The following is an excerpt from Rev. Sharon Wylie’s sermon “Deeds Not Creeds” offered on April 20, 2025. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. You can watch the full sermon on Chalice’s YouTube channel.

In January, when we talked about salvation (and I do mean we talked about it; it was not so much me preaching as us talking popcorn-style together), we started with the questions: What do we need saving from? And what will save us? Trump was fresh on our hearts that inauguration week, and where we arrived tentatively after half an hour is the idea that what we need saving from in this lifetime is the worst that humans can do to each other and that what will save us is the best that humans can do to each other….

When we talk about theological questions, we have to interrogate them about where do they lead us in terms of our real-life practices. So if you teach a young child that Jesus or God will always protect them and keep them safe, the danger is that they don’t know how to keep themselves safe. They may engage in dangerous behaviors, imagining that God is going to keep them safe as they cycle into the street or jump off the swing or whatever. We have to think about the real life applications of our theological beliefs.

And I think one of the dangers of the idea that “the best of humanity will save us” is that that’s a really high bar, and it may cause us to withdraw from humanity, right? I can be my best self alone in my living room, peaceful, I have no mean thoughts towards anybody, and I don’t read the news, it feels like the less I read the news, the better in touch I am with my best self. And that’s not where we can let our theology lead us. We need to be engaged with the world. All of our talking about salvation that day was about how we interact with each other, so we have to be clear that we want to be—our “better selves,” I would say is maybe a gentler phrase—our better selves in relationship with all of us, including people who disagree with us.

And that’s why I wanted to hear Reverend Budde’s words again. We’ll probably hear it again in a few months (I need that sermon every morning when I wake up). How do we speak up for what’s important to us and engage when we can with people with very different ideas and hold our respect for them, be honest about what we’re thinking and feeling, and yet not demonize other people. That’s why we heard our story this morning that I hope can be a mantra for you as it is for me: most people are good people. Those aren’t the people who make the news; when we read the news, we’re going to be reading about some of the worst of humanity, that’s the nature of the news.

That’s our tougher task is what I’m reminding you: our salvation is to be our better selves. So let this be a joyful time. I think that our being in community together is more important than ever because if we’re to try to live into the better selves we want to be, to engage with people with different ideas, and to not shy away from those conversations, and to be honest and yet respectful, to not mock and belittle other people, first and foremost, don’t try to have these conversations online. It just doesn’t lend itself to that. If we’re to move back towards national unity across our differences, it will need to come from face-to-face interactions. And I know there are those among you who feel curious about that: how can we make that happen, how can we start to have those discussions.

That’s the work ahead of us, and I think also it’s work ahead of us to help call other people into these ideas of setting aside mocking and belittling others in favor of difficult conversation. Reverend Budde calls us to finding common ground, not necessarily changing other people’s minds (although that’s the hope of our hearts), but we can try to listen to each other about our shared values.

Blessings,

Sharon