Who are you? That is the question before us in this Epiphany season. It has been with us throughout our bicentennial year. Each of our bicentennial tidbits and celebrations has told us who we were. What great history this church has! The question of “who are you?” has an element of the past in it.

Who we are is connected to who we have been. The events that led to this present moment. We have remembered our belovedness and let the waters of baptism dissolve names that don’t suit us anymore.[1] We know our name, and we know God’s name: God is Salvation! We are named by God and called to bring more love, life, and peace into the world.[2] We know that Jesus has blessed to us to make disciples and love our neighbors in Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth! In other words, from here to there.[3] We have pondered the Beatitudes and heard them echo in our life… blessing us when we don’t feel blessed at all.

Today we get the great Congregational verses. These verses from Matthew echo throughout our history as Congregationalists. Before I remind us of how these verses were used, I want to bring back something we learned from our siblings at Trinity UCC in Chicago. Turn to your neighbor and repeat after me… “Neighbor! Oh, Neighbor! Our tradition propels us, into the future.”

Many think that tradition binds us, so we need to break tradition. Sometimes that’s true. But I have found that more often tradition propels us. Tradition is what has caused us to show up today and will help us go into our unknown future.

We are named yet again by Christ. In the gospel reading for today we are called “salt of the earth,” “the light of the world,” “a city on a hill,” “a lamp on the lampstand,” to shine before others and give glory to God. These names have echoed in our congregational tradition since we arrived in this country.

In 1620, the Pilgrims sailed to America aboard the Mayflower. A pastor by the name of John Robinson who was staying behind, sent the departing company off on their journey with these words, “If God reveals anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as you were to receive any truth by my ministry, for I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word.”[4]

Robinson understood that the voyage being undertaken required not only fortitude in human endeavor but also an attitude of “pilgrim spirit” in their journey in light and truth if it was all going to be worthwhile. Robinson also demonstrated the incredible openness of our tradition. Robinson died before coming to America. He never made it. But he sent his people on knowing that it wasn’t just up to him. It was up to God and how his community would respond to God’s call.

Another Congregational giant used these words of Christ. John Winthrop came over in 1630, ten years after the Mayflower. He stated “We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.”

The Congregationalists and the puritans had a bold vision of the church. The church is not the building. The church is not the doctrine or dogma or hierarchy. The church has been, is, and will always be the people. We are the body of Christ in the world, the hands and feet of God. It is through our holy covenant together rather than authority that makes us unique. It is the radical claim that through our lives, Jesus seeks to reveal his love and liberate all of creation from evil and decay.

This is our tradition and heritage. We are about coming together to be salt and light and a city on a hill. This passage is our passage! From this point forward, may we refer to Matthew 5: 12-15 as the Congregational verses. We are the church. When we bring our individual lights together, we shine God’s light out. When we bring our individual salt together, we season our life with God’s life.

Andy Lang, Executive Director of the UCC Open and Affirming Coalition, a recently reminded me of some more specifics of our Congregational heritage. In the Mayflower compact of 1620, it is written: “We solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, vow to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us…” in 1638, the congregation of Dedham, Mass professed, “Through the help of the Lord to live together in this our holy fellowship according to the rule of love, in all watchfulness over each other, and faithful mutual helpfulness in the ways of God, for the spiritual and temporal comfort and good of one another in the Lord.”

Through all these covenants, we hear the theme of relationship. We combine ourselves together…. We walk together… we live together… While it would be wrong to idealize these churches, for we know the shadow side of early New England history with its witch hunts and abuse of native people, it is remarkable that they wanted to begin their adventure in the new world with this theme of relationship.

The philosopher Rene Descartes famously quoted, “I think therefore I am.” Yes, we are thinking individuals; worlds unto ourselves. Just as true is the concept, “I am because others were.”

We who claim membership here have added our name to those who came before us. We are on the same rolls that have existed for 200 years. We are part of the great Congregational tradition that stretches back to 1620. Our names have been added to theirs. As much as I like to critique organized religion, I also love it.

I love how our tradition can be liberative. We can find an identity here. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I’m not the only one with good ideas. There have been a slew of them! People have put themselves up on a lampstand to give us light unto our path.

When we are called to be salt of the earth, part of that call is to allow ourselves to be salted by others. Jesus’ teachings give our lives flavor. The interpretation and theology around those teachings give our lives flavor. The great history of the church, both triumphs and failures, give our lives flavor. They tell us as much what to do as what not to do. The discussions around our sacred texts and traditions we have in bible study or at the bowling alley bind us together and give flavor to our lives.

Our ancestors sought to include African-Americans as we are the first to ordain a black man and the first tradition to really bring up Abolition. It propels us today as we’re trying to be inclusive and as anti-racist as possible. To raise others up, no matter their skin color or country of origin.

Our ancestors sought to lift up the stories and leadership of women. We were the first to ordain a woman. We marched for suffrage. We even marched for Temperance. Our ancestors thought there was a connection between alcohol and domestic violence, and out of their concern for abused women and children, they marched and passed prohibition. It was a mistake in the end, but it was for the liberation and uplifting of women.

We are still propelled by this. Our leadership in staff and committees are mostly women. We see this in our sacred stories of Mary and Martha, and so many others to our present day. Without women, there would be no Christianity. There would be no church. Women are part of the story and their leadership is celebrated and welcomed here!

Our tradition propels us to care for the environment. To lift up the plight of our neighbors and to work to right the wrongs we see. We are still a substance free campus. It’s why we’re working with the Recovery Center and working with our AA and NA groups to assist in recovery. You can trace this back to our temperance days.

We believe that each of you are salt. You are light. We each have gifts to bring. At any age. And when we congregate, when we come together we together make the body of Christ! This is your tradition! This is what has sustained us for 200 years!  We are people who are trying to be open to God. Open to God at a visit to the synagogue. Open to God at the grocery store. Open to God for if God reveals anything to you by any other instrument, be as ready to receive it for I am convinced there is more light to break forth.

We are because others were. I invite you to discover more about our Congregational ancestors through your own time and research. If you are open to learning more, I am thinking about doing a class on the history of the UCC and our ancestors if y’all would be interested. Let me know!

For when we add our name to a list… we aren’t just bound by tradition. We can be propelled as well. We can become so inspired by reading the stories of our past and finding that they are still relevant today.  Sometimes in reading the stories of others, we find ourselves. A common vision. A shared purpose with integrity that we can build on.

My question is… what is our next right step? What do you love about this church? What do you want to know more about? What is your gift that you are looking to add to our gatherings but you’re unsure how to get started? Write this down on a piece of paper. Tear it out from your bulletin and put it in the offering plate. Make sure to put your name on it if you’d like to be contacted later.

It is in sharing our light that we light up others. It’s in sharing our flavors that we unlock the flavor in others. This is being salt. This is being light. This is salty living. This is living into our belovedness that leads to a brighter and more loving world. Amen.

Works Cited

^[1]  Second sermon in this series, #Beloved: https://www.uccmedina.org/sermons/beloved/

^[2] Third sermon in this series, Know Your Name: https://www.uccmedina.org/sermons/know-your-name/

^[3] Fourth Sermon in this series, From Here to There: https://www.uccmedina.org/sermons/from-here-to-there/

^[4] https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Robinson-English-minister