Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists September 24, 2000
Lecanto,
Florida
Unitarian Universalist Heroes #2
“John Murray: Messenger of Hopel”
A First Person Sermon by Uoyd
H. Dunham
Honoring the Father of Unlversalism in America
Scripture
Psalm 145:8-9
Matthew 7:9-11
Did
you hear those readings?
“If
you,
being
human,
know
how to give good gifts to your children,
how
much more will God give good things to those who ask!”[1]
And how many times the Psalms
say,
“The steadfast love of God endures forever!”[2]
I
just cannot understand the people over at the Tabernacle!
They
just couldn’t hear the Good News of Universalism in those lines,
even
though it is crystal clear!
And because we believed these things
they
expelled me and my beloved Elisa
from
the Methodist Tabernacle!
Excuse
me!
I’m
ahead of myself!
My
name is John Murray.
They call me
“the
father of Universalism in America”.
When
I recall my life in England --
and
later, in America --
I get a bit carried away
by
some of the things that went on
in
the church in those days.
But
you’ll understand better
if
I tell you about my roots.
I was born in Alton, Hampshire, England
on
December 10, 1741.
I was the oldest of nine children
in
a middle class family.
We
were able to live comfortably but with very few extras.
My
parents were strict Calvinists.
They
firmly believed in pre-destination,
that
a few of us had already been chosen by God
to
be saved --
and
all the rest were damned to hell,
no
matter what!
They
put the fear of God into us!
We
were made to live by stern religious demands.
Home life was not very happy.
Father
was as stern as the God he believed in!
During my younger years I escaped into
my own world.
We
lived by the Wey River
where I
often went
to discover
the wonderful creatures along the river
and the
wonders of seed and soil.
What I
experienced of Creation touched my soul deeply,
and
revealed to me a loving and forgiving Creator..
When I was
ten
things got
a little better
as
we moved to Ireland
where we joined the Methodists.
They weren’t
quite as adamant in their Calvinism.
After my
father died
I went to
live with Mr. Little
who
helped me return to England
when I was
nineteen.
It was then
that I discovered a great Methodist evangelist,
George
Whitefield.
I was
touched by his preaching.
I
went to many of his meetings
and there
met beautiful Elisa Neal
and fell in
love.
We
wanted to get married
but her
stem grandfather objected.
When he
discovered that we were meeting secretly
he wrote
her out of his will.
As
soon as she was of age
she left
home
and we got
married.
We became
leaders in the Methodist Tabernacle of London.
While we
were active at the Tabernacle
we heard
about a man named James Relly
who was
preaching a doctrine contrary to Calvinism.
He
was claiming that God saves all people
Nobody goes
to hell.
He detailed
his message in a book he called Union.
Some of our
Methodists went to hear him.
(Remember
that I was still a strict Calvinist
even though
I had a lot of doubts about it.)
At
the Tabernacle
we were
troubled when our people believed Relly.
You’ve
heard the story
of how I was sent to counsel with one
of our young ladies
who strayed
over there.
She
was so persuasive
that she
got me to thinking -
what kind
of a God would condemn most of the people
without
giving them a chance?
I
got RelIy’s book and read it
and
was impressed.
Elisa and I
went to hear him.
He was a
powerful preacher and teacher!
He pointed
us in a new direction.
Soon
our Methodist friends at the Tabernacle found out
that Elisa
and I had accepted this Universalist teaching
and they
kicked us out.[3]
This was
the beginning of the greatest moment for Elisa and me.
We were excited by our work
with James
ReIly’s Universalist movement.
Our joy was
heightened by the birth of our son.
But our
great joy was short lived.
Our little
boy died after only one year.
Elisa’s
heart was broken.
The shock
was too great --
and she
soon followed our little boy in death.
The
debts that mounted up with their Illnesses
overwhelmed
me
and brought
me to debtors’ jail.
When
I was finally free again
I didn’t
have the heart for much of anything.
The
loss of my family
took all
the excitement out of everything else.
I was only
twenty-nine when I lost my child and my wife!
In an
attempt to escape it all
I sailed
for the New World,
hoping I
could hide there.
But
wouldn’t you know,
God had
another plan for me.
After a
stop in Philadelphia,
we went
aground on our way to New York.
Perhaps you
know the story.
I
went ashore to get food for the crew
and met
this amazing man,
Thomas
Potter.
He
was sure that God had sent me
to preach
universal salvation.
Circumstances
left me no choice.
I preached
there --
just before
the winds changed
and freed
our ship.
After that
I was called upon to preach on board ship
and in
cities and towns along the coast.
Very
quickly narrow minded people
stirred up
public resentment against me.
Someone
actually threw a stone
through the
church window In Boston,
trying to
get me?
I retrieved
the stone and said to the startled congregation:
“This
argument Is solid and weighty,
but it is
neither reasonable nor convincing!
“Not all
the stones in Boston,
except they
stop my breath,
shall shut
my mouth !“[4]
When I
arrived In Gloucester
in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
I
found a group of people in the First Parish Church
already believing
in Universalism.
They had been studying James Relly’s
book for four years.
I decided
to settle there
while I
went out preaching in lots of places --
up to
Portsmouth
south to
Boston and Rhode island.
The
Calvinist heresy hunters in Gloucester
finally
came after me.
They tried to run me out of town --
but I
refused to go.[5]
Along came the Revolutionary War.
I
volunteered as chaplain
with the
Rhode Island brigade.
Some
of the other chaplains tried to get me removed
but General
Washington stood firmly behind me.
Unfortunately I took sick within a year
and had to
go home to recuperate.
Opposition
to Universalism in Gloucester continued to grow
even as my
circle of friends grew.
The
strict Calvinists at First Parish Church
finally
dismissed sixteen of us
as unfit
for church membership.
We then formed our own church In 1779
and two
years later had our own meeting house.
Massachusetts required that we continue to pay taxes
to support
the First Parish Church.
We
objected.
Some
of our people had their possessions confiscated
and sold.
We
took the case to court
and
we won!
It was a
landmark case
establishing
freedom of religion..
In all of this I still cannot
understand.
These
Calvinist Christians talked about a God of love,
yet they also believed
that God cared so little about
people
that most of
them were already destined for eternal punishment
regardless
of how they lived!
A wonderful thing happened to me in
Gloucester.
I met a
gracious and fine woman,
the widowed
daughter of Winthrop Sargent.
We fell in
love and decided to marry and work together.
We worked
together In the Universalist Church for a time.
However we soon left Gloucester as
troubles continued.
We
moved to Boston
and gave our
attention to the Universalist movement
up and down
the coast.
Some years
before
I had
discovered Elhanan Winchester,
a Baptist,
in
Philadelphia,
who had
independently adopted Universalism
and was
preaching with eloquence.
In
1790 we had the first conference of delegates
from many
Universalist congregations in Philadelphia.
I guess you
could call that the beginning of our denomination.
Three years later we met up in
Winchester, New Hampshire
where we adopted our basic tenets.[6]
When I look
back on history
I am amazed at
how the liberal religious movement
impacted this
young nation
way out of
proportion to its size.
I’ve said a lot about James ReIly.
You may wonder
about me.
Well, I’ll
admit I was no great scholar.
I was
not the one who conceived of the Universalist idea
or found It in
the Bible.
James Relly
taught me everything I ever preached.
Yet he was one
of many.
Universalism
seemed to appear spontaneously
in many places
in a brief
period of years.
I was a
follower.
James RelIy’s Universalist message
appealed to
something deep In my soul.
It
meant so much to me
that I just
had to pass on this Good News
wherever I
went.
Even when they
were throwing rocks through church windows!
I felt called
to tell the world
that God cares
for all people![7]
I went on preaching this word
until I was
seventy-four.
Until the
day I died
in the fail of 1815
I
did all I could to organize the churches
and tell
the story of Universal salvation.
For
that they call me
“the Father
of Unlversalism In America”.
I am
honored![8]
I don’t expect that many of you here
today believe as I do.
I
am a Trinltarian Christian
and a
Universalist.
But
I do hope that you are more open
and accepting of each other
than my
neighbors In Gloucester
or at the
Methodist Tabernacle in London.
We
don’t have to agree with each other
in order to
listen and respect each other.
And who
knows!
In the process each of us may learn something.
It
happened to me
when I went
to rescue that young woman
from James
ReIly
and
Universalism.
It can happen to you!
You have
a marvelous opportunity here In this congregation.
You are a great mix:
humanists,
earth-centered
worshippers,
Buddhists,
Jews,
Christians,
agnostics,
and probably others.
Each
has something to offer the others
if you are
open to receiving it.
You are
probably the only liberal church in town.
You
have a chance to show this area
how we can
all be in community together
while
respecting each other’s belief systems.
We couldn’t
do that In my day --
and
It hurt us all!
Those of us
who see you from two centuries ago
are amazed
at what you are doing
in modern
Unitarian Universalism.
It
could not have happened in 1800!
It’s a great
thing you have going.
Keep It strong
and keep it
vital!
And above all,
do all you can
to appreciate
each other’s spirituality!
+++++
References and Resources:
While I now
have personal copies of several of these books, I am indebted to Margaret
Bailey who has loaned me several books including a fragile 100 year old
autobiography of John Murray. Thank you, Margaret, for helping John Murray come
alive for me!
Cassara,
Ernest (Ed); Unfversallsm In America: A
documentary History
of a Liberal Faith
Ferm,
Vergilius; An Encyclopedia of Religion
Murray, John: The Life of John Murray: Preacher of Universal SalvatIon, (1869)
Scott, Clinton Lee; These Live Tomorrow: Twenty Unitarian
Universalist Biographies
Walker, Wlltlston; A History of the Christian Church