Remember from last Sunday, the first in my sermon series on prophets, a prophet is basically a person chosen or “called” to speak to people; conveying a message or teaching.Last week, we looked Hebrew prophets Micah, Amos, and Elijah.Those Hebrew prophets we met last week, and the unlikely prophets we’ll meet today, have in common a message.It is a message that is shared through the living of their lives.It is a message of justice – justice as integrity, truthfulness, righteousness, honesty.Justice as it upholds, guards, and acclaims love.
Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek was born knowing his life would not be long.He knew as a young child that the chances were great that he would not live to be married, have children and grandchildren, or even go to college.Mattie Stepanek was born on July 17, 1990 and has been called an American poet and advocate.I call him a prophet.At the age of 3, Mattie started to write poetry to cope with the death of his older brother.
Mattie had a rare form of muscular dystrophy. His sister and two brothers died from the disease, and his mother Jenni has the adult form, diagnosed only after her children were born.Mattie never intended to be a prophet.It has been said that he wanted to be remembered as "a peacemaker who played.”He was an unlikely prophet, but his guide dog’s name was Micah!
Mattie spoke publicly about global tolerance and implored world leaders to strive for peace.His books, all 5 of them, used the term ‘heartsongs’ in the title.He wrote that a "'Heartsong' is a person's special gift to be shared with others... or a person's 'reason for being.'"They are books of poetry and inspiration and a message of love. It truly is amazing how this young boy, living for years in dingy, damp, basement apartments in D.C., with little in the way of finances or extended family, became known all over the country and beyond with his words, his life, his prophetic message that calls for peace and calls for love.His prophecy of a world desperately in need of, and thoroughly capable of, love.
I think it’s important to remember that though Mattie was in many ways extraordinary, he was also in many ways an ordinary young boy.He loved Legos, Star Wars, and video games.Mattie's doctor called him a cheerful prankster who "really did put apple juice in the urine cup and then drink it.”Inside the child-size coffin draped with a blue United Nations flag, Mattie carried his remote-control whoopee cushion.Mattie Stepanek died in June of 2004.A eulogy was delivered by former President Jimmy Carter, who said, "We have known kings and queens, and we've known presidents and prime ministers, but the most extraordinary person whom I have ever known in my life is Mattie Stepanek.His life philosophy was 'Remember to play after every storm!' and his motto was: "Think Gently, Speak Gently, Live Gently.Throughout the standing-room-only service at a D.C. Catholic church, which seated 1,350 mourners, hundreds of leather-vested Harley riders and blue-uniformed firefighters twitched their jaws and tried to keep their eyes from tearing.Their lives had been touched by the life of a young prophet.
Children, while perhaps unlikely, make the most amazing prophets.Never underestimate the sensitive depths of their thoughts or the power of their spoken or written words (or songs).I wonder what might become of us, as adults, as a nation, as a global village, as a religious community, if we listened, deeply, to the children – the unlikely prophets.
Dr. Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon professor, wasn’t born knowing he would die at a relatively early age – not any more than any of us might know.For this man that I call an unlikely prophet, it all began with one, age-old question: What would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you?That question had been posed to the annual speaker of a lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University, where Randy was a computer sciences professor.But for him, the question wasn't hypothetical. Randy Pausch, a father of three small children with his wife Jai, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer -- and given six months to live.
On September 18, 2007, Randy Pausch delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture that made the world stop and pay attention. Instead of focusing on his death, Pausch spoke about his childhood dreams. "You may not agree with the list but I was there. ... Being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia -- I guess you can tell the nerds early. ... I wanted to be one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park.”He went on to attain almost all of those dreams, but they didn't all come easy. His lecture took as its theme his youthful ambitions:how he achieved them, and how he helped others to achieve theirs.He spoke with the simple authority of a man who was looking death in the face and assessing what's really important about life."Never lose the childlike wonder," he advised. "Show gratitude... Don't complain; ... Never give up." "The brick walls are there for a reason.Not to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." He also described how not achieving a dream can be as enriching as achieving one. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," he said.
The Last Lecture became an Internet sensation viewed by millions, an international media story, and a best-selling book that has been published in 35 languages.To this day, people everywhere continue to talk about Randy, share his message about cherishing life, every day, no matter what that day looks like – a message about love – love of life and life’s dreams.
Randy ended his last lecture admitting that the lecture isn't really "about how to achieve your dreams.It's about how to live your life.”And he also admitted that the life lessons were really meant for just 3 people - his three young children as they grow up.
It may interest you to know that that Randy Pausch was a Unitarian Universalist who first came to this faith as a member of the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh.Randy died just 3 months ago, at the age of 47.
Prophets call us to organize our lives in a way that makes it possible for us to take up the challenges given to us.In some cases that means taking up the challenge of taking sides with the poor and those cast aside or taking sides with those who’ve lost hope, or those forgotten by, abused by, or dismissed by the powers that be.
Jan Garbosky- (share her story) link to No on Prop 8
Never expecting to be a prophet.An ordinary UU woman (though what UU woman is really ordinary?) chooses to share her life, her message, her story, with passion and conviction.And as a result is an unlikely prophet in our midst; right now, right here.
Who are the unlikely prophets?They are Mattie Stepanek, Randy Pausch, Jan Garbosky.The unlikely prophets are women, and men, and children; all around us every day, called to share a message.They can make us laugh.They can make us cry.They can make us think.And if we are willing to open our minds and hearts, the unlikely prophets can inspire us to action .
Matty the prophet calls us to a love that is peaceful and tolerant.
Randy the prophet calls us to love life as a precious and fleeting gift.
Jan the prophet calls us to love each other enough to stand up for the rights
of all our sisters and brothers.
The unlikely prophets calls us with their message of love.A message of justice as integrity, truthfulness, righteousness, honesty.
We, as a religious community, a spiritual home, a free thinking, compassion giving, and justice seeking people are called to stand on the side of love.
We are called.May we answer.
CALL TO WORSHIP:William Murry
These are the days that have been given to us;
Let us rejoice and be glad in them.
These are the days of our live;
Let us live them well in love and service.
These are the days of mystery and wonder;
Let us cherish and celebrate them in gratitude together.
These are the days that have been given to us;
Let us make of them stores worth telling to those who come after us.
OFFERTORY:
Our offering of treasure is an act of love.An act that multiplies in reward and carries a message that changes lives.Be a prophet of love this morning and share the message through your generosity.
BENEDICTION:Elizabeth Tarbox
I say ours is a story of faith and hope and love.I say it is our need for one another that binds us together, that brings us limping and laughing into relationships and keeps us at it when we otherwise might despair at the fix we are in.I say it is the holy we need, the eternal beyond our comprehension, and one place we can find it is here, working and worshipping together.And I say there is a transcendent value worthy of our loyalty, upon which we may set our hearts, and its divine manifestation is love.
