"First You Make a Roux" A Sermon for Commitment Sunday

First Unitarian Universalist Church
Sunday, October 11, 2009

In the Living section of this week’s Times-Picayune, there was an article that explained that professional chefs and amateur cooks outside of New Orleans are almost always shocked at the dark color of our roux. Most of these serious cooks had no idea that in South Louisiana we cook a roux so long to get that rich deep brown, almost-black, hue. Of course, no one from here or who has lived here long would be surprised – to us, it’s normal.

We know it takes both courage and care to let a roux go that dark, to come that close to burning. (In fact, that’s the reason why my mother used to joke that her Louisiana recipes actually started with, “First, you burn the roux.”) You have to stay close by, stirring a lot if not constantly, being willing to get spattered a bit with the hot mixture -- which is why Mrs. Leah Chase’s stirring arm is dotted with old burn scars. You have to let go of your anxiety that it’s getting too dark, and watch carefully and patiently as the roux grows to be the color of coffee with just a touch of cream, right before you throw in the chopped "holy trinity" of onion, celery, and bell pepper to stop the browning. You have to stay present and pay attention, and you can’t be trying to do too many things at one time (which is why my Mama’s roux burned so often).

It’s easy to see why our Annual Budget Drive Committee chose “First You Make a Roux” as the theme for this year’s campaign. Making a proper roux takes attention, patience, care, courage, and dedication – and maybe even a willingness to suffer a little. Once the roux is properly prepared, you have the basis for almost anything you want to do in South Louisiana cooking. In the same way, putting together the budget of a UU church and seeking the support of its members and friends also requires attention, patience, care, courage, and dedication – and maybe even a willingness to suffer just a little bit.

Maybe “suffer” is the wrong word. Many of us left our previous religious faiths that expected us to “suffer” perhaps a little too much. But it’s also true that a faith that asks little or nothing of its adherents can expect to get exactly that.

Here’s what Unitarian Universalism and First Church expect of you: your very best. Whatever is your best effort, that is what we expect – the best of your giving in the circumstances and context of your present life. The best you can do, the best you can give. For some of us, that might be a gift above $5,000 per year; for a few others, it might be $1 per week, or even less. For many of us, it will be somewhere in the middle between those two extremes.

I gave a lot of thought to my gift this year, and I made a decision that required a little sacrifice. I plan to double my gift to the church, putting myself in the beginning stages of the UUA Giving Guide for my level of income. I have a personal goal in years to come of moving myself along the Giving chart, to eventually become a full Tither. I’m not there yet, but I want to get there. The gift I’m planning would require skipping some movies and popcorn, and eating-in a little more often. But for right now, in the context of Eric and my life, this gift feels good. We’re giving til it feels good. I hope that all of you who have not yet made your gift will think in those terms, that you will do the best you can, that you too will give til it feels good.

While it might be a good fantasy to dream about a church that didn’t need to raise money, in the world we live in it doesn’t happen very often. (And in those few churches I know about that have no money challenges, the level of interpersonal conflict is sadly very high. be careful what you wish for!) No matter how you look at it, money is the roux that makes everything happen in a church – the building, the worship, the religious education, the music, the interfaith connections, the programs for the folks inside the church and the ministries that benefit the wider community. Everything we do as a church, and everything we hope to so, takes regular applications of money, coming in at predictable, expected intervals.

Folks outside of New Orleans and South Louisiana can’t understand why we cook the way we do, and it’s likely that outside of Unitarian Universalism there may be religious folks who can’t understand the way we govern ourselves and how we make important decisions. But this is the way things are done in the free church – the members decide for themselves where money is to be spent, to what purpose, and in what amounts, and then they raise the bulk of that money from among themselves. And so, here we are, once again engaged in the holy effort of pledging ourselves to support the faith and church we love.

Yesterday and Friday, I spent hours on my gumbo contribution to last night’s Gumbo Celebration Dinner. Stirring the pot as the roux slowly browned to the right color, getting spattered by the hot flour and oil mixture, sweating bullets in my hot kitchen, I was thinking about the dinner and this morning’s service and this sermon. And I thought about how much fun we would have as a community, eating and talking and joking together. I knew in advance that Jyaphia’s gumbo would beat my gumbo, and I knew I didn’t care. I knew it would be worth it, and I was glad to do it. It felt good to contribute.

When first you make a roux, you can use it to create any number of delicious dishes. When you put together an Annual Budget Drive in a UU church, you can use the funds raised in any number of creative ways to further the mission of the church. Let’s make this roux rich and dark and smoky; let’s make something strong to put the church on a firm and strong foundation. Let’s do this together. AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMASTE – BLESSED BE!