 Many years ago, my wife, Amy, was a minister in a church that was an architectural landmark. The church was a stunning building designed by Aero Saranen, who also designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Sadly, the congregation has dwindled these days to the point where there's only a handful of people in worship, and in that space it actually feels more depressing than inspiring given the small number. The building today is far more of an architectural tourist magnet than a living church. For a variety of reasons, that congregation failed to make its building its own. I was reminded of that church as I read the first sermon in First Unitarian's new building delivered 70 years ago last month. I'm opening my sermon today in the hearth room because that first service actually took place in this space. The prowl that's just beyond where I'm standing was not yet enclosed, the sanctuary or the auditorium, meeting house, not even completed at all. So according to Max Gabler in Landmarks in the Life of First Unitarian Society, there was a temporary partition separating the hearth room from the meeting house and the people huddled in here. So there were maybe a picture in your mind, 100 people gathered in this small space, maybe a roaring fire because it was cold beyond that partition. The service took place on February 4th, 1951. That first sermon was given by First Unitarian Society member and legendary University of Wisconsin professor of philosophy, Max Carl Otto. He was a giant in the American tradition, philosophical tradition of pragmatism. As Max Gabler notes, he was also truly a great teacher. He was one of the signers of the humanist manifesto in 1933. Otto's sermon, which he titled, To Own or Be Owned, is nothing short of a masterpiece. I learned from Michael Shuler a few days ago that he preached several sermons based on that sermon, and I bet Max Gabler did too. It is a powerful sermon. It articulated a vision for First Unitarian Society that still speaks strongly. I'm so grateful to FUS staffer, Cheryl Melenthin, for calling that sermon to my attention. One of the most interesting things about Max Otto's sermon is that while he acknowledges the beauty and power of this new building, he never actually mentions the architect by name. If Frank Lloyd Wright was present that day, I can imagine him bristling at being referred to only as the architect. The building Otto preached is the architect's work of art, not the congregation's work of art. His sermon was about the congregation, not the building. Otto spelled out his thesis early in the sermon. No amount of acclaim, he said, will make the admired structure our own. To become ours, it must bring enrichment from within it to the religious cause which our society exists to serve. Caught up in our aspiration, and thought, and action, the architect's work of art has to be absorbed into the art of the congregation's life. So Otto was saying the way I'd put it, that while this structure is deservedly considered to be an architectural landmark, the congregation will only be a religious landmark if it fulfills its mission in the world. A building, as was painfully obvious in the case of my wife's siren and landmark church, cannot on its own make a congregation successful. A building is but a tool to help a congregation make the difference it wants to make in the lives of its members in the world. Haven't we seen Otto's truth this past year? Shockingly, after 69 years in this space, you suddenly lost access to it a year ago this coming weekend. Even though it's been a really hard year, and many of you have dearly missed this space and the atrium, First Unitarian Society still exists, and it still is fulfilling its mission. We have been reminded in a previously unimaginable way about the wisdom of Max Otto's message back in 1951. So in that sermon, Professor Otto staked out four ways that First Unitarian Society could make this building its own. First, Otto wanted the congregation to be a place that integrates thinking and feeling. A towering intellect, no doubt, he understood that emotion is also important in living a religious or spiritual life. Yes, he declared, our Unitarianism is in a special sense a thinking religion, but it is also a religion of feeling. Otto blasted some Unitarian congregations for being lukewarm at best. In such congregations, the people think it improper, he said, to feel deeply about anything. Skatingly, he did a little riff on little Jack Horner. They sit in their individualistic corner enjoying the good things provided by their fellows in the past and in the present, put in their thumb, pull out a plum and say, what a smart boy am I? Related to the need for emotion and congregational life, he also put in a good word for laughter. Yes, there is lots to be done to build a world that is better and more just, and this is serious business, but there needs to be space for laughter and lightness too. He asked, can there be any doubt the error would be electric with new hope if a few people who are dominated by a sense of world mission could get over taking things in general and themselves in particular, so constantly with such deadly seriousness. Make space for laughter. What a great message for the first sermon in a new building. What an unusual message. The second way that a congregation can make a building its own is to integrate the inner work of spiritual growth with the external work of justice. Unless there is tangible action to increase the well-being beyond the walls, Otto declared that the stone and glass and wood and copper expertly contrived for our group home will remain religiously empty, and in this vein in the sermon he specifically lifted up the work of racial justice. He wanted the congregation to demand boldly everyone's legitimate place in the human family, and as the horrible possibility of nuclear annihilation became more evident around that time and just seven months into the Korean War, he also asserted in his own words that we have to come to the front as uncompromising foes of war. He called on FUS members to believe that it is possible to get rid of war and to dedicate themselves to being a strong voice against the idea that might makes right. I love how in one sentence he tied together getting past the dualisms of an elect versus emotion, an interior spiritual journey versus exterior social activism, he said, we could stand a little more religious warmth and a little unbecoming social passion. We could stand a little more religious warmth and a little unbecoming social passion. Richard Otto called for the congregation to embrace a working partnership between science and religion. He asserted that religious liberalism was uniquely positioned to bring together scientific investigation and the religious spirit. Humanity must, he said, seek to understand the world through science and then use religion's emphasis on values, ethics, and meaning to make decisions about technology and other uses of science. And fourth, Otto said, a congregation can make a building its own by strongly advocating for education. Not surprising, of course, that he saw education as being so crucial, he devoted his life to being an educator. Though he did not say it, I strongly suspect that he also wanted FUS to provide a strong religious education program for its children, its youth, and its adults. So insistently advocating for education and resisting dualisms between thinking versus feeling, internal versus external work spiritually and in society in religion and science. These all strike me as central to the vitality of First Unitarian Society today. Thankfully, FUS has not been and is not on the road to becoming an empty architectural monument like the church my wife served. But we must continue to be vigilant in the work that Otto called us to do. This sermon honestly makes me question those in this congregation who say that the new minister, the congregation will call in a couple months, must above all else provide intellectual sermons. I think Professor Otto would say, no, FUS needs to call a minister who combines intellectual skill and integrity with an ability to make creative space for emotion. I would argue that this is exactly what Max Gabler and Michael Schuler and Kelly Crocker and the other skilled ministers who have served this congregation over the past 70 years have done each in their own unique way. I am confident and glad that the search committee will present a candidate who in their own unique way will continue this head and heart integration. I am also confident that the search committee will present a candidate who has a sense of humor, who does not take themselves too seriously. Otto's sermon also makes me question those who say that First Unitarian should focus on intellectual and spiritual growth, not on social justice, and those who say the opposite. Spiritual development and social justice are both essential. Indeed, I don't think you can really fully have one without the other. Friends, the work that Max Otto called us to do in this congregation is not easy. It's actually a lot harder than enlisting a world-renowned architect and paying money to construct a new building. It's harder than keeping up an architectural monument, even with its massive and massively expensive copper roof, among other things. It's harder than giving millions of dollars to construct a beautiful, functional addition to the landmark building. I know all those things are hard and I'm not diminishing them. But building a congregation that grows and connects souls, that helps those souls live out their unitarian universalist values in their life and in the life of the community, well that is a lot harder. To do this year after year, decade after decade, demands a high level of commitment. A congregation can only thrive in this work if its members generously give up their time, their energy, their passion, and their money. So this is a key juncture for First Unitarian Society. As I've said previously, I think that First Unitarian is on the cusp of another stirring chapter in its story. But this is also a challenging moment. Three years of transitional ministry, a pandemic on top of that make it so. A successful stewardship campaign this spring will do a lot to position First Unitarian Society for success as you venture into this next new exciting chapter. In these next few weeks, I hope that you will reflect on what First Unitarian Society means to you and to Madison. I hope that you will make as generous of a financial commitment as you can. If you step back these few years from giving, I hope that you'll step back in and renew your financial commitment to First Unitarian Society. It will make a difference. Those of you who have been negatively impacted by the economic downturn with the pandemic, you may need to step back. I get that. And those of us not negatively impacted will have the opportunity to fill that gap. This is how we are together in a diverse religious community. Whoever you are on the spectrum know that your decision will make a difference. So hopefully you've received a pledge information that was mailed out last Monday. If not, please let Cheryl Melenthin or Kelly or me for that matter know and we'll be glad to get you that information. I warmly invite you in these next weeks to participate in one of the cottage meetings and you can find out more about those in the current issues of red floors. Reverend Kelly and I are very excited to go to those gatherings. I also warmly invite you after some deep reflection to make your pledge online or to mail in your pledge card. And it would be lovely if you spent some time on reflection but not too much so that Cheryl or Kelly or Monica or myself don't have to chase you down for your pledge. Well let's hear a final word from Professor Otto Sermon. And then we'll hear from a member of this congregation, this aspiring beloved community. Professor Otto said in that sermon, the architectural beauty of the building must be transfigured and glorified by the religious life within it. As that life reaches out into the community of need by which it is surrounded and into the needy world beyond. And let us now hear from First Unitarian Society Board Member Lorna Aronson. I'm recalling a time some three decades ago when I was asked to speak about what my financial pledge to FUS meant to me. I had just completed an Intro to Economics course at UW and Leonard Weiss, the professor who taught the class, was in the congregation that day. I spoke about the economic principle known as the Diamond and Water Paradox. I wondered aloud why I'm willing to place a greater value on things that I want but that are not essential and yet complain when there's an increase in my water bill. Professor Weiss approached me after the service and said that it was rare for him to hear that his students not only listened to him but actually applied economic principles to their lives. The pandemic has required that we find new ways of being together in community. The constraints of Zoom have caused me to listen more carefully, speak what's on my mind and my heart more gracefully, and become better at taking turns. Our ministers, staff, leadership and committed members have allowed us to continue the valued work of peace, justice and caring for each other and the world in which we live. This year more than ever I have been reminded that my life in this community we share is the very water of my life. I look forward to being together face to face but also hope to remember the lessons that I've learned during this time of what John Kabat-Zinn calls full catastrophe living. I'm retired and I get by on a modest but livable fixed income. I'm grateful that my income, though it's modest, has not been seriously compromised by the economics of the pandemic. For that reason I've decided to make what for me is a significant and slightly uncomfortable increase in my two-year stewardship pledge. I can get along without a few of the diamonds in my life but not without the water of this community that sustains me.