Nobody likes a hypocrite. In any list of character flaws we don’t like in other people, hypocrisy would almost certainly be high on the list. When people say one thing but do something else, we don’t trust them, and often rightfully so.

The problem is, pretty much everyone says one thing but does something else at least some of the time. Are there any of who have never given advice to others we didn’t follow ourselves, or who have never made promises to ourselves or others that we didn’t keep, or for whom there has never been a gap between the way we say we would like to live our lives and the way we actually live? We tell our children not to do things that in some cases we have done ourselves. We promise ourselves that we will exercise and lose weight, be more organized, end a bad habit or live a simpler, more environmentally sustainable lifestyle, but we don’t always follow through. Sometimes the gap between the ideal image we have for our lives and the less-than-ideal reality of our lives can be so enormous that we feel a sense of despair. Not all of the gaps between our ideal lives and our actual lives are due to forces we can control, but even in the realm of what we can consciously choose there is often a gap between our ideals and our reality.

A few weeks ago, for example, I attended a very good Explorations! session sponsored by our Eating Ethically Task Force. I’m glad I went, but I left feeling rather horrified at the gap between the way I eat most of the time and what it would take to eat in a truly healthy, humane and sustainable way, even based only on what was covered that morning. It is discouraging to realize that almost nothing in the grocery store meets these standards, even to some degree most of the foods labeled “organic” or “cage-free,” and even in some of the grocery chains I think of as more environmentally responsible. If I’m honest with myself, I doubt if I will ever have an extensive personal garden or buy most of my food directly from the people who produce it, apart from the occasional stop at the farmer’s market in my neighborhood during the summer. If I made eating ethically a top priority in my life, the time and resources required would undoubtedly come into tension with other priorities in my life, such as using my time efficiently at work, driving no more than necessary, balancing my budget, spending enough time with my family, enjoying the pleasures of life, being attentive to others as part of ministry, and spending time on many other causes and issues, from poverty to civil rights to global peace and security.

So should I just forget about what I eat, since the ideal is so far beyond my day-to-day reality? That’s the temptation. But the whole issue of eating ethically is an important one, part of an even larger picture of economics and the sustainability of life and human society on our planet. It is one of two issues up for consideration as a study/action issue at our national General Assembly this year. I certainly advocate paying more attention to what we eat, even as I acknowledge that it isn’t always simple or easy, and that I’m likely not to live up to my own ideals a lot of the time. Is that hypocrisy, or is it the human condition? Is it a fate to be accepted, or is it another step in a lifelong journey of growth and change?

As Unitarian Universalists, we proclaim very high ideals indeed, from honoring the worth of each and every person to respecting the interdependent web of all existence, and seeking peace, liberty and justice for the whole world. We’re not asking for much, are we? Our goals are high, but we know that reality is often very far from those goals, both at a personal level and at a communal or global level. The question is, how can we give these values a more tangible reality? How do we bring the world and our lives even a little bit closer to the principles we affirm?

These questions are implicit in this year’s stewardship theme, “Walking Our Talk.” I have to admit that I googled that phrase to see what would come up, and the first site I looked at questioned the grammatical correctness of the phrase, since talk is not normally something that can be walked. But we know what it means. It’s basically a shorter way of saying, “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.” In other words, don’t be a hypocrite. There are other sayings that make essentially the same point, such as “Actions speak louder than words,” and “Practice what you preach.” By the way, “Practice what you preach” is an especially scary saying if you’re a minister and you make your living in part by preaching!

Once again, we face the dilemma that we want our words and actions to match, while all too often they do not. But there is another way to look at that gap. Walking our talk suggests movement, a journey from where we are toward a better place. (By the way, rolling works as well as walking for those who cannot walk—I apologize for the extended walking metaphor this morning.) The point is, if there were no gap, there would be no place to go. We could eliminate the gap between our words or ideals and our actions simply by not striving for much, by lowering our sights and declaring ourselves comfortable with the suffering, injustices, and planetary destruction that is all around us. But nothing desirable would come of that beyond the dull comfort of apathy. It’s good that we proclaim and aspire to ideals that stretch us and point us toward personal and communal growth. If you’re not opening yourself to at least some danger of someone calling you a hypocrite, then perhaps you are not aiming high enough in your personal aspirations.

Really, what is most galling about hypocrisy is not merely the gap between a person’s words and deeds, but the judgment or condemnation of others, often expressed self-righteously, for the same things we then find out that person has done. So when a governor who prosecuted prostitution rings goes to prostitutes himself, or when right-wing preachers are caught in the very sins they condemned from the pulpit, our reaction is one of disgust. It isn’t just the difference between our aspirations and our reality–a gap that is present in nearly all of our lives–but the open condemnation of others for the very things we have done ourselves. One lesson from this is that we should be very careful about making judgments or condemnations.

Most of the time, our failings and foibles are better handled with compassion, humor and honesty. We are more likely to learn and grow if we are not afraid of being judged for our mistakes or simply for who we are. I don’t mean this as an excuse for not even trying to learn and grow, but it is simple reality that none of us is perfect and we can only begin where we are. There are all sorts of reasons for the choices people make in their lives, and we never know the full story of other people’s lives. Sometimes it is a struggle just to survive. Whatever our journeys, we need to be kind to each other along the way.

Besides, we need to remember the point of trying to walk our talk. The goal that matters most is not ritual purity, or escaping personal blame, or even avoiding accusations of hypocrisy. The goal that matters is to make a positive difference in the world and in our lives. And on that score, imperfect progress on the part of many may accomplish more than near-perfection by just a few. An improvement of 10% in reducing the carbon footprint of each one of us would accomplish more than half a dozen of us reducing our carbon footprint to zero while the rest of us made no changes in our lives. And for that matter, if our whole congregation led carbon-neutral lives, even along with every other Unitarian Universalist congregation in the nation, the effect would still be far less than the impact of a few key policy changes at a national or global level.

To be sure, these approaches are not mutually exclusive. We can work on policy changes and on changes in our personal lives at the same time, and there can be small progress by many people at the same time as greater progress by a few. There is real value in the leadership and example of people who show what is possible and inspire others to do more. There is spiritual value in living with integrity, putting our principles into practice in our personal lives as fully as we know how. But there is not much value in comparing ourselves with others, negatively or positively, except as as part of a process of learning. In the end, what we really want is not to be able to congratulate ourselves that we were right or that we are not to blame for the ills of the world. What we want is real progress in the healing of those ills. Real peace. Real sustainability. However it happens, whether any of the credit belongs with us or not.

And of course, even if we are doing our best, we could never congratulate ourselves for playing no role in the ills of the world. One of the obstacles to walking our talk is that we are deeply embedded in the society in which we live. Our ways of making a living, our means of transportation, our access to food and housing and health care are limited by the options available in our society. We may wish to recycle, for example, but we can only recycle what the recyclers will take. It is hard to avoid commuting if our cities have been designed with all the jobs in one place and all the homes somewhere else, and no public transportation in-between. Ours is the most wasteful society on earth, and it is hard not to participate in that waste. Even if a few of us managed to isolate ourselves from that waste, the impact would be small unless we changed some of the structures of our society as well.

At the societal and global level, the gap between the ideal and current reality is enormous indeed. There is still enormous poverty in the world, disastrous militarism led primarily by the United States, and steady damage to our planet, the only home we all have. In order to move in a meaningful way toward a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world, dramatic changes would be needed. As far as I can tell, these changes would have to include shifting from massive spending on military force to focusing on what is needed for real security, as opposed to aggressive imperialism. It would mean investing aggressively instead in research into energy alternatives and sustainable economics. Real change would mean altering the structures of economic accounting and incentives so that resource depletion did not count as national income, carbon emissions and other environmental effects were built into costs, trade did not undermine environmental responsibility, and economic incentives rewarded sustainable practices rather than ever-increasing consumption. The empowerment of women and access to family planning would help with population growth, as would a reduction in severe poverty and disease. After all, the more likely that children will die, the more children families tend to have. We all have a stake in a more equitable world economy. The world will also need careful management of water resources and changes in food production, including more localized production, and protection of soil and other agricultural resources. And we need to make it easier for people to do the right thing in their day-to-day lives.

These are huge changes needed in the world, and this is far from a comprehensive list, but we need not utterly despair. Despite the forces resisting these changes, we are not alone in wishing for them, and the need for them is becoming more apparent every day. Some changes that need to occur, such as moving away from an oil-based economy, will happen some day no matter what–the question is how much suffering we will endure and how much damage will be done to the planet in the process. Still, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. In the face of such huge needs in the world, what does it mean to walk our talk, and what does it matter if we do? Most of us care very deeply or we wouldn’t be here, but we don’t want our efforts to be in vain. So what can we do?

I don’t want to pretend that we can solve the problems of the world by ourselves. But part of the key to walking our talk is that we don’t do it by ourselves. We join in community, and our communities join in a larger movement, which joins with other allies in causes for change. This is one of the reasons that it matters to be part of a community like JUC, why we need a stronger Unitarian Universalist movement, and why we need to know who our allies are in other faith communities and other movements.

And as individuals? Because we can only start where we are, the most important thing we can do is to identify one next step, and take it. In words dating back two and a half millenia to Lao-tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Something is better than nothing, and we shouldn’t let the daunting thought of the whole thousand miles and whether or not we will ever go that far prevent us from taking that first step we know we can take. What would a next step be for you? To finally replace your incandescent light bulbs–or even just a few of them? Would it be to learn more about a global issue? To call your senator, increase your pledge, march in the Pride Parade, join the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee or put solar panels on your roof? By now I have about a dozen canvas bags for shopping, but I know I need to take the step of remembering to put them back in the car after I use them, so I don’t end up still bringing home more paper or plastic bags. And then it might be worth taking a closer look at what I’m buying and putting into those bags.

JUC is an inspiring place because I see so many examples here of walking our talk. You heard Judy Douglass’ chalice lighting this morning, one of the most dedicated social justice volunteers I know at JUC. She helped illustrate the joy that walking our talk can bring, whether working on global issues or bringing kindness into the life of just one person. Both are valuable, and I see both at JUC all the time.

Today is also Earth Sunday, and our Green Task Force has literature on its table that can help you with next steps for the environment. They are also sponsoring today’s Explorations! session with Chuck Kutscher on climate change. Last year on Earth Sunday, we announced approval of putting solar panels on the roof of the church. Little did we know what obstacles would be put in our way, mostly relating to insurance, but Randy Kuehn and others stuck with it all year, and now it really does appear that the way is clear for the panels to go on our roof. Sometimes sheer persistence is an important part of walking our talk.

And then this weekend, thanks to Dee Ray and hundreds of volunteers here at JUC, we had another outpouring of social service involving more than half of this congregation: cleaning parks and assisting seniors and fixing up a nursery at Family Tree and donating bikes and so very much more. A beautiful weekend for it, too! Thank you all so much! Don’t miss the stewardship celebration on May 3 when we will see the video put together by the Sealys, another treat you can be sure. Walking our Talk is our stewardship theme, but it was never meant to be only about money, as important as that may be for fulfilling our visions for this congregration. It is about everything we do to strive for a better world and better, more faithful and responsible lives. Again, we do this not to claim to be better than anyone else–there is no place for that in a truly welcoming and inclusive faith. Instead, it is for the sake of our own spiritual growth and because we care about the results in the world. When many small steps are added together, whether in education or service or advocacy or all of the above, we never know when the tipping points will be reached that will result in real change in the world. Besides, the commitments we make are at the heart of our faith–so what else can we do?

Whatever it may be, however large or small, can you take one more step, even beyond this weekend, on the path to walking our talk? No one is looking over your shoulder to judge you, condemn you, or make you feel bad for the steps you haven’t taken. I’m hardly where I’d like to be myself on many scores. But because the interdependent web is real, there are countless people and other living creatures our actions affect, and we will ultimately be accountable to generations yet to be born, who will have only the planet that we leave to them. For peace, for justice, and for a sustainable Earth, walking our talk means continuing to move in the right direction, taking one more step at a time. What is that one more step for you?

May we find it; may it be so.