Rev. Stefan M. Jonasson

Welcome to my sermon page!

My father once suggested that no one was ever going to pay me to stand around and talk. He warned
my brother, the firefighter, that no one was going to pay him to sleep. Dad's counsel was usually pretty
reliable but he missed the mark on this score. Had he known, Dad might have taken fewer notes at
university and doodled in the margins more. He was a gifted artist and I'm sure that someone would
have paid him to paint and draw if he'd been a little less practical.

Preaching is an art, too. Life is my canvass and words are the material with which I paint. I would like
to think that somewhere along the way, my words have lightened the burden of someone looking for a
sign of hope, encouraged someone who was discouraged by life's vicissitudes, or inspired someone to
acts of justice and compassion.

Here is a selection of sermons from among several hundred that I have delivered over the past 24
years. There is no rationale for the particular selection that follows, other than the fact that they were
readily available to post to the web. I plan to "refresh" this page from time to time, posting my most
recent sermons, as they become available, and maintaining a small archive of "gems" from the past. If
you find a sermon you especially like, download it now, for it may not be here next month.

All sermons linked to this page are Copyright © 1997-2008 by Stefan M. Jonasson. Web surfers are
free to print single copies for their own enjoyment; other preachers are free to quote passages with
proper attribution; all other duplication, distribution, or commercial use is expressly prohibited, except
with the previous consent of the author. The author realizes he is fantasizing that there might be a
sufficient number of interested people to make this warning necessary. ;-)

ON MINISTRY

Still Comes the Call (PDF) - For those of us who have made the ministry our life’s work, and for those
who value the church as an institution for good, there is no greater cause for joy and celebration than
the recognition that this call comes still to listening spirits who are prepared to take upon themselves
the mantle of this vocation and go forth to proclaim clearly the life-enriching message of our living
tradition, while embodying its values in their very lives. This sermon was delivered at the ordination and
installation of Rev. Dr. Michael J. Tino as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of North
Westchester - November 4, 2007.

Wellsprings of the Spirit (PDF) - According to legend, the wells of Lingelbach suffered from two
regular calamities: they were subject to recurring contamination, making the water undrinkable, while
every seven years the wells ran dry, providing no water at all. There was one well in the village,
though, that never became contaminated and which never ran dry: the “minister’s well” at the parish
church. This short address was delivered as the charge to the minister at the installation of Rev. Dr.
Linda Weaver Horton as minister of the Unitarian Fellowship of Kelowna - June 27, 2007.

A Little Farther Than the Rest (PDF) - The act of installing a minister is nothing more—and nothing
less—than the act of blessing a ministry, in full anticipation of a new era in a congregation’s history,
which will reach a little farther than the rest, building upon a foundation for ministry which was laid long
ago but which stands firmly and resolutely today. This sermon was delivered at the installation of Rev.
Diane Rollert as minister of the Unitarian Church of Montreal - February 17, 2007.

ON HISTORY AND POLITY

The Continuing Reformation (PDF) - The roots of Unitarianism lie in the Radical Reformation of the
16th century, when our ancestors were among the most committed practitioners of what theologian
Paul Tillich later called the Protestant Principle. In those early days, the Unitarian pioneer Francis Dávid
preached the gospel of semper reformanda, the continuing reformation, imagining that faith itself must
be forever open to reform and evolution. The ideal of the continuing reformation is as relevant in the
twenty-first century as it was then -- politically, socially and religiously. If he were alive today, what
would Francis Dávid do? First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis - October 29, 2006

The Congregational Way (PDF) - "Congregational polity is ours by inheritance, but also by conviction,"
affirms Conrad Wright. "It commends itself to us as congruent with democratic principles we cherish."
The genius of congregational polity is that, not only does it allow congregations to make their own
decisions, it even allows them to make their own mistakes. But since it is the people of the church who
are responsible for its welfare - to pay for its needs, to give of their time, to build community together -
it is only fair that they collectively have the final say in matters that affect them. Arborg Unitarian
Church - March 3, 2002.

ON SPIRITUALITY

This Old Clock (PDF) - For as long as I can remember, my great- grandmother's clock has hung on the
wall of the family room in my mother's home. Too often we dismiss the importance of "things," feeling it
materialistic or superficial to cherish the objects that surround us, while forgetting that they can also
be touchstones that remind us of the precious events and cherished people in our lives - even the
deepest values we hold dear. Eliot Chapel, Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston - January 7, 2003.

And the Wonder Grew (PDF) - The sense of wonder lies at the heart of both religious experience and
scientific discovery. It is essential to the religious enterprise that we cultivate this sense of wonder
which is, in the words of Rachel Carson, "an unfailing antidote against the boredom and
disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation
from the sources of our strength." University Unitarian Church in Seattle - October 28, 2001.

The Art of Kindness (PDF) - Robert Ingersoll once remarked, "I think more of kindness than I do of
genius." What would the world be like if being kind was valued as highly as being clever, or being right? I
believe that kindness is an art: it is the discipline of affection, the art of making love tangible in the
world. As an art, it requires cultivation, discipline, and practice. Gimli Unitarian Church - August 9,
1998.

ON THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

Come, Let Us Reason Together (PDF) - William Ellery Channing, objecting to "the contemptuous
manner in which human reason is often spoken of by our adversaries," asserted that truth is "decided at
the bar of reason." Reason is the tool that mediates our understanding of human experience and
scientific discovery; it is the faculty that enables us to fashion meaning in our lives. It stands in sharp
contrast to revelation as a source of authority. Gimli Unitarian Church - September 28, 1997.

Behaving, Believing, Belonging (PDF) - Mordecai Kaplan taught that "there are three possible ways
of identifying with a religious community: by behaving, by believing, or by belonging." It does matter
how we behave. It does matter what we believe. But it matters, more importantly to us, that we
maintain a sense of belonging to one another and to the larger tradition, the great cloud of witnesses
who have testified to the enduring ideals and vision of liberal religion. Arborg Unitarian Church -
September 21, 1997.

Epicurus, Ecclesiastes and Me (PDF) - Epicurus was a ancient Greek philosopher, three centuries
before Jesus, who argued first and foremost that all reality is material; that even the realm we attribute
to the spirit—the substance of the soul, if you will—is material. It was a viewpoint shared in many ways
by Ecclesiastes, the most widely known and popular biblical writer among Unitarian Universalists.
Ecclesiastes argued that the world—the physical universe—is here for us to enjoy ... not to exploit, or
destroy, mind you, but to savor and enjoy. Unitarian Church of Underwood - January 26, 1997.