innocent victims of the disease, as with many other respiratory diseases, find themselves fighting for breath in reality, not just as a metaphor.
We all are fighting for breath in the battles of good and evil of our own time, at least in the metaphorical sense.
One recent example of the battle between good and evil was the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
There is a disturbing video of a capitol policeman quite literally fighting for his breath while the crowd of rioters pressed him against a door.
There is no justification for that kind of behavior as an expression of political protest.
All too many conservative Christians believe that the insurrection had its roots in spiritual warfare, and that it was a battle rightly fought.
I believe that it was as clear a battle of good vs. evil as can be readily imagined.
Too many religious people have the two sides of good and evil reversed in their minds.
An attempt to overthrow a free and fair election can hardly be regarded as a good thing, so those who fought the battle on the side of insurrection were on the side of evil.
Sadly, our nation and world are dividing along widely differing views of spiritual warfare.
The reality of spiritual warfare is fairly simple:
There is an ongoing struggle of good vs. evil in the world.
That struggle is an obvious way of understanding the topic of this sermon, the reality of spiritual warfare, or, maybe better said, the widespread problem of the human body politic fighting for breath.
Since the breath is at the heart of life in our world, the struggle is not only good vs. evil; it is also often the struggle of life and death, continuity and destruction.
Where there is physical warfare, the struggle is obvious in various ways.
Deeply personal spiritual warfare is not always as easy to recognize.
Physical warfare of the kind being fought in Ukraine is easy to recognize for most of us, even in terms of good vs. evil.
Spiritual warfare, fighting for breath, is also a battle between good and evil, but it is not always so easy to recognize.
The battles go on within us and outside us, but they are real battles either way.
Sometimes we depict the battle of good and evil with cartoon images of an angel whispering in one of our ears and a devil whispering in the other ear.
Those images are great examples of metaphors.
I hope no one takes them at face value.
They represent realities, yes.
Each of us has the capacity to choose a side, for good or ill.
Will we work with help, hope, love, and generosity, or will we work with harm, despair, apathy, and selfishness?
That is the heart of spiritual warfare as it takes place inside each and every one of us.
Sometimes it is the source of our own, personal feelings of fighting for breath.
Sometimes it can even be the source of spiritual warfare, of fighting for breath, on a more widespread basis in the world around us.
Our hope as UU’s is that we will continue to be on the side of caring for others and not apathy.
We will certainly not do so perfectly, but the struggle to grow and move together in positive directions will be worthwhile for us all.
Amen
Let it be
Blessed be!
Congregational Response
Offering Information
Heritage Health
Heritage Health is North Idaho’s premier provider of integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health services. Our amazing care teams deliver world-class healthcare utilizing a patient-centered, community-focused approach. Providing high-quality, affordable, Healthcare from the Heart is our passion.
NIUU
P.O. Box 221
CDA ID 83816
Extinguishing the Chalice :
As we extinguish our chalice flame, we remember all who have fought and sacrificed the spiritual warfare that flares in our world from time to time. We receive the light and warmth of their sacrifice and struggle as our own source of hope in the midst of the struggles of our time.
Closing words:
We do not have to fight for breath most of the time. One good reason we do not face that fight is the power of shared action. Here and now we can recommit ourselves to work together for the well being of all kinds of living creatures, including human ones. When we do so, we make it possible for everyone to breathe easier.
So Let It Be!
Blessed Be!
Closing Circle
posted by pastorfred at 4:03 PM
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