From info@newchurch-cincy.org Thu Jan 1 22:37:23 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Thu, 01 Jan 1998 17:37:23 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980101162548.29efe686@mail.one.net> MY APOLOGIES THAT EARLIER CHRISTMAS SERMONS LAST MONTH WERE NOT SEND OUT. They will shortly be available on our website. This is roughly formatted for ASCII transmission. This and other sermons may be found with fuller formatting on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org If you would like this sermon as a fully formatted WP 5.1 or WP 6.0 document, email me, giving the name of the sermon, and your preferred format, at . ___________________________________________________________________ For Cinti. 12-28-97 HUMILITY & THE ADVENT A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; . . . " (Isa. 40:4) CHRISTMAS IS, ABOVE ALL, A RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL. It has as its purpose the commemoration of the Lord's First Advent. As such, it is a time when we read and remember the wonderful story of His birth as it is recorded in the Gospels -- that story we have known about and heard every Christmas since our earliest childhood. It also is, or should be, a time when this story of Christmas is not only remembered, but is also, as it were, re-enacted within our own minds. It is a story which must come to life within us. For what really is the story of Christmas? It is the story of our Lord coming down to earth. It is an account of how He drew close to the people He loved. This the Lord did, in history, for the entire human race. If, though, the story of this event is to have any real and lasting meaning for us, it must be repeated in our own lives. As the Lord drew close to all mankind at a certain point in history, so too He must, in our own lifetimes, draw close to each one of us individually. What a wonder and a blessing it will be if, following this Christmas season, we can open our hearts to the Lord a little more, so that He can draw closer to us, and fill our hearts with peace and with good-will. We can enjoy Christmas. We can take great delight in hearing the accounts, in Matthew and Luke, of how the Lord was born on earth. As we experience this delight, heaven draws close to us. Indeed heaven is the cause of this delight that we feel when we hear the Christmas story. We are feeling the angels' delight as we read the Word. But the benefit is only a temporary one -- it will do no lasting good -- unless in some way what we learn, what we listen to, what we enjoy, affects the way we live. These teachings must be lived. This morning we would take one such teaching -- a clear and obvious teaching of the Christmas story, and a teaching which has to be applied to life if it is to mean anything. It is the teaching of John the Baptist. In the Gospel of Mark we read that, before the Lord began His ministry, "John came baptizing in the wilderness, and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mk. 1:4). John's message was a simple one. It was the message that if we would have the Lord come to us and be with us, truly with us, then we must change the way we live. We must stop doing things we like doing, things we love, when these things are in conflict with the Lord's commandments. We must live the way the Lord would want us to live, not the way we ourselves would prefer. For a proud man, for a man who considers himself to be important, this is difficult. For a humble man, though, this is something he can do. A humble man recognizes his own weaknesses. He recognizes that whereas he knows very little, the Lord is all-wise. And so he will trust, not his own desires and his own judgment, but will, rather, obey the Lord, and listen to His Word. So it is that as preparation for the coming of the Lord into our lives, we must humble ourselves. We must practice repentance and accept with humility the ways of the Lord. Only if we are humble can the Lord come to us and lift us up. The advent of the Lord brings about a separation between the humble and the proud. In the words of Mary, in that portion of the Word which we call the Magnificat: "He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty" (Lk. 1:52-53). If we think of ourselves as so rich in knowledge and judgment that we do not listen to and learn from the Word, but desire instead to determine our own lives, we will never be able to receive true wisdom from the Lord. On the other hand, if we hunger for the Lord's teachings, if we rely on them to guide us, then we will receive a multitude of good things from the Lord -- uncountable spiritual blessings. This teaching, the teaching that only the humble will benefit from the Lord's advent, is not only seen in the New Testament. In the Book of Isaiah, in the magnificent words of the 40th chapter, the mission of John the Baptist, and the Advent itself, are clearly prophesied: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken'" (Isa. 40:3-5). "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; . . . " Think what this means! If we are to prepare the way of the Lord, if we are to prepare ourselves that the Lord might enter our hearts, then we must become as a valley. By a mountain or a hill is, of course, meant someone who is proud. A valley is someone who is humble. We all know, of course, that pride is wrong. But do we put this knowledge into practice? Do we repent of pride when we notice it in ourselves? Repentance means changing the way we live -- and our life consists not only of actions and words, but also of thoughts and attitudes. Repentance requires us to change not only the way we behave in front of others, but also the secret thoughts we harbor in our hearts. Take an example. We may sometimes get the feeling and have a notion that perhaps we are more important than other people, or that we are better than they are. If we welcome such an idea, and allow ourselves to believe it -- to believe that our own welfare is intrinsically more important than that of others -- or to believe that in some way we are inherently better than those around us, then we are sinning. It is the sin of pride. We should remind ourselves of the truth, and reflect upon the teaching of the Word, that no man is more important than his neighbor -- no man should consider his own welfare to be more important than that of others. We can and we must shun proud thoughts. Let us not allow ourselves to be, in the words of Mary, "proud in the imagination of our hearts." Let us not think of ourselves as more important than we really are. Let us not make ourselves to be a mountain or a hill. The truth is that in ourselves we are not important. This is the lesson of life. During our days on earth we so often strive to make something of ourselves. We strive to make ourselves important in not only our own eyes, but in the eyes of others as well. In the end, though, as life on this earth starts drawing to a close, we begin to ask ourselves just what we have done with our lives. What real contribution have we made? What difference have we really made to other people? Will the world miss us if we die? If we see things in this perspective, we begin to see that, relatively speaking, what we accomplish is really so very little. We are seldom as important as we might like to think we are. We can take this point one step further. In ourselves, by ourselves, apart from the Lord, we are not only unimportant -- we are, compared to Him, nothing -- absolutely nothing. It is the Lord alone who has power. It is He alone who is all-wise, all-knowing. All that we have comes from Him alone. All we can do is receive what is from Him and use it, either for good or for ill. By ourselves, then, we are nothing. By ourselves we are completely insignificant. Only the Lord is important. As we read further on in the same chapter of Isaiah: "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, . . . " (Isa. 40:22). "'To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things" (Isa. 40:25-26). When we contemplate the underlying reality, we can see how truly insignificant we really are. We can see that for any one of us to think of himself as more important than another makes no more sense than for one tiny little speck of dust to be proud because it is slightly larger than another. As for us to insist on following our own ways, and ignoring the Lord's Word and His commandments, this is the height of arrogance. Who are we, who are nothing, that we should argue and strive with the omnipotent God? Once we see this, once we come to really know and understand that we are nothing in comparison with Him, then, and only then, is it possible for the Lord to come to us, help us, and lift us up. As long as we harbor the illusion that we are significant -- that we are an end unto ourselves -- we will never really want or fully accept the Lord. We will resist Him. But if we humbly accept the truth that without Him we are nothing, then we can turn to Him in humble adoration, and place our lives in His hands, obeying His commandments, and trusting in His Providence. Then it is that we become as a valley, a valley which can then be exalted. Without Him we are nothing; with Him though, there is no end to what we can accomplish. What we can do in this world, in the span of an average lifetime, may seem relatively insignificant. But what we do can be the means for preparing us for an eternal life of use in the heavens. There we can have our share, our inheritance, in the Lord's kingdom of uses. Though, by ourselves, we are insignificant, the Lord can, if we are humble, bring us into His kingdom, and into a life of eternal use. And the use that we will perform there is important. As the Writings point out, only as we see ourselves to be nothing can we first begin to become something (SD 2043). THERE ARE MANY THINGS WE THINK OF when we think of Christmas. But, however we may think of this celebration, let us remember this: that the Lord God omnipotent descended to earth so that He might be worshiped -- so that mankind might humble themselves before the Creator of the Universe. This the Lord wants us to do, not for His own sake, but for ours -- so that He can then enter our hearts, and lift us up. That little baby who was born in Bethlehem grew up, and took upon Himself the salvation of the human race, and in the process He become Divine love in human form. This is the God we worship. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Shortly after the Lord's birth, He was worshiped by wise men, who traveled many miles so that they might fall down before Him. If this Christmas is to have any lasting significance, then we must do likewise. We also must fall down before Him. Within our hearts we must reflect upon the awesome power and majesty of the Lord. We must reflect upon how insignificant we really are. And we must submit our minds and our lives to Him. Our prayer is that the Lord might be born into our hearts, and dwell within us, and lift us up to Himself, that we might dwell with Him forevermore. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Isa. 40:1-5, 10-11, 22-26 Lk. 1:39-55 Mt. 2:1-11 SD 2043-44 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Jan 4 19:10:20 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 14:10:20 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "All Things New!" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980104141020.00a12780@pop.tiac.net> All Things New! A New Year's Sermon by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 4, 1998 Readings Isaiah 65:17-25 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain nor bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord. Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new!" Doctrine of the Lord #65 The Book of Revelation mentions "a new heaven and a new earth," and afterwards says, "Behold, I am making all things new." This means that in the church that the Lord is now setting up anew, the teachings will be new. These teachings did not exist in the previous church, because if they had, people would not have accepted them, since the Last Judgment had not yet been accomplished. Before that judgment, the power of hell dominated the power of heaven. So if these teachings had been given before-even if they had come from the Lord's own mouth-they would not have lasted with people. Even today, these teachings do not last with people unless they approach the Lord alone and acknowledge him as the God of heaven and earth. Sermon Behold, I am making all things new! (Revelation 21:5) As I contemplated this week's service, I had a question on my mind: how to combine the themes of the New Year and Communion into a single theme. One of them is about new beginnings, and the other is about uniting together with the Lord and each other. There are certainly some common threads here. When we come together in union with the Lord and with each other, it is often the beginning of a new phase. That would work for a combined theme. But then I came up with something that works even better . . . at least for now. We _won't_ combine the two themes! This morning we will focus on the New Year, since we only get one crack at that each year, whereas there are several opportunities to talk about the meaning of communion. Besides, with the sacrament of communion added to our service today, there is less time for the sermon. And now I've already used up some of it. Whether or not we make New Year's resolutions, we do usually start the new year with some new things. I seem to have arrived at that time of life when about half of the gifts I receive are clothing. A beautiful new snowflake tie, which I wore last week when we had snow. A new T-shirt. A new pair of slipper-sox from my mother. And I gave myself the present of some new shoes. Patty has new calendars and some new brass and wood candlesticks. And of course, the kids have several cartloads of new toys from parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Still, none of this can compare with the new gift that the Lord says, in our readings, that he is giving us. How about a whole new heaven and a whole new earth! Now there's a present even Bill Gates can't hope for! When the Lord gives presents, he does not engage in halfway measures. He _does_ want to give us the world, and he is in a position to do so. But not in the way that Bill Gates might like. It is quite clear--to most people, anyway--that this promise of a new heaven and a new earth is not meant to be taken literally. When it comes to the physical earth, God made it right in the first place, and it does not need replacing. In our church, we do not look forward to a literal vanishing of the current earth and sky, and its replacement by a new model, as some Christians do. However, there is another kind of heaven and earth that did and does need replacing--that needs to be made completely new. That is what we will focus on this morning. Swedenborgians have traditionally interpreted the Book of Revelation on what Swedenborg calls the "internal historical" level of meaning. To review (for those of you who aren't up on Swedenborg's scheme for the different levels of meaning in the Bible), according to Swedenborg there are three basic levels of meaning in the Bible: 1. The "celestial," or "heavenly" meaning speaks of the Lord's process of glorification, or struggling against the hells, overcoming them, and becoming completely united with God the father (who was his inner soul). 2. The "spiritual" meaning (in its more specific sense) relates to our own human processes of spiritual growth and regeneration. 3. The "internal historical" meaning speaks of the spiritual journey of all of humankind together--a sort of spiritual history of the human race. Now, there is a good reason that Swedenborgians generally interpret the Book of Revelation on the internal historical level: that is the level Swedenborg focuses on in both of the major interpretations of the Book of Revelation that he wrote: _Apocalypse Explained_, a six volume work that he never published, but which was published after his death, and _Apocalypse Revealed_, a two volume work that he did publish. With such a huge amount of material interpreting Revelation on its internal historical level, it certainly is easiest for us to interpret it on that level. And the quote from Swedenborg gives the gist of this meaning relating to our theme today. These passages about a new heaven and a new earth, Swedenborg says, refer to a new church--which I prefer to think of as a new religious or spiritual era--that the Lord is setting up in our times. In this new religious era, there will be new teachings that people could not have accepted before because they were not ready for them. In our church, we do indeed have precious new teachings that give us comfort, strength, inspiration, and so many insights into the issues that face us in our lives. We have been richly blessed by a great gift from the Lord. The Lord intends that gift to bring about, not a new physical earth and sky, but a new _human_ and _spiritual_ earth and sky. In plain language, these new teachings are meant to help in the building of a whole new spiritual atmosphere, both on our earth and in the spiritual world. They are intended by the Lord to be part of a new era of human love and understanding that the Lord is building on our earth. I believe that we as a denomination and as individual Swedenborgians can be a part of that new spiritual era--that we can help the Lord give this gift of a new heaven and a new earth to humankind. But I would like to depart from the usual Swedenborgian interpretation of these passages and bring it down to a more personal level. For even if we as a church do have aspirations of taking part in a spiritual revolution in human beliefs and ways of living, we are not going to be any part of it if we do not start on the personal level, with our own souls and our own lives. What I especially like about the passage we read from _The Doctrine of the Lord_ is that it points us in the direction of how the "all things new" passage relates to our own life. When speaking of why these new teachings had not been given before his own time, Swedenborg says: If these teachings had been given before--even if they had come from the Lord's own mouth--they would not have lasted with people. Even today, these teachings do not last with people unless they approach the Lord alone and acknowledge him as the God of heaven and earth. This gives us a bridge from the internal historical meaning--from human spiritual history--to our own spiritual growth process. The Lord could not give the world new teachings until we as a human race were ready for them. The same is true for us as individual people, Swedenborg says. We must also be ready to accept new teachings from the Lord before they will stay with us. If we are not ready for them, they will simply fade away--either we will not understand them in the first place, or we will lose interest in them and consider them irrelevant. So I would suggest that instead of focusing on whether the world is ready for the teachings that our church has, we focus on whether _we_ are ready for these new teachings. This can only happen, Swedenborg says, if we go to the Lord Jesus and acknowledge him as the God of heaven and earth. It is not enough to participate in the general lifting of the human spirit that takes place as a new spiritual era unfolds around us. If we want to be a part of that unfolding, we must go directly to the source: the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is the center of everything Swedenborg wrote, and everything our church stands for. No matter how great it is to know what happens after death, and to have the many insights about human spiritual psychology that we find in Swedenborg's writings, without the Lord at the center of our theology, the whole thing crumbles to dust because its source is missing. The Lord _is_ ready to give us each a very special, new gift. It is not a literal earth or heaven that the Lord wants to give us--though the Lord _does_ want to renew the entire earth (meaning all of humankind) spiritually. The new heaven and new earth that the Lord wants to give each one of us is a whole new spiritual attitude and focus. No matter how far we have come spiritually, no matter how much our faith in the Lord has developed, compared to the infinite depth of God we are all right at the very beginning of our spiritual development. And the Lord is offering to renew each one of us. To renew each one of us completely. "Behold, I am making _all_ things new!" If there are any parts of ourselves that we are not satisfied with, this passage is telling us that the Lord is has a special gift for us: if we will go to the Lord, put our complete trust and faith in him, and ask for help in becoming a more thoughtful, loving, spiritual person, the Lord will give us the special gift of a whole new outlook on life. This new outlook will take our whole self along with it, from the depths of our souls right down to our everyday tasks. The Lord is offering each of us a whole new life. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jan 5 17:43:26 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 12:43:26 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Taking Good Care of Yourself Message-ID: <199801051244_MC2-2E1D-D2F9@compuserve.com> Taking Good Care of Yourself by the Rev. Eric H. Carswell January 4, 1998 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40) Have you ever thought that life would be much simpler if you could completely forget about your own needs and wants and concentrate all your energies on the needs and wants of others? Certainly we all arrive at adult life with powerful inherited tendencies to be too self-centered and much too concerned about ourselves more than others. The Lord wants us to recognize the ways that these tendencies show up in our motives, thoughts, and actions. He wants us to seek His help in working to make other motives, thoughts, and actions the basis of our lives. If we work with the Lord to have a love for Him and for our neighbor the guiding force in our daily thoughts and decisions, how will this affect us? Imagine that a woman has progressed in her regeneration or spiritual rebirth much, much farther than the vast majority of people achieve. She will have a tremendous amount of peace, trust, and strength in her life. She will do many things that truly serve the welfare of the people around her. Will she have completely forgotten about her own needs and wants? Probably much of the time they won't dominate her attention but they will still be part of what she has to consider and she will be aware of them--more so at some times than at others. The Gospels record the words of a human being who progressed farther in regeneration than we could ever possibly achieve. Jesus, the Christ, inherited tendencies from His mother, Mary, that allowed the devils to try to lead Him astray. He had to battle these tendencies through times of temptation as you and I have to do. We have to fight our hereditary tendencies to believe that evil things are really good and desirable, to think false ideas are true, and to act from both of these. Through out His life Jesus defeated the devils in every battle, gradually becoming fully One with His infinite soul. At the end of His natural life when He had nearly completed this process of spiritual perfection, what do we see of His thoughts and concerns? In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His crucifixion, we know that He prayed: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39) While He knew that it was absolutely essential that the sad and terrible events of the next day had to occur, He still did not welcome them with a part of His mind. He wished that the terrible temptations and battles could "pass" from Him. The Gospel of Mark records His state of mind that evening as follows: "He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to [the disciples], ?My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.'" (Mark 14:33-34) The Gospel of Matthew records Jesus final words as being "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46) Even at the very end of His life, when He had nearly completed the process of becoming perfectly one with the love and wisdom of His inmost soul, the Infinite God, Jesus could not and did not forget Himself and could still feel despair and abandonment. The Lord doesn't call us to forget ourselves. He calls us to be guided by what is good and true. He calls us to love Him, to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. He calls us to be wise stewards of the life, the gifts and talents He is formed within each of us, and our roles in the uses He has called us to serve. How well do we take care of ourselves? Many of us grew up being told of--and at times seeing for ourselves--the destructive evil within self-centered thoughts and concerns. We've been exhorted with the words "Don't be selfish" and "Think about others." Learning not to be self-centered is an important, even essential, lesson. Much evil comes from exclusive self love. But self-love can be misunderstood. Consider how you were taught to care for things that had been given to you when you were young such as clothes, toys or a new bicycle. Take for example the care of tools. Many of us grew up in houses where there was a father who wanted us to not misuse, lose, or even haphazardly leave around his tools. We were supposed to take good care of them. We were not to lend them to someone else who will mistreat them or lose them. Even if the tool was our very own, we were expected to take care of it. We would get a strong negative response if we said, "Its my hammer, I can leave it out in the rain if I want." The same is true of good clothes we were given as children. They were not to be worn at the wrong time so that they were rapidly destroyed or stained so that were not longer useful as dress clothes. We know that the Lord does not want us to love clothes or tools in themselves, but rather we are to appreciate their ability to serve higher goals, to be useful. Now consider that the Lord has given each of us a wonderful set of gifts. He has given us our natural body, our natural mind and our spirit. He has given them to us and they are "ours." How well do we take care of these gifts. How well do we take care of ourselves? Consider the passage from Divine Love and Wisdom that was one of the lessons for this sermon: The love of self and the love of the world by creation are heavenly loves; for they are loves of the natural person that can serve spiritual loves, as a foundation is to a house. For a person, from the love of self and the world, seeks the well-being of his body, desires food, clothing, and roof over his head, is mindful for the welfare of his family, and to secure employment for the sake of use, and even, in the interest of obedience, to be honored according to the dignity of the matters which he oversees, and to find delight and refreshment in worldly enjoyment; yet all this for the sake of the end, which must be use. For through these things a person is in a state to serve the Lord and to serve the neighbor. When, however, there is no love of serving the Lord and serving the neighbor, but only a love of serving himself by means of the world, then from being heavenly that love becomes hellish, for it causes a person to sink his mind and disposition in what is his own, and that in itself is wholly evil. (Divine Love and Wisdom 396) Through it the Lord speaks of us taking care of the welfare of our body by giving consideration to food, clothing, and housing. He speaks of being attentive to the welfare of our family, attentive to securing a good job, and even to being honored for what we do. He speaks of us taking time for recreation, worldly enjoyment. The Lord speaks to us of these things all for the sake of each of us being a more useful person. In another part of the book, Divine Love and Wisdom, the Lord talks about things He has created for us--things that take care of our natural bodies, such as food, clothing, shelter, recreation, enjoyment and also provide protection for us, community, country. (Divine Love and Wisdom 331) All of these allow us to be useful. Consider that our natural bodies are tools or clothing for our spirit. Do we take good care of them? Most of us take reasonable care about what we eat and drink but could probably do better without becoming too obsessed with healthy food. We take reasonable care for staying warm and healthy. We take reasonable care for recreation, for sleep. We have to think of ourselves in all of these and we know it isn't evil. Taking care of ourselves is necessary for us to be useful. Similarly our natural mind is a tool. It is affected by state of natural body. We know what happens if we do not get enough sleep, or consume too much of the wrong food or drink. We also know that we can feed our natural mind in itself. Consider the following passage from the True Christian Religion: In what way...each person ought to be his own neighbor can be seen from this analogy. Everyone ought to provide his body with food; this is the first consideration, but for the purpose of having a healthy mind in a healthy body. Everyone ought also to provide his mind with the food it needs, such things as fall within the domain of intelligence and judgment, but in order that he may as a result be in a position to be of service to his fellow citizen, his community, country, the church and so the Lord. Anyone who does this provides well for himself for ever. (True Christian Religion 406) Do you take time to feed your mind? Certainly there are some who read too much or read rather empty material-- but this is not the norm. Yet for many of us reading can seem self-indulgent. We can wonder whether it is right to make time for it with everything else we have to do. Likewise do we take time to allow our mind to sort through experiences? Most of us have recently made time to find proper places for new Christmas gifts. We want to put them in a place where they will be easily found, where they will be most useful. Reflecting on our experience is similarly a process of putting things in their proper place. When we allow time for our mind to reflect on ideas and events we can see their true significance, how we might want to do things differently in the future. The Writings are also very clear about the value of taking time for recreation, allowing refreshment from the press of our regular duties. If we don't make appropriate time for this refreshment, if we don't make time to care for ourselves, we will not be as useful to others. The Lord also wants us to take care of our spiritual life and health. This likewise takes time and conscious choices. One way to take care of yourself spiritually is by making time to read the Word and reflect on its meaning for your own life. It can mean taking time to read other books that help us better understand how the Lord has created us, how He cares for us, and our responsibilities in following Him. Taking care of ourselves spiritually also means making time for prayer, for talking with the Lord about the important issues of our spiritual life. We can pray asking for strength, for insight. We can ask the Lord to guide us as we seek better self-understanding--so that we may see ourselves as the Lord sees us. Likewise there can be value in taking time to explore questions and issues with friends. Taking appropriate care of one's own natural body, mind, spiritual life may at times seem self-indulgent. We may feel that we are being self-centered when our choices to take wise care of ourselves results in negative responses from others. It is not easy for us to find a balance of taking care of ourselves and be appropriately concerned with the needs of others. It is not a balance that we will be able to find once and for all, but rather will need to keep establishing over and over again with the Lord's help. The evil spirits that seek to influence our daily thoughts and decisions love to have us be self-centered when this will be destructive and they love to distract us from taking care of ourselves when this will keep us from being as useful as we could be. They love to distract us with the important issues of taking wise care of others and ourselves and turn our attention to the trivial and inconsequential. As we begin a new year, think of the Lord inviting you to reflect on how well you take care of yourself and how He asks us to balance our caring for ourselves and others. It is a balance that we need to decide for ourselves. There are times when we should recognize that others needs and wants are not always higher than our own. Some of us need to beware of this more than others. If we always give of ourselves, no matter what the personal cost, we will be mistreating, misusing, even waste the wonderful gifts that the Lord has given us. Today, in this coming week, and through out this coming year, the Lord invites you to consider what you can do to better care for your body, mind and spirit. He invites you to this work not for the sake of yourself alone, but so that you can take better care of the gifts the Lord has given you-- so that you can better serve those around you. The Lord invites you to take good care of yourself that can better serve Him. AMEN. Lessons: Matthew 22:35-40 Genesis 1:26-31 Divine Love and Wisdom 396 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Jan 11 23:43:27 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 18:43:27 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Give Yourself a Break!" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980111184327.0099ae80@pop.tiac.net> Give Yourself a Break! By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 11, 1998 Readings: Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Matthew 12:1-13 It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath _Arcana Coelestia_ #8494 "Rest" means peace after temptations Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. (Exodus 20:8-10) It seems strange that God would have to _command_ us to take a break. Don't we all _want_ to take a break? At this time of year especially, we think about taking a break. The holiday season is over, with all its hectic shopping and cooking and entertaining. By now most of the Christmas decorations are put away, and we can all sit back a bit and take a breather . . . until we start thinking about this and that project that we put off "until the holidays are over." During the holiday season, when we have so many things that have to get done, other things that _aren't_ getting done build up. And up. . . . And up. . . . Before we know it, there isn't much of a break after all, because as soon as the rush is over, those other undone projects reassert themselves, and we keep right on going. At least that is my experience--and I suspect it is the same for many people. During the fall, I kept talking about "after the New Year" this and that was going to get done. Now I'm saying "After I get back from Florida," or "Maybe by February things will calm down." But I have a sneaking (and sinking) suspicion, based on years of past experience, that things will _never_ calm down--at least, not by themselves. In the past, every time I have looked forward to some future time that there wouldn't be so many things clamoring to get done, when that fabled time came there were just as many things that needed doing. There certainly were just as many _bills_ that needed to get paid! The more I think about it, the more I realize why the Lord _commanded_ us to take a break! We humans tend to work ourselves very hard. Even if we are not doing something that _society_ considers to be work, we tend to push our bodies and our minds too far. Sometimes we work long hours. But sometimes we also _play_ long hours. Far into the night, or just plain too much visiting and too many activities. Whether we're young or old, whether we have a lot of energy or a little, we tend to want to do _just a little more_ than our bodies can comfortably do. Sometimes we _really_ overdo it. The Lord knows this about us. And the Lord knows that when we overdo it, we actually get less done, because we end out making ourselves too tired or too sick to do a really good job at whatever it is that we happen to be doing with our lives. It is largely an illusion to think that by overextending ourselves, we will get more accomplished. The Lord _does_ have to command us to take a break, because too many of us, left to our own ways, will rarely go easy enough on ourselves to give ourselves a break as often as we should. And this commandment is not put in some obscure footnote buried somewhere in the Levitical laws. It is placed squarely in the Ten Commandments--one of the Bible's most basic distillations of the core and essence of religious and spiritual law. In other words, the Lord is not just saying, "You know, it would really be a good idea to give yourself a break regularly." He is saying "GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK REGULARLY!!!" For many of us, the literal meaning of most of the other commandments is not such a big problem. Killing doesn't appeal to us; we got over stealing not long after we got over childhood; our lies are mostly confined to little white lies--not the "false witness" sort of lies that really damage another person; not being jealous of other people who are better off than we are . . . well, that can sometimes be a challenge! But taking regular time off from the activities of our lives to rest, recuperate, and especially to develop our spiritual life--for many of us _that_ is a really difficult thing to do. There are simply too many things that have to get done. Our bills always seem to outrun our paycheck by just enough to keep us continually looking for that little extra bit of income. There's always something that needs fixing around the house or shop, always some job to do around the yard. And of course, there are always new toys (the grown-up variety) that we'd like to get our hands on, or new handwork projects that we're itching to do. If we have young children, that is a built-in all-day project--and older children and teenagers, for all their cherished independence, give us plenty of work to do as well. This command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy turns out to be quite a challenge. That is why the Lord made it a _commandment,_ not just a suggestion. Of course, many people these days don't go to church because they have to work that day, or it interferes with their other activities, or because they have taken to heart the _resting_ part of the Sabbath, but not the part about it being a Sabbath _to the Lord our God._ Those of us who do make it to church on a regular basis have taken one valuable step toward keeping this commandment literally. And if we are genuine in our worship and eager in our desire to learn more about the Lord's teachings for our lives, we are taking a valuable step toward keeping this commandment spiritually as well. That spiritual meaning of the Sabbath day of rest leads us to a different level of keeping this commandment; a different level of giving ourselves a break; a level that is often even more difficult than keeping it literally. In Old Testament times, this commandment was largely interpreted on the literal level. The ancient Jews were forbidden to do any work on the Sabbath on pain of death. Even in earlier centuries in the Christian era, it was easy to have Sunday services that lasted for hours because most Christians weren't allowed to do much else on Sunday anyway. But Jesus gives a very different interpretation of what the Sabbath is all about--and through his references to the Hebrew Bible, he showed that the seeds of this interpretation were present in Scripture all the time, if we had only looked for it. When some Pharisees saw Jesus and his disciples picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, they challenged Jesus: "Aren't you breaking the Sabbath by doing this?" Jesus responded by pointing out that if the law were interpreted in this literalistic way, then their most revered king--David--was a lawbreaker. Further, their own priests--who are supposed to be the most religious people of all--broke the Sabbath every week by doing their regular work on the Sabbath. (We ministers do appreciate being allowed to work on Sunday. . . .) However, Jesus did not take away the old, overly literal interpretation of the Sabbath law without putting something deeper in his place. He was again challenged when he was ready to heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day. "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" they asked him. The question was not posed in order to learn something from him, but in order to accuse him. Once again, Jesus used their own practices to demolish their literalistic interpretation of Sabbath law. "If one of you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath, won't you pull it out? Don't you realize that a human being is much more important than a sheep!" He concludes with words that hugely broaden the meaning of the Sabbath: "So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." The Sabbath is not primarily about literal resting from labors, Jesus teaches us. It is about doing good for other people. And yet, if we take a deeper look at the meaning of "rest," this does not change the meaning as much as we might think at first glance. Spiritually speaking, "rest," says Swedenborg, "means a state of peace when there is no temptation." This we can understand. After we have been struggling against some inner foe; after we have had some victory over one of the flaws in our character, over some hurtful way we act toward other people, we have a sense of rest and peace similar to the calm that descends after a battle is over. I remember how nice it felt when, as a teenager, I finally got over that insistent urge to argue every point with everyone whether the issue mattered or not. I had a new sense of peace within myself. It certainly was more enjoyable to have a conversation with other people . . . and I suspect _that_ feeling was mutual! But after he speaks of rest as inner peace after temptation, Swedenborg says something more cryptic. He says that this period of rest "represents a state of peace when goodness and truth join together within us." He seems to be talking about the same thing Jesus is when he says, "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Let's explore this a little further. To put Swedenborg in more contemporary terms, when we are having our inner "six days of labor," our head and our heart are struggling both with each other and with the negative parts of ourselves that cause us to hurt other people and ourselves by the way we think and act. When we are in the throes of temptation, we have a divided mind, a mixed mind, a _mixed-up_ mind. Our head says we shouldn't do that thing anymore--it's _wrong!_ Our heart says that we _love_ to do that thing. Or our heart says we're hurting someone, we should stop, but our head makes excuses for our unkind words and actions. We're really not together within ourselves, and the result is that we are not particularly effective in doing good and useful things for other people. We are too conflicted inside. It is only when the part of ourselves that is pushing us toward what is good, right, and loving prevails that we able to have a unified mind--to be single-minded in doing the work that is in front of us. It is only when our hearts, minds, and spirits are working together that we feel the restfulness of peace within ourselves. And it is only when we have this inner peace of single-mindedness that we are able to seemingly effortlessly serve the needs of our fellow human beings in the way that the Lord teaches us. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, because it is only when we are spiritually at rest in following the Lord's path from our hearts, through our heads, and with our hands that we can genuinely _do good things._ All of this may seem far removed from where we started--giving ourselves a break from the incessant demands of this earthly life. But we are not as far away as we may think. I have come to believe more and more strongly that we will not even be able to follow the Sabbath law of rest _literally_ unless we make the effort to follow it spiritually as well. Let me explain. As long as we are divided and conflicted in our spirits, we are never really at rest inside of ourselves. Even when we accomplish something that we believed would give us a great sense of achievement, the inner unrest continues; instead of feeling peace and contentment at our accomplishment, we feel a sense of let-down. We have finally achieved what we always thought we wanted to achieve, yet we _still_ aren't happy! This, I believe, is behind the incessant demands that we put on ourselves to keep working, working, working. If _that_ didn't satisfy us, then the _next_ achievement will--the next raise, the next car, the next house, and so on. But we never will be satisfied, because we can only be at rest when we are at rest within ourselves. So we will continue to drive ourselves, never giving ourselves a real break from our labors, physically or spiritually. However, once we have settled our minds and hearts on a unified path of following where the Lord leads us, then we can have our periods of rest--our periods of genuine inner Sabbath. Of course, we will still have our six days of labor. After all, we're not perfect, and there will always be more work to do on ourselves. But when we have chosen to follow the Lord, and have, with the Lord's help, overcome some nagging flaw in ourselves, we can know the true _inner_ rest that comes from having our minds and hearts working together in loving and caring for those around us. And then, we may just give our bodies a break as well. From info@newchurch-cincy.org Mon Jan 12 22:51:49 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 17:51:49 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Mime-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980112152142.45576006@mail.one.net> This is roughly formatted for ASCII transmission. This and other sermons may be found with fuller formatting on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org If you would like this sermon as a fully formatted WP 5.1 or WP 6.0 document, email me, giving the name of the sermon, and your preferred format, at . ___________________________________________________________________ For Cinti. 01-11-98 "MY YOKE IS EASY" A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt. 11:30) PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST CHEERFUL TEACHINGS in the Writings is this: that the path which leads to heaven is far easier than most people imagine. It is, though, a teaching we tend to forget. At times we can feel within ourselves that we are so evil and sinful that we begin to doubt whether we shall ever enter heaven. We compare what the Writings teach with the way we are actually living, and feel that we are failing. We doubt the possibility of our salvation. It seems so difficult to live the life we know we should live, and as a result we are burdened with feelings of despair and guilt. Now to some extent, despair and guilt are inevitable. Despair, we are taught, is permitted when we are in spiritual temptation, so that we might come to see that by ourselves we can do nothing, and that salvation is of the Lord alone. Guilt is also necessary. If we do not make ourselves guilty of the evils we have committed, we will remain in them. Nevertheless, we would be mistaken to think that the path to heaven is a hard and arduous burden, and that it must be walked in sadness, guilt and depression. The fact is, the Lord loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. Therefore, He makes it easy for us. After all, why would the Lord create us for heaven, and then place obstacles in the path that leads there? It is a ridiculous fallacy to believe that it must of necessity be difficult for a man to enter heaven. More than this, it is a cruel and hateful falsity, for it implies that the Lord would rather see us suffer to eternity in hell than enjoy everlasting happiness in heaven. Why, then, did such a fallacy arise? Why do so many people fall into believing the notion that heaven is an almost impossible dream? The answer lies in the nature of human freedom. Heaven is happiness, and happiness, to be happiness, cannot be forced upon a man. It is something which he must freely choose. Therefore it is that the Lord does not create man as an angel. When we are born, we are placed here on earth, outside of heaven, so that we can choose for ourselves whether or not we want to become angels. Before each one of us the Lord sets a path, a simple and direct path, leading straight to heaven. If we want to walk along it, we can. On the other hand, if we prefer to remain outside of heaven, we can do so. It is up to us. We have complete freedom in the matter. The only thing which will prevent a man from walking easily towards heaven is a desire to remain in evil. This is the origin of the idea that the path to heaven is difficult. Evil men who want to remain in evil find that it is indeed difficult to walk along this path. In fact, they find it impossible. The obstacle, though, is not in the path which the Lord has set before them. The difficulty is one they have created for themselves. It lies in the fact that they, quite simply, want to remain where they are. This, though, they are loathe to admit. They would rather blame the Lord than admit to the fact that they are insane enough to want to remain in evil. Therefore it is that evil men and evil spirits embrace the idea that to go to heaven is difficult. It is, after all, a useful excuse for remaining in the evil they love. It is, therefore, a false idea, an idea originating in evil. It is not difficult to go to heaven. For those who truly desire heaven, the path that leads there can be surprisingly easy indeed. All that is required is that man undertake the simple work of repentance. Now this might sound as if it is easier said than done. Repentance may appear to be a very difficult task. But it is not difficult to repent. Even if we have a tendency to remain in our evils, we can still repent if we so desire. Repentance is, generally, a relatively easy process, and it is intended to be so, for it is the way the Lord leads us to heaven. When we read what the Writings have to say about repentance, we see that repentance consists of a series of steps, each one of which is relatively simple. Now what are these steps or stages of repentance? There are four of them. We are taught that repentance consists in examining oneself, in recognizing and acknowledging one's sins, in praying to the Lord, and beginning a new life (TCR 528). It begins with self-examination. This is the first step. Self-examination is not to be confused with a general feeling of being evil. It is indeed easy for a person to weigh himself down with guilt, with the feeling that he is nothing but a miserable sinner. But what does this accomplish? By itself, absolutely nothing! After all, there are many people who can feel terribly guilty about their evil nature, and yet who keep right on doing evil. They have this feeling of guilt, but nothing changes. There is no improvement. All they have accomplished is a feeling of guilt. Self-examination is not like this. It is not a process by which all we do is discover how sinful and miserable we are. It is, rather, a way in which we come to discover and to see specific evils within ourselves. It is radically different from merely burdening ourselves with guilt. To sit burdened with a general feeling of guilt at how sinful we are, is to sit at the beginning of the path to heaven, and to remain there. On the other hand, to see and recognize within ourselves one or two specific evils is to take the very first step towards heaven. Then we can make a second step. We have to take responsibility for what we have done. We have to accept that those things we have done are sins against the Lord. We must indeed make ourselves guilty of those evils which we find, but this is to be a specific guilt, a guilt with a purpose. We acknowledge specific things that we have done wrong, with the intention of changing. There are spirits who like to burden our consciences. They love to see us squirm under the burden of guilt. If they had their way, they would inject into us so many scruples that we would begin to feel guilty about everything, even about things that are not sins at all. This is the burden which these troublesome spirits would place upon us. The burden of the Lord is completely different. He asks us to consider the Ten Commandments, and then to look at ourselves. He asks us to find some specific evil within ourselves, and to accept that this evil is a sin against Him. At first all we are asked is to do this with just one or two evils. Finding one or two evils! It doesn't sound difficult at all. It sounds almost too easy. But to see an evil within ourselves, and then to acknowledge that we have sinned in this way, making ourselves responsible for it, is to take two small steps towards heaven. This is the way in which we begin to walk along the path towards heaven. It is by taking one step, then another, and then another, and so on, that we actually begin to walk. It is infinitely better to begin by taking just two small steps, than to sit burdened with guilt, moving nowhere. The next step, the third step, is to approach the Lord. This is essential. The very reason that repentance is easy is that the Lord helps us. But He will not force His help upon us. We must ask Him for it. And so we must pray. We must talk to Him. This isn't difficult, either. We already know of Him. What we need to do is talk to Him, talk with Him. After we have found an evil within ourselves, and then admitted that what we have thought or done is a sin against Him, we should get down on our knees and pray. We should ask for His mercy, and beseech His help in resisting this evil in the future. We should tell Him that we see that what we have done is wrong, and that we have sinned against Him. This is all we need to do. There is no need, the Writings say, to list our evils in our prayers. The Lord already knows them; it was He who led us to see them for ourselves. Nor do we have to beg forgiveness. He has already forgiven us. All we must do is acknowledge before Him that we have sinned against Him, and ask Him for His merciful help. To do this, to actually ask the Lord to help us, has tremendous power. After this, the fourth and last step is to begin a new life. This, more than the other steps of repentance, might sound difficult. To begin a new life, though, does not mean what we may think it to mean. We are not expected to repent and then all of a sudden go forth to live a perfect life. This new life we must live is not a perfect life. It is a better life -- a life that is better in some small way. Because we have seen some evil in ourselves, acknowledged that it is a sin, and asked for the Lord's help, we are in a position to resist this evil in the future. And this is not difficult. It becomes difficult only when a person has become accustomed to giving free reign to his evils, or else has previously rejected everything of heaven and the church. Then the fight can indeed become severe. Normally, though, resistance to evils is not a hard task. Indeed, it is said that if we only resist those evils to which we are inclined, once every week, or once every two weeks, we will notice a change. We will find that to resist them becomes progressively easier. Our strength of will, given to us by the Lord, grows gradually stronger, until that evil we have discovered within ourselves is put away completely. Eventually we come to detest even the thought of committing this evil. Reaching this point is a gradual process. It takes time. But if a person is sincere in his efforts, and does his best, then this path is a sure path and a progressively easier one. It is as easy as walking. Indeed this is, of course, precisely what it is. It is walking the path to heaven. This path would be difficult, it is true, if we were expected to walk it alone, or if we were expected to complete the journey overnight. But we are expected to do neither. The Lord does not expect us to repent without His help. This is why we are commanded to ask Him for help. Neither does He expect us to become perfect overnight. He expects us to walk the path to heaven in steps, not to get there suddenly in one big jump. First we must take the four simple steps of repentance. Then, as we begin a new life, we can, step by step, resist the evil we have discovered, until it is, with the Lord's help, fully conquered. Then the whole process can be repeated. At recurring seasons we can examine ourselves to find one or two additional evils, acknowledge that they are sins, pray to the Lord, and then begin a still better life. If we do this at least once or twice a year, we are indeed on the way to heaven. Repentance is easy, and it becomes easier and easier the more we do it. Repentance is not a thing we do once. It is, above all, a habit, a habit to be acquired. Once it has become a habit, it comes easily to us. On the other hand, if we never do it, it becomes progressively more difficult and painful to take that first initial step. In this it is like any other task we may undertake. The more frequently we do it, the easier it becomes. We must make a regular practice of repentance, so that it becomes a part, and indeed an easy part, of our lives. The Lord has made it easy for us to go to heaven. It is a foolish person who ignores this, and tries to make it difficult instead. We have a tendency to burden ourselves with all kinds of imagined difficulties and problems. But with the Lord it is different. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He makes it easy for us to go to heaven, and He makes it easy for the simple reason that He loves us, and He wants us to be happy. He wants us to go to heaven. As we begin a new year, and as we prepare, this morning, to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, let us remember that the Lord wants us to follow Him, and that to do so is not really difficult at all, not if we want to. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons:Deut. 30:11-20 Matt. 11:20-30 TCR 530 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jan 19 04:45:35 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 23:45:35 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Take up your bed and walk" Message-ID: <199801182346_MC2-2FCD-C301@compuserve.com> "Take Up Your Bed and Walk" By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell January 18, 1998 When Jesus saw the man lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" John 5:6 Can you imagine the scene at the pool of Bethesda. By this pool, with its miraculous powers of healing, there lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, and paralyzed. This would not have been a clean and orderly scene like that of a modern hospital. It probably would have been a helter-skelter, filthy, terribly smelling, collection of human beings each troubled by a major disability. It is not unlikely that a good number of them would have been begging for alms from anyone who passed by. Not exactly the scene for a pleasant Sunday walk. Amid this wretched crowd it seems that Jesus was walking by himself. It was not yet well-known. His presence doesn't seem to have attracted any particular observation. Later in His ministry it is quite likely that every voice would have been beseeching Him for His healing powers. As He moved among the great multitude of people as they lay scattered around the pool, He stopped by the bed of one man who had had some crippling disability for thirty-eight years. Jesus knew he had been in this condition a long time. Perhaps the area around his bed showed signs that this man had made it his long-term home, perhaps Jesus just knew. The man didn't know Jesus at all. Jesus spoke to the man asking him a simple question. "Do you want to be made well?" Now if Jesus had said, "Do you hope to be made well?" the man's answer might have made more sense. In reality the man didn't answer Jesus' question. He didn't say, "Yes, I do." or "No, I don't." Instead of an answer the man spoke of why external circumstances kept him from being healed. It is like a man being asked, "Would you like a new car" and he answers, "I really can't afford one right now." Or a woman being asked, "Would you like to visit you sister across the country" and she answers, "I don't see where I'd get the time." Or a mother asking her child's friend, "Would you like a snack?" and the child answering, "I'm nor allowed to walk home by myself to get one." In each of these cases the person doesn't answer the question but instead reflects on his or her own resources, capabilities, or the external conditions around and asserts that the desirable goal isn't achievable. The person feels stuck. What are some areas of life in which a person can feel stuck? Imagine people being asked: "Do you wish you had a better relationship with your father?" "Do you wish that you didn't feel so lonely?" "Do you wish that you weren't so self-conscious? "Do you wish you had more patience." "Do you wish you could stand up for yourself better?" "Do you wish you weren't so troubled by thoughts of revenge?" "Do you wish that you were a much better human being?" As we reflect on each of these questions, can't you imagine a person feeling stuck and unable to change. Within this frame of mind a person could ask, "Where is God? Why isn't He fixing this problem? Why isn't He helping me?" Think of the scene at the pool of Bethesda. There is a great multitude of people in desperate need of being healed and at apparently random times the pool would bubble or swirl as if stirred by an unseen force. Then the first person who gets into the pool after the swirling of the water is made well. For a large segment of the population, life is about this random and uncontrollable. It appears that some people's lives go better than others. None of us are perfect and yet to the unskilled eye it may seem that some people overcome a large part of their flaws or are able to go forth in their lives without being tremendously limited by them. Others seemed to be tremendously crippled by their faults or choices of the past. We have probably all known people whose lives are objectively blessed beyond measure and yet they are quite unhappy, discontent with their lot, and perhaps resigned to this state for the rest of their lives. Then there are other people, for example an woman in her seventies whose eyes can hardly see, who is nagged with nearly constant dull pain, whose financial means are very limited, and yet she is so full of hope and happiness that being around is like resting in a warm beam of sunshine. Some people would just say that the second person was somehow lucky, just in the right place and right time to gain her upbeat perspective and that achieving a similar state for ourselves is beyond reach. Sometimes people bitterly suggest that a realistic view is that we are all crippled by the uncontrollable forces of this world, by its inequities and terrible disappointments. Within this state of mind a quiet force moves. It is the presence of the Lord in each of our lives. He loves us dearly. He wants to bless our lives with heavenly treasures beyond our wildest imaginations. But He also knows that it is absolutely essential that He preserve our inner spiritual freedom to define our own lives. Because the Lord is the all-knowing, all-powerful, and universally present Creator and sustainer of every least thing in this reality and in the life after death, He could, in theory, give the word and we would all be instantly healed of any spiritual or natural problem. Obviously He doesn't do this. This leads many people to wonder if He really cares, knows, or is able to help us. It leads some people to doubt that God even exists. Life seems so random. Good people don't always triumph. People who certainly appear to be deeply evil, can be rich, healthy, and successful in many areas of life. Where is the Lord in all of this. Does He really love us? He does love us and watches over the tiniest details of our lives. He also knows that it is absolutely essential that He preserve our inner spiritual freedom to define our own lives if we ever are going to be truly happy. He works with infinite wisdom and love to guide us to see the spiritual dangers in our lives. He works to open our eyes to recognize that a life focused primarily on self-fulfillment no matter what the expense to others and worldly objects and pleasures will inevitably be ever more crippling. He has revealed His order, His commandments, and His will to help us understand, acknowledge, and live the life that will lead to heaven. We believe that He ensures that every single human being, no matter when or where he or she was born, is given the capability of recognizing that life should not be lived from crudely self-centered and worldly motives. For all who choose over and over again to give this recognition a significant role in guiding their goals, decisions, and daily actions, a heavenly home is assured to them. For all who choose over and over again to live from self-centered and world motives, no matter how well hidden these are from the people around them, their eternal lot will inevitably be in the unhappiness of hell. The Lord knows that if each of us did not have the freedom to make these decisions as though we lived from our own power and guided our own lives we could never possibly have true happiness. He loves us well enough that He will allow us this freedom even though it results in terrible unhappiness and eternal misery for portion of human beings. What is the Lord's perspective on people who make choices that are hurtful to themselves and others? Think of how a parent feels who knows that a son who is a young adult must make decisions based on his best understanding of what is good and right. They see him falling in love with a woman who has qualities and characteristics that cause them great concern. They wisely raise these concerns with their son. He confidently dismisses them. The parents then watch their son's relationship progress toward engagement and marriage with a regular series of warning signs appearing before their eyes but unseen by their son. Eventually the problems become apparent to the son, perhaps before the marriage, perhaps not till afterwards. The parents deeply sense the misery of the son as he tries to react in the most healthy way to a very difficult situation. Knowing that they tried to wisely help him see the problems earlier doesn't relieve their sadness at their son's plight. The Lord knows more clearly than any parent ever could what is happening in our lives. He sees the consequences of our perspective, our inclinations, and the people and events that surround us. Yet He knows that He cannot dictate to us or force us to do what is best for us and others. He has to allow us to make mistakes and learn from them. He has to allow us to gradually become wiser and more loving people with His help. Jesus stood before the man at the pool of Bethesda as an unknown individual. He asked the man, "Do you want to be made well?" His gentle presence works likewise within the thoughts and concerns of every human being at the beginning of his or her spiritual development in any area of life. He gently knocks at the door of our conscious thought, asking the simple question, "What do you really want?" Often our first reflection in response to this question is, "I'm stuck. I can't change what is happening or who I am." Jesus didn't criticize the disabled man's response. He didn't say, "You didn't answer the question." Instead He said the simple words, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Immediately the man realized he had been healed. He now had the capability of doing something that he had apparently not been able to do for nearly forty years. How many times have you been faced with a difficult, even seemly impossible situation, and then had the insight, "I can do something about this." You find that you are more capable of doing something than you had previously realized. In the Writings of the New Church we are told that the man's bed represented doctrine. It represented what he understood to be good and true, evil and false. Lying on the bed is an image of person knowing but not using it. Taking up the bed and walking represents a person living from this knowledge. It is an image of person living from his belief system. It represents a person making his principles, not just expediency and simple practicality, a key guiding force for his every day life. Note though that the man didn't have a clue in the world who had healed him. The story indicates that Jesus intentionally had moved on and out of sight. It was only later at the temple that Jesus found him again and made Himself known. Jesus said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest worse thing come upon you." It is important that each of us not merely live from principle and a belief system that has grown from an apparently abundance of sources in our lives. It is important that we recognize that God is behind everything of true order, everything good and true. We should live a life of compelling morality not merely from our own insight and conviction, but because the Lord has called us to this life. The Lord loves each of us as His children. He wants us to have a happy life. He will not make us be good. He will not make us go to heaven. He will not make us love Him and everything He cares about. Much of the times His loving presence may be as unrecognized in our lives as Jesus was to the mane by the pool of Bethesda. He calls us to reflect on what we really want. He calls us to live from the power and possibility He has created and is creating each moment within each of us. He calls us to spiritually take up our beds and walk. AMEN. Lessons: John 5:1-15 "The sabbath" in the Scriptures signifies the Lord's Divine Human. . . Therefore when the Lord was in the world, and united His Human to the Divine Itself, He changed the quality of the sabbath from the [sacrifices and ritualized] worship such as was with the ancient Israelites; and made the sabbath day a day of instruction in the doctrine of faith and of love. This is involved in what is written in John:- Jesus healing a certain man on the sabbath day said to him, Take up thy bed and walk; and he took up his bed and walked. But the Jews said that it was not allowable to carry a bed on the sabbath day, and sought to kill the Lord, because He loosed the sabbath. (John 5:8-10, 18) "Healing of the sick" signifies the purifying of a person from evil loves and the false ideas from these evil loves. A "bed "signifies doctrine [or a person's understanding of what is right and wrong, good or evil]. "Walking" signifies the way a person lives his or her life. All the healing of people's diseases which were performed by the Lord involve purification from evil loves and false ideas, or a restoration of spiritual life. Arcana Caelestia 10360:7-9 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Jan 25 18:47:16 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 13:47:16 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Children in the Marketplace," by the late Rev. Harold Gustafson Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980125134716.0097b670@pop.tiac.net> Children in the Marketplace By the late Rev. Harold Gustafson Originally delivered in 1917 Delivered by Lawrence Conant Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 18, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 29 Matthew 11:1-24 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplace and calling unto their follows, and saying, "We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you and ye have not lamented." (Matthew 11:16, 17) What a beautiful picture of childish innocence is given in this parable! The little children playing in the marketplace were inviting scenes which they had often seen in the streets of the city. Many times they had seen the merry wedding processions pass by, the pipers playing joyous music upon their reeds, and the people dancing in response to their happy strains. Many times they had seen funeral processions passing through the city streets, the relatives of the deceased expressing their grief by their deep mourning, and the spectators joining in their laments. The children were imitating these scenes in their play, but their companions would not join with them. They would not dance to the piping nor lament with the mourners. We all have what corresponds to these innocent children within us. No matter how evil we may be, deep within us is a storehouse of innocent love and finer sentiment. It may be undeveloped and unexercised, yet it is there in the soul. The children are little ones of the spirit: the principles of innocence and charity. They are things of heaven implanted by the Lord, and remaining in the mind, so that its regeneration may be possible. They are not fully grown principles of life, matured by love and thought, grown into manhood in the life. They are only little ones--children--needing our watchful care to develop them to their maturity and usefulness within us. They are not the life principles in which we have become confirmed, but they seek to become confirmed and fixed in us by embodiment in our outward life. Through them, our Lord calls us to become regenerated. And he continues so to call as long as we "have ears to hear." By means of these little ones, his children, he seeks to gain a lodging place for his goodness and truth within us, where they may grow with our growth and strengthen with our strength and become men of maturity in us, communicating to us the Holy Spirit of our beloved Lord, Jesus Christ. The marketplace is our natural life, where we trade and exchange natural desires for spiritual virtues. Here we give up self-trust and procure trust in the Lord; we give up pride and buy humility; here we exchange ill-temper for gentleness of spirit. This is where the children of innocence and love are sitting. But they have companions. These companions are loves which are innocent but which are not in harmony with heavenly thoughts. The love of wealth and position and glory and power are some of these children. The parable before us pictures the two sides of our life, and the relationship so often existing between them. On the one hand we have heavenly principles and precepts: the children. On the other hand, we have selfish and worldly loves: the companions of the children. These two elements are in the marketplace of our life in the world. But how unresponsive and indifferent are our natural and worldly loves to the call of heavenly principles and precepts! God's Holy Word and the doctrines of the church set before us myriads of beautiful thoughts and heavenly ideals. They hold forth comfort in our affections; they give joy to our aching hearts; they increase the happiness of our victory; they give assurance and stability to our whole life. But do we respond to them? On the contrary, we find ourselves unresponsive to the call of God's Word and to heavenly ideals. We regard the things of the spirit as something entirely separate and distinct from the things of the world's life. We think that the Bible is beautiful in its language and admit that it sets forth sublime ideals, yet we object to its teachings because we think that they interfere with our business and pleasure and way of living. We forget that a deep and lasting relationship exists between the spirit and the body. We forget that the spirit would have us respond to its joys and share in its sorrows. And in our indifference, we fail to respond to the call. The Jews spurned the salvation of Jesus. They also failed to heed the call to repentance which John sent forth into their midst. Both Jesus and John were rejected. So, too, we reject the Lord's salvation and let the cry of John fall upon deaf ears. The Word of God calls us to share with God and his angels the joys and blessings of heaven. The Word of God also calls upon us to renounce evil and to repent of our evils. When heavenly joys are revealed to us we fail to embody these joys in our lives. When we are called upon to undergo the hardship of laying aside some evil, we fail to respond to the Lord's call. Heavenly principles are ever striving to call us to follow them, yet their calls are unheeded. They have piped for us that we might share their joy, but we have not danced. They have mourned for us that we might have sympathy with them, but we have not lamented. In this beautiful parable we see the great truth that the Lord does not withhold heaven from man, but that he pours into our hearts, our understandings, our lives, all the love, all the wisdom, all the active joy for which we are willing to live. Even when we neglect our opportunities and refuse this gracious offer, he still keeps heaven before us in all times, in a thousand ways. In this infinite economy he uses every opportunity to warn us from evils, and to will us to heaven. May we respond, then, to this divine call. May we learn to search out the evil and sin dwelling deeply hidden in our hearts and minds. May the searchlight of the truths of God's Holy Word illuminate these dark places, that we may see the horror of our sins and evils. When we have seen, may we repent, thus responding to the divine call of our Lord to repent. Only so we may prove worthy to come into his presence and live a heavenly life. May we know the joys and blessings of the myriads of mercies which he continually showers upon us. May we learn to love him. May we learn to love his truth, his way of life. May his efforts to reach our lives meet with a hearty response. Only so can we know the joy and the beauty of a life with him. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Jan 25 19:00:49 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 14:00:49 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Our Circle of Love," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980125140049.00968100@pop.tiac.net> Our Circle of Love By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, January 25, 1998 Readings: Psalm 133 How good and pleasant it is When brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, Running down upon the beard, Running down on the beard of Aaron, Running down over the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon Were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, Even life for evermore. John 13:34, 35 Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: 'Love one another.' Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." _Apocalypse Explained_ #746a.2 All people, both in heaven and on earth, who are involved in the good of kindness are called brothers because they all have one father, namely: the Lord. People who are involved in the good of love for the Lord and the good of kindness toward their neighbors are his children, and are called "sons of God," "sons of the kingdom," and "heirs." Since we are all children of one father, we are all brothers. And the Lord's primary commandment is that we should love one another mutually. This means that it is love that makes us brothers, and love is also spiritual union. This is why among the very earliest people who belonged to religions in which kindness was the most important thing, all people were called brothers. This was also true in the Christian Church at its beginning. And this is why "brother" means "kindness" in the spiritual sense. Sermon: Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: 'Love one another.' Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34, 35) This morning's sermon is both a celebration of our church family here in Bridgewater and a challenge to this church family. It is a celebration of the circle of love that we share with each other, and a challenge for us to expand our circle of love. Now that I have warned you, I hope you won't mind if I speak to you both personally and forthrightly. Last week, while Merrilee and Larry were leading the shortest Sunday morning service on record here in Bridgewater, I was in Leesburg, Florida attending some meetings and workshops sponsored by the Swedenborg School of Religion and our denomination, the Swedenborgian Church. And yes, the weather was a little better there than it was here! Although my original flight was cancelled and I didn't arrive at the conference center until after 10:00 the next night, I still had a good and productive time at the meetings. We held talks between the Council of Ministers and the Swedenborg School of Religion to help bring out into the open some issues that have been building between the two bodies. At a different time, the three newest ministers there, Nadine Cotton, Jonathan Mitchell, and I, had a chance to discuss issues in our ministries with faculty members from SSR and from Andover Newton Theological School. And of course, there was time during meals, breaks, and off-hours to share stories and ideas with other ministers. As I heard various ministers in our denomination speaking about the issues and challenges in their churches--about both the successes and the conflicts in their churches--I came to appreciate even more something that I have appreciated about this church all along: we are a very _solid_ and _stable_ group of people. Even more, we are a group of people that genuinely _love_ each other. Oh, we have our differences. Some of us lean more to the traditional than others. We don't always see eye to eye on how our money should be spent. We don't always agree about what programs we should offer, what parts of our Sunday School and our Sunday worship service should stay the same, and what parts should change. These issues and many others come up in our Church Committee meetings, in our coffee hour discussions, and in our informal contacts with each other during the week. We express differing opinions--and things don't always go the way one or another of us might want. But we _care_ about each other--and about our church--enough to look beyond our differences, to respect each other, and to continue working together for the good of the church and for the good of the people whose spiritual needs we serve. We have achieved . . . we have been _blessed by the Lord_ with a level of cooperation, of mutual concern, and of dedication to the good of our church that not all churches enjoy. This is something to celebrate! Our readings from the Bible and from Swedenborg speak of this unity of love that is not only _our_ ideal for the church, but the _Lord's_ ideal for the church. "How good and how pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] dwell together in unity!" sings the Psalmist. "I give you a new commandment," says Jesus, "Love one another." And he continues, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Swedenborg points out that we are all children of God. If we can take this to heart, both as individual people and as a church, then we can live together as _spiritual_ brothers and sisters, which means living together in love and kindness toward each other. We as a church can celebrate the love and kindness that we show toward each other. We can celebrate the way we visit each other when one of us is sick, support each other when we know that one of us is having a difficult time. We can be even more intentional about this as a church, resolving to be a community of faith that, yes, does look to me as the pastor of the church, but also pastors to each other in many ways and times that a single individual simply cannot do. For the Lord is calling not just me, but every one of you as well, to a ministry of loving each other and serving each other's physical and spiritual needs. The Lord is calling each one of us to show love to one another, and to participate in a universal ministry of mutual kindness and service. This brings us to the challenge that I feel called to put before you today. When I first started as your pastor a year ago September, I was full-time for the first four months. And since I had just started my pastorate here, things hadn't gotten rolling yet. I had a lot of time on my hands! I called every member of the church that I could get hold of--both active and inactive--and talked to them personally. I offered to visit those who wanted to have a visit. It was a precious time--a time I greatly enjoyed--when I was able to spend a lot of time in your homes getting to know you personally. Soon, however, I was no longer full-time. This must have been some relief to our Treasurer, because the fact is, even with support from the denomination and the Massachusetts New Church Union, this church is not strong enough to support a full-time minister on an ongoing basis. Even if I _were_ full-time, the issues in our church would be practically the same, because I am still only one person. As our programs got underway, and as we began to reach out into the community (another thing to celebrate!), I no longer had the luxury of many hours each week to devote to pastoral visiting. I continued to visit those who seemed to need it most, and kept up with other visiting as best I could. But it was clear that with the new level of activity in our church, I would have to find a new balance between tending to the activities of the church and giving the personal, pastoral care that the members and friends of this church want and need. I am still working on that balance. The discussions and conversations in Florida gave me some needed perspective on this issue, which is helping. However, as I mentioned before, I am only one person. Even if I were to find the perfect balance, there are still only a certain number of hours in the week. This need not limit what we as a church can accomplish. Because our church--any church--does not consist of a minister alone. We are a _community_ of people gathered together as a church. I alone am one, but we together are many. We together can accomplish things that no one person, no small committee of people, can accomplish alone. Our potential as a church is limited, not by what we can pay a minister, an organist, or even the people that larger churches can employ, such as secretaries, maintenance people, youth ministers, program leaders, and so on. No, our church is limited only by the limits we put on our own commitment _as individuals in a community of faith._ The flip side of this--a more positive way of looking at it--is that we as a church _can achieve_ whatever we as individuals, and we as a faith community, make a _decision_ and a _commitment_ to achieve _together._ We have experienced the truth of this in the rebuilding of our church. Not everyone agreed with the decision to rebuild, nor did everyone agree with all the decisions that were made along the way. There were some ins and outs among the various members, and how they were involved in the church. But once a decision was made, the group as a whole _pulled together_ and _worked together_ to make the plan a reality. And we were able to accomplish in a single year a rebuilding that many churches that have had a major fire take _three_ years to accomplish. Soon we will have our steeple back as well--the crowning glory of our church. Now our challenge is to take the same commitment that we put into rebuilding our church physically, and turn it towards rebuilding our church spiritually. Let's face it: We are a very small church! We have a building that is designed to serve a much larger congregation. But more importantly, in the teachings of our church we have a spiritual vision that is designed to serve humanity as a whole, not just one small group of people. Our view of the Lord's church represents the broadest possible vision. It embraces all people, of every faith and belief, in the vast sweep of a universal religion that is bound together not so much by common beliefs as by a common love for each other and a mutual desire to serve each other's needs. All who share this mutual love are part of the Lord's kingdom, no matter what the particular beliefs through which they express that love. Can we as a church expand our vision in this way? Can we see ourselves not only as a small group of people who love and care for each other, but as part of a larger, universal church that encompasses all people of good will, and reaches out even to those who are _not_ of good will in an effort to bring about personal and societal transformation? As long as we think of ourselves as this small group only, our vision is limited. As long as we primarily serve each others needs (as much of a cause for celebration amongst ourselves that is) we have drawn our circle of love in tightly around ourselves. We have limited our circle of love to our small group. And we have limited the potential of our church to grow and expand, to reach out in love towards many people and to serve the spiritual needs of a much larger circle. As long as our circle of love is small, our church will be small, both in numbers and in spiritual service to our community. We can expand our circle of love. We can to expand our circle of love by continually broadening in our minds the small boundaries that we tend to draw around our church. We can begin to think of ourselves, not only as a group of people who love each other, but as a church that exists to serve our entire community. We can expand our circle of love in our minds so that we include many more people than we may now be including when we think about who we are as a church. If we now draw a line around the active members of the church and say _these_ people are our church, we can expand that circle to include the _inactive_ members and friends of this church. Perhaps we have a sense that these people are not _real_ members, or are somehow _lesser_ members because they do not put as much into the church as we do. Perhaps we draw them out of our circle of love because we feel they will never be a real part of our church. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we draw people out of our circle of love, we lose any chance there may be of inviting them _into_ our circle of love. When we draw people out of our circle of love, we do not reach out to them. Even when there is contact, they do not feel welcomed by us. Can we each expand our circle of love to include some of these people that we have been excluding in our minds and hearts? Can we reach out to them and make them feel welcome in a way they have not felt welcomed before? If we are able to expand our circle of love to include people who have not been so active in our church, can we expand it even more to include people entirely new to the church? Can we expand our souls so that we can show genuine, heartfelt love toward people who have never set foot in our church before? Further, can we expand our concept of our church to include the people we see every day? Even invite someone we know to come and share a service or a program with us--as teenagers are often so much better than we are at doing? How wide can we expand our circle of love? Our answer to that question is also the answer to another question we often ask ourselves: Can we grow as a church? Of course we can. We simply have to expand our circle of love. How good and pleasant it is When brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, Running down upon the beard, Running down on the beard of Aaron, Running down over the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon Were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, Even life for evermore. (Psalm 133) From info@newchurch-cincy.org Tue Jan 27 00:41:25 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 19:41:25 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980126194106.5507afb8@mail.one.net> This is roughly formatted for ASCII transmission. This and other sermons may be found with fuller formatting on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org If you would like this sermon as a fully formatted WP 5.1 or WP 6.0 document, email me, giving the name of the sermon, and your preferred format, at . ___________________________________________________________________ For Cinti. 01-25-98 THE MURDER OF ABEL A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?' And He said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.'" (Gen. 4:9-10) THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE who go out of their way to avoid organized religion. Their feeling is that the history of organized religion has been dominated by hypocrisy -- dominated by people who profess to act in the name of the Lord, and in the name of love, but in reality are mean, spiteful, hateful and cruel. It may be that those who reject organized religion are being overly sensitive, and completely unrealistic. People are people, after all, and one cannot expect people, even people in the church, to be perfect. All too often, though, the history of religion is a sad and sordid story, filled with examples of people who went out of their way to be spiteful, hateful, cruel, and even sadistic. Atrocious wars, the torture of heretics, and even genocide: the sorry history of organized religion cannot be explained away simply in terms of human imperfection. Now this does not mean that there have not also been, throughout the centuries, countless examples of good, kind and caring people. Religion at times indeed brings out the best in people. This, after all, is its purpose. Sometimes, though, it seems to fail in this purpose. Sometimes it can seem as if religion brings out, not the best, but the worst in people. This is nothing new. It has been this way for a very long time. Right near the beginning of the Old Testament, in the fourth chapter of Genesis, there is a story of how the sphere of worship, the sphere of thanksgiving, is shattered by cruelty, by hatred, and by murder. Both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. Abel's offering is accepted by the Lord. Cain, though, had not done well, and his offering is not acceptable to the Lord. In response, Cain murders his brother Abel. While they are talking in the field, Cain rises up and kills him. Cain pretends not to know what happened to his brother. "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' And he said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9). But the Lord, of course, knew what had happened. "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). It is a horrifying story -- of a man who not only murders his brother, but does so because the Lord accepts his brother's offering and not his own. In essence it is a story about the Lord's church, and about what can go so tragically wrong amongst people who have gathered to worship the Lord. The story of Cain and Abel can be explained on a number of different levels. In general, though, it is a story about the relationship between faith and charity in the Lord's church. Abel, we are told, stands for charity (AC 366) or heavenly love (AE 317:3). More specifically, he stands for good conjoined with truth (ibid.). When people are in good conjoined with truth, when they live a life of good according to the truth, then all is well in the church. Abel's offering is pleasing to the Lord (Gen. 4:4). Cain, on the other hand, stands for the things of faith separated from charity and love (AC 366). Truth is meant to be the "keeper" of charity (AC 372). It is meant to serve by leading a man into charity. When, though, a person believes that he doesn't need to live his religion, when he separates the truth he believes from the way he actually lives, there is then something tragically wrong. He does not allow the truth to lead him towards love and charity. And, without these, without love and charity, there is nothing to stop the hells from dominating a person's mind. As the Lord told Cain in refusing his offering, "If you do not do well, sin lies at the door" (Gen. 4:7). Or, as we read in the Arcana, "when there is no charity there are unmercifulness and hatred, consequently all evil. Sin in general is called the 'devil,' who, that is, his crew of infernals, is ever at hand when man is destitute of charity" (AC 364). This is why religion so often seems to fail. This is why the history of organized religion is filled with so many examples of mankind at its very worst. When people do not live their religion, when they think the truth, but do not obey it, then there is nothing to keep them from evil. There is nothing to keep the hells from entering. When people do not live their religion, they in effect open the doors for the hells. And then good, and good affections, are destroyed or murdered within the church (AE 817:3). Cain rises up and murders his brother Abel. It is not that religion itself has failed. It is people who have failed. They have failed to live what they know, and so have opened themselves up to the terribly destructive power of the hells. And the hells are indeed destructive, destructive beyond belief, for they are filled with hatred, hatred which breathes destruction towards all that is good and true. Now none of us likes to think about hell. We don't like to think about evil spirits, and the misery they can bring. Part of us would like to pretend that hell simply didn't exist. Hell, though is real. One of the reasons that Swedenborg was allowed to look into the hells, and to describe what he saw, was so that we might know that the hells are indeed very real, and very destructive (TCR 312e). We are told that "all who are in hell are in hatred against the Lord, and thus in hatred against heaven." (AE 1013:2). When those in hell merely hear the Lord mentioned, they are inflamed with anger, both against the Lord, and against all who love Him. They hate the Lord, and they hate those who love the Lord, and they are perpetually trying to destroy all who are in heaven (AE 693:4). Those in hell are, in essence, murderers. Hell is said to be the source of murder itself (AE 1013:2). Because hell is, in essence, hatred against the Lord, it seeks the destruction of all that is truly human, all that comes forth from the Lord. Hell seeks the destruction of human life, and it burns with the lust of destroying human souls. And the reason that the devils of hell seek to murder and destroy human life is not primarily because they hate their victims, but because they hate the Lord (AE 1013:4). This is why Cain murdered his brother Abel. It was because Cain was angry with the Lord for not accepting his offering. And so Cain attacked his brother Abel, simply because the Lord had accepted Abel's offering. It was spiteful; it was completely callous and vicious. It was hateful. And it portrays perfectly the way in which the hells, out of a hatred for the Lord, seek to murder and destroy all that is good and true. This is what was involved in Cain shedding the blood of Abel. The blood of a person stands for his life, life that is not his but is of the Lord with him. And it stands for charity, because charity does not originate in person, but is in him from the Lord (AC 1010:1). The hells seek to destroy charity. They seek to destroy love. From hatred they seek in myriads of ways to destroy all that comes from the Lord. And the many ways in which the hells seek to do this is represented in the blood of Abel. In the Hebrew the word for blood is plural: "What have you done?" the Lord said. "The voice of your brother's bloods cries out [or shrieks out] to Me from the ground. "Bloods" stand for the many terrible things which flow forth from hatred (AC 374:3). Indeed hatred is, we are told, "the fountain of all iniquities." (AC 374:2). Now once we realize that the hells are in hatred against all those things which come from the Lord, it becomes obvious why the hells are always trying to infest the Lord's church. They hate the church. They would like to destroy or murder the life of the church, because the church is from the Lord. And this is why, as a protection against the hells, the Lord has commanded those in His church that they shall not kill. "Thou shalt not kill." It is a commandment which we might assume is addressed primarily to those outside of the church, perhaps as a law for the civil state. After all, it is almost unimaginable that somebody in the church would commit murder. And yet the Ten Commandments have been given by the Lord specifically for His church. They have been given specifically for those who seek to follow the Lord. And so it is that those in the church are commanded by the Lord not to kill. When the Lord was in the world, He explained clearly what He meant by this commandment: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,' and whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' Shall be in danger of the hell of fire" (Matt. 5:21-22). The Lord was teaching that unjustified anger, hatred and revenge were also forms of murder. He was teaching that there are far more ways of feeling hate, and there are far more ways of expressing hate, than by actually taking the physical life of another human being. Probably one of the most common ways of killing others is by slandering and defaming them. If we hate or despise someone, and so try to destroy his reputation, try to destroy his image in the eyes of others, then this is a form of murder (AE 1012:3). And if we do this, if we allow ourselves to act from spite, from hatred, then we are opening the door to the hells. "Hatred," we are told, "constitutes hell with man" (AE 1015:3). It need not be this way. Certainly it need not be this way within the church. We do not need to allow ourselves to act hatefully and vengefully. We do not need to talk spitefully and contemptuously about others behind their backs. If we do, then in a sense we shed blood, for we are acting destructively towards charity -- charity which is, in many ways, the very lifeblood of the church. We do not need to spill blood and so open this doorway to hell. And it is most certainly a doorway to hell. Each of us, at some point in our lives, has experienced hatred -- the desire to really hurt some other human being. It is a dangerous desire, for it burns within the heart. It has a tendency to burn with a consuming fire -- eating away inside us -- destroying all happiness and peace. This is hell. It is hell-fire itself. And to the degree to which we allow ourselves to be consumed by anger, or hatred, or revenge, to that degree we bring misery upon ourselves and upon those we associate with. It is a way in which the misery of hell enters the church of the Lord on earth. The Lord's church on earth has been provided so that we might be led to heaven. The truths of His church have been given so that we might live them, and so come into the life of charity and love. The church is to be the gateway to the spiritual love of heaven itself. And this is something wonderful, something precious, something holy. It is something to protect, something to cherish. And this is why it is so very important that we remember the commandment of the Lord not to kill, not to hate, not to be hurtful. It is important, not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of the Lord's church itself. When the people of the church do not live their religion, then, in the words of the Lord to Cain, "sin lies at the door" (Gen. 4:7), and the hells can be very close indeed. But the opposite is also true. When the people of the church do live their religion, then the gates of hell cannot prevail (Matt. 16:18). When people live their religion, then heaven itself draws close to the church, and the Lord can bless His church with love. How can the people of the Lord's church come into heavenly love? They come into it by receiving it from the Lord. Spiritual love is not something we produce within ourselves. It is not something we attain simply by willing it to be so. Love, and charity, come from the Lord. Charity is likened to the life-blood of the body (AC 1010:1). And the Lord will give us this life of charity provided only that we obey His commandments, and do not allow hatred to destroy this life. If we shun what is hateful, then the Lord will bless us with love. As we read in Apocalypse Explained: "So far as one shuns murders, and thus shuns deadly hatreds and revenges that breath slaughter, so far the Lord enters with mercy and love" (AE 949:3). Or, as it is said in Doctrine of Life, "In proportion as any one shuns murders of every kind as sins, in the same proportion he has love towards the neighbor" (Life 67). And so it is that we need to shun murder as a sin. Murder includes all forms of enmity, hatred and revenge. And these must be recognized and shunned as sins -- as evils against the Lord Himself. When we act with enmity, when we act from hatred, we might imagine that we are acting only against our fellow human beings. It involves more than this, though. To act in this way is not only an evil against other people. It is also an evil against the Lord. That is what a sin is. Sin is an evil directed against the Lord. And to act hatefully, to act from revenge, is to attack the very love and charity that come from the Lord Himself. This is why we must shun what is hateful and hurtful. We must live our religion. We must act charitably in all our dealings with one another. Only if we take care to act fairly and justly towards one another can the Lord dwell amongst us. Only then can His church truly be with us. Only then can He bless us, and bless His church, with mercy, with kindness and with love. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Gen.4:1-11 Matt. 5:21-26 AE 1012:3 [part] ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Feb 1 23:19:25 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 18:19:25 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Listening for the Lord's Call," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980201181925.0096d910@pop.tiac.net> Listening for the Lord's Call By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 1, 1998 Readings: 1 Samuel 3 The Lord calls Samuel John 1:43-51 Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael _Apocalypse Revealed_ #87 Hearing means listening and obeying The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3:10) Sometimes it takes a few tries to get through to a person. I must admit that I have often been one of the people that requires several attempts. Heidi (my daughter) reminded me of this the other day when she came into my study with a small bundle of those personalized pencils that were a regular Christmas present for the kids in the Woofenden family. Some of the pencils, of course, said "Lee Woofenden." But others were stamped, in those neat, gold-embossed letters, with one of my family's favorite nicknames for me as I was growing up: "Phineas K. Fogbound." It was a well-deserved nickname. While eating dinner with my family, it was not unusual for me to suddenly catch a phrase that piqued my curiosity, and ask what _that_ was all about--only to find that it had been the subject of conversation for the last ten minutes. More than once I was brought to the here and now by a voice piercing through to my consciousness from some vast distance, saying "Earth to Lee! Earth to Lee! Come in, please!" So I have a certain appreciation for the story about the Lord calling Samuel when Samuel was a young boy. I know the feeling of suddenly hearing a voice and wondering where _that_ came from. Samuel--who lived at the Temple in Shiloh under the direction of the high priest Eli--thought that it was Eli who was calling to him. Three times he went to Eli to find out why he had called. Only on the third time did Eli realize that it was the Lord who was calling to Samuel. In effect, the Lord was calling, "God to Samuel! God to Samuel! Come in, please!" Samuel did tune in to the message that God was trying to get through over the vast distance between the perfection of God and the low, corrupted state of human society in Samuel's day. The words of the Lord were rare in those days. There were not many visions. Why were the words of the Lord rare, and visions scarce? Few people were listening for those words, or watching for those visions. Even Eli's own sons (who were, ironically, named Hophni and Phinehas), one of whom was supposed to succeed him as high priest, were corrupt, and abused their positions as priests of the Lord. This was the cause for the message of doom on the house of Eli that was the Lord's first communication through Samuel. Samuel was not corrupt. He was a dutiful boy, devoted to the tasks of the Lord's house. Yet even with Samuel, it took the Lord three tries to get through. I suspect we can all relate to this. Most of us aren't awful, corrupt people like Hophni and Phinehas. For the most part, we're ordinary, decent folk. We do our job. We try not to step on people's toes too much. We lend a hand here and there when we see the need. Yet even though we mostly _are_ ordinary, decent folk, as with Samuel it sometimes takes the Lord several tries to get through to us. We have our set patterns, our ways of doing things, our habits of long standing. We go about our business, and if something comes along that doesn't fit into our regular pattern, we are likely to pass right on by without noticing it. Or maybe we'll stumble into it and say, "Oof! What was that?" and hurry on our way. It often takes several go-rounds in the school of hard knocks before a message from God finally gets through our thick skulls! All too often, listening for messages from the Lord is not part of our regular pattern. And if it isn't, then tuning our ears to hear what the Lord has to say may take some practice. This is only natural. Every skill requires practice, and listening for the Lord's call is a _skill_ that can be _developed._ Fortunately, we have some help in developing that skill. Most of us are not fortunate enough to hear the living voice of the Lord calling to us as Samuel did. Still, the Lord is not silent. For the Lord has given us his Word--the Bible--as a living voice that can speak to us if we tune ourselves in to the spirit of its message. This is symbolized in today's story. In the Bible, prophets and priests represent the Word of the Lord, and spiritual teaching and guidance that we get from God's Word. Samuel did not immediately recognize that it was the Lord speaking to him. He had to go to Eli three times in order to find where that voice was coming from, and to get instruction as to how to respond so the Lord could give him the message. In the same way, when our conscience speaks to us about something we are involved in, or when we get some sudden intuition and don't know where it came from, we may need to return several times to the Bible, or to church or Sunday School, or simply to meditation and prayer with God, in order to understand the meaning of these "voices" that are trying to get through to us--trying to get through with a message that is vitally important for us to hear. The messages the Lord is trying to get through to us may not be a matter of physical life and death as they turned out to be with Eli's family. But the Lord's messages are always matters of _spiritual_ life and death. And sometimes those messages are gloomier than we want to hear. Samuel did _not_ want to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. He knew how upsetting it would be for Eli. We, also, prefer not to let the Lord's messages upset our lives. But even though Eli had not been able to control his sons, as for himself, he was attentive and obedient to the Lord. It is to his credit that after insisting on hearing what the Lord had said to Samuel, Eli did not get angry or hold it against Samuel; he simply accepted the Lord's message, and the Lord's right to deliver such a message. Would we be able to accept a message from God as readily as Eli did, even if it meant the end of our life as we know it, and the beginning of a whole different kind of life? Are we willing to accept the message that the Lord gives us every day--that we need to stop engaging in this or that wrong way of feeling, thinking, or acting? Are we willing to let these messages come through, and take the action--make the change--that the Lord is asking of us? Even if we _are_ ordinary, decent folk, each one of us has rough edges in our personality that need to be smoothed out. Each one of us has places where we don't do what we know is right--or don't _stop_ doing what we know is wrong. Each one of us has stubborn bad habits that we have not yet tackled. Each one of us has ways that we unthinkingly hurt the people we come in contact with. Each one of us needs to tune in to the messages that the Lord is trying to get through to us every day. Our reading for today shows us how we can do this. First of all, when Samuel heard the voice, he didn't simply ignore it. This is the first step! The voice of the Lord is not rare because the Lord doesn't try to speak to us; it is rare because most people, most of the time, aren't listening for it! So the very first step in listening for the Lord's call is, simply, to _listen_ for it. When we hear our conscience speaking, we may not be able to act on what it is saying right away. But if we can simply hear what that voice of God within us is saying, and not push it out of our minds, we have taken the first step in listening to the Lord's call. Next, we need to start taking some sort of action. Samuel did not know that it was the Lord calling. In the same way, we may not know whether this prompting inside us is genuine or not. We may need to learn more about it. Why would the Lord tell me this? Is there really anything wrong with the way I'm doing things right now? If so, how can I go about changing it? What steps do I need to take to make a change . . . and make the change stick? As with Samuel, it may take several tries to "kick the habit" that the Lord is calling us to give up, or to take the new step in our emotional or interpersonal lives that the Lord is urging us toward. But as long as we are taking _some_ steps to learn more about the issue that the Lord is presenting to us, we are on our way to hearing and obeying the Lord's call. Finally, when we have fully tuned in to what the Lord is telling us, and have grasped the whole message--no matter how difficult it may be for us--we need to respond to it in the way Eli did: without anger or blame, but with a simple acceptance that yes, this is the Lord speaking; the Lord's message applies to me, and I must abide by it. As the story continues beyond what we read this morning, Eli's family line does come to an end, and the spirit of the Lord passes over to Samuel, who leads the Israelites into the next phase of their national and spiritual life. Just so, in order to truly listen to and act upon the Lord's call, we must be ready to allow the old, flawed self that the Lord is speaking against to fade away and die, so that a new, stronger, more spiritual self can take its place. We must be willing to let our old habits die--as hard in coming as that death may be. We must be willing to let our old, faulty and hurtful ways of relating to others fade away to nothing, so that a new, more respectful and considerate self can arise in us. Yes, listening to the Lord's call involves the full range of meaning in that vital word, "to listen." To _truly_ listen, we must progress from hearing and understanding what the Lord is telling us, right through to putting that message into practice in our lives. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Feb 15 23:46:02 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 18:46:02 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Satan, At Your Service," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980215184602.00976150@pop.tiac.net> Satan, At Your Service By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 15, 1998 Readings: Psalm 52 An example of the wicked and of the righteous Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practise deceit. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, ?Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!? But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God?s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you for ever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. Luke 16:1?14 The parable of the shrewd manager Jesus told his disciples: ?There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ?What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.? ?The manager said to himself, ?What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I?m not strong enough to dig, and I?m ashamed to beg?I know what I?ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.? ?So he called in each one of his master?s debtors. He asked the first, ?How much do you owe my master?? ??Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,? he replied. ?The manager told him, ?Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.? ?Then he asked the second, ?And how much do you owe?? ??A thousand bushels of wheat,? he replied. ?He told him, ?Take your bill and make it eight hundred.? ?The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Feb 23 01:39:57 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 20:39:57 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "True Love," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980222203957.00a4f6d0@pop.tiac.net> True Love By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, February 22, 1998 Readings: Genesis 1:26-31 Male and female created he them Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day. Matthew 19:3-6 What God has joined together Some Pharisees came to Jesus to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." _Marital Love_ #457, 458 The precious jewel of marital love The marriage relationship of one man with one woman is the precious jewel of human life, and the treasure chest of Christianity. . . . This is because our life is the same as the love that is in us. Our love makes our innermost life, since it is the life of wisdom living together with its love, and the life of love living together with its wisdom-so it is the life of the joys of both of these. In a word, we are living souls through this love within us. This is why the marriage relationship of one man with one woman is called the precious jewel of human life. Marital love is the treasure chest of Christianity because Christianity becomes one with marital love, and they live together. . . . Our marital love goes according to our _spiritual_ condition because it goes along with the development of wisdom within us. Sermon: God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) It looks as if my long-range holiday sensors are just as bad as they have ever been. Three weeks ago I promised you a two-part series of sermons, entirely oblivious of the fact that one of those sermons would fall on the Sunday right _before_ Valentine's day, and the other on the Sunday right _after_ Valentine's day. As a result, last week I had the rare distinction of preaching about Satan on the Sunday closest to Valentine's day! This week I am attempting to redeem myself by celebrating Valentine's day a little late--but still before we move into the introspective period of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday this coming Wednesday. Perhaps Providence was at work after all, since I am pleased that we are holding this special service on the same day that our teenagers have joined us for their Youth League and Confirmation Class (held during Sunday School), so that their parents can easily attend this service, too. It does seem especially appropriate to focus on marriage as we begin together a brand new venture for our church: a wedding ministry in which we will serve to join many couples in the holy and, we hope, happy union of marriage. It is a ministry that our church is especially well suited for. Yes, our church building is a beautiful place to get married. But when I say that our church is especially well suited to provide a wedding ministry, I am referring primarily to the strong and deep insights and ideas that we find in the teachings of our church about the union of man and woman--of male and female--in marriage. Over the ages in which humanity has existed on this earth, marriage has most often been considered a mere mating or coupling for purposes of childbearing, political and social advantage, sexual pleasure, or some other worldly purpose. One of the most common of these purposes has been--for men--to secure a woman, or several women, much like property, so that her labor and her body will belong to him exclusively. A few women have managed to turn the tables and bend their mates to their will, so that their husbands labor for them and wait on their beck and call. But this has been by far the less frequent situation in a world whose affairs have been largely dominated by men throughout recorded history. This certainly was the case in the times of Jesus--and in the times of Moses that Jesus referred to in our New Testament reading. As we find out if we read further in Matthew, when the Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason, they were referring to a law given by Moses and recorded in the Old Testament that if a man found his wife to be unsatisfactory for some reason, he should write her a bill of divorcement and send her away. There is, of course, no mention in the Old Testament of a _wife_ writing her _husband_ a bill of divorcement. This would not have even occurred to the Old Testament writers, since for all practical purposes, a wife belonged to her husband, and it was simply taken for granted that he held the primary power in the relationship. Jesus rejected this attitude toward marriage. In fact, in another place, speaking to the people of that culture, he says, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels" (Luke 20:34-36). Did he mean that in heaven there is no marriage as we conceive of it in our culture's best ideals of marriage? I think not. Rather, I believe that on the literal level of meaning, he was saying in essence, "In the spiritual world, marriage as _you_ know it does not exist. Women are not married off nor given in marriage to men as property to be owned, controlled, and sent away at will. That is not how things are with the angels." Some people may think this is stretching Jesus' words. But if some deeper form of marriage were not a part of God's will, why did Jesus say what he _did_ say in our reading from Matthew? Why did he refer those Pharisees back to how things were in the beginning, when God created human beings male and female, both in the image of God? Why did he say that a man should leave his father and mother and be united to his wife? And why did Jesus refer to the marriage of a man and a woman as something that God has joined together, and that no human being should separate? If we try to interpret Jesus' words as meaning that there is no such thing as heavenly, spiritual marriage, we create many contradictions in his own words. But once we realize that he was referring (in the literal sense) to an _un_spiritual form of marriage--that he was attacking social and religious customs of marriage as property and as a means to worldly ends--the contradictions disappear. If we put together _all_ his statements about love and marriage, we can understand and appreciate that Jesus was trying to break those traditional, worldly views of marriage and point us toward a deeper, more spiritual, God-given ideal of marriage. This spiritual ideal of marriage is what we both celebrate and strive for today. We as a church and as individual people, as couples, as families, do not want to be stuck in old, materialistic, and ultimately depressing and destructive forms of marriage--forms in which one partner tries to dominate and control the other for his or her own advantage and pleasure. No! We wish to build relationships and marriages based on a deeper ideal--an ideal of mutual love and service, in which there is no thought of dominance or ownership, but only of a deep, passionately heartfelt desire to do everything to make each other happy. This is the ideal. And as Jesus points out, this ideal of marriage is based on nothing other than the origin of marriage in the very being of God. In the beginning, God created us _in God's own image_--and that image of God is expressed in the two modes or polarities of human existence: male and female. We are not male and female simply because this is a method of biological reproduction that has proven effective for complex species. We are male and female because both our maleness and our femaleness express the nature of God. And when male and female unite in marriage, this also expresses the nature of God. This is a truly radical view of marriage! That the union of man and woman, from the union of our souls and spirits, our minds and hearts, right down to the physical union of our bodies, is an expression of the union of the male and female essences of God. Yet this radical view of marriage is present in the very first chapter of the Bible--the Western world's most sacred text. It was right there, undiscovered or ignored, through all those ages in which women were considered the virtual property of men. Now that we are beginning the long and arduous process of shaking those old, destructive patterns of marriage, this spiritually inspiring view of marriage is still with us in our sacred text, calling us forward to work towards and _experience_ a form of marriage that is much more deeply rooted in the human heart and spirit. After all, as Swedenborg points out in our reading from _Marital Love,_ the real, innermost life within us is the life of our love. We can all recognize this if we think about it. Oh, we do many things that don't seem to have anything to do with love. There are many things we do each day that we don't especially _love_ to do. But what is it that moves us most? When do we feel the most alive? Isn't when we are doing the things we love? When we are with _someone_ we love, and the relationship is flowing along smoothly, effectively, joyfully, as we each find joy in discovering the joys and pleasures of the one we love, and entering into those joys and pleasures with him or her? Isn't it when we are with the people we love, working together, playing together, getting to know each other in a closer and deeper way than we have before? Yes, for all our outward pretensions to other drives and motivations, we human beings are, at our core, beings of _love._ And we _are_ beings of love because we are created in the image and likeness of God--and _God is love._ God is _true_ love. God is _pure_ love. And this love that forms the heart of God is the same love that flows into us, through us, among us, between us and the ones we love. True love is not a physical urge based on hormones and biology and instinctual reproductive drives. True love is not based some outward attraction, or a realization that this person fits well into my plans for social and financial advancement. True love is not even the discovery of common interests and talents. All of these things do have subordinate roles in the complex relationship we call love and marriage. But _true_ love is a presence, a force, a _substance_ that comes to us from God and forms the deepest core of our existence. It is an inner, living, moving reality that motivates us in everything that we do. And if it is _true_ love, it is a desire that is focused on discovering what makes other people--and what makes that _special_ other person--truly and deeply happy, and devoting our lives to helping the ones we love to find and experience their happiness. In doing so, we find our own happiness as well. For when we are using our God-given knowledge and wisdom and talents toward the happiness of others, then we are also expressing our own deepest self--a self that is formed of true love flowing into our souls from God. From info@newchurch-cincy.org Tue Feb 24 22:20:41 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 17:20:41 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Sermon mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980224171444.4d27718a@mail.one.net> This is roughly formatted for ASCII transmission. This and other sermons may be found with fuller formatting on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org If you would like this sermon as a fully formatted WP 5.1 or WP 6.0 document, email me, giving the name of the sermon, and your preferred format, at . ___________________________________________________________________ For Cinti. 02-22-98 THE EVERLASTING HILLS A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "The blessings of your father shall prevail above the blessings of my ancestors even to the desire of the hills of an age . . . " (Gen. 49:26) WE ARE GOING TO TALK THIS MORNING about a wonderful promise from the Lord, a promise so wonderful that it almost seems like a dream. It is a promise that the Lord has made to His Church, a promise the Lord made thousands of years ago. It is a promise which has to do with one of the deepest desires, one of the deepest yearnings, of the human heart. It is a promise which has to do with love itself. Just before Israel, or Jacob, died, he had his twelve sons gather around his bed. He addressed each of them in turn. And what he told them -- his last words upon this earth -- are recorded in the Book of Genesis. On the surface, it might seem if Jacob is simply telling his sons what would happen to them in the future. In the internal sense, though, each of Jacob's sons represents something to do with the Lord's church. So it is that each of Jacob's sayings to his twelve sons contains Divine truth from the Lord concerning the state of His church here on earth (cf. AC 6337). They are not simply the dying words of a man who lived thousands of years ago. They are the words of the Lord -- things that the Lord tells us about His church. Our text this morning is one of these sayings, something which Jacob said to his son Joseph. And, in the literal sense, they are obscure words, difficult to understand. Joseph was told that the blessings of his father -- that is, Jacob's blessing -- would prevail over the blessings of Jacob's ancestors -- that is, the blessings of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham and Isaac were Joseph's great-grandfather and grandfather. Jacob was his father. And these successive generations, from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob, represent a descent -- a descent from what is deep and internal towards what is superficial and external. And because Jacob's blessings would prevail over those of Abraham and Isaac, what this meant what that the blessings Joseph received would be relatively external and shallow. This is important to know, because Joseph represents the Lord's spiritual church, that is, the Lord's church as it has existed on earth ever since the Fall -- ever since the origin of evil. Joseph thus represents the Lord's church as it exists with us. And what the Lord is telling us in our text is that the blessings we receive from His church are, in fact, relatively external and superficial. With us, the blessings of Jacob, relatively external blessings, prevail over the more internal blessings of Abraham and Isaac. The reason for this is that we ourselves are relatively external people. We have a strong tendency to be more interested in worldly things than in spiritual things. We tend to love things that are evil, even when we know they are wrong. And we are selfish. When all is said and done, we so often care more about ourselves than we do about others. So it is that even though the Lord tries to bless us through His church, our own selfishness, our own tendency towards evil, drags us down. Indeed, this is why some people find religion -- the life of religion -- quite depressing. They try so hard to obey the Lord's commandments, and they try so hard to love others, but, time and time again they find themselves slipping -- slipping into evil, slipping into selfishness. Not surprisingly, they feel like miserable failures. They hope that they will somehow be able to enter heaven after they die, but they expect nothing higher for themselves than the lowest of the heavens. This, though, is not the way it is supposed to be. This is not the way the Lord wants it to be. The Lord loves the people -- all the people -- He has made. He wants to bless them fully and abundantly. He wants to give them ever-increasing eternal happiness. He wants them to enter heaven, and not just to enter across the threshold, but to come into the highest heaven possible (AC 1799). This is the way it was when the Lord first created people upon this earth. The first people on this earth lived in what the Writings call the Golden Age. Evil had not yet arisen. People loved the Lord, and loved one another. They were not immersed in external things, but saw the things of heaven reflected everywhere they looked in the world of nature. The hearts of men and women were filled with love, filled with happiness. They loved and worshiped the Lord, and they followed Him without question. And the Lord led them to Himself in heaven. He led them to the highest of all the heavens -- to the celestial heaven, a heaven which, more than any other, is ruled by love. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go back to those times? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go back to a time before evil arose, to a time when people's hearts were filled with love? All the misery and wretchedness we see around us in the world, all the misery and wretchedness we might experience in ourselves, arises, in one way or another, from the fact that people do not love the Lord enough, and do not love one another as they should. How wonderful it would be if we could return once more to the Golden Age, an era when love filled the hearts of everybody! It sounds like an idle dream. But it is this very dream which lies at the heart of the Lord's church. The Lord has established His church as a way of leading people away from evil, away from selfishness, towards Himself. Through His church the Lord wants to bless people, bless them by filling their hearts with love and with happiness. Because people tend to be external, selfish and evil, the blessings they can receive are, for the most part, relatively external -- far more external than the blessings and happiness experienced by people in the Golden Age. But still, the purpose of the Lord's church remains the same. The commandments He has given us, the truths He has revealed to us, the worship He has instituted, all have as their purpose that we might be led away from selfishness, away from evil. The Lord wants to fill our cold hearts with His love, and bring us closer to that wonderful state which existed upon earth in earliest times. It may well be, as many in the church have concluded, that mankind will never return to the same degree of perfection as there was at the beginning. Certainly we can never return to exactly the same state as existed then. But still we can hope and dream. Indeed, it is because we hope and dream that we belong to the church. We belong to the Lord's church because, despite our imperfections, despite our tendency to be selfish, we want to receive love from the Lord. We dream of, we hope for, we pray for, and indeed we yearn for a time when the Lord can lift us out of our selfishness and bless us with His love. This hope or dream is spoken of in Jacob's blessing upon Joseph. Those of the spiritual church may indeed receive blessings that are relatively external. But still, there is the hope -- the promise -- of something higher. Jacob told Joseph that "the blessings of your father shall prevail above the blessings of my ancestors even to the desire of the hills of an age . . . " (Gen. 49:26). The words, "the desire of the hills of an age," might also be translated, the longing, or yearning, for the everlasting hills. And in these words are hidden a wonderful promise from the Lord. Imagine for a moment that you are living in a place which is fairly flat. Far in the distance, though, you can see hills and mountains. And in your heart you feel a longing, a longing to travel to those distant hills, and to climb upwards -- up into the mountains -- where you can rise up above the flat ground, and look around and see for miles and miles. Why is it that most people love to see hills and mountains? It is because hills and mountains are a symbol of love. Love from the Lord is the only thing that can lift you up above the drab flat terrain of a worldly and selfish life. Only when you love the Lord and love others are you lifted out of yourself, lifted out of the misery of self-love and self-pity. This is why, in the other world, the highest angels, called celestial angels, live upon the hills and mountains there. They live there because they, more than all others, have hearts that are filled with love. When Swedenborg was being taken by an angel guide to visit those people in the other world who had lived in the Golden Age, he saw, from a distance, the mountain upon which they lived. It was a magnificent mountain, which reached above the clouds (CL 75). There, in tents, on a circular plain upon the top of the mountain, lived the people of the Golden Age (ibid.). Perhaps we will never live on as high and as magnificent a mountain as did those most ancient people. But still, we dream of the hills. We dream of being raised up above ourselves and of coming into a state of love. It is a hope, a goal, which the Word often speaks about: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills; from whence comes my help?" (Ps. 121:1). "Who may ascend into the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?" (Ps. 24:3). This is more than just a dream, more than just a hope. It is a promise. We actually can reach the hills. Jacob told Joseph that external blessings would prevail, "even to the desire of the hills of an age." And contained in these words is a promise from the Lord for those of the spiritual church. It is explained in the Arcana that the "hills of an age" signify "things of mutual love." It is then added that "the spiritual church may come to this love" (AC 6435). It is said that "the spiritual kingdom may rise above the good of charity even to the good of mutual love, which is of the celestial kingdom" (ibid.). This is a remarkable statement. Mutual love is a celestial love. It is not the deepest of celestial loves -- it is said to be the external of the celestial kingdom (ibid.). But it is, nevertheless, celestial. It is a love found in the highest heaven. And the wonderful thing is that we, who are merely spiritual, can attain to this celestial love, this love called, in the Writings, mutual love. What, though, is meant by mutual love? Consider for a minute the doctrine of love taught by the Lord in the New Testament. Time and time again the Lord taught His followers about the importance of loving other people. He told them, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn. 13:34). "This is My commandment," He told them, "that you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn. 15:12). The Lord was teaching men who by nature tended to be external and selfish. He was teaching them about the importance of rising above the love of self. And so it was that the Lord taught people that they should love one another as much as they loved themselves. He told them, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt. 22:39). To love others as much as we love ourselves! This is the law of charity. It is a beautiful teaching. It is also a hard teaching, or so it can seem. We can try very hard to be unselfish, but, despite our best intentions, we so often put our own interests first. It is a struggle to be unselfish. But it is a struggle that is well worth the effort. If we pay heed to what the Lord tells us, if we strive to treat others fairly and justly, then the Lord can deliver us from the misery of selfishness. It is only when we value the happiness of others, only when we love them as much as we love ourselves, that, for the first time, we can begin to experience something of the happiness of heaven itself. We live a life of charity when we love others as much as we love ourselves. And when we live the life of charity, the Lord can then bless us with happiness. He can begin to fill our hearts with love. But charity is a spiritual love. The Lord tells us that we can rise still further, and come into mutual love. Those in mutual love do not simply love the neighbor as much as they love themselves. We are told in the Arcana that, "mutual love in heaven consists in the fact that they love the neighbor more than themselves" (AC 2057; see also SD 3530). This is the wonderful promise contained within Jacob's blessing upon Joseph. It is the promise that even though we are born with a tendency to love ourselves more than others, we can, if we are faithful to the Lord's commandments, be lifted up above this selfishness. We can come to love others as much as we love ourselves. Then, if we continue to follow the Lord, we can, in the end, come into mutual love itself, come to love others even more than we love ourselves. It is not a love we will enter into fully whilst we still live on this earth (AC 3956). But it is a love we can come into when we enter the Lord's kingdom in the heavens. We can be lifted up into that love represented by the everlasting hills. To a person who basically cares only about himself and his own happiness, such a promise hardly sounds wonderful at all. Why would he want to love others as much as he loves himself? And why would he ever want to love them more than he loves himself? But for the person who dreams of something better, for the person who wants to forget himself, who wants to serve others, this is one of the most wonderful of all promises. It the promise that one day we will be able escape the slavery of selfishness, to experience a love that is truly unselfish, a love which comes directly from the Lord Himself. The Lord wants to fill our hearts with this love. He wants our own love to be an image of His love. He wants to lift us above ourselves, by filling our hearts with a love which reaches out, fully, to other human beings. He wants to bless us with celestial mutual love, a love filled with the joy and happiness of heaven itself. The Lord wants to lead us to the everlasting hills. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Gen. 49:1,22-26 Jn. 15:8-14 AC 6435:9 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Mar 1 20:39:33 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 01 Mar 1998 15:39:33 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "A Journey to Resurrection," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980301153933.009d0750@pop.tiac.net> A Journey to Resurrection A Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 1, 1998 Readings: Psalm 91 Assurance of God's protection You who live in the shelter of the Most High, Who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, Will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust." For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the deadly pestilence; He will cover you with his pinions, And under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, Or the arrow that flies by day, Or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or the destruction that wastes and noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, Ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes And see the punishment of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you; no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you To guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, So that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, The young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, And show them my salvation Luke 4:1-13 Jesus tempted by the devil Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give to you their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you will worship me, it will all be yours. Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Arcana Coelestia #1690 The Lord's temptations--and ours The Lord's life, from earliest childhood right through his last hour on earth, involved constant temptation and constant victory. It is clear that this did not end with his temptation in the wilderness because it says in Luke, "After the devil had finished every temptation, he left him for a time" (Luke 4:13), and also because he endured temptations right through his death on the cross. . . . The temptations described in Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12, 13, and Luke 4:1-13 summarize all the Lord's temptations: that from his love toward the entire human race, he fought against selfish and materialistic loves, which completely fill the hells. All temptation is an attack against the love that is within us. The level of temptation depends on the level of our love. If our love is not attacked, there is no temptation. Sermon: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1, 2) Now that Ash Wednesday has passed, we are in Lent, a period of forty days (excluding Sundays) that starts with Ash Wednesday and ends at Easter. This derives from the forty days Jesus fasted in the desert and was tempted by the devil. Although this event took place at the _beginning_ of Jesus' ministry, right after he was baptized, and not the end, right before he was crucified and rose again, Christian tradition has bound the two events together so that we commemorate the forty days of fasting and temptation in the days leading up to Easter. There is a certain rhythm and pattern to this. At the beginning of Genesis, we read about six days of labor and a seventh day of rest, and this becomes the defining pattern of our lives. Weekdays when we work; weekends when we have a day or two off--even if our "weekend" falls in the middle of the week. Plowing, planting, tending the crops, and harvesting, followed by the winter, when the ground lies dormant and we live on the fruits of our labor. School from fall through spring, and then summer vacation. Fifty or so weeks of work, and one or two weeks off--or more for some people. And then back to work, where our day may consist of several hours in the morning punctuated by a brief coffee break, then a longer lunch break, and back to work until the end of our work day, when we can go home and, if we're lucky, relax a bit before our bodies and minds get their rest in sleep. Our lives fall into patterns, both small and large, of working and resting. And so, Lent is for us a journey to resurrection. The forty days of Lent are the forty days of labor, of fasting, of struggle, of temptation. They are broken up each week as Sunday comes around--a day set apart from traditional Lenten observances. A day of rest from our labors. Finally, the entire period of Lent culminates in the rejoicing--the spiritual rest--of the Lord's resurrection on Easter morning. Where does this journey toward resurrection carry us? What are some of the stops along the way? In our reading from Luke, the Lord's journey carried him immediately into the desert, where he fasted and was tempted by the devil for forty days. We always notice the famous temptations that happen at the _end_ of this forty day period; but it is easy to miss the fact that the Lord was being tempted by the devil for the _entire_ forty days. The Lord's temptations were not a simple, one-time affair, any more than we are tempted once in our lives and then it's all over. No, as Swedenborg says, the Lord was tempted _throughout_ his life on earth; the specific temptations mentioned in our reading are only a brief summary of the many deep, spiritual struggles that the Lord went through during the thirty some years he lived as a flesh and blood human being on our earth. The Lord's experience was similar to our own--only at a far deeper level. We may sometimes think that we are the only ones who have had to go through so much trial and struggle in our lives--that other people's lives have been easy compared to ours. That is because we see their lives from the _outside,_ but our lives from the _inside._ Most people go out of their way to present as stable an outward appearance as they can manage. We don't like to advertise our inner struggles to the world! But we should not be deceived into thinking that the outward appearance tells the whole story. Much of Jesus' life looks relatively peaceful outwardly, as he travels through the countryside teaching, preaching, and healing. But our reading today gives us a brief glimpse into the profound struggles--the raging battles--that were going on inside of him all along. The crucifixion, and the time just before it when Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane, are another such glimpse. This means that in our own trials, temptations, and struggles we can take comfort in knowing that not only do other _people_ know the experience of temptation and struggle, but our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, knows this experience more fully and deeply than we ever will. And so, as we go through our desert journey toward our own personal resurrection as more loving and spiritual beings, we can know that the Lord is with us through the whole journey, offering us comfort and strength. "He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day" (Psalm 91:4, 5). As we journey on toward personal resurrection, our temptation struggles get deeper and deeper. We gain greater spiritual strength each time we overcome--and we need every ounce of that strength to face the next, deeper and more difficult struggle. We know that this is true if we look back at who we were ten, twenty, thirty, or more years ago. We can see, when we reflect on it, that the issues and trials we face now would have completely overcome our earlier self. A few decades ago, we simply could not have faced the things we are facing now! If we feel that the evil impulses we are struggling against are getting worse and worse, this is not a sign that _we_ are getting worse; rather, it is a sign that we have matured emotionally and spiritually, and are ready to face deeper issues in our lives and our relationships. There is this kind of progression in the three temptations that the devil placed before Jesus in our story. Each one is deeper and more difficult than the last. First, there is the temptation to command a stone to be a loaf of bread. In Bible times, bread was the "staff of life." Bread did sustain people's lives, and breaking bread with others was a sign of hospitality, friendship, and kindness toward them. It is a short step to see that bread is a symbol, or correspondence, of the good of love and kindness in action. Stone, on the other hand, cannot sustain life--at least, not _human_ life. It is too hard to be chewed and digested, and it does not have the nutrients we need to sustain our bodies. Stone is hard and unyielding. It is a great thing to build a house on, but not a good thing to live and thrive on as a human being. It is a natural symbol for facts, knowledge, information that we can use to give strength and structure to our ideas, a foundation for our way of living. But it is no substitute for love and kindness toward our fellow human beings. To command a stone to become bread is to try to substitute information for love in our dealings with others. We make stones into bread if, for example, someone comes to us needing moral support in kicking a bad habit, and instead we give them a lecture on the evils of the habit they are trying to quit. In our younger years, we are often quick to make these kinds of judgments against others, and slower to give the true bread of our unconditional love, kindness, friendship, and support--the bread of life that sustains us all. However, in time most of us do learn. We learn to act in a more kind and thoughtful way toward the people in our lives--not to give them hard stones when nourishing bread is what is needed. Once we have more-or-less gotten our outward behavior under control, we move on to the deeper issues of our inner desires and motivations. As we head into our adult years, and into the working world, "all the kingdoms of the world" are laid before our eyes. We see the possessions and pleasures that money can bring; when we are struggling to get by, we feel the _lack_ of those possessions and pleasures. Like Jesus, we are sorely tempted, through a period of many years, to give in and worship material possessions and pleasures instead of keeping our focus on serving the Lord's higher purpose for our lives. It may take us many years to move beyond this nagging temptation of a materialistic focus that the world is always dangling before our eyes. However, if we continue to mature emotionally and spiritually, we leave behind that particular temptation. The world loses its allure; its glitter no longer dazzles our eyes. Now we are heading into the most difficult struggles of all: the struggles against our own self-centeredness. The struggle against the feeling that _we,_ and not the Lord, are the center of the universe. The feeling that _our_ lives are the best--or the worst--around. That only _we_ really understand what is going on; that _we_ are the ones who have to hold up the world. And since we are so central to ourselves, if we do lapse from the path of love and goodness--if we throw ourselves down from the pinnacle of the temple into hurtful ways of speaking and behaving--well, we are so special that it will not be held against us! The Lord will command his angels to take away the consequences of our wrongdoing. But we are not meant to test the Lord in this way. Rather, our deepest struggles are all about _letting go_ of our desire to control life and have things go our own way. Our ultimate test is about whether we insist upon leading ourselves, or whether we will allow the Lord to be the guiding force in our lives. If we can struggle through to an acceptance of the Lord's supreme power and leadership in our lives, then we have reached the destination in our journey to resurrection. For then the Lord--who was previously dead in the grave of our materialistic, selfish focus--can rise in the glory of divine love and wisdom flowing into us and inspiring us to lives of mutual understanding and kindness with everyone around us, and with the Lord. Then we have truly traveled through our forty days in the desert, to a glorious new life in God's love. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Mar 8 18:18:45 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 13:18:45 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Taking Inventory," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980308131845.009496e0@pop.tiac.net> Taking Inventory A Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 8, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 55: Why labor for what does not satisfy? "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen! Listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you: my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel; for he has endowed you with splendor." Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their way and the evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." Luke 14:25-33: Counting the cost Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise when you have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and was not able to finish!' "Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. "So, therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions." _Arcana Coelestia_ #4599.5: Acquiring and using truth If we were not aware of the inner meaning of the Bible, we could only suppose that in this passage the Lord was using comparisons, and that the expressions "building a tower" and "going to war" were not used to mean anything more. We would not realize that every comparison in the Bible has a spiritual meaning, and is symbolic. Yet "building a tower" means acquiring deeper truths for ourselves, and "going to war" means fighting from those truths. For this passage is about the temptations experienced by people who belong to the church, who are here called the Lord's disciples. Those temptations are meant by "the cross" that each of us has to carry. And the fact that we cannot possibly overcome them by ourselves, or from our own power, but only from the Lord, is meant by "none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions." If we interpret the passage this way, everything fits together. But if the story of the tower and the war are interpreted only as comparisons, without a deeper meaning, they do not fit together. Sermon: Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, whether you have enough to complete it? Otherwise when you have laid a foundation and are not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, saying, "This person began to build and was not able to finish!" (Luke 14:28, 29) As those of you who have worked in wholesale or retail sales know, keeping track of the inventory is a vital part of the business. If you do not know what stock you have in the store or warehouse, and how fast or slow the various items are selling, you will not be able to order the right items in the right quantities to ensure that most of the time, when someone comes in to buy something, you will have it on the shelves. And assuming it is not a special order item, if you don't have it on the shelves, your customer is going to find another store to buy from. Too much of this and you'll soon be out of business. Many businesses these days have computerized inventory systems that help them keep track of their stock and order what is needed. But even these businesses must periodically take a manual inventory of their stock to make sure that the computer records match reality. A computerized inventory system cannot keep track of such "transactions" as goods lost to shoplifting, items misplaced on the shelves, and errors at the cash register. The only way to make sure the computerized inventory is correct is to send a human being up and down every aisle to check each item in the store. This applies to other kinds of work, too. When I was in college, I worked in the college library. When things got slow at the desk, one job was always ready and waiting to be done: shelf reading. Shelf reading is a library's way of taking inventory. You walk along in the stacks holding a listing of the books in the order that they're supposed to be in on the shelves, and see if they are actually there and in the right order. There are almost always books missing or misplaced--and if a human being doesn't go around to check, the next time someone wants those particular books they will not be on the shelf where they are supposed to be, and the person will not get the book they wanted. So as tedious as shelf reading is, it must be done on a regular basis. Our reading from Luke talks about a different kind of taking inventory: "Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, whether you have enough to complete it?" In business terms, this is usually called making an estimate or giving a quote; but it is the same idea as taking inventory. When we want to do some sort of project, we must first list--or take inventory of--the expected costs of the project: materials, labor, equipment, and so on. Then we must take inventory of our resources and see if we have enough to cover the project. If not, it's better not to start. Not only are we likely to get laughed at for half-finishing the project (though in these "polite" times, the laughing is likely to take place behind our backs), but we'll have wasted a lot of time and money on something that will not serve any use because it won't ever be completed. The other type of "inventorying" that Jesus mentions could be even more critical to our survival. If we're in a situation of international conflict, we'd certainly better take a look at our ability to wage a war successfully and to deal with the consequences before we start rushing our troops and machinery into battle. If the costs of the war are likely to be more than we can bear, and if the likely consequences don't justify entering into an armed conflict, we'd better be sending diplomats instead of soldiers, or we might end out causing a lot of death and destruction for no good reason. However, as Swedenborg points out, Jesus is not really talking about estimating our finances or counting our soldiers. It is clear from the prolog to these brief parables that Jesus was speaking in metaphorical--or correspondential--terms. Listen again to the opening verses: "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Now here is a real challenge to the Biblical literalist! It's easy enough to interpret the Bible literally when we read things like, "Thou shalt not steal" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." But after everything Jesus said about love, how many Christians could really take this verse literally? How many Christians would insist that in order to follow Jesus, we must hate all of our family members? And if that _were_ the case, what would happen to the commandment that says "honor your father and your mother?" Did Jesus really mean for us to break one of the Ten Commandments in order to be Christians? Then he says we must hate even life itself. Do we have to commit suicide in order to be a Christian? It would be ridiculous to interpret the passage in this literal way. And finally, to follow this to the end, how many Christians go around carrying a big cross over their shoulders all the time? A few do at religious festivals, but that's about it. It is obvious to any open-minded reader that Jesus did not mean these statements to be taken literally. In another Gospel (Matthew 10:37; 19:29), Jesus does say what we _expect_ him to say: that it is when we love father and mother, sister and brother _more than we love him (Jesus)_ that we are not worthy to be his disciples. But here Jesus says we must _hate_ our family members in order to be his disciples. And we are still left with the question of why this passage about hating our family members leads into two stories about taking inventory before starting a project or a military campaign. As Swedenborg points out, if we don't look for the deeper meanings within this passage, its different parts simply don't go together very well with each other, or with the rest of the Bible. But when we _do_ interpret it spiritually, we find that the passage has nothing to do with our literal family members, but instead is about taking a fearless moral and spiritual inventory of _ourselves._ In our lives here on earth, our family has a greater influence than anything or anyone else in shaping who we are as a person. Our character is a unique blend of traits and habits that come from our parents and _their_ parents, and so on up the line. When we are young, we pick up our parents' attitudes and mannerisms without even realizing it. In fact, it is common for us to spend a number of years denying that we are _anything like_ our parents. Sometimes it is only when we get to the age our parents were when we were growing up that we realize with a shock that in so many ways, we are _just_ like our parents! In this passage, Jesus is referring to these _inner_ personality traits that we have derived from our parents, our brothers and sisters, and yes, even from our spouse and our children. He is referring to the character that has been built up within us--to all the desires and motivations, all the beliefs and attitudes that form the inner "family" that we live with each day. These attitudes and motives are the spiritual "mother and father, wife and children, brothers and sisters" that we must be willing to hate if we are going to follow the Lord. For all too often, the attitudes and motives that we call our own (and cling so tightly to as a result) are in conflict with the Lord's teachings about how we are meant to be as Christians. This is what Jesus was driving at when he said, "None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions." He wasn't talking about giving up _material_ possessions--though for some people who are overly attached to worldly wealth, it may be necessary to give up that wealth. But what Jesus _really_ meant was that we need to give up our _spiritual_ possessions: our attachments to everything that we claim as our own within ourselves. In psychological terms, we have to give up the false and destructive ego that has built up within us if we wish to let the Lord into our lives to re-form us in God's image. Once we recognize this, it is time to take our spiritual inventory. Just as a shopkeeper must periodically send someone through the aisles to take an inventory of everything on the shelves, we must periodically walk down the "aisles" of our minds and hearts, taking inventory of what we find there, and noting what is missing and what is in the wrong place so that we can "order up" a new stock of the spiritual virtues that we need in our inner storehouses. And Lent is just the time to take this kind of a spiritual inventory! When we understand the Lord's words in this way, we can see that counting the cost before building a tower means taking a look at ourselves and seeing if we have learned what we need to know in order to set up a new structure in our minds and hearts--in order to "restructure" ourselves so that, like the tower in the parable, we reach up toward heaven instead of merely clinging to the earth like an average house. And when we have learned enough of the Lord's teachings to do this, are we willing to wage the battles of temptation and struggle against forces that seem to be twice as strong as we are? Do we have the firmness of resolve to stick it out through thick and thin? This is the inventory we need to take. Yet there is a positive side as well. It is not all about sacrifice and struggle. For there is also a great reward when we are willing to take a fearless moral and spiritual inventory and make a new commitment to the Lord's way for our lives. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The prophet Isaiah points us in the right direction. He writes, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen! Listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." There is a promise of joy and goodness and delight if we will take this inventory and consider what it is that really satisfies--that it is not sticking to our own, often mistaken, ways, but following the Lord's commandments of love and care for each other. Isaiah continues, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their way and the evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon." There is mercy and forgiveness from the Lord. The wrongs of our past--and of our present--_can_ be righted; we _can_ have a new life free from so many of the sorrows that we have all too often brought upon ourselves, or that we have inherited from our families. And even in the sorrows that we cannot change, we can find comfort and hope if we are willing to set aside our own preoccupations, and turn to the Lord for help. Then, says the prophet, "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Mar 8 22:49:53 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 17:49:53 -0500 Subject: SERMON: The Lord's Work as the Counselor or Holy Spirit Message-ID: <199803081750_MC2-3604-4F1B@compuserve.com> The Lord's Work as the Counselor or Holy Spirit By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell March 1, 1998 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." John 16:7 Nearly half of the Gospel of John focuses on the events right before the Jesus' crucifixion and His appearance to Mary Magdalene and the disciples after He rose on Easter Sunday. Nearly one fifth of the Gospel presents the Lord's words to His disciples on the Thursday night before He was to be crucified. Why is there so focus on these events in the Jesus' thirty-some years of life? The disciples had been used to having the Lord immediately with them to lead and instruct them. In times of trouble they turned to Him for help. Yet at the event we call "the last supper" the Lord knew what was going to happen the next day. He knew that His time of being an immediate, clearly recognizable presence in their lives was coming to an end. He knew that this would be very hard for the disciples. He knew His presence as a less immediate and clearly recognizable presence would be very difficult for many human beings ever after that. It can be very hard on us when we face a difficult time in our lives. We can feel so all alone, left to muddle along with our flaws and what can seem like hopeless insufficient strength and insight. Nearly all of us, whether we can remember it or not, experienced a time when we were very young when we got lost in a store or some other large gathering of people. This can be a terrifying event for a little child. He or she can think, "What if I never find my mother again? What will happen to me?" Sometimes a child can handle this frightening event with a steadiness that only melts when finally the little one is reunited with a parent and then she or he bursts into tears. The Lord knew that the disciples were going to feel orphaned. He wished them peace and strength. He wished them a sure knowledge that they were not abandoned. He wanted them to know that it was actually to their benefit that He wasn't going to be a physically tangible presence with them any more. Needless to say this wasn't an easy idea for them to understand, nor is it easy for us to understand the Lord's presence with each of us today. Why did Jesus tell His disciples that it was to their advantage that He was going to be leaving them? He had been absent from them on other occasions. He had sent them out to teach and heal in His name. He had gone off to pray separate from them. We are specifically told of the time that He was asleep in a boat with the disciples during a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee. We know of a time that the disciples tried to heal a young boy, were unsuccessful, and then the Jesus came a performed the miracle that they hadn't been able to effect. They knew from much experience that they often were confused or misunderstood what was happening or should be happening. At the Last Supper, Peter proudly and resolutely announced that he would never abandon or deny his relationship with Jesus, that he was already willing to lay down his life for His sake. Peter was quite wrong. Jesus responded to his assertion: "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times." (John 13:38) The disciples were going to terrified, disappointed, and feeling completely lost and orphaned when Jesus was arrested and crucified. The Lord was working to prepare them for this state of mind when He said: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." John 16:7 In these words, the Lord promised that they would not be abandoned and that they would have a new and advantageous presence in their life--the presence of the Holy Spirit. In conveying this idea an unusual Greek word is used in this section of the Gospel of John--parakletos or the Paraclete. It is not used in of the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Gospel of John makes use of this word only four times and all of them are within the single discourse Jesus gave His disciples on the night before Good Friday. In the traditional King James Version of the Bible that many of us grew up with, it is translated as "Comforter." Parakletos in the original Greek in its primary definition refers to a person who we might call to our aid, especially in a court of justice. It refers to a person who could give you council. The Writings we read: "Sending the Paraclete" means enlightening and instructing people in the truths of faith and "coming to them" means leading them to good. (Arcana Caelestia 9199:3) The New King James version of the Bible translates it as "Helper." It seems a better translation for this word is Counselor. The Lord wants us to know that we are not abandoned by Him, nor are we orphans. He is constantly present with each and all of us as a wise and benevolent Counselor. Picture a woman who has been deeply hurt by gossip that a co-worker has been spreading about her. What thoughts are likely to jump to her mind as she considers what is happening. She might be very angry at the co-worker and be inclined to think of ways of getting even. She might feel terribly ashamed of what people might be thinking of her and feel like she can hardly hold her head up in their presence. She might be feeling depressed and apathetic because there seems to be no sure way to escape such unpleasant events and may even be longing to quit her job and look for a safer place to work. What might the Lord want a person in this situation to reflect on and what feelings might He want to foster within his or her mind? Thought of revenge, guilt, and resignation can so easily be tools for the devils to encourage and enlarge upon. They can so easily lead to still further destructive states of mind, words, and actions. The feelings accompanying them and giving them power are likewise terribly dangerous to the person who is in their grip and all who might interact with that person. The woman in the example can so easily be in sunk in a messy combination of destructive and evil loves or feelings and false ideas of what is true about herself, her co-worker, the best response for her to hold onto and try to live from. We are never abandoned when we are in such states of mind. We certainly can feel alone, hurt, angry, discouraged. But the Lord is more closely present with us than we can possibly imagine every moment of our lives. He knows what has happened and knows far better than we ourselves all the thoughts and feelings that have contributed to our reaction to what has happened. His primary role in helping us isn't solely as a "comforter" who says, "There, there, it's alright" or who mostly just sympathizes with our plight. Certainly He wants to bring us comfort, hope, strength, peace, and happiness, but He knows that we need to freely choose to ask His help in inviting the states of mind that can bring these blessings. His primary presence is as a counselor. He touches our hearts calling forth other emotions and motivations than the ones most readily manipulated by the devils with us. He calls to mind thoughts, ideas, truths, that qualify the false ideas being promoted by the those devils. His presence within our hearts and minds isn't sensed as a commanding one. Certainly through His Word He has given us many powerful and absolute commands. But as the Holy Spirit or Counselor, He works to recall these commands to our conscious thoughts. He is like a wise and benevolent friend who stands by our side and helps us to have better perspective than we can easily have by ourselves. There has been a lot of interest recently in guardian angels and their role in caring for and protecting us. The Lord both encourages this idea and qualifies it. We are assured in the Writings of the New Church that we always have angels and good spirits with us, lifting us up, giving us strength, fighting against the evils loves and false ideas that the devils seek to foist on us as our own. But the Lord also wants us to know that He doesn't turn our lives over to angels because He is too busy or because we're not important enough to receive His personal attention. The promise the Lord gave His disciples was not that they shouldn't worry about His absence because there would be lots of angels to take care of them. He promised to send the Counselor or Holy Spirit. A fundamental idea in the New Church is that the trinity spoken of in the Gospels is not a trinity of persons in the One God. The Father isn't a separate Divine person from Jesus who is a separate Divine person from the Holy Spirit. The Lord is one God and one person. His presence with us is He Himself. Consider the following teaching from the Arcana Caelestia: When the Lord was in the world He was Divine truth, and then the Divine good in Him was "the Father;" but when He was glorified, then He became the Divine good even as to the Human. The Divine truth which then proceeded from Him is called the "Paraclete," or "Spirit of Truth." He who knows these two arcana, if he is in enlightenment from the Lord when he reads the Word, can be in the understanding of many things which the Lord Himself spoke concerning the Father and concerning Himself, and also concerning the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, which otherwise would be incomprehensible mysteries (Arcana Caelestia 8724) We are to believe and know that the Lord is intimately present with each of us constantly. The reason there are guardian angels is not that the Lord has delegated care of each of us to them and gives it little attention. He doesn't need the help of angels. He gives them roles in caring for us for the sake of their joy at being able to serve. But each and everything they do is His work through them and the wiser among the angels know and clearly acknowledge this to be the case. The Lord knows that we can often wish His presence was more physically tangible. He knows that we sometimes wish to hear His voice telling us what we should and shouldn't do when we are lost and confused facing a difficult dilemma. But He also knows that we can not grow as human beings by this kind of guidance. He knows that we cannot be truly happy in this setting. He has not abandoned us. He is a constant presence in our lives as a loving and ever so wise counselor. He is doing this for each and every human being. He has not abandoned us. He is with us even now. AMEN. Lessons: John 16:6-7,13 When the word, "spirit," is used in reference to the Lord, it specifically means the life of His wisdom, which is Divine Truth: I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Counselor will not come to you, but if I go away I will send Him to you (John 16:7). . . .The "Counselor," the Spirit of Truth," and the "Holy Spirit," the Lord Himself is meant. This can be seen from His words--that "the world did not as yet know Him," for they did not yet know the Lord. And when He said that He "would send it," He added, "I will not leave you orphans, I come to you, and you will see Me" (John 14:1-19, 26, 28); and in another place, "Lo I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age" (Matthew 28:20); and when Thomas said, "We know not whither You are going," Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth" (John 14:5, 6). Since the "Spirit of Truth" or "Holy Spirit" means the same thing as the Lord, who is the Truth itself, it is said, "the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:39); for after His glorification or complete unition with the Father, which was effected by the passion of the cross, the Lord was the Divine wisdom and Divine truth itself, therefore the Holy Spirit. (Doctrine of the Lord 51) All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Mar 8 22:50:55 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 17:50:55 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Escaping the World's Hatred Message-ID: <199803081751_MC2-3604-4F2C@compuserve.com> Escaping the World's Hatred By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell March 8, 1998 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19 Do any of us like to be hated? Rarely does a person enjoy sensing the hatred of another, let alone a vast a pervasive angry sentiment by many. Voluntarily placing oneself in a situation in which one would be exposed to this kind of global hatred is hugely scary and uncomfortable to nearly everyone. But there is a part of the human mind that relishes feeling a sense that: "I am among the chosen few, the elite set, apart from others because of superiority." From this perspective expressions of anger or hatred, while unpleasant, can be seen as reminders of that: "They hate me because I'm better than them and perhaps they know it." The people of early Christianity struggled hard to formulate a life in accordance with what the Lord expected of them. Some were guided to see the life of obedience to Divine law and of service to the neighbor that the Lord intended. Others were confused by passages that seemed to indicate that the world was the enemy. They sought escape from the world. The most extreme forms were exhibited by those who went off to live a purely solitary life of prayer and fasting, totally removing themselves as best they could from any pleasures of civilization or any other human contact. Would the Lord have wanted us to walk around looking down on all who do not believe as we do? Would He have wanted us to feel superior when others express displeasure at what we have said and done? Or would He have wanted us to work hard to separate ourselves from any who seem to have different values and perspectives from our own? Is this what He was trying to convey when He said: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you"? The Lord wants us to know that the biggest dangers we face don't come fundamentally from outside of ourselves. Consider the following from the Gospel of Mark: "There is nothing that enters people from outside which can defile them; but the things which come out of them, those are the things that defile people. . . . When Jesus had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters people from outside cannot defile them, because it does not enter their heart but their stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods? And He said, "What comes out of a person, that is what defiles that person. For from within, out of the heart of human beings, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person." Mark 7:15-23 The Lord wants us to recognize and attend to the reality that the most significant spiritual battle ground on which we must fight is within our own hearts and minds. We cannot possibly be useful, wisely loving and serving human beings unless we conquer our inner spiritual enemies over and over again with the Lord's aid. We are not easily conscious of the fact that our minds are a spiritual battlefield. The Arcana Caelestia presents this idea with the following words: The presence of the Lord is first possible with a person when that person loves the neighbor. The Lord is in love; and so far as a person is in love, so far the Lord is present; and so far as the Lord is present, so far He speaks with that person. People knows no otherwise than that they thinks from themselves, whereas they do not have a single idea, nor even the least bit of an idea, from themselves: but they have evil loves and false ideas through evil spirits from hell, and good loves and true ideas through angels from the Lord. Such is the influx with each human being, from which is that person's life and the communication of the person's soul with the body. (Arcana Caelestia 904:3) The Lord wants us to know that the most important spiritual battles we have to face exist within our own hearts and minds. Consider the implications of the following passage from the Writings of the New Church. [It is written] in Luke: "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will prefer the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Luke 16:13). This must be understood as referring, not to servants in the world, for such can serve two masters, and yet not hate and despise one of them, but to servants in a spiritual sense, who are such as desire to love the Lord and themselves equally, or heaven and the world equally. These are like those who wish to look with one eye upwards, and with the other downwards, that is, with one eye to heaven, and with the other to hell, and thus to hang between the two; and yet there must be a predominance of one of these loves over the other; and where there is a predominance, that which opposes will be hated and despised when it offers opposition. For the love of self and of the world is the opposite of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. For this reason, those who are in the heavenly love would rather die or be deprived of honors and wealth in the world than be drawn away by them from the Lord and from heaven. They consider this to be the sole consideration, because it is eternal, but the former as relatively nothing, because it comes to an end with life in the world. On the other hand, however, those who love themselves and the world above all things, regard the Lord and heaven as relatively of no account, and even deny them, and so far as they see that they are opposed to self and the world they hate them; this becomes clearly manifest with all such in the other life. . . To this I am able to bear witness from experience; for all who have lived for self and the world, and not, as they ought, for God and heaven, in the other life hate the Lord and persecute those who are His, however in the world they may have talked about heaven and also about the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 409:7) Or consider the implications of the following passage: [It is written] in the Gospels: . .Any people who come to Me, and do not hate their own father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters, even indeed, their own soul, are not My disciples (Luke 14:26). Who cannot see that father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters . . .are not meant here, but such things as belong to human beings themselves, and are called their own (proprium)? For these things a person must leave and hate, if that person wishes to worship the Lord and to be His disciple. . . The things that are people's own are those that are of their love, and thus of their life into which they was born, consequently they are evil loves and false ideas of every kind; and as these are of their love and life it is said that they must hate their own soul." These evil loves and false ideas are signified by "father and mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters;" for all things that are of a person's love and life, or that are from that person's affection and thought, or from the person's will and the understanding, are formed and in relationship like generations descending from one father and one mother, and are also distinguished as into families and houses. The love of self and the consequent love of the world are their "father and mother," and the evil lusts arising from them and their resulting evil intentions and false ideas are the "children," which are "brethren and sisters." That this is the meaning can be clearly seen from this, that the Lord does not wish to have people hate their father and mother, or spouse or children, or brothers or sisters, since this would be contrary to the spiritual love implanted in everyone from heaven, which is the love of parents for children and of children for parents, and contrary to conjugial love [or a true love of marriage], which is the love of the husband for his wife and of the wife for her husband, as also contrary to mutual love, which is the love of brothers and sisters for one another. Indeed, the Lord teaches that enemies must not be hated, but loved. (Apocalypse Explained 724:5) The Lord wants to save and heal us from the destructive evil loves that naturally work to guide our intentions and thoughts. He wants to lead us away from the misery they bring to us personally and to the harm that they incline us to do to others. Who here can say that his or her heart has not be touched by anger or hatred? Consider the following definitions: Anger is a general affection resulting from whatever is opposed to self-love and its evil lusts" (Arcana Caelestia 357) Hatred is contrary to charity, and kills in whatever way it can, if not with the hand, yet in the spirit, and is withheld only by external restraints from the deed of the hand." (Arcana Caelestia 374) These feelings of anger and of hatred is not what the Lord wants for us. He tells us in the Writings of the New Church: [T]he order into which each person has been created . . . is love to God and love toward the neighbor . . .This is also the order of heaven, in which it was intended human beings should be while they live in the world; thus in the Lord's kingdom; and into this kingdom they would pass when they have put off the bodies that had been of service to them upon the earth. . .But the love of self is the primary and indeed the only thing that destroys all this; and not so much so the love of the world, for this is indeed opposite to the spiritual things of faith, but the love of self is diametrically opposite to the heavenly things of love; for the people who loves themselves love no others, but endeavors to destroy all persons whatever that do not pay reverence to them; nor do they will well and do well to anyone, except to those who are a part of themselves, or can be captivated so as to be a part of themselves, like something inoculated as it were with their evil loves and delusions of reality. Hence it is evident that from the love of self there gush forth all hatreds, all revenges and cruelties, as also all infamous simulations and deceits, and thus all heinous things against the order of human society and against the order of heavenly society. Indeed, so heinous is the love of self, that when its bonds are relaxed, that is, when opportunity of free range is given it, even with those who are in the lowest condition, it so rushes on, that it not only wills to exercise dominion over neighbors and those near at hand, but also over the universe, and even over the Supreme Divine Itself. (Arcana Caelestia 2219:2-4) The Lord does tell us that not all anger and hatred appearing in this world is from evil. He wants us to be able to distinguish between a state that is destructive anger and that of a strong concern to protect and establish what is good. This latter state is called "zeal." These two states are simply described in the following: [W]ith the angels, there is no anger, but in its stead zeal. For anger differs from zeal in there being evil in anger, but in zeal good; or in the fact that the people who are in anger intend evil to the one against whom they are angry, whereas they who are in zeal intends good to the one toward whom they feels zeal. For this reason a person who is in zeal can be good instantly, and when in the very act can be good toward others; but not the person who is in anger. Although in the outward form zeal appears like anger, yet in the internal form it is altogether different. (Arcana Caelestia 4164) The Lord wants us to know that all of us have battles to fight against destructive anger. He wants us to know that we have battles to fight against the love of self. He would open our eyes to see how these motivations can be so harmful to us and to others. He would help us escape from the hatred of the inner world that the hells try to inspire within us. We are capable of recognizing their presence with His help. He has given us very clear descriptions to guide us such as the following: [T]hose people are in the love of self who despise others and make them of no account in comparison with themselves, and who care nothing for the common good, unless it is for them, and they themselves, as it were, are it, especially those who hate all by whom they are not favored and served, persecuting them, and so far as they are able depriving them of their possessions, honor, reputation, and even life. Let those who breathe such things in intention know that they are pre-eminently in the love of self. (Arcana Caelestia 2219:5) The Lord told His disciples and He tells us: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world." (John 15:18-19) He has chosen and called each of us to grow as true human beings in His image. He will always be with us to help in bringing us a wise love and compassion for others. He will be with us to lead us to the usefulness, the peace, the great happiness of heavenly life. AMEN. Lessons: John 15:18-25 People can have a sense of their own life that is heavenly. This life this comes forth from the new will (or set of motivations) that is given by the Lord. It differs from people's natural sense of their own life in the fact that they who have it no longer think of themselves in each and all things they do, and in each and all things they learn or teach; but they then think about the neighbor, the community, the church, the Lord's kingdom, and so the Lord Himself. The goals of a person's life are what are changed. The [previous] goals that look to lower things, that is, to self and the world, are removed, and goals that look to higher things are substituted in their place. The goals of a person's life are nothing else than that person's life itself, for they are the person's very will and loves, because what people love they will and have for their goals. People who have been given a heavenly sense of life as their own are also in [inner] quietness and peace; for they trust in the Lord, and believe that nothing evil will reach them. They know that evil lusts will not infest them. And besides, they who are in the heavenly sense of life as their own are in freedom itself; for to be led by the Lord is freedom, because they are led in good, by good, to good. From this it is evident that they are in blessedness and happiness, for there is nothing that disturbs them, nothing of the love of self, consequently nothing of animosity, hatred, and revenge; nor is there anything of the love of the world consequently nothing of fraud, of fear, of unrest. (Arcana Caelestia 5660:3) All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Mar 15 23:29:38 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 18:29:38 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "The Divine Standard," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980315182938.00a2d960@pop.tiac.net> The Divine Standard A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 15, 1998 Readings: Exodus 20:1-17: The Ten Commandments Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner living in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Matthew 5:17-22, 27, 28, 43-48: Fulfilling the Law Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that if you are angry with your brother, you will be liable to judgment.... You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.... You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. _True Christian Religion_ #289: On the Ten Commandments The literal meaning of the Ten Commandments contains general instructions on doctrine and life; but their spiritual and heavenly senses contain universal instructions. (from the section heading) In their spiritual and heavenly meanings, the Ten Commandments contain in a universal pattern all the commandments relating to how we believe and how we live, and therefore they embrace everything relating to faith and kindness. This is true because every single detail of the Bible's literal meaning conceals two inner meanings, one called "spiritual" and one called "heavenly." These meanings contain divine truth in its own light and divine goodness in its own warmth. Since the Bible is like this, both overall and in each detail, each of the Ten Commandments can also be explained on these three levels of meaning: the material, the spiritual, and the heavenly. Sermon: You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that if you are angry with your brother, you will be liable to judgment. (Matthew 5:21) After last week's service, with its sermon on "Taking Inventory," one of you said to me, "You mentioned having a shelf list of the books when you do shelf reading in a library, and when people take inventory in a store, they have an inventory list. My question is, when you take spiritual inventory, where's the list?" This week's sermon is one answer to that question. I say _one_ answer, because there are as many different _spiritual_ inventory lists as there are _material_ inventory lists. Hardware stores have one list, stationery stores have another, grocery stores another, and so on. Similarly, there are many different religions on our earth, each with a different "list" of laws for its faithful to live by. Each of these "spiritual inventory lists" is specially suited to the people for whom God gave that particular religion. However, there _are_ some universals. Our earth has adopted a few universal standards, such as the twenty-four hour clock and our global system of time zones. Gold has value nearly everywhere, in a sort of de facto "gold standard." There are also certain behaviors that are illegal everywhere, such as theft and murder. These cultural universals reflect the fact that there are _spiritual_ universals behind all the diversity of religion on our earth. In Christianity, those universal standards are expressed in our sacred book: the Bible. In one sense the entire Bible _is_ our spiritual inventory list. But that is too much to cover in a single sermon! On the other end of the size scale, we have a very compact list in the two Great Commandments given by the Lord: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37-40) This gives us the general categories, but it would be nice to have more than two items on the list! Fortunately, we have a very nice ten item list that will do very well for our spiritual inventory list. That list, of course, is the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the divine standard for our lives--a standard that we can always look to when we wish to take our personal spiritual inventory. Most of us know what is in the Ten Commandments, and we do try to live according to their standard. In our religion and our culture, the Ten Commandments are the primary statement of the universals that run like a golden thread through all religions. We can hardly help internalizing them and measuring our lives against them. What we may _not_ know is the _spiritual_ meaning of these commandments. To fill out our spiritual inventory list, I would like to take you on a quick survey of the Ten Commandments, and some of the deeper meanings we can find in them as we seek to follow the divine standard on a more and more inward level, and in a more and more universal way. I will draw on the chapter in Swedenborg's _True Christian Religion_ on the Ten Commandments, and also on the extracts from _Apocalypse Explained_ which have been published in the book, _The Spiritual Life, the Word of God._ In explaining the Ten Commandments, Swedenborg used the Lutheran (and Catholic) way of numbering the commandments, which puts what we would consider the first two commandments together into one, and divides the last into two. But since the last "two" go together, Swedenborg joined them back into one. 1: You shall have no other gods before me; you shall not make an idol On the literal level, this means we are not to worship other gods besides the Lord. Our culture has left polytheism and idol worship far behind, so we don't have much trouble with this. But as we go deeper, we find that this commandment is not only about _literally_ worshiping the Lord alone. In order to follow this commandment, we must put the Lord at the center of our lives--above material and financial needs; above personal desires and ambitions; above even the love of family, and friends, neighbors and co-workers. All of these can become idols and false gods if we put them before the Lord. And at the deepest, heavenly level of meaning, this all-important first commandment urges us as Christians to see the Lord God Jesus Christ as the infinite and eternal source of everything. Until we have accepted and have _experienced_ the living reality of that universal, divinely human love and wisdom at the core of all being, we still have work to do on this commandment. 2: You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God On the literal level, this means respecting God by not using any of God's names in a disrespectful way. If you're going to cuss, at least use something else besides the Lord's name! But also, if you seal some sort of oath or promise with the Lord's name, don't break your promise! Of course, breaking promises isn't a good idea in any case. Looking deeper, we find that this commandment refers to respecting everything that the Lord's name stands for: everything the Lord teaches us in the Bible. Keeping this commandment spiritually means respecting the Lord by following all of the Lord's commandments, both within ourselves (in our hearts and minds) and in our outward actions. That could keep us busy for a while! 3: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy To follow this commandment on a literal level, we need to set aside regular time in our lives to refocus ourselves on the Lord and on living in a spiritual way. The simplest way to do this is to come to church each Sunday. This method does not work for everyone; but everyone can set aside a certain time each week, and even each day, to think and learn about the Lord, and to pray for the Lord's help in becoming a better person. Spiritually, this commandment refers to going through the six days of inner labor in struggling to reform ourselves according to the Lord's teachings. Through this inner labor, we can arrive at the Sabbath day of spiritual rest that we experience when we put ourselves in the flow of the Lord's love and wisdom, and live at peace with ourselves and with each other. 4: Honor your father and your mother As we are growing up, we need to respect our earthly father and mother by listening to what they tell us, in order to avoid getting ourselves into a lot of needless trouble and pain. As adults, we need to respect our leaders; and even if we sometimes cannot respect the people who are in leadership roles, we must respect the role or position itself, and abide by the laws that our leaders represent. Looking deeper, we know that our true father is the Lord, who created us all and watches over us like a parent. Our true mother is the church, which raises us spiritually and tends to our deeper needs. And at the highest level, the Lord encompasses both father and mother. This commandment tells us that we are to respect both our mother and our father in God--meaning we are to respect the Lord's love and wisdom, and to consider them the highest standards that we are to live by. The commandments so far have focused on the first Great Commandment: that we are to love the Lord our God above all else. These commandments are written on the first table of the Ten Commandments, with the commandment to honor our father and mother providing a bridge to the second. The second table covers the other Great Commandment: that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. For most of these commandments, the literal meaning is so clear that we can move right into the spiritual meaning. 5: You shall not commit murder The Lord himself points us to the spiritual meaning of this commandment when he says, "You have heard that it was said . . . 'You shall not murder,' . . . but I say to you that if you are angry with your brother, you will be liable to judgment" (Matthew 5:21, 22). Physical murder comes from anger and hatred in our hearts and minds. To follow this commandment, we must not only avoid hurting others, but must reject the self-centered thoughts and motives that prompt us to such things. And in particular, Swedenborg tells us that we must avoid "murdering" someone spiritually by attacking and destroying their faith. I believe that an extension of this is that we should not destroy other people's faith in themselves by insulting them and tearing down their self-esteem. At the deepest level, we must not murder the Lord within ourselves by rejecting the Lord from our hearts and minds. 6: You shall not commit adultery As the Lord points out, this commandment speaks not only of literal adultery and promiscuity, but also of having obscene and lustful desires. Even in our society, there are many people who have kept this commandment literally; yet I suspect there is not a single person in this room who has never indulged in "inner adultery." At an even deeper level, we commit adultery when we abuse the Lord's teachings and the Lord's love for our own purposes. For example, if we get people to trust us by acting religious, and then abuse their trust, we have adulterated the goodness of Christianity. 7: You shall not steal Spiritual stealing is similar to spiritual murdering. It involves stealing other people's faith and beliefs from them. If we think _we_ are right and _they_ are wrong, and we set about trying to show "them" that they are wrong, we are probably acting as spiritual thieves. But the deepest level of stealing happens entirely within ourselves: if we claim for ourselves what is really God's, we are stealing from the Lord. To avoid breaking this commandment, we must recognize that everything good and true in us comes from the Lord, and not from ourselves. 8: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor We bear false witness spiritually when we intentionally persuade other people of things that we know are wrong--especially _spiritual_ things that we know are wrong--in order to serve our own purposes. For example, if we have some personal vice that we enjoy and indulge in, we may encourage others in the same bad habit so that we will have company and support. In doing this, we are bearing false witness to what we know within ourselves to be the truth: that we ourselves should break this bad habit. And of course, if we ever think or speak false things against the Lord and the Bible, we are spiritually bearing false witness. 9 & 10: You shall not covet This commandment puts its spiritual meaning right on the literal level--and it applies to all the rest of the commandments. It teaches us that we are not even to _want_ within ourselves any of the things that the Lord tells us are wrong. We may sometimes pride ourselves in our outward keeping of the commandments; this commandment brings us back to the reality that it is only when we have kept the commandments fully in our _minds and hearts_ that we have truly obeyed Lord's commandments fully. Of course, none of us ever reaches the complete perfection that a full obedience to the Ten Commandments on all levels would mean. There are always more items on our spiritual inventory list that we need to work on. The Lord does not allow us to rest on our laurels, but always calls us forward in our quest for spiritual development. The divine standard that the Lord puts in front of us is simple: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." This standard has enough to keep us busy taking our spiritual inventory to all eternity. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Mar 22 18:15:14 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 13:15:14 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "Adverse Conditions," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980322131514.009519e0@pop.tiac.net> Adverse Conditions By the Rev. Lee Woofenden A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 22, 1998 Readings: Amos 4:6-13. Israel has Not Returned to God I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was still three months away; I sent rain on one city, but withheld it from another. One field had rain, another had none and dried up; so the people of two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I struck you with blight and mildew; I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; locusts devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword; I carried away your horses; and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; you have not returned to me, says the Lord. I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire; you have not returned to me, says the Lord. Therefore this is what I will do to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel! For the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to mortals; the one who turns dawn into darkness, and treads the high places of the earth--the Lord God Almighty is his name! Mark 1:9-13. The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels tended to him. _Arcana Coelestia_ #730.1. Spiritual Devastation "Forty days and forty nights" means the duration of spiritual struggles, as is clear from the Bible,... as when the Lord allowed himself to be tempted for forty days.... When we go through spiritual struggles we experience a devastation of everything relating to our ego and everything relating to our physical body. This is because everything relating to our ego and our physical self must die through the experience of conflict and temptation before we are reborn as a new person--in other words, before we can become spiritual and heavenly. So "forty days and nights" also means the duration of spiritual devastation. Sermon: I struck you with blight and mildew; I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards; locusts devoured your fig trees and olive trees; yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. (Amos 4:9) Little did I know, when I decided to go into the ministry, that I would become a weather forecaster as well. Earlier this week I picked the topic "Adverse Conditions," and just look at the weather now! We have had very little wintery weather all winter, and now that spring is officially here, we get a messy storm with rain and snow. However, as adverse as our weather conditions may be, they pale in comparison to the adverse conditions described by Amos. Food shortages, drought, pests devastating gardens, vineyards, and orchards--plagues, pestilence, and destruction. What is even more disconcerting to our modern ears is that according to Amos, it was the _Lord_ who sent all these adverse conditions upon the people. The Lord says, "_I_ struck you with blight and mildew; _I_ laid waste your gardens and your vineyards. . . . _I_ sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt." And all, apparently, in a futile effort to get the people to return to the Lord. Of course, theologically, our church has a different perspective on this. It is only in our limited, human vision that the _Lord_ sends plagues, pestilence, and disaster upon us; in reality, the Lord loves us all and would never send anything upon us that would give us pain. The Lord _permits_ these things to happen to us, but does not _cause_ them to happen to us. Still, when we are in the middle of adverse conditions in our lives, it is so easy to feel that it _is_ the Lord who is sending these disasters to drag us down. After all, if God is all-powerful, how could anything happen that God doesn't have a hand in? For now, let's leave theological points aside, and stay with our personal, subjective experience of adverse conditions. Life drags us down sometimes. We get seriously ill and land in the hospital at just the wrong time. We lose our job, but the bills keep right on coming. We lose a loved one, and feel that tremendous emptiness in our lives. Old character flaws or addictions continue to rear their ugly head and drag us down both physically and emotionally, while straining and breaking our relationships. Depression and despair set in; at our blackest moments, the only direction ahead of us seems to be continually downward. We are sorely tempted to let go; to give up; to abandon our lives to the abyss; to simply not care anymore. In other words, emotionally and spiritually, our lives become very much like the terribly adverse conditions that Amos describes. We hang on by the slenderest of threads. And we wait for the ultimatum. We wait for someone--for our boss, for our spouse, for our best friend, for _God_--to cut that thread and send us hurtling down, down, down to our emotional and spiritual death. Sometimes the people who seem to hold our lives in their hands _do_ cut that thread. But God never does. God speaks instead in mystical words: "Therefore, this is what I will do to you, O Israel . . ." We wait for the words of doom. And the next words _could_ be read as words of doom . . . or as words of love and union with God: ". . . and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" Prepare to meet your God! Does this mean "meeting our Maker" in the traditional sense of dying and going to our final reward? Or does it mean meeting our Maker through a new, deeper sense of God's living presence within us? This is the continual paradox of the periods of devastation that we all experience during the course of our lives. For when adverse conditions drag us so low that there seems to be no hope left, we face issues of life and death in a very stark way. Our usual preoccupations are swallowed up in the crisis; all those small and petty things that often occupy so much of our attention and energy fade to near meaninglessness as we face far deeper issues. In the case of serious illness, we face issues of physical life and death--and suddenly what we possess and how we look do not seem so all-important. In the deeper emotional traumas within ourselves and in our relationships with each other, we face issues of inner, _spiritual_ life and death--and suddenly whether we are smarter or dumber than someone else, righter or wronger than someone else, better or worse than someone else . . . all these things seem small and petty as we face the ultimate questions of our spiritual life and death. This is exactly why the Lord allows us to experience such times. If there were any other way, the Lord would certainly do it that way. But it is not always easy to get through the thick shells of physical and mental habit that we have built up through years of treading the same well-worn paths. As long as things are going fine for us, why should we make the effort to change? If it ain't broke, why fix it? Unfortunately, we _are_ broken. Too often we are considerate of our own needs and feelings, but not of other people's needs and feelings. Too often we can see a million reasons why our own viewpoint is right, and not a single reason why the viewpoint of that person across from us is right. Too often we are sure that we have everything under control--that we do not need God to show _us_ anything. Too often, we simply shuffle along on the same old path, despite all the messages we get from those around us and from the Lord that things have got to change. If we keep shuffling along that path, ignoring the warnings, we will eventually arrive at a time of personal devastation. Perhaps it will be manifested in a physical illness. Perhaps it will be manifested in a lost job or a broken relationship. Perhaps nothing will change at all outwardly, but inwardly we will come to a time when we feel that there is nothing left to live for--when all we see around us is black darkness. Sometimes it may not come from any course we have set for ourselves at all; it may simply strike--perhaps after a high point in our lives, as when Jesus was driven out to the desert to be tempted immediately after he was baptized and experienced the glorious sign of the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. Whatever brought on this sense of devastation within us, this is when we have both our greatest danger and our greatest opportunity. In fact, the Chinese character for "crisis," translated literally, means exactly this: "dangerous opportunity." We don't usually think of our times of devastation and despair as opportunities. But our reading from Amos makes it clear that each time the children of Israel experienced some new crisis, it was an opportunity to return to the Lord. We know that our times of despair are dangerous--that we are sorely tempted to give up and give in, to abandon ourselves to whatever it is that is trying to drag us down. But how could the times of our worst adverse conditions possibly be an opportunity to return to the Lord, to meet our Maker in a _good_ sense? These conditions are opportunities precisely because at these times our focus is drawn away from lesser things, and the big issues of life consume our consciousness. Through these crises of faith, we have an opportunity to see things in a deeper, eternal perspective instead of the worldly perspective we are so often caught up in. What we own and how we look seem less important; we have an opportunity to weaken the grip these temporal and temporary things have on us, and to strengthen the Lord's place in our hearts and minds--to place the Lord at the center of our being. To use Swedenborg's words: When we go through spiritual struggles we experience a devastation of everything relating to our ego and everything relating to our physical body. This is because everything relating to our ego and our physical self must die through the experience of conflict and temptation before we are reborn as a new person. (_Arcana Coelestia_ #730) As we look deeper, we find that the Lord never sends destruction upon us--especially not the destruction of those real, eternal parts of ourselves that outlast our physical bodies and our material possessions. But the Lord does at times allow physical and material devastation to strike us as a way of breaking our attachments to these things and bringing our focus instead to the things that are eternally important: our relationships with each other and our relationship with God. If temporary suffering here on earth will help lead us toward eternal happiness, isn't that a small price to pay? I'd like to close with an example that is close to home for this church. Nearly four years ago, this church experienced a terrible fire. For the members who watched the flames devour this building, it was the blackest of times. What was most terrible and ironic was that it happened just as the church was doing a much needed major renovation. So much work of so many years destroyed so quickly! Yet as we know, the fire led to many blessings for this church. I do not have to recount them all. But I would like to highlight something from the news coverage of the fire: one member said, "I know it's just a building, and the people are what's important." Yes! It is the _people_ who are important! When the physical building was partially destroyed, that terrible event focused the church on the true meaning of _being a church._ It caused us to rely on each other, on the community around us, and on our faith in God. In exactly the same way, our personal disasters can help us to realize that the important things in life are not the physical and external things, but the deeper qualities of love and concern for each other, and of faith in the Lord our God. Amen. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun Mar 22 21:10:02 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 16:10:02 -0500 Subject: SERMON: The Strength to Not Deny the Lord Message-ID: <199803221610_MC2-379E-7B56@compuserve.com> The Strength to Not Deny the Lord By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell March 22, 1998 Then the servant woman who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this person's disciples, are you? He said, "I am not." John 18:17 In the darkness of confused thinking and motivations it is easy to make regrettable decisions. Peter denied having any relationship with Jesus, three separate times in the pre-dawn hours of Good Friday. It isn't hard to imagine the state of fear he might have been in at that time. It isn't hard to imagine how he might have been telling himself, "I have to lie about this. Otherwise I will be thrown out or arrested myself and so be of no further service to Jesus." A case could be made that would present Peter as a very sympathetic figure. But his actions represent a terribly dangerous response to which all human beings incline. The Writings of the New Church present the idea that his denial represents the state of mind in which someone has a knowledge of what is good and true, but chooses not to live by it. They refer to this state of mind as being that of truth without good, or faith separated from charity. Belief cannot exist apart from action, when action is possible. All the goods things a person does which are called the good acts of charity are nothing but uses, and uses are nothing but good acts done for one's neighbor, country, the Church, and the Lord's kingdom. Regarded in itself charity itself does not become charity until it comes into act and becomes something tangibly done. For to love people, and not do them good when we have the power, is not to love them; but to do them good when we have the power, and to do it from our hearts, this is to love them. Then all things of charity toward the person are contained within the very deed or action; for a person's actions are a gathering together of all things of that person's charity and faith. . . . (Arcana Caelestia 6073) One of the great tactics of the hells is to steal any thought of acting in a truly useful way. They don't like it when we learn what is true and good, but if they can separate this knowledge from any daily decisions they have won a terrible victory. We face battles against this tactic all the time. Over and over again there are subtle thoughts and often hidden motives that prompt us to do harmful things for ourselves and those around us. The Lord promises that this will be a huge challenge for each of us. And it is one that we can receive the strength, the love, and the wisdom to overcome. Peter's denial of the Lord in the predawn hours represents a person choosing to do something harmful or choosing not to do something useful and good. It represents a state of mind that separates itself from the Lord and from the kind of life He calls us to lead. Picture a father thinking to himself, "Yes, I know that this video I rented really isn't appropriate for my eight year old, but it won't hurt her that much." But then he catches himself and realizes that he doesn't want to possibly inflict a multitude of nightmares on her or perhaps subtly undermine her belief in the sanctity of marriage. So he decides, despite her protests, that she should not watch it. That evening his seventeen year old son wants to begin viewing the movie on the living room television well before his sister's bedtime. The father can feel drawn to suggest that his daughter should go to her bedroom and read. His son might actively lobby for this idea. However the father may realize how bitterly his daughter could resent being banned from the major social center of the household, primarily because her brother is too impatient to wait a few hours to watch the movie after she's gone to bed. The father could calmly, but firmly tell his son that he has to wait till later to see the movie. The father may feel drawn to pass the early evening watching sports, but have the thought come to his mind that his daughter is feeling woeful about the world since she wasn't going to be allowed to see the movie and which wasn't helped by being given some guff from her brother about what a pain it is to have her around. So he decides to recreate working on a project in the workshop with her, or playing a card game with her, or reading aloud to her. In each of these three challenges that arose, the father was tempted to do something that could have been harmful or at least less useful for his daughter's welfare. Each time he resisted that temptation to deny what was better for her. Charity is doing what is truly useful for another or oneself. Useful, not just at this moment, but taking into consideration the long-run welfare of the people involved. Much of what the Lord calls us to attend to are simple daily issues such as those facing the father as he makes decisions affecting the life of his family. Nobody starts out adult life making these decisions well. All of us enter adult life with confused and twisted ideas of what is true and genuinely good. All of us enter adult life with a host of natural motivations that prompt us to do foolish, hurtful, and downright evil things. During the Last Supper Peter had confidently announced "I will lay down my life for Your sake." When Jesus responded to him what tone of voice and what expression on His face do you picture Him having? The Gospel of John records Jesus answering Peter with these words: "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times." (John 13:38) Would these words have been delivered as a strong and scathing rebuke? Or would it have been a gentle and sad promise of something that Peter wasn't ready to see yet. Jesus' immediately following words are, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1) How was the father in examples I've described called on to lay down his life for his family? He had to overcome the part of himself which dislikes disappointing his eight year old daughter when he insisted that the movie wasn't appropriate for her. He had to overcome the part of himself that finds it tiring to stand up to the arguments of his seventeen year old son when his son really wants to get his own way on some issue. He had to overcome the part of himself that inclined to the simplest and easiest recreation, even if it meant once again putting off or ignoring his daughter. Twice his conscience called him not to do harmful things and once it called him to actively do something beyond his first inclination. Can you think of some examples in your life in which you're seeking the Lord's help in overcoming a pattern of hurtful and consequently evil thoughts or motivations? To overcome this pattern some part of your natural life will have to be laid down. We are blessed if we can know and believe that the Lord seeks to bring us the insight and strength to lay down these things and to acknowledge and do the good things that we are capable of doing. Laying down one's life doesn't strike the natural part of our minds as being an attractive or desirable idea. It seems restrictive. It seems hurtful. But consider what the long-term implications would be in the case of the example of the father? What would be the effect on his daughter and what sad problems might arise in her life from the vivid and disorderly memories that many movies can provide? Wouldn't the problems arising from these far, far outweigh the temporary disappointment of not seeing the movies at too young an age in the first place? What would be the effect on his son if the son gathers that all he needs to do is hassle his father enough and he will cave in an issue. What will be the effect on his son if the son regularly is allowed to act with insignificant consideration for his sister? What would be the effect on the relationship between the father and daughter if she regularly senses that her life takes a very low priority in her father's perspective? Aren't all of these issues that loom large compared to the specific events of a single evening? A person could say, "Oh don't make such a big deal of tiny things." Certainly a person can make too big a deal of things. Both we and the people and uses we seek to serve can be hurt when we take on too much responsibility for too many things--actually taking on many things that are the Lord's work. But a person can also be too irresponsible. Many tiny things make up every big thing. The relationships we have with people are formed from countless expressions on our face, tones of voice, words chosen and things done or not done. The Lord is leading each of us out of the darkness of spiritual night that falls on us over and over again. In these times of darkness we cannot help but have confused thoughts and unhealthy motives vying for our attention. He calls us not to condemn ourselves merely because they come to mind. He calls us to seek His help in overcoming their lure. He calls us to learn ever better from Him what a genuinely good life involves. He promises us His help to overcome the forces that would have us deny Him, and the life He calls us to lead. AMEN. Lessons: John 13:36-38,18:15-18, 25-27 All the goods things a person does which are called the good acts of charity are nothing but uses, and uses are nothing but good acts done for the neighbor, for our country, for the church, for the Lord's kingdom. Regarded in itself charity itself does not become charity until it comes into act and becomes something tangibly done. For to love people, and not do them good when we have the power, is not to love them; but to do them good when we have the power, and to do it from our hearts, this is to love them. Then all things of charity toward the person are contained within the very deed or action; for a person's actions are a gathering together of all things of that person's charity and faith, and are what are called spiritual good things, and indeed become good things by being done, that is, by means of uses. And because a person's works are a gathering together of all things of his charity and faith, and the quality of the person's life causes charity to be charity and faith to be faith, thus good, therefore the Lord loved John more than the rest of His disciples, and he lay on His breast at supper (John 21:20); . . . also the Lord said to him, "Follow Me," and not to Peter, by whom was represented faith. Wherefore faith, which is "Peter," said with indignation, "Lord, what shall this man do? Jesus said unto him, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? Follow Me" (John 21:21-23). This also foretold that faith would despise works, and yet these are near the Lord. The fact that faith would reject the Lord is evident from the representation by Peter when he denied the Lord three times; that he did this at night, signifies the last time of the church, when there is no longer any charity; that he did it three times signifies that this condition is then complete; that it was before the cock crew, signifies before newness of the church would arise, for the dawn and morning which follow the night signify the first of the church. Arcana Caelestia 6073 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Mar 29 13:19:48 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 08:19:48 -0500 Subject: SERMON: "The Installment Plan," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980329081948.009592f0@pop.tiac.net> The Installment Plan By the Rev. Lee Woofenden A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent Bridgewater, Massachusetts, March 29, 1998 Readings: Deuteronomy 7:17-23 Overcoming enemies little by little You may say to yourself, "These nations are stronger than I am; how can I drive them out?" But do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. Matthew 6:25-34 Do not worry about tomorrow Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?" For the people of the nations run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Apocalypse Explained #650f.60 Regeneration: little by little The "nations" that the children of Israel had driven out and were to drive out of the land of Canaan stand for all kinds of evil and falsity. "The Land of Canaan" means our religion, and "the children of Israel" means religious people. So "the wild animals of the field that would multiply around them" means false desires that come from evil. When we are reformed and spiritually reborn so that we can have religion within us, it happens little by little. We are newly conceived, born, and raised, and this is done as far as the evil things that are in us from our birth and heredity--and the false ideas that come from these evils--are removed. This is not done in an instant, but over a long course of life. From this we can see what it means in the spiritual sense that "the nations will not be driven out in one year, but little by little, or the wild animals would multiply around you." [Exodus 23:29] For if evils and the falsities that come from them were removed all at once, we would hardly have any life left, since the life we are born into is one of evil and its falsity, which come from our cravings. These are removed only as much as good and true things enter in--for it is goodness and truth that remove what is evil and false. Sermon: God will clear away these nations before you little by little. (Deuteronomy 7:22) There is a certain appeal to the fundamentalist Christian notion that we can be saved all at once simply by confessing our faith that Jesus Christ died for our sins. It's like quitting cold turkey. One day you're an addict, and the next day you're clean. Wouldn't it be nice if, all at once, we could be made perfect, in the image of God? If all of a sudden we no longer had any bad thoughts or feelings; never did anything to hurt another person; were always overflowing with love and filled with unshakable faith in the Lord's presence with us? Wouldn't it be great if we met every challenge life threw at us with cheerfulness and resolve? If we were able to approach all the drudgery of life with the invincible power of positive thinking, like the ideal devotee of Norman Vincent Peale? It's nice to dream! But life isn't like that. Every once in a while we have a clear victory. Every once in a while we can say, "I'm finished with _that!_" But much more often, we seem to face the same tests and challenges over and over again. We seem to move by baby steps, as far as we can tell making little headway against the great morass of inner and outer obstacles that we face. So often, it seems as if we haven't changed at all; as if we're the same old person we've always been; that we'll never get past square one. Leave aside, for now, worrying about what we will eat or drink or wear. We do spend far too much time worrying about these material things. But, at a deeper level, we can spend even more time worrying about our past and our future. We look back at the mistakes we have made, the unkind things we have said and done, and we wallow in regret; we keep repeating to ourselves, "If only I had done it differently!" And then we worry about our spiritual future. We project the mistakes of our past into the future, and map out a course for ourselves--a course that either goes nowhere, or that is so hopelessly idealistic that it is soon burst like a balloon that has just been stuck with a "reality" pin. At that point, we fall back to plan A: the plan in which we get nowhere in our spiritual growth. Jesus gives us a radical third alternative. Perhaps we should not be mapping out our spiritual future at all. Perhaps we should leave both the past and the future to God, and focus on the only part of our lives that we can really do something about: the present. We cannot add a single hour to our lives, physically _or_ spiritually, by worrying about it. We have no direct control over the future. But we _can_ affect our future by taking the steps that are right in front of us. In a little unpublished book called _Coronis,_ which was written as an appendix to the larger work _True Christian Religion,_ Swedenborg gives us this snippet: Our spiritual mind is closed from birth into early childhood. But after that first stage it is opened step by step. For each one of us is given from birth the potential, and afterwards the power, to acquire for ourselves steps by which we may climb upwards. (_Coronis_ #29) Each of us is given the power to acquire for ourselves steps by which we may climb upwards. Now this is a helpful image. Life as a stairway. It reminds us of Jacob's dream of a stairway that rested on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven. We human beings do not have wings. We don't just lift off the ground and fly up to heaven. And our legs aren't long enough to do it all in one big step. But if there is a _stairway_ we can climb to get there, that is doable! It is a very _long_ stairway to heaven, with thousands, even millions, of steps. But the Lord gives us landings every once in a while where we can stop take a rest. The main point is that while we can't take one great leap into heaven, we _can_ make it there if we simply take each step that we see right in front of us. This is another way of saying that we are not "saved" all at once; rather, we are saved little by little, one day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time, and even one second at a time. Our reading from Deuteronomy gives us another image we can use in visualizing our step by step spiritual progress. It is an image that speaks to our usual experience in life, for it does not present life simply as a stairway, in which it is only a matter of taking each step as it comes. Rather, it speaks of life as a struggle and a battle to overcome obstacles in our spiritual path, one at a time. Speaking correspondentially, the Lord tells us: Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you. (Deuteronomy 7:21, 22) There is so much in these two brief verses! Let's spend some time unwrapping this good gift that comes in a small package. We are so often terrified by all the inner enemies we face. We see the accumulated weight of all those generations in our family--the skeletons in the family closet that have been passed down to us, and that continue to haunt us and block our forward passage. Like physical diseases that run in the family--cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and so on--there are spiritual diseases that run in our family. There is that hot temper that we picked up from our mother or father. There is that feeling that the people in _our_ family are _better_ than people from other families--smarter, more capable, more caring, and so on. Or there is that depressive tendency: that tendency to give up and give in to self-pity and despair when the going gets tough. There is that addictive tendency, whether it be to a physical drug such as alcohol or TV, or to some deeper mind-numbing habit. These and many others (we all know what they are in our _own_ family!) are the spiritual diseases that run in our families, and that develop as our lives go on, until we suddenly realize that we are just like our parents. _That's scary!_ We like to think that we are building on what our parents gave us, and making progress into new territory. But when we see the same old enemies circling around us, preparing to fight against us and prevent any further progress, we feel a terror and dread of those destructive complexes that attacked our parents--and that they were not always successful at defeating. It is even scarier if our parents never made the effort to overcome those enemies, but simply gave in. For we know that we are made of the same stuff our parents are made of; and if they had so much trouble, why should we fare any better? Yet the words of the Lord come back to us: "Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God!" Our inner enemies may terrify us with their strong grip and merciless opposition to every good step we are trying to take in our spiritual lives. But there is a far greater power in our lives. The Lord our God _is present with us._ And the Lord is a great and awesome God. A powerful God. An _infinitely_ powerful God. _There is no match for infinity_--not even the great, oppressive power of all the evil in hell combined. We have this power available to us for the asking. The Lord our God--that great and awesome God--is present with us. And, our Scripture reading continues, "The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you, little by little." This gives us that next vital piece of help and comfort that we need. The comfort of knowing that we do not _have_ to overcome all our spiritual enemies at once. We can take them on little by little, one at a time. And we do not have to do it alone; the Lord's power will be with us, doing the fighting for us at each step along the way, in each battle we face. If we tried to face our inner enemies alone, we would be right to be terrified! We are no match for the evil and destructive forces that have torn down so many great people before us, and that will continue to tear down many people after us, both the common and the great. It is a dangerous pride to think that we can succeed where so many others have failed. It is an illusion--and one that will be shattered as we fall back into the same old patterns once again, having become even weaker in our defeat. But if we turn to the Lord, and do our fighting with the Lord's power, then we can experience victories that are real. For when we fight from the Lord's power, we are fighting from the infinite power that created the universe, and that keeps every part of it in existence and in motion every second to all eternity. We are then fighting from the power that has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), or in other words, has overcome all the power of hell. How do we fight our evil and destructive tendencies from the Lord's power instead of from our own? We do this by praying to Lord and asking for the Lord's help. When we feel that negative urge coming over us, or feel that dark power dragging us down, instead of gritting our teeth and hanging on for dear life as we are dragged along against our will, we can open our minds and hearts to the power of the Lord, which is always present with us. We can pray for the help, the strength, the comfort, the faith that we need to meet this challenge and overcome it. If we truly put our faith in the Lord's power, and let go of our own egotistical desire to go it alone and get the glory for ourselves, then the Lord _will_ overcome the spiritual enemy that we are facing _right now._ But be warned! Just because the Lord has overcome the enemy we are facing _right now,_ that doesn't mean the Lord has overcome the enemy we will be facing in a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days. Yes, we are told not to worry about tomorrow--for it is only today that we can do anything about. But we are also told that "tomorrow will worry about itself." We _will_ face more battles, and in _each one_ of these battles, if we wish to have a real victory, we must turn to the Lord for help. Each time we do turn to the Lord for help, it will become easier to ask for that help the next time. One of the reasons we are given one challenge after another is so that we will have continual opportunities to bring the Lord into our minds and hearts more and more, step by step, throughout our lives. But there is another, more subtle reason why the Lord has arranged things so that we overcome our spiritual enemies little by little, and not all at once. We read, "The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, _or the wild animals would multiply around you._" The wild animals would multiply around you. What in the world does that mean? Literally, it refers to what would happen if all the people in the Promised Land had been suddenly wiped out before the Israelites had been able to settle into the land, and expand their numbers enough to take care of it. Where human beings do not tame the land, it is given over to the wild animals of nature. Of course, there is a balance to nature as well, but just as we require safety from predatory animals in the places where we live physically, we must have safety in our spiritual dwellings from the evil thoughts and desires that would prey on us and destroy us spiritually. There are vast parts of our psyche that we have not even begun to open up and settle into spiritually. And as modern depth psychologists have found out, there are many wild and often destructive urges and impulses running free in these uncharted areas of our minds. When we begin our spiritual journey, we are like a small band of early settlers. We do not have much strength, and can only tame a small part of the new spiritual landscape that we are entering. If we were to try to settle that vast land all at once, and overcome all its enemies in one grand campaign, our attempts would be pitifully weak. We would soon be overrun by more destructive ideas and impulses than we could possibly handle at this early stage in our spiritual growth. Nature, left to itself, does achieve a balance in areas human beings have left untouched. When we meddle in those areas without the proper respect and knowledge for what we find there, often we merely create greater problems, upsetting the balance of nature and causing biological and ecological disasters. In the very same way, if we try to open up vast areas of our spirits before we are ready, we will create a spiritual disaster. So the Lord does not ask us, or even _allow_ us, to conquer all our spiritual enemies at once. We do not have the strength to do it, and further, it would actually end out destroying us. This brings us back to where we started. Our salvation is not an instantaneous process of confessing our faith in Jesus and having our spiritual slates instantaneously wiped clean of all sin. Rather, it is long and often arduous process of facing our inner enemies and overcoming them each time through the Lord's power. It is a process in which, almost as often as we take a step forward, we seem to take a step backward in defeat. Yet even the defeats are a part of the process. It takes the Lord a long time to get through to us. In fact, it takes a whole lifetime--which is why we _have_ a lifetime to do our spiritual work. We humans are often dense creatures. Too often, we insist on doing things our own way, which means learning things the _hard_ way. When we experience a defeat, this also is a step in our spiritual process. It is one more lesson telling us that on our own, we _cannot_ overcome the spiritual enemies that oppose our progress toward a loving and heavenly self. Each time we go it alone, and as a consequence slide backwards in defeat, we have one more opportunity to break ourselves of that false notion that we are sufficient unto ourselves--that we don't need help from the Lord or from anyone else. If we learn that lesson, then the defeat is _good!_ Strange as it may seem, sometimes losing is the best thing for us. When we win, we tend to exult in our victory. When we lose, we tend to assess the battle and try to figure out where we went wrong so that we can do better next time. The Lord does not ask us to be perfect all at once. The Lord does not ask us to overcome all our spiritual enemies at once. What the Lord does ask of us is that we face each enemy, each trial, as it comes to us. To use a more modern analogy, the Lord has put us on an installment plan. Spiritual life is expensive! The cost is our whole self. But we do not have to pay that price all at once. We can pay it month by month, week by week, and day by day. The Lord only asks us to take life one day at a time. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Apr 5 17:36:27 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 05 Apr 1998 13:36:27 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "King of the Soul," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980405133627.00964840@pop.tiac.net> King of the Soul By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Palm Sunday Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 5, 1998 Readings: Psalm 24. The King of glory. The earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it, The world, and those who live in it. For he has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts; Who do not lift up their souls to what is false, And do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, And vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek him, Who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, The Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts--he is the King of Glory! John 12:12-15. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look! Your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." John 18:28-37. The King of truth. Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the praetorium, so as to avoid ceremonial uncleanness and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and said, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to execute anyone." (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the praetorium again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "Am I a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." You are a king, then!" said Pilate Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Arcana Coelestia #29.2. The Kingdom of God. In the broadest sense, "the kingdom of God" means all of heaven. In a less broad sense, it means the Lord's genuine church [or spiritual community], and in an individual sense, it means every person who has real faith--that is, every person who has been spiritually reborn through the type of life that goes with faith. So individual people are also called a "heaven," since heaven is within us. Individual people are called "the kingdom of God" as well, since that is also within us. Sermon: You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. (John 18:37) Pilate had no idea what Jesus was talking about. Here was a man whom the Jewish leaders had brought to him to be executed, and Pilate was trying to figure out what the charges were. When he asked the Jews what charges were being brought against Jesus, they evaded the question. "If this man were not a criminal," they said, "we would not have handed him over to you." Pilate smelled a rat. "Take him yourselves and judge him by your law," he replied. But the Jews answered, "We are not permitted to execute anyone." Now, this could be serious. Apparently the Jews were accusing him of a capital offense. So Pilate summoned Jesus into the Praetorium. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked. Now it was Jesus' turn to put Pilate off balance. "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" By now, Pilate must have been wondering whether he would _ever_ get a straight answer out of these people! "Am I a Jew?" he retorted. We can hear the biting sarcasm in his voice. "It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?" We can imagine the busy Pilate impatient to get this nuisance over with so he could attend to other, more pressing concerns. Once again, Jesus did not answer the question Pilate thought he was asking. But at least he said _something_ Pilate could understand. "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." Now Pilate was probably thinking, "Well, at least this guy is not completely crazy. He does seem to be saying that he is not a claimant to the throne." This would make Pilate's job easier, since as the Roman governor in that province, one of Pilate's jobs was to suppress any potential rivals to Roman power. Still, Jesus' answer was not crystal clear. "You _are_ a king, then!" said Pilate. "You say that I am a king," Jesus replied. "For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Jesus' reply reassured Pilate that this man was a harmless visionary, not a political threat. If we continue reading, we find Pilate's famous words, "What is truth?" Whereupon he went outside to the Jews and tried to release Jesus, since he found no case against him--certainly nothing punishable by death. And so, in understated yet evocative words, the Gospel presents to our view two entirely different views of power: the worldly power embodied by Pilate, and the spiritual power embodied by Jesus. It is clear from Jesus' words that he fully understood worldly power. Pilate, on the other hand, could not understand spiritual power. As far as Pilate was concerned, power was measured by how many soldiers and weapons he had at his disposal to back up the commands that he gave. By this measure, Pilate was secure in his power; he had all the force of the reigning power on earth--the Roman Empire--behind him. This view of power certainly didn't die with Pilate. It has continued throughout all the centuries since then. The United States is now considered to be the most powerful nation on earth. And the main measure of that power is the size of our armed forces and the power and sophistication of our weaponry, together with the economic power to support our military and project it into conflicts around the world. Today, no country in its right mind would attempt to conquer the United States. Like Pilate, we sit secure in our power, knowing that while there may be local disturbances here and there, our country reigns supreme. Pilate was not impressed by Jesus' kind of power. Bearing witness to the truth? What is truth? And more to the point, what is truth compared to an army that is willing to fight for what the _Roman Empire_ says is the truth? Jesus, on the other hand, was not impressed with Pilate's kind of power. He knew how temporary such power is. In his prophecies he looked ahead to times when the great powers of the earth would be overthrown. When not one stone of their great monuments would be left on top of another. He knew that real and lasting power had nothing to do with armies, but was "from another place." When Pilate saw Jesus, and his Jewish accusers, before him, he saw only a local disturbance. Some rabble-rouser had angered the local religious authorities. Pilate could not possibly have comprehended that the religion that began with this Jesus would eventually take over the Roman Empire itself; that when the Roman Empire had long since collapsed into the dustbin of history, this religion--the "kingdom" of Jesus--would continue to expand until it covered a geographical area far vaster that Pilate even knew existed; until it encompassed, not the mere millions of people in the Roman Empire, but over a billion people--far more human beings than even existed in Pilate's day. Yet even this is not the true measure of Jesus' power and kingship. For these are still worldly measurements. As impressive as the Christian numbers may be, counting heads and geographical distribution is merely looking at the surface of the true power of Jesus. "For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to the truth." This is where the real power and greatness of Jesus lies. Far beyond the power of swords or machine guns or nuclear warheads there lies an infinitely more powerful force: divine truth. All the swords of the Roman Empire could not outlast the truth that Jesus taught and lived. The might of the British Empire could not withstand the truth that Gandhi taught. The might of the Soviet Union could not stand against the truth that human beings must be free. Even the might of the United States could not withstand the truth that Martin Luther King taught: that _all_ human beings must be free. Truth has always been, and will always be, far stronger than the strongest army. Oh, an army can hold sway for a time. But eventually, if it stands in the way of the truth, its power will be broken, and it will become a chapter, or a paragraph, or a sentence in a history book--while the truth only gains in strength and power and influence. Jesus stood in front of Pilate unmoved because he had behind him the greatest power the world has ever known--the greatest power the world will ever know. "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Yes, Jesus was a king. Jesus _is_ a king. Not a king of worldly wealth and power, of gold and of weapons. No, Jesus Christ is the king of our souls. History, as well as our own hearts, tells us that whatever rules in our souls will eventually rule the world. Let us each, then, crown the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal king of our souls. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Apr 12 22:58:33 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 18:58:33 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Angels of the Resurrection," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980412185833.00966670@pop.tiac.net> Angels of the Resurrection By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Easter Sunday Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 12, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9. The Lord will swallow up death On this mountain the Lord of hosts will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, of rich food filled with marrow, of fine wines strained clear. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will take away the disgrace of his people from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. On that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we waited for him and he has saved us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!" Luke 24:1-12. Angels at the Lord's resurrection On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed their faces to the ground; but the men said to them, "Why do are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all of this to the eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed like idle nonsense. However, Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves. Then he went home, wondering to himself what had happened. Apocalypse Explained #659a. Angels, death, and resurrection In the Bible, being buried means waking up to life and resurrection because when we die and are buried, we wake up and rise again into eternal life. After we die we continue living just as we did in the world; but we set aside our earthly, physical body, which was useful to us in the physical world, and continue living in a spiritual body. So all that happens when we are buried is that we set aside the outer husk that we carried with us in the material world. Burial means waking up to resurrection and eternal life because the angels do not know what a person's death or burial is. With them there is no death or burial; rather, they think of all things spiritually. So when the Bible mentions someone's death, the angels instead think of that person's passing over from one world into the other; And where the Bible mentions someone's burial, they think of that person's resurrection into life. Sermon: Suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood before them. In their fright the women bowed their faces to the ground; but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:4, 5) It is always nice to see so many faces of members, friends, and visitors in the church on Easter Sunday. Though we do not have a coffee hour on Easter Sunday (since people are heading out for their Easter dinner) it is still a time for our extended congregation to gather together, enjoy each other's company, and celebrate an event that lies at the very heart of our religion: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns as the God of all the universe. Around the world on this day, Easter services are attracting tens, perhaps even hundreds of millions of people for whom this is one of only two or three services experienced all year. A large percentage of the over one billion Christians in the world are attending some sort of service today. When you think about it, this is really ironic, since there were no people at all present for the event we celebrate on Easter. By the time those few women arrived at the tomb, the resurrection had already happened. They had missed it! However, there were some beings there who _hadn't_ missed the resurrection. The women who came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus saw two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning! Even today, with all our technology, we still don't have garments of brilliant light of the kind that these men were wearing. However, many people _have_ seen beings with garments of light when they have had close encounters with death, and have spent a brief time with angels in the spiritual world. These garments that some angels wear are not bright from light that is shining on them; the clothing _itself_ is shining with light. This light that shines from angels' clothes is not like our earthly light. Those who have experienced it sometimes say that feeling this light shining on them is like feeling love and understanding shining on them. Emanuel Swedenborg, who gave us the Bible interpretations and teachings that our church is based on, experienced this light of love and wisdom throughout the years in which he spent much of his time in the spiritual world. It is the light of a different perspective on life--the angels' perspective, which is a spiritual perspective. This perspective of the angels transforms our attitudes toward ordinary and not so ordinary things. It especially transforms our views of the ultimate questions of life and death. The angels that the women saw at the tomb had a completely different perspective on the Lord's burial in the tomb than the women did. To the women, death meant only death: it meant that this Jesus whom they loved was gone forever. They had come to anoint his body with spices--to pay their last respects. Those of us who have had a loved one die can understand how those women felt. We were so used to having that person's presence in our lives, and now he or she is gone. We feel a cold void where once there was warmth. We feel lonely and abandoned. There is a pain in our chest--sort of a heart attack of the spirit. Yet to the angels, physical death is not a sad event, but a happy one! The angels at the tomb said, "Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" The angels that Swedenborg met in heaven had the very same view of death as these angels whose words were recorded nearly two thousand years ago. Swedenborg tells us: Angels do not know what a person's death or burial is. With them there is no death or burial; rather, they think of all things spiritually. So when the Bible mentions someone's death, the angels instead think of that person's passing over from one world into the other. And where the Bible mentions someone's burial, they think of that person's resurrection into life. (_Apocalypse Explained_ #659a) This view of death certainly is different from the world's view. From a worldly perspective, death is the end of life. But from an angelic and spiritual perspective, death is just the beginning! For those of us who have a strong faith in our resurrection into the spiritual world, it may be hard to realize just how bleak the end of life would be without that promise of continuing life on the other side. It is hard enough to deal with our feelings about being separated from a loved one by death without having to feel that the separation is permanent. For those of us whose faith wavers, or who are just starting out on the path of faith, the angels' perspective may seem like "idle nonsense": that when someone dies here, it is a time to celebrate a life that has now gone on to higher usefulness and fuller joy. Most of us will never have so bright a perspective on death as long as we live in this world. But the angels of the resurrection do call us toward this more optimistic view of death and life. In fact, I believe that it is not simply the cultural trappings of the holiday that bring this larger congregation into the church on Easter Sunday. I believe that there is a deep need within us all to feel that life has some larger purpose, a purpose that transcends even death, which from the world's perspective has the final say. Whatever our outward reasons, we come to church on Easter Sunday because deep within, we need to be reminded of Jesus' resurrection from death, and of its meaning for our own lives. The human spirit withers and dies without faith and hope in a heavenly life to come, where we will be reunited with the loved ones we have lost, and where all we have learned on earth will be put to eternal service in a human community of mutual love and kindness. For those of us who have had a difficult life, this faith and hope in a future life of happiness can serve as the life raft that keeps us from drowning in our struggles and disappointments. For those of us whose lives have been happier, it gives us the joy of knowing that our happiness does not have to end, but can continue forever with those we love. And so we come to church on Easter Sunday to recharge our spiritual batteries and sustain our souls. To paraphrase our reading from Isaiah, on this mountaintop experience of Easter Sunday, the Lord will destroy the shroud of death that enfolds all the people of the world. The Lord will swallow up death forever, and put in its place a rich feast of new spiritual life and love. The Lord offers this feast to each one of us. The depth and richness of life that we can gain from an active, growing faith in our risen Lord goes far beyond anything this world and its enjoyments have to offer. Yes, we are meant to enjoy the pleasures of this world; the Lord gave us physical senses so that we could take pleasure in our surroundings and in each other. Yet the angels know a secret that so many of us miss out on as we get caught up in the whirl of activities that wants to consume all our time here on earth. The angels know that the time and effort we put into developing our inner, spiritual life will give new meaning and joy to all of the other activities that we engage in. When our faith is weak, our day-to-day activities are like going for a walk on a cloudy, rainy day as fall fades into winter. Sure, the walk is good for us, and we enjoy getting out of the house. But something is missing. When we have a living, growing faith, our day-to-day activities are like going for a walk on a beautiful, sunny day in springtime, with birds singing all around us. The warmth and light of the Lord's love and understanding in our souls makes everything around us so much brighter! The deeper message of Easter is that we do not have to wait for physical death in order to experience the meaning of resurrection in our lives. If we are living under a cloud of uncertainty, doubt, and the lack of deeper meaning and purpose in our lives, the Easter story offers the personal resurrection of a strong, warm, and growing spiritual life within us. If our relationships with those we love seem to be missing something; if we wish we could feel closer to each other and have more happiness with one another, the Easter story offers a resurrection of new life from the Lord shining like the bright springtime sun, coaxing open the buds of our wishes and dreams into blossoms of tender and joyful love for each other. It is our lack of faith in the Lord and in each other that separates us and draws us inward toward ourselves. And it is the light and warmth of faith and love from the Lord that opens us up to all the new possibilities there are right here on earth. When we leave behind our preoccupations with our own concerns and our own wellbeing, and focus instead on higher motives of mutual love, understanding, and kindness that the Lord taught us through his life on earth, we open up all sorts of new possibilities in our relationships with the people who are closest to us, the ones we share our homes with--and with everyone else as well. When we look at ourselves and our relationships honestly, we realize that when we are not happy with how things are going, there are parts of our own selves that need to be transformed so that we can accept the richer and more loving relationships the Lord calls us toward. This transformation of our feelings and attitudes is the deeper meaning of the angels' words. Why do we seek the life of mutual love and joy among the dead bones of our old, mistaken attitudes? Those attitudes must die so that we can be reborn as new people, able to love and be loved; so that we can feel other people's joy as our own joy; so that we can take pleasure in the simple goodness of a kind word, a hug, the company of those we love. To the angels eyes, this simple goodness and love that comes from the Lord is the deepest reality of life. As we each go to share the Easter feast with our loved ones, I pray that we will also open ourselves up to the spiritual feast of faith, of mutual love, and of joy that the Lord invites us to as he rises again in our hearts and minds each day of our lives. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Apr 19 21:10:29 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 17:10:29 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Growing the Church," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980419171029.0096bd60@pop.tiac.net> Growing the Church By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 19, 1998 Readings: Zechariah 8:9-13. Let your hands be strong Thus says the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong-you that have recently been hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets who were present when the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of hosts. For before those days there were no wages for people or for animals, nor was there any safety from the foe for those who went out or came in, and I set them all against one another. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. Just as you have been a cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong. Mark 4:26-34. The kingdom grows from a seed Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. Apocalypse Explained #911c.17. The kingdom of God "The kingdom of God" means the Lord's church in heaven and on earth. This passage describes God's kingdom being planted in all people who receive true and good things from the Lord, and not from themselves. Every detail corresponds to and symbolizes something spiritual.... "Seed" symbolizes the divine truth, and "scattering seed on the ground" means the work we humans do. "Rising day and night" and finally "putting in the sickle" symbolizes all the changes we go through. When we "rest" it means that the Lord is working, and the "harvest" means planting the church in people, both as a group and as individuals. Sermon: The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. (Mark 4:26, 27) One of the things I love about the teachings of our church is that everything is related to everything else, and things mirror each other from the tiniest particle up through every level, even to the entire universe. Ours is a holistic religion, in which we view everything as connected. This, of course, is because everything in the universe comes from God and is an expression of some aspect of God. And since God is completely unified and at one, everything else in the universe is tied to every other thing in the universe through this connection with God's oneness. This means that no matter what topic we may choose, and no matter what we are facing, it relates to God; it also relates to the universe; it relates to the entire world and the human population on it; it relates to a nation or a city or a town or a neighborhood or an individual person. It also relates to one of the organs or cells in our body--and to a fleeting thought or feeling that make up a moment of our day. Today's sermon topic is an example of this law of the universal and specific relevance of all things. Because we had our Annual Meeting last week, and we have a Church Committee meeting this week, church growth has been on my mind--and that is what I want to talk about today. But this week we also celebrate Earth Day, and, lo and behold, plants, which grow from the earth, are a symbol not only of nature, but of human growth, both as individuals and as groups such as churches. So when we talk about "Growing the Church," on another level we are talking about growing plants, and on another level we are also talking about our own individual spiritual growth. This is fortunate, since while some of us may be in a state of mind where we are concerned with this (or another) church's growth as a body and as a community of faith, others may be more concerned at this moment with issues of inner, personal growth, or of _inter_personal growth in a relationship or family. Or we may be concerned with the way our world is going, and wondering how human society can grow into something closer to our ideals of human peace, harmony, and mutual love and service. If we get into the spirit of our church's teachings, then whatever level I or anyone else is speaking on, we can put those thoughts or ideas through our mental "transformer" and come out with something that is helpful for the level on which we are at this moment. I hope each of you will be able to do this transforming with my thoughts today. To get into the topic of growing the church, let's first take a brief look at where we are as a church at this moment. I have now been through almost two church years with you as your pastor, and we have accomplished many good things together. We have improved the quality of our service with music, printed service bulletins, and other enhancements, and have held many special services, attracting up to 100 people. We have also made a start on outreach into the community, especially with our Angels workshop, which has provided us with a continuing theme for a number of special events this year. We have received a great deal of publicity for the planned rebuilding of our steeple. And now we are launching a Wedding Ministry. We have done a lot more than this, but if I listed them all I wouldn't have any time left to finish the sermon! This is the positive side of things. And yet the other side of the coin is that after nearly two years, instead of growing, we have actually dropped off a bit in numbers, both in our church membership and in our church attendance. Of course, we know that some of this is due to members who have died or who are no longer able to attend services with us. Still, it feels as if we are headed in the wrong direction. All the effort we've been putting out should be bearing some fruit! I've thought about this a lot lately, and I am helped by the image found in our reading from Mark's Gospel: Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come. (Mark 4:26-29) This reminds me of a story in one of my favorite series of children's books. In the Frog and Toad stories, written by Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad are best buddies. They do everything together. Sometimes one of them (usually Toad), gets a funny idea in his head, and the other tries to talk some sense into him. I want to read you the story, "A Garden," found in the book _Frog and Toad Together._ Frog was in his garden. Toad came walking by. "What a fine garden you have, Frog," He said. "Yes, said Frog. "It is very nice, but it is hard work." "I wish I had a garden," said Toad. "Here are some flower seeds. Plant them in the ground," said Frog, "and soon you will have a garden." "How soon?" asked Toad. "Quite soon," said Frog. Toad ran home. He planted the flower seeds. "Now seeds, said Toad, "start growing." Toad walked up and down a few times. The seeds did not start to grow. Toad put his head close to the ground and said loudly, "Now seeds, start growing!" Toad looked at the ground again. The seeds did not start to grow. Toad put his head very close to the ground and shouted, "NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!" Frog came running up the path. "What is all this noise?" he asked. "My seeds will not grow," said Toad. "You are shouting too much," said Frog. "These poor seeds are afraid to grow." "My seeds are afraid to grow?" asked Toad. "Of course," said Frog. "Leave them alone for a few days. Let the sun shine on them, let the rain fall on them. Soon your seeds will start to grow." That night Toad looked out of his window. "Drat!" said Toad. "My seeds have not started to grow. They must be afraid of the dark." Toad went out to his garden with some candles. "I will read the seeds a story," said Toad. "Then they will not be afraid." Toad read a long story to his seeds. All the next day Toad sang songs to his seeds. And all the next day Toad read poems to his seeds. And all the next day Toad played music for his seeds. Toad looked at the ground. The seeds still did not start to grow. "What shall I do?" cried Toad. "These must be the most frightened seeds in the whole world!" Then Toad felt very tired, and he fell asleep. "Toad, Toad, wake up," said Frog. "Look at your garden!" Toad looked at his garden. Little green plants were coming up out of the ground. "At last," shouted Toad, "my seeds have stopped being afraid to grow!" "And now you will have a nice garden too," said Frog. "Yes," said Toad, "but you were right, Frog. It was very hard work." I think we all know just how Toad feels. Whether it's seeds we're growing, or children, or our own selves, or a church, we want those seeds to start growing right away! And we are convinced that if we can just get the right formula, and do it in the right way, they will indeed start growing, and we can enjoy that nice garden we see in our minds. But that is not how it works. Of course, the efforts we make _are_ important--even if some of them may be a tad off the mark. Despite Frog's self-assurance in his own wisdom, Toad's seeds were not really afraid to grow; it simply wasn't their time yet. And though there is intriguing evidence that plants do respond to our emotional states, Frog really hit the nail on the head when he said, "Leave them alone for a few days. Let the sun shine on them, let the rain fall on them. Soon your seeds will start to grow." For behind all of our efforts, as important as they are, there lies the real doer of all the work--the one who really causes the seeds to grow. That doer, of course, is the Lord. Frog and Toad agree with the Bible and with Swedenborg: when we rest and sleep, that is when the Lord is especially active, working to bring about the fruits of our labor; working to cause the seeds that we have planted to grow. We think _we_ are the ones who do the hard work, but really, we simply plant the seeds and water them, and the Lord does all the rest. Our church is planting seeds. We are planting seeds within our church when we look at our Sunday worship service, at our Sunday School, and at our other activities to see where we can make them more effective in carrying out the goals of our church; how they can serve the spiritual needs of newcomers while continuing to serve our own spiritual needs. We are planting seeds when we consider how we as people can be more welcoming to those who visit our church. We are planting seeds when we reach out into our community, offering programs that speak to people and give them inspiration, while scattering abroad the seed of our church's teachings. We are planting seeds when we talk to friends, neighbors, and acquaintances about the things that are going on at our church. As I said in the closing words of my Pastor's Report to our Annual Meeting last Tuesday, I am convinced that if we commit ourselves to planting these seeds of growth in a sustained and long-term way, as the years go by we will see those seeds sprout and grow, not in a quick mushrooming of growth--which tends to die off just as quickly as it originally mushroomed--but in a long term, organic, and well-rooted type of growth. And so the Lord speaks to us through the prophet Zechariah: There shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, the ground shall give its produce, and the skies shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. . . . Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong. Amen. From info@newchurch-cincy.org Wed Apr 22 19:11:22 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 15:11:22 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980422133413.686772a4@mail.one.net> [Sorry to have gotten behind in my sermon mailings. Sending out two sermons now so as to catch up. PAR] _______________________________________________________ Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site. _______________________________________________________ For Cinti.03-22-98 TRANQUILLITY A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And they cried out for fear." (Mt. 14:26) HOW LITTLE PEOPLE REALLY KNOW about the world around them! For all the advances of modern science, and these advances are truly astounding, there still is so much that we don't know. Certainly this is true of the weather. Meteorologists are attaining a better understanding of the interplay between forces at work in the atmosphere. But there is still much that they do not understand. Weather forecasting is still far from being an exact science. And when it comes to the possibility of actually controlling the weather, those attempts that have been made have been very limited in scope and success. The simple fact is, we are at the mercy of the weather. We do not really understand it; we cannot predict it with anything near complete accuracy; and we cannot control it. As far as the mighty forces which move the air around us are concerned, we are relatively ignorant and extremely helpless. It is the same with our minds. The human mind is a world unto itself -- a vast and complicated world -- filled with all kinds of things -- and acted upon by all kinds of mighty forces. At times we might imagine that we understand our own minds. But we understand them so very little. We are aware of our thoughts; we are aware of our feelings; but where these things come from, and how one thought or feeling follows another -- this is something we know very little about. Why is it that we remember some things and forget others? Why is it we understand some concepts and yet are completely mystified by others? When all is said and done, we know almost nothing about how the intellectual part of our minds works. And we are even more ignorant and helpless when it comes to our own moods and emotions. We do not understand them, and our control over them is often quite limited indeed. The moods, or the emotional states, of the human mind, are like the weather of this hidden mental world. Sometimes the sun shines, and our minds are filled with cheerfulness. But at other times it is very cold, and we feel little warmth or affection for anybody or anything. Then there are droughts, when everything seems so dry and meaningless. The human mind is a world, a very real world, and like the world outside, it also has weather, all kinds of weather. Surely nothing is more terrifying, though, than the storms which sometimes take over the mind. Our thoughts become restless, as if whipped about by a mighty wind. All kinds of thoughts, memories, worries, feelings of guilt, doubts, flood our consciousness, and we feel as helpless as a sailor, in a small boat, far from land on a stormy sea. At such times we crave peace of mind. How wonderful it would be if we could feel composed and tranquil deep within ourselves! Why can't we calm down, and put all our worries and problems aside? What is the answer? We all have some idea of what it must be. We realize that mental tranquillity can only really be found in religion. We can only rise above the mental disturbances caused by the problems of this world when we see such things in perspective. And we can only gain this perspective by looking to the Lord, with the sure knowledge, and the sure faith, that all is in His hands, and that all tends, in the end, towards a happy state. When viewed in terms of an eternal life in heaven, all the problems of this world can indeed be seen in their true perspective -- that is, as relatively trivial. So it is that faith is the only real answer to mental disturbance -- a calm, trusting faith in the Lord. Such faith, though, is not easily acquired. At certain times, in certain states, we feel close to the Lord, and we see truths from the Word so clearly. At such times, we perhaps feel that we never need to worry again, never need to feel disturbed again. But, almost inevitably, such states do not last. Things go wrong; problems pile up; worries and fears invade our minds. Then, even though we remind ourselves that we should have faith, we find it impossible to be calm. We find it almost impossible to think of the Lord and to take comfort in His Providence, for our minds are so filled with doubt and despair that there is no room for faith. Faith in the Lord is indeed the answer to the storms that fill our minds. But what are we to do if our faith is simply not strong enough to cope? This issue is at the very heart of the story of our text. After the Lord had miraculously fed a multitude of people with five loaves and two fishes, He told His disciples to sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then, after He had sent the multitudes away, He Himself went up into a mountain to pray . . . to commune with the Divine soul within Himself. But the disciples' boat was caught in a terrible storm, and was tossed around by the waves in a strong wind. It was late at night, during the fourth watch, that is, between three and six in the morning. Then the Lord comes walking towards them on the water. The disciples are terrified. They think He is a ghost. But the Lord tells them who He is -- tells them to be of good cheer. Then Peter calls out, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." The Lord tells him to come, and Peter sets out, but begins to sink. He cries out, "Lord, save me!" The Lord then takes Peter with His hand, and catches Him. "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they get into the boat, the storm ceases. The disciples then fall down and worship Him, acknowledging that He is the Son of God. It is evident what the storm in this story really is. It is a picture of the storms which at times rage in our minds. Notice that the theme of this story is not so much the faith of the disciples as it is their lack of faith. They don't even have the ability to recognize the Lord, and are, at first, scared of Him. Even when He tells them who He is, Peter, who represents the state of a man's faith, begins by blurting out, "Lord, if it is You . . ." Then Peter, though he is told to come by the Lord, begins to sink because he doubts the Lord's power. Only the Lord's immediate action saves him from drowning in the midst of the sea. Now it is important for us to have a clear understanding of what is involved in this story, for it helps us understand just what is happening to us when our minds are in a state of disturbance or intranquillity. Even when a man is sincerely trying to follow the Lord, his mind is still, at times, filled with doubts, worries and fears. Why do mental or spiritual storms happen despite his faith? Why cannot he simply look to the Lord in prayer, and find rest and peace? Why is his faith so weak? The answer to this lies in the nature of the sea within the mind. The sea on which our consciousness floats is the sea of knowledge. The things we know, and the things we think, form a vast ocean within our minds. Much of this sea of knowledge consists of trivial knowledges -- mere facts. But some of these knowledges -- and especially knowledges from the Word -- are very important. Also significant are the various things we know that are opposed to the truths of the Word . . . things we know, or think we know, but which are nothing but falsities. In the sea of knowledge float all kinds of ideas, some of them quite mistaken indeed. For example, we all have the idea, which we entertain from time to time, that we are more important than others. There is also the idea, or attitude, that we are basically good. Then there is the idea that we are strong people, and that we don't need help from the Lord. These ideas or attitudes are in our minds, whether we are aware of them or not. And the hells flow into such ideas incessantly, without our knowing it. Fortunately, we also know truths, and insofar as we read and reflect upon the Word, we also have within us truths into which the heavens can flow. So it is that we go through our lives with this ocean of miscellaneous facts and fallacies within our minds. Sometimes this ocean is calm. At other times it gets agitated, and all kinds of thoughts and ideas rise up into our conscious thought. Suppose, though, that we gradually learn more and more to pay heed to what we are taught in the Word. If we do this, then the Lord will gradually come closer to us. As we shun evil and do good, the Lord's presence increases. We might expect His approach to bring calm. However, the effect is, initially, quite the opposite. As the Lord comes closer, our minds then become really agitated. As the Lord comes to us, we are not calmed, but become exceedingly disturbed. The storms in our minds don't get less; they get worse. Why is this? Well, think of the disciples in the boat. They were caught in a terrible storm late at night. And the Lord came walking towards them. Did they gain comfort from this? No! They thought He was a ghost. They were terrified by Him. Do not misunderstand. All peace is from the Lord. He is called the Prince of Peace. Picture the Lord praying on the top of the mountain, praying, and drawing strength from the Divine love within Himself. On that mountain, and from His Divine love, He is far above the disturbances that we undergo. When He comes down, and moves across the surface of our minds, He comes to comfort us, and to bring us peace. If we believe in the Lord, and are sincerely trying to live good lives, and to learn the truths of His Word, then we should know that we do have peace within ourselves. But peace is not the same as tranquillity. Peace is of the internal man. It is above our consciousness. Strictly speaking, we do not feel peace. What we can feel is tranquillity, which flows from the peace within, into our external, conscious mind. But tranquillity is not at first present -- it is not felt even though there is peace within us. Why not? It is because we have so many false notions within our minds, false notions into which the hells flow. With the Lord coming ever closer to our minds, these falsities are threatened. We begin to see how wrong we have been in our thoughts and in our attitudes. The hells then flow in with a passion. Like a mighty wind they toss our thoughts about. It is, as it were, a counter-attack. We might be striving for the Lord's presence. But, at the same time, many things within us are hostile to the Lord, and are made uncomfortable by His presence. As we begin to see how mistaken we have been in so many things, we begin to doubt everything. How can we know this? How can we believe that? Can we be saved? Does the Lord really care about us? Are we too evil to go to heaven? And so on . . . These falsities well up within us. They must do so, if they are to be gradually seen for what they are, and laid to rest. And, one of the greatest falsities of all -- the falsity which gives us greater unrest than any other -- is the false sense of confidence into which we are all born. We believe in our own strength, in our own power. Even in things of faith we tend to have confidence, not in the Lord, but in ourselves. We think that we can, all by ourselves, rise above and control the storms which periodically disturb our minds. Peter -- poor brash Peter -- thought that he was capable of walking on the water. He was proud of the fact that he had enough confidence in the Lord to do this. Yet Peter began to sink. His faith was not in the Lord, but in himself. "Lord, save me!" he cried out as he began to drown. And here, all of a sudden, Peter was given to know the true meaning of faith. It comes from a desire to be saved, to be rescued. Indeed, true faith was seeing, for the first time, that he couldn't save himself. Only the Lord could do this, and the Lord reached down and pulled him up. Then, when they got into the boat, the sea became calm, and the disciples turned to the Lord and worshiped Him. Tranquillity, true tranquillity, which is a calmness of the waters of thought within our minds, comes only when peace flows in from the Lord, and disposes us to see the truth . . . to really see it. It will not come simply from our saying, "I believe," for what do we really believe in? At first our faith is in ourselves. We believe in our own strength of faith, not in the Lord Himself. Yet, without the Lord saving us, we will sink like a stone into the deep stormy waters of hell. It is only when the Lord leads us to see for ourselves that without Him we are nothing, that we then really believe -- believe in the Lord as our Savior. In the meantime we should not imagine that if we summon up enough faith, the storms, the temptations, will then disappear. They won't disappear until the process of regeneration is complete. Our faith, then, must involve a determination to endure these storms. We must wait for the Lord, who alone can control the weather of our minds. This does not mean that we should stop seeking for calmness and perspective in the troubles that confront us. We should strive, in all things, to have calm faith in the Lord. But let us not think that we are the complete masters of our own fears and doubts and moods. In the end we must be led to believe, to believe beyond any doubt whatsoever, that it is the Lord alone who is the source of all strength and the source of all salvation. As it is said in the Gospel according to Luke: ". . . He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" (Lk. 8:25) He alone can calm the storms of the human mind. Only when we receive such faith in the Lord will peace from Him flow down in fullness, and calm the troubled waters of our minds, and give us true tranquillity. Only when we come to see just how dependent we truly are upon the Lord will we at last receive peace from Him in fullness. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Ps. 46 Matt. 14:22-33 AC 3696:1-2 From info@newchurch-cincy.org Wed Apr 22 19:11:31 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 15:11:31 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980422133850.6867693c@mail.one.net> _______________________________________________________ Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org _______________________________________________________ For Cinti. 04-12-98 THE POWER OF SALVATION An Easter Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." (Mt. 28:18) THE STORY OF THE LORD'S RESURRECTION, the story of Easter, is a story of the most beautiful simplicity. Men had tried to kill the Lord; but when His followers returned to His sepulcher, the Lord's body was no longer there. The Lord could not die, for He was God. He had risen from the dead. He was alive. He was alive for evermore. It is a simple story. But it is also profound. When the Lord rose from the sepulcher, He showed clearly that He was God. He was Divine. He had power over death. But He also showed something else. He showed that He had the power to save. Earlier the Lord had told His followers, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." When, therefore, the Lord rose from the sepulcher, when He was lifted up from the earth, it showed not only that He had the power to save Himself from death, but that He also had the power to save mankind. The Lord, by rising from the sepulcher, showed that He was the Saviour of the human race. And so it is that the Easter story is not simply a story about the Divinity of the Lord. It is also a story about salvation. This is why the story of Easter occurs during the celebration of the Jewish Passover. Passover, together with the feast of unleavened bread which followed it, was a commemoration, and a celebration, of the time that Jehovah had saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Jehovah, as God, did not just have Divine power, but He also had used this power to deliver His people Israel. The Passover was the most important of three annual Jewish festivals. And it was during the celebration of this annual festival that the events of the Easter story occurred. Indeed, the story of Easter cannot be separated from the celebration of Passover. Consider, for example, the events surrounding Palm Sunday. When the Lord rode into Jerusalem, multitudes of people came out to greet Him, spreading branches of palm trees in the road. The reason there were so many people in Jerusalem at the time was because of the Passover. A great number of people had traveled into Jerusalem to purify themselves in preparation for the feast. Not only that, many of them were looking out for the Lord, thinking that He would probably come to Jerusalem for the Passover. When news came, then, that the Lord was approaching the city, this great multitude of people, people who were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, ran out to greet Him. The Passover itself becomes the central focus the evening before the Lord is arrested. The Lord gathered with His disciples to eat the Passover. It was the last meal He would eat with them before His crucifixion. And it was at that time the Lord established a new feast, a feast which would also celebrate the Lord's salvation. He established the Holy Supper. It was during the night which followed that the Lord was betrayed and arrested. The next day the Passover is once again an element in the story. Because it was the most important of the Jewish festivals, the Romans had, as a gesture of good will, made it a custom to release a prisoner at the festival. Pilate tried to have the Lord released as that prisoner. But the multitude -- now an angry multitude -- would have none of it. They demanded instead the release of a robber, a man called Barabbas. Here was a sad irony. The Passover was a festival celebrating the Lord's power of salvation. He had saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Now He had come to save once again. This time He had come to rescue men from a deeper slavery. And yet at the Passover they rejected the Lord. They demanded that the Lord be crucified. They chose a robber over the Lord Himself. There were indeed dark forces at work during the week which led up to the Lord's resurrection. The Lord had come to save mankind. Yet evil men, men guided by the hells, were seeking the Lord's destruction. Still, this also was an integral part of the story of Easter. When the Lord rose from the sepulcher, He rose as the Savior of the human race. The very fact that the Lord was a Savior implied that mankind had needed saving. It meant that the Lord had rescued them from danger. It is in this sense that the meaning of the Easter story is neither as simple nor as obvious as it might appear. When the Lord had saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, it was clear who the enemy was. It was clear that the Lord had rescued them from the Egyptians. But the enemies -- the spiritual enemies -- who threatened mankind at the time of the Lord's coming, were by no means as obvious a threat. Indeed, most people were completely unaware of being in any danger at all. People were blissfully ignorant of the fact that a multitude of evil spirits from hell were threatening the very survival of the human race. The Lord had come to save people from a danger they didn't even know existed. But the danger was nevertheless very real indeed. In fact, the spiritual enemies of mankind were a far greater threat than the Egyptians had been. The underlying drama of the Easter week was just as great, just as intense, as was the drama of the Exodus. Consider the extraordinary events that occurred on the night when the Passover was first eaten. Time and time again the Egyptians had suffered plagues. But time and time again the Pharaoh had refused to let the Israelites go. The Israelites seemed to be completely and hopelessly enslaved in Egypt. But then there came the plague on the firstborn. It must have been an absolutely frightening and horrible night. All of a sudden, at midnight, destruction came upon the people of Egypt. We are told that "there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." That night not a single Egyptian household escaped tragedy. During that same terrible night, though, not a single Israelite was harmed. Four days earlier each Israelitish household had been commanded to set aside a lamb. Then, during the evening preceding that terrible night, the lamb had been killed, and its blood had been splattered on the posts and lintels of their doors. They then roasted the lamb, and ate it with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. The Israelites were safe, safe from the destruction that came upon the Egyptians, for the blood on their doors served as a sign that they were not to be harmed. Now it might seem from the story that it was the Lord who destroyed the firstborn, and that the blood was serving to protect the Israelites from the Lord. But this terrible act of destruction was in fact brought about by evil spirits, evil spirits who are referred to as "the destroyer." "The LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you." What in fact happened during the night of the Passover was that the hells were let loose upon the land of Egypt. But the Israelites were protected from harm by the power of the Lord. They were delivered from destruction, and that same night they were released from their slavery. So it was that on a dark and most dreadful night, the Israelites were protected by the powerful arm of the Lord, and were led forth to freedom. Israel became a free people. And from that time on, this event was etched deep into the consciousness of the Israelites. Each year, on the fourteenth day of the first month, they were to reenact the Passover, by eating a roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. During this most important festival of the year, they were to recall that night when the Lord saved them from the slavery of Egypt. Why did the Passover have such great importance? It of course had immense historical significance. But there was something else. The real importance of the Passover lay in what it represented. The Passover represented that work of salvation that the Lord would do when He came to earth. It stood for the Lord's presence, and for the way in which He would free mankind from the dominion of the hells. The actual Passover supper represented the conjunction that would then be possible between mankind and the Lord Himself. And, because this work of salvation was completed in the glorification of the Lord's Human, therefore the Passover is said to have represented the glorification itself. It was therefore no accident, no accident at all, that the events of Easter took place during the celebration of the Passover. The Lord had told His disciples that He would be betrayed during the feast of the Passover. And it was at that feast that He would rise again. The primary reason the Passover had been instituted was as a memorial that the Lord would one day glorify His Human and rise triumphant as the eternal Saviour of the human race. And so it was at this very festival that the Lord fulfilled His promise, fulfilled the prophecy contained within the Passover. The Passover, that night when the Lord protected the Israelites and delivered them from slavery in Egypt, was but a picture, a representation, of a far greater redemption. To begin with, the Lord had used His Divine power to save a particular group of people -- the Israelites -- from slavery. Now, as the Lord rose from the grave, He redeemed the entire human race. He made it possible for people to be freed from the dominion of the hells, set free from the slavery of evil. This is what we celebrate and remember at Easter time. We rejoice and give thanks for the Lord's salvation. When Jesus appeared to His disciples and said to them, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth," the power He spoke to them about, the power He offered them, was the power of salvation, the power to save people from the influence of the hells. What the Lord accomplished at Easter might sound more abstract than what He had done during the original Passover. The Israelites knew and clearly understood what Jehovah had done for them when He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The Lord has rescued us, though, from a deeper slavery, from the slavery of the hells. And the importance of this can be difficult to fully grasp. As we have noted, most people at the time of the Lord's coming were unaware of the spiritual danger they were in. They did not realize how terrible the threats from the hells really were. To a large extent it is the same with us. We have trouble fully appreciating the danger of evil. We have trouble realizing just how great a threat the hells can be. This is because spiritual dangers are extremely subtle. Physical dangers come from outside of us, where we can see and notice them, and avoid them. Spiritual dangers are different. Evil lurks within the mind, and so we don't notice evil in the same way. The greatest danger posed by evil lies in the fact that it doesn't seem dangerous to us at all. In fact, we tend to enjoy evil. We tend to love it. It is inside of us. It seems a part of us. When we are in evil, we don't see how dangerous it is. It is only as we are lifted out of this evil that we can come to understand how great the danger really was. That is why the Lord had to come to earth. That is why He had to assume a Human, and make that Human Divine. He did this so that we could come to see and understand Him, come to see and understand His love and compassion, and could turn to Him and follow His commandments. And it is as we do this, as we turn to and follow the Lord, that we can then, for the first time, fully appreciate the real horror of evil. In the Arcana, in our third lesson, it was said, "the hells are round every man, because every man is born into evils of every kind, and where evils are, there are the hells." This is why, we are told, we need the Divine power of the Lord. Only the Lord has the power to cast away those evil spirits of hell. There is then added a very telling statement. It is said that this is something which can be understood by "all those ... who admit the Lord into their life." It is those who admit the Lord into their lives, and only they, who can truly appreciate the dangers of evil. It is only those who are willing to turn to the Lord and obey His commandments who can understand that evil is very, very real, and very, very dangerous. That is why we must follow the Lord. We cannot rely upon our own judgment as to what is good and what is evil. We will always tend to excuse those things we love. We will tend to make light of our own weaknesses and our own follies. And so we must turn to the Lord. The Lord is our Savior, our only Savior. We must do what He says. And if we do, then He will save us. There were quite a number of things the Israelites had to do in preparation for that first Passover. Most important of all, though, was the lamb. They had to take a lamb, which signified innocence, a willingness to follow the Lord. And the blood of that lamb was put on their doorposts. It represented being willing to take those truths the Lord gives us, and to put them into life. When the Israelites did this, they were protected, protected from the horror of hell which swept over the land of Egypt. They were safe. So too, if we are willing to follow the Lord, if we are willing to do what He tells us, we will be safe. The hells will be unable to harm us in any way. "Where the good of innocence is, there hell cannot enter," we are told in the Arcana. Then the Israelites were to roast the lamb with fire, and eat it with unleavened bread. It was a meal, a feast. Both the fire and the unleavened bread represented love, love to the Lord; and the actual eating of the Passover lamb represented conjunction, through love, with the Lord Himself; it represented glad and happy thanksgiving. Today, as we celebrate Easter, we also give thanks. We give thanks to the Lord. We give joyful thanks to Him for becoming our Saviour. When He rose from the sepulcher, He did not do this for Himself. He did it for us. He conquered death, He conquered hell, that He might deliver us from eternal slavery. He rose triumphant, with Divine power, with power over heaven and earth, with the power to save us from evil, and to lead us to Himself in heaven. We give thanks to Him for His redemption. We give thanks for His salvation. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Jn. 11:55-57; 12:1,12-15 Matt. 28:1-18 AC 10659:1,3 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Apr 27 00:09:31 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 26 Apr 1998 20:09:31 -0400 Subject: SERMON: The Human Earth, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980426200931.00973580@pop.tiac.net> The Human Earth By the Rev. Lee Woofenden For Earth Day and Arbor Day Bridgewater, Massachusetts, April 26, 1998 Readings: Psalm 104:1, 14-24. The Lord made the earth in wisdom. Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. . . . You make grass grow for the cattle, and plants for humans to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the conies. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then humans go out to their work, to their labor until evening. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Revelation 5:11-14. Heaven and earth praise the Lord. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshipped. Heaven and Hell #106, 110. Correspondences in nature. All the things that occur in nature, from the smallest to the largest, are correspondences. This is because the natural world and everything in it exists and endures from the spiritual world, and both these worlds exist and endure from the divine. . . . I would like to use a few examples to show what the correspondence between spiritual and natural things is like. Land animals in general correspond to emotions. The gentle and useful ones correspond to good emotions, and the vicious and worthless ones correspond to bad emotions. To take some specific cases, cows and calves correspond to the emotions of the worldly mind, and lambs to emotions of the spiritual mind. The various winged creatures, on the other hand, correspond to the intellectual parts of either mind. Sermon: How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. (Psalm 104:24) Continuing in my fine tradition of observing special days just _after_ they occur, today our theme comes from Earth Day (which was Wednesday) and Arbor Day (which was Friday). With spring bursting out all around us, it is hard _not_ to think about the wonders of the earth. Patty and I celebrated Arbor Day by going out and buying a nice Sugar Maple, which we will be planting near the road in our front yard. Our street is lined with beautiful maples, and the one we plant will take the place of one that had to be taken down before we bought the house. And so we will help to continue the cycle of nature, in which what is new and young replaces what has grown old and died. Some people would see a contradiction in our tree planting. We plant a tree in an area where so many of the trees have been cut down to make way for human houses. Can we really talk about the cycle of nature where humans have so greatly disrupted that cycle? I remember visiting one of my friends in the city some years ago; as I arrived, he was busily hacking away at some runaway bushes that were spreading out from the fence separating his lot from his neighbor's. There really wasn't much ground for anything green to grow in, but that bush didn't care--it was obeying the laws of nature, which say that where something _can_ grow, it _will_ grow. He paused to say hello, and then laughed when I asked whether he had finished beating back the wilderness. The joke is on us; no matter how much we do beat back the wilderness, it simply will not stay down. The moment our efforts cease--and even _during_ our efforts--the wilderness is busily creeping back into our islands of civilization. We could view this as it has been traditionally viewed: as a battle between humans and nature. We humans do our best to carve out a corner in nature where we can live our lives in safety from the often cruel and certainly thoughtless ways of nature, while nature continually, implacably, reasserts itself wherever and whenever our efforts slacken. We have all seen old roads, old parking lots, old tennis courts where first grass and weeds, then bushes, then trees begin to reassert themselves from the edges and from every crack in the pavement. Even our great cities and suburban areas cover a relatively small proportion of the earth's surface--as anyone who has traveled across the vast, largely undeveloped areas of our earth can see and experience. Nature is still ascendant over humans throughout much of our earth. Yet we need not see it as a battle. Certainly we humans _do_ need to protect ourselves from the elements. We are not equipped with sharp claws and long teeth to protect ourselves using our bodies, as most of the larger animals are; but we are equipped with intelligence that enables us to protect ourselves in more sophisticated ways, with fences and walls and weapons. These days, though storms and earthquakes do break through our defenses from time to time, for the most part we are quite able to protect ourselves from nature. In fact, most people are more afraid of what other _people_ might do to them than they are of what nature might do. In our times, after years of studying nature and learning of its wonders, we are more inclined to feel that we will do better by cooperating with nature as much as we can. Perhaps we can even learn something from the balance of nature that will help us to restore our human society to a balance we seem to have lost. Whatever our relationship with nature may be, one thing is certain: as long as we live on this earth, we are inextricably linked with nature. Even city dwellers who spend most of their lives surrounded by human-made objects are dependent on rural farms where their food is grown. Our very civilization depends on energy sources that come from nature. Oil is pumped up from the ground--and it got there through the decomposition of trillions of tons of organic matter in ancient times. Electricity is generated from oil or natural gas or water or wind power or some other natural source of energy. Without the forces of nature, we could not run a single internal combustion engine or turn on a single personal computer. The more we realize this, the more we understand that whenever we "defeat" nature, we are really defeating ourselves as well. If and when we succeed in putting nature on the run, we are putting ourselves on the run also, since we are destroying the basis upon which everything we do in this material world is built. No matter how removed from nature we may sometimes feel that we are, we humans, as physical beings, are still an integral part of the web of nature, and we damage that web to our own peril. So far, I have not said anything that could not be found in an ecologically oriented magazine or a textbook in environmental biology. Though we certainly do continue to pollute and damage our earth in dangerous and sometimes disastrous ways, our culture is recognizing more and more that when we damage nature, we damage ourselves along with it. What we may be slower to recognize as a culture is the _source_ of this intricate web of life, and why we human beings are so intimately tied in with the cycle of nature. Our reading from Psalm 104 gives the most basic reason, in poetic language: It is the Lord who created both us and the earth that we live in; and the Lord created us to live together with this earth as long as we live in our physical bodies. "How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." We are one of the creatures that the Lord has made. "You make grass grow for the cattle, and plants for humans to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth." Yes, in God's plan, human beings and the earth are bound together in a cycle of life. We need not stop at _physical_ life in our search for the connection between human beings and the earth we live in. We _are_ dependent on the earth for our physical sustenance. But the earth provides so much more, if our eyes are open to perceive it! Swedenborg tells us, "All the things that occur in nature, from the smallest to the largest, are correspondences. This is because the natural world and everything in it exists and endures from the spiritual world, and both these worlds exist and endure from the divine." As with everything God does, there are many levels of meaning and reality here. Things in nature correspond to--or express the nature of--things in the spiritual world, which, in turn, express the nature of God. This means we can travel up ladders of meaning from the wonders of nature through the wonders of spirit to the wonders of God. It also means that everything in the created universe is unified and related to everything else in the universe through that one central, creative being of God. Do we have anything in common with a porcupine? Of course we do! We were both created by God, and we each express something about God. Swedenborg's radical idea is that as we are watching something in nature, spiritually we are watching the very same thing in ourselves. Have you ever seen a porcupine waddle along, not too concerned about predators because it knows that predators do not want a mouthful of quills? That porcupine is not only outside of us, but _within_ us as well. Each one of us is capable of making ourselves so prickly that nobody will come near us. It is one of the ways we protect our sensitive selves from people whom we feel may hurt us emotionally. How about that tree Patty and I will soon be planting in our front yard? Our own spirits also grow slowly, gradually, from a tiny seed of spiritual longing and inspiration at first, through stages of young and tender growth in understanding and effort toward living in a more loving and spiritual way, through mature spirituality, firmly rooted in the earth of practical, good living, with our branches reaching up to the heavens from which the warmth and light of the Lord's love and wisdom shines on us, giving us the energy to continue growing and reaching out toward others in the fruitfulness of love and service. The deeper message of our earth is that as we look at the world of nature around us, we are also looking at the human world of spirit within us. What we do to our earth goes far beyond a cause and effect relationship in which the damage we do to our earth boomerangs on us and damages us in turn, while the good things we do for our earth rebound to us in richer harvests and healthier bodies. We have not only a _physical_ relationship with the earth, but a _spiritual_ one as well. For the things we do to the earth are simply another manifestation of the things that we do to each other and to ourselves. If we are so intent on profit that we will pollute and damage our earth to acquire it, this is simply another way of expressing the damage we are willing to do to each other and to ourselves in pursuit of our own advantage. Similarly, if we care about the world of nature around us, isn't it the same care that we have for each other, and for all that God has created in the divine image? Our treatment of nature is a signpost indicating our treatment of each other and of God. Nature is a realm where we are at home because it reflects God's image, which is a _human_ image. As we realize this, we realize that our treatment of nature is the same as our treatment of ourselves. As we enjoy the beauties of spring, may we join the universal chorus of praise that John describes in Revelation: "Then I heard _every_ creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" Amen. From info@newchurch-cincy.org Wed Apr 29 21:28:47 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 17:28:47 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980429154509.34e751f2@mail.one.net> _______________________________________________________ Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org _______________________________________________________ For Cinti. 04-26-98 JEZEBEL A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit whoredom and eat things sacrificed to idols." (Rev. 2:20) THERE IS IN EVERYBODY a tendency to react to change, to resist anything that disturbs the state in which he is. People would much rather go on living the way they have been living, than entertain the thought that change, and the disturbance this change causes, might be not only good but necessary. There is indeed a feeling of great satisfaction and comfort to be found in resisting what is new, in avoiding disturbance, and in remaining with what is familiar. But there is at the same time a great danger: the danger that all that is good and useful will die, being suffocated in stagnation. If a person is to have spiritual life and spiritual growth, then he must have the courage to accept change, even though it might at first disturb him and make him feel uneasy. It is essential for his salvation. If he is unwilling to change -- if he insists on holding on to evil habits, evil thoughts and ways -- his lot after death will be a miserable one indeed. If a person is to be saved, then he must change; his mind must change: it is as simple as that! It is ironic that for all his pride, for all his conceit, man seldom realizes just how wonderful his mind really is. A proud person, somebody who is conceited, thinks of himself as wonderful. But he doesn't really see the wonder. He cannot, for being proud, he thinks only of himself and his own purposes. Only a humble man, a man humble enough to acknowledge that he was created by the Lord, is able to really appreciate the wonderful way in which he was fashioned by the Creator. Only such a person can say, as did the Psalmist: "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14). A human being is indeed wonderfully made: human beings and human beings alone, are created to be the medium of conjunction between the natural and spiritual worlds. We are the crown of all creation, for we alone are made to live in both worlds. For this reason we have been given both a natural or external mind by which we have communication with the world, and a spiritual or internal mind by which we have communication with heaven. It is not strictly accurate to think that a person lives first in the natural world and then in the spiritual. The truth is that he lives in both worlds. We may not be conscious of heaven, but still, deep within us, there is a spiritual mind which has communication with heaven, making it possible for heaven itself to descend to earth through us. Conversely, after death we will not be conscious of this earth, but our natural mind will still remain, providing a basis for communication with those in the natural world, and giving permanence to any heavenly life we may have acquired. This indeed is why there are two worlds. The spiritual world is a living world, a world where everything is alive and responsive to the desires of men. The natural world is dead, inert and fixed. In human beings these two worlds meet, in order that the things of love and faith, things which are truly alive, may be received into the natural mind, and thence find a fixed basis in the things of this world. It is thus necessary that our natural mind -- the natural level of our minds -- be of such a nature that it remains fixed and permanent. It is created this way so that it can form a lasting basis for spiritual things. Yet this also partly explains our spiritual problems. The natural mind, the mind in which we are conscious while we live in this world, is to form a basis for spiritual things. However, by heredity, it is, from birth, formed (or deformed) in such a way that it resists and reacts against spiritual things. Here is the obstacle, the challenge, which lies before us. Our natural mind, which by creation is designed to resist change, must nevertheless be changed, changed into a vessel which receives and reacts with spiritual things, rather than reacting against them. If this does not happen while we live in this world, where the natural mind is formed and can therefore be re-formed, we will lack, to all eternity, any basis for true spiritual life, and so will be capable only of living the life of hell, where devils forever react against the things of heaven. This is what the New Church is all about. The church can be thought of in many ways. In essence, though, it is nothing else than the presence of heaven on earth. It is the presence of what is spiritual with people here in this world. This is why the church can essentially exist only in the human mind. There, and there alone, can heaven, flowing in through the spiritual degree of the mind, find a resting-place on earth. What is more, it can only do so when the natural mind is formed to receive spiritual things. When this happens, then truly the New Jerusalem flows down from God out of heaven. If this is to happen, there must be change; we must make the effort and have the courage to change, even if at first it might seem uncomfortable. We must look to the Lord for the strength and the endurance to force ourselves to do and to say, to think and to desire, only those things which the Lord wills for us. In this way our natural mind is opened to receive the influence of our spiritual mind; then, through the spiritual mind, the Lord reforms and re-creates the natural, so that our every thought and desire become heavenly. The greatest danger we face is that through inborn resistance to change, we allow our minds, our natural minds, to remain opposed to the power of heaven, allowing only so much light from heaven to enter as suits our own purposes, our own convenience, and our own comfort. This is the danger represented by Jezebel. The name of this wicked woman has been adopted in the English language as a synonym for any wicked, treacherous and shameless woman. In the internal sense, however, Jezebel represents more than just simple wickedness. She represents a specific type of wickedness, one which is a peculiar danger to the those in the church: a wickedness which leads away from and destroys the conjunction of the internal and external degrees of the mind. This is why she is spoken of in the Book of Revelation in the treatment of Thyatira, the fourth of the seven churches in Asia. These churches represent various states or aspects of the New Church, and the church in Thyatira signifies the conjunction of the internal or spiritual of man with the external or natural. Therefore it is that it is this church in Thyatira which is warned about Jezebel. It is said: "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit whoredom and eat things sacrificed to idols." But who is this Jezebel? What specifically does she represent? And how does what she represents interfere with the conjunction of the internal and external within the mind? In the literal sense of the Old Testament, what is said about her is relatively brief. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. In defiance of the law against marrying foreigners, the wicked King Ahab took her as his wife, and permitted her to seduce him into worshiping the Phoenician god, Baal. Whilst queen, she slew many of the prophets of the Lord, and even tried, unsuccessfully, to kill Elijah himself. There was also the infamous incident of Naboth's vineyard. Ahab wanted this vineyard, but Naboth, quite rightly, refused to sell it -- the Israelites were forbidden to sell their inheritances. Jezebel, when she saw how depressed her husband was, took it upon herself to obtain the vineyard. She arranged for false witnesses to accuse Naboth of blasphemy, and, after he had been executed by stoning, she told Ahab to take possession of the vineyard. There is also the story of Jezebel's death -- a death that Elijah had prophesied. After both Elijah and Ahab had died, Jehu, who had been appointed king through Elisha, sought Jezebel's death. Jezebel saw him coming, leaned out of the window, and mocked him. King Jehu called up for help, and some of the eunuchs who were with the queen obeyed his command and threw Jezebel down. Her blood sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and Jehu trod on her before going in to dine. Later, remembering that she was, after all, a king's daughter, he gave word that she should be buried. But Jezebel had already been eaten by the dogs. We read that "they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands" (2 Ki. 9:35). Jezebel led a wicked life; she suffered, as a consequence, a horrible death. The story of Jezebel -- her life and her death -- portrays, in graphic representative imagery, something that is terribly evil. She represents, we are told, the delight of the love of self and of the world. It is this delight, more than anything else, which tears a man's soul asunder, preventing the conjunction of what is internal with what is external. If the internal and external in a person are to be conjoined, that is, if heaven and the world are to come together within him, then he must compel himself to obey the Lord's commands. The natural must compel itself to serve the spiritual if what is spiritual is to descend. This is difficult in that the natural, by creation, is inert and resistant to change. Nevertheless, with the Lord's help, this task is by no means as difficult as it might seem. It does, however, become increasingly difficult insofar as the natural mind is seduced away from the spiritual. Herein lies the great danger of taking delight in -- in enjoying -- things which are evil. If the natural conscious mind is captivated by evil delights, then its natural tendency to resist change becomes an overwhelming obstinacy. By taking delight in evil, a person becomes increasingly fixed in what is worldly and corporeal, and any desire to repent is eventually blotted out. For somebody in this state, the delight and comfort of evil seem eminently more desirable than the disturbing and unsettling thought that he ought to reform. He therefore becomes enslaved to evil delights, just as Ahab was enslaved by Jezebel. There is little doubt that Ahab was an evil king, yet something held him back from taking Naboth's vineyard. It was Jezebel who arranged for him to take it, and she did so with great cunning, not only in the way she arranged Naboth's death, but also in the way in which she soothed Ahab into going along with it. When he was told by Naboth he couldn't have the vineyard, Ahab went to his room and refused to eat. Jezebel comforted him. She told him to get up, to eat and drink, and to be cheerful again, for she would give him what he wanted. She must have been a great comfort to him. Don't evil delights do the same thing? They can comfort us, console us, make us feel good and at ease. In this way they seduce us. This is why they are so dangerous. Jezebel was both an evil prophetess and a whore, we are told in the Apocalypse, and this in spite of the fact that in the literal sense she appears to be neither. She didn't claim to be a prophetess, but still, like a prophetess, she taught. By cunningly leading Ahab further and further into abominable wickedness, she taught him to do whatever he felt like doing. Neither is there, in the literal sense, any record of her actually committing natural whoredom. Nevertheless, she destroyed a spiritual marriage, a spiritual covenant. By leading the king of Israel into the worship of Baal, she destroyed the covenant between the Lord and the people of Israel. So too, we can be taught to do and love evil. Within us also, the marriage or covenant between the internal and external man be broken asunder, as the natural mind focusses more and more on the things of this world alone, ignoring and being repelled by what is spiritual. This will happen to us if we suffer ourselves to enjoy the delights of evil. The danger cannot be overemphasized. There are, of course, many dangers. We are all weak; we are all fallible. We all do things we know are wrong. But let us not, if we value anything of what is spiritual, make the mistake of allowing ourselves to become fixed in our ways by the delights of evil. It is one thing to have done what is wrong, and to then seek to change our ways. It is quite another to enjoy and revel in the delight of what we have done, and to make one excuse after another so that we might remain in the enjoyment of evil. Whatever we have done, and whatever our state, we must always be looking to change our ways, to live better lives. With this there can be hope; without effort, without courage, there is none. Once the mind is enslaved by evil delight, once a person agrees and allows himself to be enslaved, then his mind becomes progressively more and more torn apart, more and more twisted. His spiritual mind withdraws itself further and further as the natural mind immerses itself in the delights of the love of self and of the world. The person is consumed by evil desires, evil lusts, represented by the dogs which ate Jezebel's corpse. If we are wise, we realize that there are things which will harm us if we do not avoid them. It is this way with our spiritual life, the life of the church within us. If we care about what is spiritual, if we care about the church that is within us, let us beware. Let us beware the danger of abiding where we are. It is one thing to have done evil. It is far worse to remain in it. It is easy to be amused at the ease with which people get set in their ways. It these ways be evil, though, it is not funny, but tragic. We must be willing to change. We must be willing always to try to live better lives. In the end our ways are set. The natural mind, which forms the basis of our eternal life in the world to come, is fixed forever after death. In the meantime, our part is simple: we must do our best to ensure that, during our brief span of years in this world, our natural life, and our natural mind, become more and more a receptacle, a basis, for what is good and true. If we become, as we must become, set in our ways, let us see that these ways are good. Then the Lord, His heaven, and His church, can find a permanent resting place within us to all eternity. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: I Ki. 21:1-16 Rev. 2:18-29 DLW 260-63 (parts) ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Sun May 3 23:45:11 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 03 May 1998 19:45:11 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Samson and Delilah," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980503194511.0097a100@pop.tiac.net> Samson and Delilah By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 3, 1998 Readings: Judges 16:4-22. Samson and Delilah. Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued." Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man." Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered. Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied." He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man." So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you hove been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied." He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom, and tighten it with the pin, I will become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric, and tightened it with the pin. Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric. Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I will go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him. The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Matthew 2:21-23. He will be called a Nazarene. Joseph took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.... Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene." Doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures #149. Head and hair. We cannot know why the Naziriteship was instituted, or why Samson's strength was from his hair, unless we know what the head means in the Bible. The head means the heavenly wisdom that angels and people have from the Lord through divine truth. So the hair on the head means heavenly wisdom in the most external things, and also divine truth in the most external things. Sermon: Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. (Judges 16:4) This morning's sermon is a warm-up for, and a preview of, the topic for the second week at the Fryeburg New Church Assembly this August. You can thank the Rev. Ken Turley of the Fryeburg church for it. He is working on a musical production of the Samson and Delilah story, which he plans to perform with the Assembly's attendees. He has been asking the lecturers for their topics; this sermon is my way of looking over the story and finding a focus for my second week lecture. For the _brevity_ of the sermon you can thank the Massachusetts Association, which is having its meeting at Blairhaven this afternoon. My family and I are going there for the luncheon, which means we have to get out earlier than usual! But to our topic. Many couples are mentioned in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. One of the most famous--or infamous--is Samson and Delilah. They are a classic case of almost everything that can go wrong with a relationship. By the time Samson meets and falls in love with Delilah, he has already had a disastrous marriage with a Philistine woman who nagged him for a secret of his so that she could betray his trust to her people, who were enemies of Israel in general, and of Samson in particular. Her betrayal had led to dozens of deaths, most of them inflicted by Samson in revenge on the Philistines for _their_ betrayal of _him_. This led to a cycle of revenge, in which the Philistines killed Samson's wife and her father, and in turn Samson killed even _more_ Philistines, eventually, the story says, killing a thousand men with the jawbone of an ox. Now, all of this was good for the Israelites, who rejoiced at anything that made their Philistine overlords weaker. But to modern eyes, it looks like one _sick_ relationship! Unfortunately, Samson did not learn from his mistakes. In our story, he falls in love with Delilah, another Philistine woman, who proves just as treacherous as the one Samson had married earlier. No sooner has Samson hooked up with Delilah than the Philistines are at her to find out the secret of Samson's strength so that they can subdue him. As we read about Samson lying to Delilah three times about what will take away his strength, and Delilah each time trying it out and shouting, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" we may wonder Samson would ever tell her the truth. Of course, the Philistines who intended to capture Samson were hiding, and we are not told that they came out on these three occasions; perhaps Samson did not realize Delilah was laying a trap for him. Whatever the case, Delilah eventually wears Samson down with her continuous nagging and prodding day after day, and finally Samson tells her the truth: that his great strength comes from his consecration to the Lord as a Nazirite, and that if his hair is cut, he will become "as weak as any other man." The law of the Nazirite is given in Numbers chapter six. It specifies that among other requirements, men and women who dedicate themselves to the Lord as Nazirites are not allowed to cut their hair until the end of their period of dedication, when their hair is cut in a special ceremony. Before Samson's birth, an angel tells his parents-to-be that Samson is to be a Nazirite "from birth until the day of his death" (Numbers 13:7). Samson's hair was _never_ to be cut. His long hair is a symbol of his dedication to the Lord, and the source of his great strength. When Delilah has her Philistine friends shave Samson's head as he sleeps in her lap, it breaks his Nazirite vow, and also his superhuman strength. Samson ends out blinded and shackled in prison, where he was forced to do the monotonous, and, for a man of those times, disgraceful work of grinding grain with the hand mills that the women used. As our reading ends, we are given the hopeful note that "the hair on his head began to grow again." If you don't know the exciting climax to this story, read the rest of Judges 16 when you get home! As we read Samson's story, it is easy to dismiss him as the perfect comic book superhero: a man with a lot of brawn and very little brain. For all his physical strength, Samson has little endurance when it comes to resisting things that are bad for him--especially bad relationships. First he marries a woman who betrays him before the wedding feast is over. Later he spends the night with a Philistine prostitute, whose house is quickly surrounded by enemies intent on killing him. And finally, he falls in love with Delilah and lives with her, leading eventually to his imprisonment and death. "Doesn't he ever learn?" we might ask. In asking that question, we are falling into exactly the "trap" that the Lord has set for us in telling us this story of human strength, pride, and folly. For Samson's is really _our_ story. We may not have the strength of ten men, but each one of us _has_ developed some strength of character--especially in those areas where we have turned to the Lord for guidance and help. Yet, don't we also make the same mistakes over and over again? Once we have gotten used to some addictive or destructive habit, we seldom quit cold turkey and never look back. Much more often, we struggle again and again with the same flaws and shortcomings that have been plaguing us for years. For all the spiritual strength we may have developed over the years going to Sunday School, attending church, reading the Bible and other spiritual books, and so on, when the rubber hits the road, we are still fallible, mistake-prone humans! Samson's story is _our_ story. To use another mighty figure from mythology, our Achilles heel is represented by Delilah. Delilah is that simple, stubborn bad habit that we continue to fall into even when we have seen its destructive effects. We _know_ the excuses and arguments we use to justify it are false. But when we feel that allure; when that desire comes over us; when something or someone _pushes our button_, we throw aside all our spiritual principles, ignore everything our rational mind tells us, and surrender to the moment once more. Unfortunately, Samson's story does not have a happy ending. This, too, is realistic. When we continue to live in ways we know we shouldn't, it damages both ourselves and others, just as Samson both killed others and was himself maimed, and eventually killed in his revenge against the Philistines. For us, it sometimes does take the breakup of a marriage, the loss of a job, the destruction of family relationships and close friendships, to wake us up to what is happening. If, like Samson we do not heed these warnings, things will continue to go downhill. Our old life may have to die before we can begin a new one--just as Samson died so that the Israelites could go on to the next step in their development as a nation. We can only hope that in that death of the old, what dies is our old attitude of pride in our own selves, and the false notion that what counts is what we _believe_, and not whether we _live_ by it. That attitude of belief without action, of religious faith that is not expressed in kindness toward others, is what the Philistines represent. It is an attitude that is just as deadly to us today as the Philistines were to the Israelites in Samson's day. Each time we indulge once more in that bad habit, or yield to that old weakness, we demonstrate for ourselves once more that our beliefs _must_ be backed up by action, or they come to nothing. Each time we feel the consequences of what we have done, or have _not_ done, it is another opportunity to learn that when we abandon our faith in our actions, it results in damage and pain both to ourselves and to others. Yet there is always the possibility of redemption. In the Old Testament there is only one other mention of the Nazirite vow after Samson's story (in Amos 2:11-12), and it is a reference to _breaking_ the Nazirite vow. However, in our brief reading from Matthew, we have a tantalizing reference. Joseph took Mary and the young Jesus and they "went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, 'He will be called a Nazarene.'" If you look in a Bible that has cross-references, you will find no reference to any Old Testament prophesy that says "He will be called a Nazarene." Perhaps it is a reference to a book that is not in our present Bible. But I suspect Matthew was making a play on words (Nazarene instead of Nazirite), referring to the story of Samson. And so, once again, we are reminded that when our own strength of character is not enough to overcome that old character flaw that has bedeviled us for so long, we do have a place to turn for a new and deeper strength that is equal to the task: we can and must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun May 10 17:48:26 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:48:26 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "The Mother of All the Living," By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980510134826.00982970@pop.tiac.net> The Mother of All the Living By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Mother's Day Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 10, 1998 Readings: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-23; 3:20. Eve the mother of all the living. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his image. In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.... Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called "woman," for she was taken out of man.... The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. John 1:1-13 Born of God In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him not one thing was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture #67. Father and mother. "Honor your father and your mother." People think of "father and mother" as their father and mother on earth, and all who serve as parent figures; they understand honoring father and mother to mean respecting and obeying them. But spiritual angels think of the Lord as their father and the church as their mother, and they understand honoring them to mean loving them. And heavenly angels think of the Lord's divine love as their father, and the Lord's divine wisdom as their mother, and they understand honoring them to mean doing good things from the Lord. Sermon: The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20) I am struck by that phrase, "The mother of all the living." Here in the church on Mother's Day we do have mothers with two, three, and more children; we have grandmothers who can see further generations coming along. But "the mother of _all_ the living!" If we take this Bible story literally (which, of course, we don't), there can only be _one_ mother of all living. She is the first woman created by God, and as the story goes, she and her husband are the _only_ people created _directly_ by God. All the rest are created through the reproductive ability with which God created those first two. So Eve then becomes the mother of all the people on earth, in all their succeeding generations, right up to the billions who are on earth today. Of course, scientists would never accept such a proposition. Or would they? Not long ago, a scientific theory was floated, quite seriously, that we all _could_ be traced genetically back to one woman who lived in ancient prehistoric times, and who, of course, was immediately nicknamed "Eve." Of course, the theory does not postulate this "Eve" as having been a special creation of God. Neither does it consider her to be the only early human who existed at that time. Rather, as I understand it, it states that the progeny of this particular woman were more biologically successful than other early humans, and eventually grew stronger than the others so that the species was continued through her children. Children of other mothers, of course, would have married into this growing clan, so that there were other foremothers as well. But this particular woman would be the ancestor of all. A fascinating theory, and one that gives the possibility that there is a literal "mother of all the living," even if it did not happen literally the way the Bible describes it. Religion and science sometimes do make strange bedfellows. However, as fascinating as that theory may be, it only scratches the literal surface of the story of this "mother of all the living." I am fully convinced that the Lord has no need to give us a textbook of biology or cosmology; we can figure those things out for ourselves. From a Swedenborgian perspective, arguments about whether the world was literally created in six days, and whether there were two literal figures named Adam and Eve, are not worth the paper they are written on, or the energy it takes to put these arguments together. For there is something much more precious in these stories, and that is the story of our spiritual development--the story of our relationship with God. Even the Bible story itself hints that the story of Adam and Eve is not about two individual human beings. The word usually translated "Adam" means "humankind," and it is often referred to as plural: as _people_, not a single person. The text itself begs us to think of this narrative as the symbolic story of an early race of human beings, and their relationship with God, who created them. That relationship is stated very compactly in Genesis 1:26, 27: Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. . . . So God created humankind in his image. In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. First, of course, this passage is saying that humankind was _created by God_. We have a relationship with God as created beings with our creator. But we are not simply separate and unrelated creations. We are created in the _image and likeness of God_. In a superficial sense, we are created to look like God. But the image and likeness of God goes much deeper than our physical form. Being created in the image and likeness of God means that we are created with a mind and a heart--with the ability to understand and love, and to act from our understanding and love. This is precisely how God created the universe; out of love, and through wisdom, God acted to create the universe. The love in God was a love for other beings that God created. The wisdom, at the most practical level, was the "know-how," to use a colloquial term; it was the knowledge of how to go about creating a universe with humans in it. And when these two got together, they resulted in the ultimate act of creation. There is one more message about the relationship between us and God in these two brief verses. We are not simply created all the same in the image of God. We are created _male_ and _female_ in the image of God. For those who have trouble with the idea that God is both male and female, there is no need to look further than this passage in the very first chapter of the Bible to find that, indeed, God has both male and female aspects. For we could not be created male and female in the image of God if both were not in God in the first place. This does not necessarily mean that those of us who grew up with male images of God have to toss those images out the window and put a picture of a female and male God before our mind's eye when we pray. Personally, my primary image and inner experience of God from childhood has been of a male being; so far the female aspect of God has not come alive for me in a visual way. But it _does_ mean that it is a good idea for us to be open to the possibility that our own limited and human view of God may leave vast areas and aspects of God uncharted and not experienced by us personally. It requires that we keep our minds open about just who God is, and not to reject others' conception of God if theirs may be primarily female, or encompass both male and female, both father and mother. And we need not make a sudden jump to a father-mother God, for both the Bible and Swedenborg give us an intermediate step in our conception of father and mother. This is stated most clearly in the passage we read from _Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture_ #67. As Swedenborg explains it, our first conception of father and mother is, simply, of our earthly father or mother--or whoever it was who raised us, if it was not our biological father and mother. Our father and mother give us a pattern or role model that we hold at a very deep level of our being, and that shapes all our later conceptions of the higher levels of father and mother. This is one of the awesome tasks that both mothers and fathers face: that of being the primary people that will shape the deepest attitudes of our children toward the world in general, and toward God and the church in particular. For the next level of mother and father--the one that is most commonly mentioned in Swedenborgian circles--is that of the Lord as our father and the church as our mother. In our reading from _Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture_, Swedenborg explains that this is the conception of father and mother that _spiritual_, or thinking- and intellect- centered angels, hold to. This, of course, also comes from the Bible, where the church is often symbolized as a woman, and as the bride and wife of God. In Catholicism, this relationship is brought to a very literal level: priests, monks, and nuns are considered to be married to Christ, and therefore, the belief goes, it would be improper, even adulterous, for them to take a human spouse in addition to their divine Spouse. Other Christians do not take this quite so literally. The main point here is that the idea of the Lord as father and the church as mother is not unique to Swedenborgians, but is shared by many Christians due to its source in the Bible. What has been nowhere near as common in Christianity is the view of mother and father that Swedenborg says is held by the heavenly, or heart-centered angels. For these angels, both mother and father are in the Lord alone. And in a reversal of the usual assignment of love to women and understanding to men, they think of the divine _love_ as their father, and the divine _wisdom_ as their mother. For these angels, the words of John in the opening chapter of his Gospel make perfect sense: we are not born of blood, or of the will of flesh, or of the will of man, but of God, whose love is our spiritual father and whose wisdom is our spiritual mother. Let's connect this all back to our theme, "the mother of all the living." At the literal level, we may or may not have some common biological mother whose genes we all carry. That is a fascinating, but spiritually a largely irrelevant, issue. However, moving to the next level--the spiritual--we begin to see deeper meaning in the idea of Eve as the mother of all the living. For if, in these early mythological, symbolic stories, the Bible is really talking about our spiritual development as a race, then Adam and Eve represent the development of our first spiritual orientation; they represent our very earliest religious era. In _Arcana Coelestia_ #287, Swedenborg explains the meaning of our text: In this passage, "the man" means a man of the very earliest religious era, or a heavenly person. "Wife" and "the mother of all the living" mean our religion; it is called "mother" because it was the very first religion, and "living" because of its faith in the Lord, who is life itself. This brings us to a deeper level of meaning for "the mother of all the living." Spiritually, those who are "living" are those who have faith in the Lord. Without faith in the Lord, any spiritual life we may think we have is dead, because we are cut off from the source of all life and all faith. Our faith in God is what makes us come alive spiritually. And where do we find that faith? We find it in our religion--in our church. Religion and churches are the mother of all who are _spiritually_ living, because it is from the church and from our religion that we learn what it means to have faith in God, and it is the church that nurtures that faith in our minds and hearts into a living, moving force. It is a force that, if we open ourselves to it and respond to it, gradually transforms our entire lives so that we can truly be in the image and likeness of God. We _are_ in the image and likeness of God when, like God, we love each other even more than we love ourselves, and from that love we continually do our best to understand each others feelings, thoughts, and needs, and then, from our love for them and through our understanding of them, we serve their needs in a way that gives them happiness. So in a spiritual sense, religion of all kind is the mother of all the living, since it is from our religion that we are conceived as _spiritual_ beings, and it is our religion and our church that raise us to spiritual maturity. And yet, there can be only one final source of all that is in the universe and all that is in us. There can be only one true father and one true mother of all the living. That father and that mother are one and the same: they are God. All of our other conceptions of mother and father melt into our single divine Parent when, like the highest, or heavenly, angels, our lives become focused directly on God. These heavenly angels do continue to attend Sabbath services and have what we might call a church or religion; yet they are only a means to keep them pointed toward the real Source and Creator of all. So as we think of mothers and of Mother's Day, we can continually move upwards in our conception of just who our mother is. Those of us who had good and loving earthly mothers can always hold _that_ mother with affection in our hearts. And as we move into adulthood, there is another mother that we can turn to for the _spiritual_ nurturing and support we need to continue growing--growing to emotional and spiritual maturity. The church can continue where our physical mother left off. And finally as we approach spiritual maturity, we will find that, just as a good mother will lead us to the church as the source of deeper care and nourishment in our lives, the church exists to lead us to a still higher mother and father. For we all share a common divine Parent, encompassing both the qualities of father and the qualities of mother. God is the mother and father of all the living, because only from God can we truly live to the fullest of our human potential for mutual love, understanding, and service. Amen. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Wed May 13 20:10:17 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 16:10:17 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Come and See Message-ID: <199805131610_MC2-3CEC-879@compuserve.com> Come and See By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell May 10, 1998 And Nathanael said to Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Phillip said to him, "Come and see." John 1:46 "Come and see." With these words Philip, one of the earliest disciples, invited his friend, Nathanael, to experience for himself who Jesus was. Philip had excitedly described that he believed Jesus was one whose coming was prophesied in law and the prophets. Nathanael was skeptical. In the world of that time, the center of Jewish life and culture was in Judea, surrounding Jerusalem. Further to the north, the Jews who lived in Galilee, including Nazareth, were considered to be relatively uncouth, and uneducated, the riff-raff. Nathanael found it hard to believe that something great would arise from that region. Philip showed wisdom in his response. He didn't get into a list of reasons. He didn't try to argue with Nathanael. He said, "Come and see." Philip's optimism was justified. Jesus immediately gave Nathanael a sign of His power, wisdom, and foresight. He let Nathanael know that He already knew him and even saw him at distance impossible for normal humans. Nathanael was convinced by this simple experience that Jesus must be the Son of God, the promised king. Come and see. These are words of invitation. They invite a person to see something for the first time or to see it anew. They are somewhat similar to the words of Psalm 34:8, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." The Lord speaks in the prophet Isaiah saying; ". . .I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory." (Isaiah 66:18) And in the book of Revelation as first four seals are opened on the scroll sealed with the seven seals, John heard on the of the four living creatures saying, "Come and see." (Revelation 6:1,3,5,7) When a person recognizes the truth that the Lord is working to reveal to each of us, it changes that person's life. Certainly we can learn many things, storing them as facts in our memories, and this may change us hardly a whit. We know that salvation and the happiness of heaven does not come from the facts stored in our memories. There are many things that the Lord invites us to "come and see." He invites us to recognize qualities of true love that don't come naturally to us. He invites us to recognize the nature of wise forgiveness and mercy. He calls us to see a measure of value, of heavenly treasure, that far exceeds the richest things of the natural world. He also calls us to recognize the dangers of evil loves and false ideas. He invites us into the light of heaven to see the consequences of evil and sin. He calls us to sample the life that is His to offer. He wants us to "taste and see" the goodness of heavenly love, wisdom, and usefulness. In order for a person to "come and see" he or she must be willing to undergo a change of heart and mind. We say, "Seeing is believing" but in reality the Lord has created us such that there is much that we will never see until we are willing to believe it could exist. So, for example, a deeply suspicious person may never see others as trustworthy. Every example of potentially trustworthy behavior will be interpreted as being self-serving, flawed, or even accidental. Every day such a person will witness countless actions that might lift another's mind with gratitude, but all that person sees is a relatively cold and closed world. Before such people can see anything different, they need to go on a spiritual journey. They must be willing to travel in the world of their will and understanding to a new place. As long as they are standing still spiritually or even moving away from the Lord and heaven, they will never see anything to change their perspective. Consider the teenager who says, "I don't think I really believe in God." If this is really presented from a "prove it to me" frame of mind, such proof will never be forthcoming. Our natural eyes and natural mind can interpret all experience apart from the existence of any Creator and Savior. If the teens says, "Why should I believe?" sometimes the best response echoes Philip's words to Nathanael, "Come and see." The teenager can be invited to witness the effect for good that belief can have in another's life. To the extent that the teen is still standing, as it were with arms crossed and deep doubt clouding his or her eyes, this example may have little power. But if the teen is willing and is allowed to "come" with a gentle humility and open eyes, wonderful things can be seen in the lives of people who base their life on a profound faith in and allegiance to the Lord. The Writings of the New Church give a wonderful example of how differently things look depending on the spiritual perspective one is given. The Lord has told us that is special circumstances it is possible for evil spirits of hell to be raised into the light of heaven and to temporarily understand the truth about God and heavenly life. In this state of mind, evil spirits consider their former thoughts as madness. But when that evil spirits returns to their home and community of evil companions, their temporary insights vanish, and they call those ideas of heavenly light madness. (E.g. True Christian Religion 77, 80) They, as it were, could temporarily "come and see" but because they did not love the ideas and life of truth, they did not retain nor continue to believe their brief clarity of thought. Each of us is called to "come and see." We are called to a change of heart and mind, will and understanding. Consider description, familiar to many of you, given in the following passage: . . . as to both understanding and will people [in their natural state] have been utterly destroyed and of themselves will nothing of good, and consequently understand nothing of truth; and therefore that which they call good and believes to be good, is evil and that which they call truth and believe to be truth, is falsity. For example: loving themselves above others; desiring better for themselves than for others, coveting what belongs to another; taking thought for themselves alone, and not for others except for the sake of themselves. As of themselves people desire these things and therefore call them goods, and also truths; and what is more, if any one injures or endeavors to injure them in respect to these goods and truths as they call them, they hates that person, and also burns with revenge toward him or her, desires and even seeks that individual's ruin, and feels delight in it, and this in proportion as they actually confirms themselves in such things, that is, in proportion as they more frequently brings them into actual exercise. When such a people come into the other life they have the same desires; the very nature which they have contracted in the world by actual life remains, and the delight just referred to is plainly perceived. For this reason such people cannot be in any heavenly community, in which every one desires better for others than for self, but have to be in some infernal community where the delight is similar to their own. This nature is that which must be rooted out while the a person lives in the world, which cannot possibly be done except by the Lord through regeneration; that is, by his receiving a totally new will and derivative new understanding; or in other words by being made new in respect to both these faculties. (Arcana Caelestia 3701:2-3) In order to see the truth, the person needs to be fundamentally changed. In order for this change to happen learning from the Lord's Word is required. The above passage continues: But in order that this may be effected, the person must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil and nothing to be true but what is false. To this end ideas are insinuated into him as are not altogether contrary to those which he had before as that all love begins from self; that self is to be taken care of first and then others; that good is to be done to such as appear poor and distressed outwardly, no matter what may be their inward character; in like manner that good is to be done to widows and orphans simply because they are so called; and lastly, to enemies in general, whoever they may be; and that thereby a person may merit heaven. These and other such ideas are those of the infancy of his new life, and are of such a nature that while they derive somewhat from his former life or the nature of his former life, they also derive somewhat from his new life into which he is thereby being introduced; and hence they are such as to admit into them whatever things are conducive to the formation of a new will and a new understanding. These are the lowest goods and truths, from which those who are being regenerated commence, and because these admit into themselves truths that are more interior or nearer to Divine truths, by their means there may also be rooted out the falsities which the person had before believed to be truths. But they who are being regenerated do not learn such truths simply as memory-knowledges, but as life, for they do these truths; but that they do them is from the beginning of the new will which the Lord insinuates entirely without their knowledge; and in so far as they receive of this new will, so far they receive of these knowledges, and bring them into act, and believe them; but in so far as they do not receive of the new will, so far they are indeed capable of learning such things, but not of bringing them into act, because they care merely for memory-knowledge, and not for life. (Arcana Caelestia 3701:3-5) We are all called to "come and see." As a church congregation part of our work is to help the Lord issue this invitation and to provide the living examples of heavenly life that others benefit from seeing. As we individually fight our own personal spiritual battles, we will gradually be changed in subtle and also in profound ways. Our lives individually and the life that we together foster as a community can give witness to something beyond this natural world. Those who are will to spiritually come and see this witness can be drawn powerfully to seek its benefits within their own lives. The cause of evangelization, or announcing the good news of the New Church, is fundamentally advanced when we work as individuals and as a community to live the life that represents the Lord's kingdom brought to this world. It is advanced as we as individuals work to be the most wisely loving and useful people we can be. It is advanced when we together work to be the best congregation we can be. Sometimes the invitation to "come and see" will be issued by the Lord. Children, teens, and adults will be drawn by Him to witness the life we strive for and to accept it as their own. Sometimes we ourselves will have the opportunity to tell friends and aquaintances, "Come and see." We may not feel comfortable with extended doctrinal explanations, but we can live our best understanding, and we can call others to come to the source of truth and good we seek to be led by. Philip wisely told his friend, Nathanael, to "come and see." May we each have the prayer that we are willing to turn our hearts and minds to our own journey to meet the Lord. May we learn, acknowledge and live from the things the Lord teaches us. May we serve Him in helping to build His kingdom in this world and the next. AMEN. Lessons: Psalm 34:1-8 John 1:43-5 Apocalypse Explained 759:4-5 All people in respect to their thoughts and affections are in the spiritual world, consequently they are there in respect to their spirits, for it is the spirit of a person that thinks and that is affected. People who become spiritual by being regenerated by the Lord are in respect to their spirit in a heavenly community, while the natural people, that is, those who are not regenerated, are in respect to their spirits in an infernal society. With the latter evils flow in continually from hell, and are also received with delight; but with the former goods flow in continually from heaven, and are also received, and as goods flow into their affection, and through the affection into their thought, from that they have enlightenment. . . The light of heaven is such that by it truths appear before the understanding of the mind, as objects in the world appear before the sight of the eye; consequently when those in the world who have seen truths only from a blind sight of faith are conveyed into heaven to the angels, they see nothing at all, not even the angels there, much less the magnificent things they have. Then their understanding also becomes stupefied and their eyes are darkened and thus they withdraw. It is to be known that this is true of all such as have separated charity from faith. But all those who have not separated them, but have lived the life of faith which is called charity, have a desire to see truths; consequently when they come into the spiritual world, which takes place at death it is granted them to see truths, and this for the reason that they have their spiritual mind opened, and are therefore in the light of heaven, into which they are actually admitted, after their departure from the natural world. All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From info@newchurch-cincy.org Fri May 15 15:57:15 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 11:57:15 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980515114007.3db7ac26@mail.one.net> _______________________________________________________ (c ) 1998 by Patrick A. Rose Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org _______________________________________________________ For Cinti. 05-10-98 LOCUSTS A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power." (Rev. 9:3) WHEN WE READ IN THE WORD about locusts, it is difficult for those of us in the Western world to have any real appreciation of the terrible danger these insects represented to the people of ancient times. The Old and New Testaments were given at a time when civilization was still quite primitive. The majority of people were completely dependent upon their own crops. Something such as a plague of locusts was a threat to one's very survival. Imagine, just imagine, working and slaving day in and day out to produce a reasonable crop of food. And then imagine seeing all the plants you have worked so hard on, being eaten before your eyes by a huge swarm of hungry insects. It would not only be disheartening, but frightening as well. Such a calamity could well result in a slow and horrible death from starvation. Locusts were therefore dangerous, very dangerous indeed. And because of this, they represent, in the spiritual sense, a very serious spiritual danger, a danger that can bring devastation and destruction to the life of the spirit. And we need to realize that even though we may no longer think of locusts as a threat on the natural plane of life, what they represent on the spiritual plane is still a threat, a grave threat, to our spiritual welfare. In fact, spiritual locusts pose a greater threat today than they ever did in ancient times. This is why the locusts described in the Book of Revelation are far more terrible that any locusts mentioned in the Old Testament. Locusts are mentioned many times throughout the Word. Perhaps the best known instance is the plague of locusts which was sent upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians -- one of the ten plagues of Egypt. When we come to the Book of Revelation, though, a book obviously prophesying future events, we find a description, not just of locusts, but of locusts with the stings of scorpions. These locusts didn't eat people's crops. They actually attacked people by stinging them. What could such horrifying locusts represent? In general, locusts, because they attack people's crops, represent something that is particularly destructive of spiritual growth. When the Word talks about the growth of plants, it is treating, in the internal sense, of mental growth -- the growth of what is spiritual within the mind. Heaven is in essence a state of mind, a state of charity and faith, which is to grow and develop within our minds throughout our lives here in this world. But this development or growth of heaven is threatened, and can be destroyed, by falsities. This is what the locusts represent. The locusts are a plague of spiritual falsities which destroy the growth of heaven within our minds. Now most people, when they hear the word falsity in connection with religion, tend to think in terms of false statements. For example, if someone should say, "There is no life after death," we would say that this statement, these words, are false. But though falsities, and also truths, can be expressed in words, nevertheless both falsity and truth are far more than just words -- they are really ways of looking at life. If you reflect on it, you realize that truth, for example, is not merely a series of facts learnt from the Word. Truth is a special way of looking at life which is provided by the teachings of Divine Revelation. Truth is spiritual light. It helps us see things -- things we wouldn't otherwise see. Falsity, on the other hand, is darkness. It is something which prevents us from seeing things properly -- something which gives us the wrong perspective on life. Another thing we must realize about falsity is that it is not simply a matter of perspective. It is also connected to what we love. Falsity is the result of loving what is evil. Of course, some basically good people have mistaken ideas. Such people, though, are not fully immersed in falsity. A person is only immersed in falsity when he loves what is evil, for then his whole outlook on life is distorted, and his whole mind is filled with darkness. Now if we bear in mind that falsity is basically a twisted way of looking at life which comes from loving what is evil, we can see why it is that a plague of falsities is so destructive of spiritual growth -- as destructive as a plague of locusts. And yet the falsities represented by locusts are not just falsities. They are a specific kind of falsity -- a falsity that is called, in the Writings, falsity in the sensual degree of the mind. The locust, which is nothing but a small and lowly insect, represents falsity which invades the lowest or sensual degree of the human mind. The mind, you see, is of different degrees or levels. We know this from common experience. If you are walking along a path, obviously one part of your mind must be occupied with controlling your legs, and keeping watch with your eyes so that you don't bump into something. While you are walking, though, you may well be thinking about something else on a deeper level at the same time. One part of your mind is controlling your walking. Another part is deeply immersed in thought. And so there are two different parts or levels of the mind doing two different things at the same time. Another example is the way in which we can reflect upon our own thoughts. If you are about to lose your temper for some reason, all kinds of low and unpleasant thoughts come flooding into the lower part of the mind. Hopefully, though, a higher part of the mind can still have the strength to exert a control over such thoughts. We can think within ourselves on a higher level about what we are thinking on a lower level, and can thus resist the impulse to lash out against someone else. While we are growing up, these degrees of the mind are developed successively. When a baby is learning to walk, the part of his mind which controls the walking is still developing. He has not yet developed on a higher level, though, and his whole mind is therefore focussed on moving his legs and keeping his balance. He is incapable of thinking about deeper things while he is walking. As for an infantile temper -- when a young child is angry or upset there is no higher level of the mind yet developed by which he can control himself. He displays all his emotions, and has as yet no ability to control them. Now it is noteworthy that the locusts, a very destructive plague of falsities, invade the sensual or lowest degree of the mind. Obviously, one of the main enemies of our spiritual development is not something which attacks our deepest thoughts, but is something very basic and very lowly indeed. Those locusts which attack our spiritual growth are falsities which distort the very way we see things, the very way we look at things around us (they attack what the Arcana calls the "sensitive of truth." See AC 7691). When we look at things, we assume that we can trust our eyes. Yet how accurate, really, is the way we see things? It is well-known that if a group of people all see the same thing happen -- a car accident, for example -- they will frequently give different descriptions. They saw the same event, but they saw it happen in different ways. The same is true of the sense of hearing. Very often, different people listening to the same person, will come away with entirely different impressions. Why is this? It is because when we see and hear things, we notice some things more than others. And we react to some things more favorably than we do to others. And so there are frequently very great differences in the way different people see and hear things. And we need to understand that the way in which we see and hear things is affected most profoundly of all by the spiritual state of our minds. Religion, or lack of religion, is not something divorced from everyday life. Religion effects the very way we see the world. A religious man, looking at the wonders of nature, and reflecting on the wonderful gifts the Lord has provided -- will see something quite different from the atheist. It is similar when we look at other people. We don't see people the same way a camera does. A camera doesn't love, or hate; it doesn't notice some things more than others. If we dislike someone profoundly, then we are much more likely to notice imperfections, even physical imperfections, and tend to actually see that person as ugly. On the other hand, if we love and respect someone, the exact opposite is true. A man in true charity, when he looks at others, actually sees something quite different than does the man wrapped up in selfish conceit and selfish concern. Religion, or lack of religion, profoundly affects the way we look at everyday things. Furthermore, we live in a world which is increasingly carried away by a very distorted way of looking at things. The way people look at nature is distorted. For example, where a belief in God is rejected, then the world of nature is seen as nothing more than the product of natural forces and natural selection. Even the birds out in the yard are seen simply as the result of a mindless evolution, not as the creation of a wonderful loving and wise God. The way people look at their own individual lives is also distorted. If you think that life in this world is the only life you will ever have, then life here becomes an end in itself. People regard such things as personal comfort, personal fulfillment, and so on, as the whole purpose of life. And if the world is seen in terms like this, then everything is distorted and falsified. The whole world is seen in self-centered terms. Everything is seen in an ugly and sordid way. The whole mind has become infested by falsity, falsity that is represented by those locusts described in the Book of Revelation. It is so easy to get swept away by this false way of thinking. Note that the locusts in the Book of Revelation were in fact like small men dressed for battle. The Apocalypse Revealed points out that these locusts were actually horrible-looking dwarfs -- dwarfs that were called locusts by way of analogy, as well as because of what they represented (AR 424). And these locusts, or dwarfs, were dressed for battle, because they who hold to a self-centered way of looking at things can often be very fierce in their arguments. And what we hear and what we are told in the world often sounds so learned -- and the locusts had the faces of men, to represent the appearance of intelligence. What we hear can also sound objective, can sound as if it comes from a love for the truth. This is why the locusts had women's hair, women representing the affection of truth. And often the arguments we hear in the world seem so powerful -- the locusts in the Book of Revelation were said to have the teeth of lions. And so often it seems as if a self-centered and materialistic attitude is needed if we are to succeed in life. This is why the locusts had golden crowns on their heads -- crowns which represented the victory, the seeming success, of false and worldly thinking. And, not surprisingly, the king of these locusts was called Abaddon or Apollyon. These are the Hebrew and Greek words which mean destruction. It is easy to be dismayed. It is easy to find ourselves being overwhelmed by the attitudes and ways of the world. The world we live in is a world in which vile language is commonplace, a world in which pornography caters to the sensual sight of distorted minds, a world in which fraud and cheating are commonplace, and a world in which many people see no evidence of Divine wisdom in the wonders of creation. It is a world in which marriage and the family are so often seen only in terms of personal happiness. And the list goes on and on. It is indeed easy to be dismayed, and easy to get trapped into thinking that this is the way it is supposed to be. Yet this whole state of affairs was prophesied nineteen hundred years ago. It was prophesied through John when he was on the Isle of Patmos. The vision of the locusts was a vision of a time when falsity would seem to gain dominion over truth, a time when falsity would sting like a scorpion, and would have a paralyzing hold over people's minds. And yet however horrifying those locusts seen by John might have appeared, their strength was limited. We are told that they were not able to hurt the grass of the earth. Nor were they able to sting those who had the seal of God in their foreheads. This seal of God is nothing but charity and faith. If we will to do the Lord's truth and so practice charity, and if from this we are strengthened in our faith in the Lord, then the growth of heaven in our minds cannot be harmed by these locusts, these falsities. The spiritual grass or tender growth of heaven will not be damaged by the onslaught of worldly falsities. A worldly and selfish way of looking at things -- seeing everything in terms of personal satisfaction, comfort and success -- can indeed produce a stupor within the mind -- just like the sting of a scorpion which paralyses the limbs. But if we hold to what we believe, and do what we believe, then the Lord is with us, and He will protect us, and ensure that we will continue to grow spiritually. We won't be harmed. Indeed, if the truth be known, by resisting such a false and distorted outlook on life, we will receive even greater strength from the Lord. The truth is that the world around us, and the life the Lord has given us to live, are beautiful. We are surrounded by wonderful opportunities to understand the Lord more and more, and to serve and bring happiness to other human beings. Life is not really a drab existence, in which the only hope is to find something of personal pleasure and luxury. It all depends on how we look at life. If we can strive to remember the basic truths of life -- that we were created for heaven by a God of wisdom and love, that life here is very limited, for we are destined for a far better world, that happiness consists primarily in the happiness, not of ourselves, but of others, then we will come to see more and more the beauty of the world and the beauty of life. To see life this way, to see life as beautiful, is the sight of truth -- it is seeing from truth, and thus seeing the world in its right perspective. If we can come to see things this way more and more, then the pathetic philosophies of life offered by the world in general will have no hold over us whatsoever. Indeed, they will not dismay us unduly at all. Instead we will begin to see what is good and true around us more and more. We will see that many people in the world, though often misled by false ideas, are nevertheless struggling to do what is right. And we can look forward, with confidence, to a time when the sorry state of the world will gradually be replaced by a better time -- a time when the dark clouds of falsity will be swept away by the truth itself. And so, in our lives, in our lives from day to day, let us remember to look at life properly -- as a beautiful opportunity to bring happiness to others and above all, to draw closer to the Lord Himself. If we see life this way, then we are seeing the truth; we are seeing in the light. We are seeing the beauty of the Lord, the beauty of His creation, and the beauty of life itself. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Mk. 4:26-34 Rev. 9:1-11 AR 424 (part) ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Mon May 18 00:59:08 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 20:59:08 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sunshine In My Soul, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980517205908.009889f0@pop.tiac.net> Sunshine In My Soul By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Children's Sunday Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 17, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 60:1-3, 18-21. Arise! Shine! Your light has come. Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; the glory of the Lord is shining on you! Other nations will be covered by darkness, but on you the light of the Lord will shine; the brightness of his presence will be with you. Nations will be drawn to your light, and kings to the dawning of your new day. . . . The sounds of violence will be heard no more; destruction will not shatter your country again. I will protect and defend you like a wall; you will praise me because I have saved you. The sun will no longer be your light by day or the moon your light by night; I, the Lord, will be your eternal light; the light of my glory will shine on you. Your days of grief will come to an end. I, the Lord, will be your eternal light, more lasting than the sun and moon. Your people will all do what is right, and will possess the land forever. I planted them, I made them, to reveal my greatness to all. Matthew 17:1-8. The Transfiguration. Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!" So they looked up and so no one there but Jesus. Sermon: The sun will no longer be your light by day or the moon your light by night; I, the Lord, will be your eternal light. (Isaiah 60:19) After a week and a half of clouds and rain, it certainly was wonderful when the sun finally came out last week! I don't know about you, but I found excuses to get out in the sunshine. On the day the sun finally came out, when I was here at the church I went out and changed the lettering on the sign board out front, and then strolled around the common a bit, stopping to talk to people. Back at home, Heidi and the boys wanted to be out in the sunshine, and so did the other children in the neighborhood. Who could resist? The prophet Isaiah could not resist the sunshine. He wrote, "Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; the glory of the Lord is shining on you! . . . The brightness of his presence will be with you." Ah! He is talking about a different kind of sunshine! He is talking about the sunshine of the Lord's presence with us. We need that kind of sunshine just as much as we need the light and warmth of the physical sun--and even more. Last week, when the long period of clouds and rain finally broke, and the sun started shining, it lifted everyone's mood. People were smiling and talking cheerfully, as the sun reminded us all that life can be beautiful. Just so, we all have our dark periods--those dreary, trying times in our lives that seem to drag on forever. We have our times of emotional clouds and rain. As those periods drag on, sometimes we begin to think that the sun is never going to shine again. We almost forget what it is like to be out in our shirtsleeves, enjoying the warmth and liveliness of a beautiful spring day in our souls. But the prophet gives us comforting words: "The sounds of violence will be heard no more; destruction will not shatter your country again. . . . Your days of grief will come to an end. I, the Lord, will be your eternal light, more lasting than the sun or moon." Yes, in our times of darkness, there is a light that can take away the inner violence, destruction, and grief that brings us down. Our faith tells us that we will again feel the Lord's presence shining within us, that the Lord has the power to bring joy out of our struggles and our sadness. I have not lived as long as many of you here in the church; yet I have felt the struggles and the trials of life. Something precious has carried me through those times--something that is available to all of us. That something is my religious belief, and especially my faith in the Lord Jesus. I feel truly blessed that my parents brought me up to have a strong faith--a faith that has stayed with me all my life. And I feel truly sorry for those who do not have this kind of faith to carry them through. I do not know how I would have made it through without the conviction that there is a loving God who cares for each one of us, and who can bring something good out of even the worst disappointments, struggles, and traumas of our lives. Even today, when I make mistakes; when I do not live up to my own ideals; when I seem to be missing the fullness and joy that the Lord has planned for each one of us, I know that the Lord is far more forgiving of us than we are of ourselves, and is always there for us. As empty as life may sometimes seem, that emptiness can be filled with the light and warmth of a higher, deeper, and more soul-satisfying type of sunshine. The Lord's closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, felt that deeper sunshine in a very direct and personal way. They followed the Lord up and up the mountain, no doubt struggling and sweating with the steepness of the climb. They struggled up life's mountain just as we struggle to pull ourselves upward, to climb above the place we came from. And there at the top of the mountain, the disciples saw the glory of the Lord! The man Jesus, whom they thought they knew so well, was transformed before their very eyes! He was no mere man; he was the divine being, the Lord God, come to be with them, to shed the light and warmth of God's presence on them. His face shone like the sun. Those who have nearly died, and who experienced something of the spiritual world before returning to their bodies, describe that light and warmth in the same way Swedenborg did. They say that the light in that world is pure understanding and knowledge, and the warmth there is pure love. Love and understanding from the Lord is the sunshine that lights up our souls. There is nothing in this world that can compare to _that_ sunshine. And there is nothing greater we can do for our children than first to open our _own_ minds and hearts to the Lord's sunshine, and then to open up our _children's_ hearts and minds to the divine sunshine as well. Amen. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Sun May 24 17:50:31 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 13:50:31 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Loving the Lord Message-ID: <199805241350_MC2-3E03-DCFC@compuserve.com> Loving the Lord By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell May 24, 1998 "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I care about You." (John 21:16) Do I love the Lord? This is a question each of us can ask ourselves. The answer to this question isn't a matter of knowledge, "I know I should love the Lord" or "There are certainly many reason's for loving Him." It isn't a matter of getting around to making a decision, as in "I haven't made up my mind yet, but I will soon." Loving the Lord is a quality of a changed life. It is a product of a profound spiritual development that requires years of adult life. It requires regeneration or spiritual rebirth. The Great Commandment states, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5) We know perfectly well that there are parts of our hearts and minds that stand in the way of fulfilling this injunction. We cannot wish them away. We cannot make them disappear by ignoring them. We cannot make their influence cease by knowledge alone. Regeneration or spiritual rebirth is a matter of receiving a new will or a new heart. This is a gift from the Lord that He can give us as we cooperate with Him by shunning evil intentions and actions and working to do what is good in His name. At the end of the Gospel of John, three times the Lord asked Simon Peter about his feelings for Him. The first two times Jesus poses the question using a very powerful Greek word for love, agape. This Greek word means to love affectionately, ardently, supremely, perfectly. Peter responds to Jesus question using a different Greek word, phileo, which also means to love, but more in the sense of to like or to feel friendship for another. The third time Jesus addresses Peter, He shifts to using the same word that Peter had used the previous two times, phileo. Perhaps Peter was somewhat cautious in what he said because it had only been a few weeks before that he had been so confident in his commitment and had been correctly forewarned that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed the next morning. Our feelings for another person are not something directly under our control. Perhaps you've heard the example of a woman who has tried to talk herself into "loving" a man enough to marry him. What this usually means is that the woman can think of a number of good reasons for why the man would make a good marriage partner and perhaps cannot think of good reasons why not to marry him. But she still isn't ready to marry him. She continues to have a nagging sense that the sparkle of love is missing from her response to this potential marriage partner. The same can be true of a number of other responses we can have to people or situations. We don't usually say, "I haven't decided if I'm going to feel patient." or "I haven't decided if I'm going to feel depressed." In any situation, there can be reasons pro and con supporting either feeling, but reasons don't make feelings, they only support them. Certainly we can say "I have decided not to act impatiently" or "I guess I've let myself mope around because I'm feeling depressed." How we feel is one thing and how we decide to act can be somewhat separated from how we feel. Our love of the Lord is not something that we were given as a single measure at some point in our creation or at some moment in our childhood or during our adult lives. Love for the Lord is a product of our cooperation with Him. We cooperate by learning from His Word, seeking daily to better understand what His will is for our lives, praying to Him for growing understanding, commitment, and strength to turn from evil and do what is good, and then it is crucial that we make the daily, hourly, minute-by-minute decisions that express obedience, charity, and love to the Lord. By cooperating in these ways we allow the Lord to gradually bring about the miracle of spiritual change within our lives. We do what we need to in order to receive a love of the Lord. Loving the Lord is the basis of spiritual safety. It is the basis of trust and hope. It is the basis of all heavenly happiness. It is the basis of salvation. We can reflect on where our thoughts and concerns wander and see many things. How does the following description fit your life? When people feel or perceive within themselves that they have thoughts regarding the Lord which are good and thoughts regarding the neighbor which are good, and that they wish to perform acts of kindness for them, but not for the sake of any gain or for the sake of their own position, and when they feel that they have pity for anyone who suffers misfortune, and more so for the person who errs in regard to the doctrine of faith, they may then know that . . . there are within them things of an internal nature by means of which the Lord is working. (Arcana Caelestia 1102:3) Our lives are not simple. We cannot look at a single part of our lives and know purely from that what our spiritual state is. We shouldn't expect to sense completion in all areas of our spiritual effort at any time even the distant future. This is described in the following passage. [T]here is no definite period of time within which a person's regeneration is completed, so that the individual can say, "I am now perfect" for there are states of evil and false ideas without limit with every person, not only simple states but also states in many ways compounded, which must be so far shaken off as no longer to appear. In some states the person may be said to be more perfect but in very many others not so. Those who have been regenerated in the life of the body and have lived in faith in the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, are continually being perfected in the other life. (Arcana Caelestia 894) Hopefully you sense some progress at times in your spiritual state. One of the tactics that the hells seek to employ is to convince us that we are without hope of change and so shouldn't even try. Or they can seek to convince us that everyone is so imperfect and that this is the human condition such that we shouldn't bother attending to it. Human beings at times have contented themselves that they need not concern themselves about any evil within their lives but just rest assured that since they have a good faith this is sufficient. But in reality, you cannot have a good faith and an evil life. (Arcana Caelestia 2371) Likewise human beings at times have contented themselves that all efforts to be good must be primarily or even solely founded on self-serving motives. Since they have seen this to be the case they have dismissed the idea that anyone can "receive from the Lord heavenly good in which self-merit is regarded as a monstrous wickedness." (Arcana Caelestia 2371:3) Yes, we start out taking credit for the good we do, but we are told of a change that can come to each of us. Those who strive to do good of themselves, because the Lord has so commanded, are they who at length receive this good; and who, being afterwards instructed, acknowledge with faith that all good is from the Lord; and they are then so averse to self-merit that when they merely think of it they grow sad, and perceive their blessedness and happiness to be proportionately diminished. Quite different is it with those who do not do this, but lead a life of evil, teaching and professing that in faith alone there is salvation. People of this character are not aware that such a good is possible; and wonderful to say . . . in the other life these same people desire to merit heaven on account of whatever good deeds they recollect; because then for the first time are they aware that in faith separated from charity there is no salvation. These are the people of whom the Lord says in Matthew:-- They will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Your name, and by Your name cast out demons, and in Your name done many mighty works? But then will I confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you who work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23). In the case of these same people it also becomes apparent that they have paid no attention whatever to the things which the Lord Himself so often taught concerning the good of love and of charity; but that these things have been to them like passing clouds, or like things seen in the night. (Arcana Caelestia 2371:5-6) A very important part of change is what we think and do. Three times the Lord asked Peter how he felt about Him and then answered his response with commands to "feed My lambs," "tend my sheep," and "feed my sheep." Each of these is a call to action. Feeding the lambs and sheep represent the following: . . . those who are in faith from love, ought to instruct those who are in the good of love to the Lord, and in the good of charity towards the neighbor. People who are in faith from love are also in truths, and [are able to], instruct concerning good, and lead to good. All spiritual good that a person has, is gained and implanted by truths. "Lambs" signify those who are in the good of innocence and of love to the Lord, and "sheep" signify those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, and "to feed" means to instruct. (Apocalypse Explained 9:3) The Lord doesn't call us to merely pretend to be better than we really are. He doesn't call us to mouth phrases, such as "I love You", without any sense that they are true. He does call us to reflect on the goals and principles we live from. He calls us to look at the pattern of our daily life and see its strengths and weaknesses. The pattern we are to look at is not just what we do or say, but also the pattern of thoughts and feelings that emerge as our response to daily life. Each of us is called to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. We cannot leap to this state of life in a single bound. Instead the Lord calls us to see clearly where we are now and then seek His help to become a better person. It is through this effort that we will truly come to love the Lord. AMEN. Lessons: John 21:15-19 What the things written in John 21:15-22 signify none can know unless they know the internal sense, and know that "Peter" signifies faith, and "John" the good of charity, therefore that "Peter" signifies those in the church who are in faith, and "John" those who are in the good of charity. That Jesus said to Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" and that Peter said three times. "You know that I love You," and that Jesus then said, "Feed My lambs," and "Feed My sheep," signifies that those who are in faith from love, ought to instruct those who are in the good of love to the Lord, and in the good of charity towards the neighbor. People who are in faith from love are also in truths, and [are able to], instruct concerning good, and lead to good. All spiritual good that a person has, is gained and implanted by truths. "Lambs" signify those who are in the good of innocence and of love to the Lord, and "sheep" signify those who are in the good of charity towards the neighbor, and "to feed" means to instruct. Faith, as it was to be in the first period of the church and as it was to be in the last, is then described by the Lord. The first period of the church is meant by "when you were younger," and its last by "when you will be old." That when Peter "was younger he girded himself and walked where he wished," signifies that in the first period of the church people would take in truths from the good of charity and would act from freedom; for to act from freedom is to act from the affection of truth from good. "When you are old you will stretch forth your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish," signifies that in the last period of the church they would no longer take in truths from the good of charity, thus would not know them in any other way than as declared by another; and thus would be in a servile state; for a servile state ensues when good does not lead. Apocalypse Explained 9:3-4 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun May 24 23:33:14 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 19:33:14 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Lasting Memories, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980524193314.00988ac0@pop.tiac.net> Lasting Memories By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Memorial Day Weekend Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 24, 1998 Readings: Psalm 143. I remember the days of old. O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. The enemy pursues me, crushing me to the ground, making me dwell in darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant. Matthew 10:40-42. Giving a cup of cold water. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of righteousness will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, truly I tell you, he will not lose his reward. Arcana Coelestia #561. Lasting impressions. What are "lasting impressions"? They are not only the good and true things we have learned from the Word of the Lord since early childhood, which have been imprinted on our memory, but all the experiences that come from these good and true things: experiences of innocence in early childhood; experiences of love for our parents, brothers and sisters, teachers, and friends; experiences of kindness toward others, and of compassion for the poor and needy; in short, every experience that involves goodness and truth. These experiences, along with the good and true things that have been imprinted on our memory, are called lasting impressions, which the Lord preserves with us and stores away in our inner self, though we ourselves are not directly aware of it at all. Sermon: I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. (Psalm 143:5) This is a weekend of memories. Of course, it is a weekend of memories of those who have gone before us. The graveyards of our country receive more visitors on this weekend than at any other time of year. Yet those of us who believe in an afterlife do not visit the graves of our loved ones who have died to mourn (unless it was a recent death, still fresh on our hearts), but to remember those with whom we have shared treasured times of our lives. Memorial Day weekend is a weekend of memories in a different way as well: it is a weekend for _creating_ memories. Many people take trips over Memorial Day weekend. Visiting family; camping; even going to the park to fly a kite. It is a time we often gather together with our family and friends to enjoy the company of the living. Our enjoyment of these special times creates memories that we carry with us into the years to come. We may think that these memories are, so to speak, frosting on the cake of life--that they are a sweet addition to our life, but that we could do quite well without them. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, these times when we play together, touch each other, and relax in the warmth of each other's love are vital to our very survival on many levels. Physically, as babies if we do not experience the warmth of love in human contact, cuddling, caring, we will literally die. This was discovered in a very unfortunate way when babies in a nursery that were not picked up and held simply did not survive. Nor does our need for human touch and love stop when we are babies. As adults, we can _survive_ without touch, but it is a rather grim kind of survival. Without regular physical contact with others, we tend to shrivel up emotionally and spiritually; we lose the joy and excitement in our lives, as if we were subsisting on dry crusts of bread. To survive emotionally and spiritually, we also need the warmth of loving relationships on the deeper levels of human life. As children, we need to know that someone loves us. We _need_ those expressions of love from our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and friends. Without that feeling of being loved, children withdraw into a shell, or become angry, lashing out in ways that seem to make no sense; or they hungrily search for love in all the wrong places, resulting in pain and betrayal, teen pregnancies, drug abuse, gangs, and many other destructive behaviors and damaging experiences. And just as with physical touch, we adults also need the _spiritual_ touch of love from others and for others. We seek that love in marriage and family; we seek it in close friendships that we build up with those we feel we can trust and open ourselves up to. Without this, once again, we shrivel up inside, and find ourselves living a very sad and dry life. Why are physical and spiritual touch so important to us? From a material standpoint, it seems as if we should be able to survive just fine without continual contact with others. After all, our body simply needs nourishment, air, sunshine, exercise, rest, and so on--and none of these require other people to be with us. Yet we are not merely physical beings. We are also beings of spirit. And just as food and sunshine provide nourishment to our physical bodies, _love and understanding_ provide nourishment to our spirits. Without love, expressed through sharing thoughts and feelings, working and playing together, touching each other--without love, we die spiritually, because without love we are deprived of our spiritual food and our spiritual sunshine. Without understanding, learning, knowledge, our inner growth is stunted, and we become unable to fully express the love that is within us. Also like food, the spiritual nourishment we receive makes a lasting impression on us. If we grow up with a poor diet and a lack of sunshine, air, and exercise, we will become sickly even if we started out with a healthy constitution. On the other hand, those who inherit genetically transmitted diseases can live longer and healthier lives than they otherwise would through careful attention to healthful living practices. Our bodies are imprinted by the nourishment and care they receive--and if that nourishment and care is seriously lacking, we will die early as our body breaks down under the strain. Our mental and emotional experiences also make lasting impressions on us. Like physical food, our spiritual food--love and understanding--help us to build healthy spirits if that food is plentiful and healthful; but we will languish and die spiritually if that food is poor, or lacking altogether. Parents who may be fine people themselves, but who neglect to give their children the spiritual nourishment that they themselves received as children, will handicap their children in a way that is far more damaging than any physical handicap could ever be. On the other hand, children who are born in very dismal physical and financial circumstances can become strong and good adults if they are given that precious spiritual nourishment of religious teaching and genuine love from those who care about them. We do not need to experience--or offer--some amazing act of selfless love to be deeply affected. As Jesus said, even a cup of cold water offered to a little one can lead to great reward--a reward felt by both the giver and the receiver of the gift. As I look back on my own life, memories flood to mind of these gifts, usually given without fanfare or any realization of their long-term power. Once when I was six or eight years old, and my family was on a camping trip, I was walking along a path with some of by brothers and sisters. We came to a place where the path split into three. I was sure I knew which one we should take. My siblings tried to convince me otherwise, but to no avail--I was stubbornly determined to take that path. So they let me. Soon I was completely lost, and very scared that I would never see my family again. It was probably only five or ten minutes that I was out there on my own, but it seemed like hours. I stumbled along, crying, until I came to a place where a chain link fence blocked my path. I started to climb the fence. As I reached the top, I felt hands lifting me down. It was one of my brothers, who had come out to look for me. He probably never knew how much relief flooded into me when he took me down from that fence. I was saved! And at a deeper level that I was probably not aware of at the time, I knew that even when I stubbornly insisted on doing stupid things, there were people who loved me and cared about me, and who would go out of their way to help me out of the trouble I got myself into. Sometimes we are on the giving end without even realizing it. Once when I was sledding with some of my brothers and sisters at a very popular hill nearby, a kid started picking on my younger brother, jumping on top of him and punching him. I was bigger than this kid, so I calmly walked over to him and bodily picked him up off my brother, told him to knock it off, and promptly forgot the incident. The only reason I have any knowledge of it now is that over twenty years later, my brother mentioned it in the course of conversation, saying he had really appreciated what I'd done for him. For me, it didn't seem like anything; for him, it was that feeling of being saved by someone who cared about him. These experiences--these lasting impressions from earlier years--are what keep us going in a very real way. Even if no one involved fully realizes their significance at the time, it is no accident that we build up impressions of love and understanding from the time we are conceived, throughout our infancy and childhood, and all through all the rest of our life here on earth. For we are not really the ones giving these precious gifts. It is the Lord within us who gives the gifts--who moves us to show kindness and understanding for one another. When I pulled that kid off my brother, I thought nothing of it. But the Lord saw the entire situation, and prompted me from within to do what needed to be done--just as it was not only my older brother, but my parents, and ultimately the Lord, who prompted him to come after me and lift me off of the fence that I was blindly climbing. All of this gives new and deeper meaning to our observances of Memorial Day. When we cherish and honor the memories of those who have loved us and cared for us, it is not merely a sentimental notion that "practical" people can do without. It is a recognition that without their love and care--and without the Lord, who gives us the ability to love and care for each other--we could never have become the people we are today, able to love others, to care for others, to show others the way, to share of ourselves with others. And this also reminds us that we are the ones who are helping to build up these same vital impressions in those that we care for, in those who look up to us as their parents, their grandparents, their family members, their friends. The little day-to-day kindnesses that we show to each other are not something we can take or leave, something that will make no difference one way or the other. Simple acts of thoughtfulness; a helpful pointer to someone who is lost; an arm around the shoulder of someone who is feeling down; these are the very substance and nourishment of our existence, forming lasting memories and deep impressions of love and understanding that can keep us going through all the passages of our lives. Amen. From info@newchurch-cincy.org Thu May 28 15:48:37 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 11:48:37 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980528100201.4adf1d1e@mail.one.net> _______________________________________________________ (c) 1998 by Patrick A. Rose Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org _______________________________________________________ For Cinti. 05-24-98 FLEEING FROM THE SERPENT A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it" (Exod. 4:3) THERE IS AN IDEA, HELD BY SOME PEOPLE, that to be scared of something is a sign of weakness. Young boys, especially, are prone to think in this way. In their eagerness to demonstrate to their friends how courageous they are, they will sometimes do the most stupid things for the sake of a dare. Only later, as they approach manhood, do they begin to understand that fear is not necessarily a mark of weakness. Indeed, in some circumstances, it can be a mark of strength. As we shall see this morning, one of the ways in which the Lord delivers us from the clutches of hell, is by instilling into us not only a fear, but a horror, for the things of hell. Indeed it is a weakness of many people that they lack any sense of horror at what is deadly and dangerous. They tend to treat what is spiritually very dangerous as if it were completely harmless, and in so doing, they bring upon themselves the most terrible destruction. Our text this morning treats specifically of a sense of horror which must be instilled into us if we are to be saved. When Moses cast his rod to the earth, and it became a serpent, he ran from it. This is a very important detail indeed, for the simple truth is that until we are horrified at what that snake represented, we will never be saved. Recall that when the Lord appeared to Moses in a bramble that burned with fire, it was for the specific purpose of commissioning Moses to lead the Israelites out from slavery. The slavery of the Israelites in Egypt represents of course the slavery into which all of us are born. From birth we are all slaves to the love of self and the love of worldly pleasure. Now Moses was reluctant to accept the Lord's commission. He was doubtful whether the Israelites would believe him. He was afraid of being laughed at and scorned. He was therefore given three signs -- signs which he could use to convince the Israelites that he was indeed sent by Jehovah. First, the Lord told him to throw his rod on the ground. It became a snake, from which he ran. But he was then told to pick it up, and it became a rod once more. Next he was told to put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, it was white with leprosy. He was told to put it into his bosom once more, and when he took it out again, it was restored to normal flesh. Then he was told that if the Israelites would not believe him after doing these two signs, he was to take water from the Nile and pour it on the ground, whereupon the water would turn into blood. Each one of these signs portrays, in a vivid way, what would be the result if there were no delivery from slavery. In other words, each one is a picture of what will happen to us if we don't have faith in the Lord and follow Him (see AC 6939). Our subject today is the first of these three signs -- the snake into which the rod turned when it was cast on the ground. "So the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' He said, 'A rod.' And He said, 'Cast it on the ground.' So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it" (Exod. 4:2,3). The snake he saw must have been horrifying and terrible. What it represents is even more terrifying. It is nothing other than a representation of what we will be like if we are damned -- if we go to hell. Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like if you actually ended up in hell? It isn't, of course, a pleasant possibility to contemplate. We don't like to think about it, and, quite likely, we turn our thoughts in some other direction rather quickly. Some people, on the other hand, think about it too much. They convince themselves that they are doomed to spend eternity in hell. Sometimes this is because they have allowed their conscience to be overburdened with some sin they have committed in the past. It is a serious mistake, though, to think that we will certainly go to hell, for this is to deny the Lord's power to save us. On the other hand, we must accept that it is possible for us to go to hell. Hell isn't just somewhere where only other people go. We can go to hell as well. And we most certainly will go there if we don't pay attention to what the Lord tells us in His Word. That snake, which is a picture of hell, is not a certainty. But it is a possibility. Even in many religious circles, the idea of hell is not a popular one. And most people, even if they accept that there might be a life after death, still have no thought that they, in any way, could end up in hell. To quote the Arcana on this point: "If any one by rational arguments sets them thinking at all about eternal life, they think that they shall not fare worse than others, and immediately relapse to the state of their former life" (AC 6971:2). Yet we must accept the possibility of our going to hell. If it were impossible for us to go there, we would have no need of a Savior -- no real need for the Lord to rescue us from evil. It is, in fact, a lot easier to go to hell than most people think. All you have to do is nothing. Do nothing -- live your life without any effort to change it, without any effort to approach the Lord in His Word to find out what His will is -- and, though you might think that it could never happen to you, you will go to hell. The reason it is so easy to go to hell is that we are born into it. In other words, if we just follow our natural inclinations, we will go to hell for the simple reason that we never really left it. Born into slavery, like the Israelites, we will remain in slavery forever if we never make an attempt to escape from it. Now such a thought might seem gloomy indeed. How sad to think that it is so easy to go to hell? It sounds as if it must therefore be very difficult to go to heaven. But this doesn't follow. Not only is it a lot easier to go to hell than many people think. It is also a lot easier to go to heaven than people think. Both the journey to hell and the journey to heaven are easy. The journey to hell is a simple one, for it means making no real journey at all -- just remaining where we are. The journey to heaven is also simple, for though it requires us to journey from where we are, the Lord will lead and guide us along the path, if we place our faith and trust in Him. Doing one or the other is not difficult. What is crucial is the decision itself. Are we going to stay in hell, or are we going to journey to heaven? Are we going to believe in Moses, and follow His leadership -- that is, follow the Divine law -- or are we going to scorn him, and remain in Egypt? This is why the signs which the Lord gave Moses to use were so important. Our tendency is to laugh at and scorn the Divine law. We are told in the Word that a person, from birth, inclines to the deepest hell. Are we going to believe this? Who would accept that? It doesn't seem to make sense, at least to the natural man. We don't feel that we are that bad. Of course, the trouble is that once somebody is used to spiritual slavery, it doesn't seem that bad. He doesn't know anything better, after all. And so we tend not to take Moses seriously. Of course we can pay lip service to the Word and its doctrines. But unless we are convinced that we are damned without the Word, we don't really take it that seriously. It is of secondary importance -- certainly not a matter of life and death. And so Moses takes his rod, throws it before us, and it becomes a horrible snake. The teachings of the three-fold Word show us clearly what we are like, and how we will remain, if we are not uplifted by the Lord. If we listen to the teachings of the Word, if we reflect on what they tell us, we will see. We will see that we are indeed serpents, or have a serpent-like nature. The representation of a snake rests primarily on the fact that it moves in the dust of the ground. Recall the words of the curse upon the serpent in the garden of Eden: "So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life'" (Gen. 3:14). That is just what we are like from birth. We grovel in the dust -- so often living our lives in outward, external, and completely insignificant things. And often the tendency is for us to treat this lightly -- almost as a joke. "We are only human," we say, when it would be closer to the truth to say that we are only inhuman (cf. AC 6952:6). Our external welfare, our external comfort, our external problems, tend to carry far more weight than do the things of the spirit, the things of religion. And even though we know that we should dedicate ourselves to the welfare of other people, we so often think only of ourselves, thinking of our own welfare as somehow more important than that of others. Why, we are even spiteful at times, saying needlessly cruel things about others behind their backs -- venomous comments -- the venom of a snake. Neither does it help to live in a world where individual opinions carry more weight than the clear teaching of the Word. Of course people should think for themselves, but they should not think from themselves, but from the Word. " I think that . . . " How often do we say this? And it can be innocent. It can be constructive. But too often, what we mean is that what we think is important, and the truth is not. Let us be clear about the worth of human opinion. If it is founded on thought from the Word, it is valuable, otherwise it is useless. And it is useless because from birth we tend to think from outward things . . . from the appearance rather than from the reality. This is why it is that often what the Word teaches to be a sin doesn't really seem to us to be that bad at all. The Word may say that something we are doing is wrong. But we make excuses. We tell ourselves it really isn't that bad after all, since it is something that many other people do all the time . . . telling the occasional lie, cheating, coveting, gossiping, and so on. In many ways we are like snakes -- we crawl upon the ground. And, being on the ground, we cannot see far. We think that things are the way they appear. We think that there is nothing wrong with the way we live, when if we took the trouble to reflect, and to learn from the Word, we would realize that many of our ideas, and many of the things we do, are misguided. And so, even the power of the Lord's Word often falls on deaf ears. And even when people listen, it is often interpreted in the way they want to interpret it. But still the Word has power -- tremendous power -- the power to help us see ourselves as we really are. Read the Writings and reflect on what they say, what they say about the nature of mankind. Some of these teachings can at first seem horrifying. We are born into evils of every kind. This is what the Writings say. No wonder Moses fled from the snake in horror. This horror is necessary, though, if we are to shun our evils. "To shun," in Latin, is fugere -- to flee or run away. And we won't run away from or shun our evils until they horrify us (cf. AC 9014). The horror of seeing what we are really like can be greatly disturbing. But this disturbance is only temporary. We are like snakes. But consider what happened to the snake when Moses was told to lift it up. It became a rod once more. We too can be lifted up to receive the power of Divine truth. Once we have seen the snake that is ourselves, and have become horrified at it, then it is not difficult to be led to heaven. We can turn to the Word and pray to the Lord. We can amend our lives, and turn our thoughts and our deeds away from evil. Then we can be lifted up by the Lord, so that we are no longer enslaved by selfish thoughts, no longer preoccupied with worldly pleasure. At the same time, being uplifted, we can begin to see things in their true perspective, instead of judging all things according to appearances. We are gradually blessed with wisdom, wisdom which can help us in our service of the Lord and of our fellow man. To be horrified, to be struck with terrible fear, is thus not always a sign of weakness. Indeed, quite the contrary, it is often weakness within us which prevents us from facing the facts about spiritual life and spiritual death. If we avoid thinking about where we might end up in the other world, if we wrongly assume that though many people have gone to hell, we ourselves are somehow immune, then we will never see this horrible vision of the snake. And yet it is very dangerous indeed not to see the snake within ourselves. Far more dangerous than a snake we see is a snake we don't see. It is the unseen snake, the snake we trip over, which bites us and injects us with its venom. But if we see the snake, we can run away from it, and we can easily outrun it. Hell is no threat to us, it really isn't, as long as we are willing to reflect upon the Word, and come to see for ourselves what we are really like. We must honestly and humbly admit that by ourselves we are full of evil, and we must turn to the Lord and ask His help. Then we are safe. The word salvation means, basically, safety. If we trust and hope in the Lord, and follow Him, living His commandments, then He will lift us up in His hand, and we will be safe. It is easy to go to heaven, for the Lord is our Savior. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Exod. 4:1-9 Matt. 23:25-33 DP 101:2 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From leewoof@tiac.net Sun May 31 18:14:02 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 14:14:02 -0400 Subject: SERMON: The Light We Shine, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980531141402.00996a40@pop.tiac.net> The Light We Shine By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, May 31, 1998 Readings: Psalm 18:28-36. The Lord lights up my darkness. It is you who light my lamp; The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. By you I can crush a troop, And by my God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect; The promise of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?-- The God who girded me with strength, And made my way safe. He made my feet like the feet of a deer, And set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, And your right hand has supported me; Your help has made me great. You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, And my feet did not slip. Matthew 5:13-16. You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Arcana Coelestia #9548. The light of faith. The divine truth that emanates from the Lord's divine goodness is what gives light in heaven. Angels do not have light from any other source. That is why in the Bible, the Lord is called "the light." "Light" means faith, as well as an understanding of the truth, and the wisdom that goes with goodness; these come from the Lord alone. Sermon: You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) Another church year is drawing to a close. Today we will hold our last Church Committee meeting until the fall. It would be a good time to look back over our past year, but instead, I would like to look both inward and forward as we release this church year and begin moving toward the next. At today's Church Committee meeting we will discuss several projects and ideas for our church. Of course, we'll talk about the upcoming rebuilding of our steeple, and how we can use the publicity surrounding it to help rebuild our church as a faith community. We will also talk about our new Wedding Ministry, as well as some other growth and outreach projects that the church could take on in the coming year. So this would be a good time for another one of those "church growth" sermons. But as I considered what I wanted to say to you today, I felt very strongly that at this time it would be less important to talk about _how_ we can grow as a church than to talk about _why_ we would want to put our energy into reaching out to others. I have already said at previous meetings and in previous sermons that if we want to grow simply to build up our church, fill our pews, and improve our financial situation, we will fail in our efforts because these are not good motives for church growth. They may seem reasonable enough--we _do_ want to have a thriving church, and it _would_ be wonderful to see all our pews filled each Sunday, and we certainly _could_ use the extra income that all those new members would bring to the church. But these reasons center around ourselves as a church, and not around those to whom we are reaching out. If people sense that we want to grow for our own sake, and not for the sake of serving the people of our community, they will not be drawn to us, but will resist our invitations to involvement in our services and programs, and membership in our church. We know some of the _wrong_ reasons for wanting to grow. What are some _good_ reasons for wanting to reach out and bring others into our church? I can't think of a better way to start answering this question than for each of us to ask ourselves the question, "Why am _I_ involved in this church? What is it about this church that continues to attract me to it?" We could get lazy and just say, "Well, my parents went to this church, and I've always gone to this church, and it's just what I do." But I really don't think this is the reason any of us are here this Sunday. Some of our brothers and sisters, children and friends also grew up in the church, but have not chosen to remain active. So maybe this is _part_ of the reason, but it is certainly not the _whole_ reason. We may think that we joined this church a long time ago, and it is a completely different situation than someone who walks into this church for the first time. In some ways this is true. We're used to being here, while newcomers are not. But if we look at it from another perspective, each of us is continually choosing to _re_join this church each time we come to a service, and each time we take part in its activities and its business. Not a single one of us is in this church because someone put a gun to our head and said we had to go. Each one of us walked in this morning of our own free will. And that means that we _chose_ to be in this church today. Why did we choose to be here today? Why have we chosen to cast in our lot with this church? For me, the verses we read from Psalm 18 express in beautiful imagery some of my reasons for joining this church and for _re_joining it each week and even each day. The psalmist writes: It is you who light my lamp; The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. Of course, as Swedenborg points out, the light that the psalmist speaks of is not physical light. It is _spiritual_ light that the Lord gives us. And our church is richly blessed with a brilliant floodlight of truth from the Lord. It is the light of a deeply satisfying faith, from which we can gain both understanding and wisdom. It is a light that shines on the Bible and penetrates to its inner levels of meaning with a clarity, depth, and real-life practicality that no other church can provide. It is a light that illuminates the formerly shady realm of the afterlife; it shows us both what we can expect when we die, and how we can live in such a way that we will build a joyous and heavenly life within ourselves. That light also gives us the strength to face life's challenges. The psalmist continues: By you I can crush a troop, And by God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect; The promise of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. Life does throw its challenges at us. How often have we experienced that wall in front of us, blocking our path, preventing us from getting any farther along our life's journey? How often have we felt that our life was going nowhere, and that things would never change? I remember the years I spent wandering, first literally, and then figuratively. There was an entire decade after I had completed two years of college in which I did not have any particular direction in life. I moved from one thing to the next, never quite sure where it was all leading. Many times I felt that it was all leading nowhere--that I would just drift along for the rest of my life. But there was something that kept me moving along through that whole time; something that never let me give up hope and stop searching for a direction and a calling. That something was my faith. Yes, it was the wonderful clarity of our church's teachings about the spiritual journey of our lives. For those times, it was especially the explanation of the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel--that they correspond to the times we spend in our own emotional and spiritual desert, and that those times will eventually lead to our Holy Land of spiritual fulfillment in a useful life of serving others in ways that we love. That was a tremendous shield and refuge for me during those times of desert wandering. Yet even beyond that, it was knowing that whatever may happen, our God is a God of pure love, who would never reject us--would never reject _me_--but always has a purpose for our existence, and is always drawing us toward that purpose, even when we are not aware of it. It was feeling that presence of God in my life that especially kept me going. If God was there helping me, then I knew that there was a reason for everything I experienced. For who is God except the Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?-- The God who girded me with strength, And made my way safe. He made my feet like the feet of a deer, And set me secure on the heights. My experience is certainly not unique. Each one of us in this church has faced the challenges of life, and _is_ facing the challenges of life. Each of us has times when we feel that our life is just too much for us, and we cannot keep going. But we do. And one of the reasons we are able to keep going is that we have a faith--however strong or weak it may be--that there is a God who cares for us, who loves us and has a purpose for our life. Each of us, I believe, chooses to come to this church because it is a place where that faith is strengthened; where we gain new insights; where we restock our supply of spiritual ammunition so that we can go out and face the challenges of our life once again. He trains my hands for war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, And your right hand has supported me; Your help has made me great. This is certainly one of the reasons we continually choose to rejoin this church, to renew our commitment to this church as our spiritual home. We do not come here just because it is a habit, but because our church and our Lord sustain us in a vital way. We come here to renew our faith, so that the Lord can protect us from spiritual harm and help us to carry burdens that would crush us if we tried to carry them on our own. This church is a special place for us. It keeps us going; it sustains us; it gives us company and community; it teaches us and inspires us; and most of all, it keeps us in touch with our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ, who knows all our joys and our sorrows, and shares them all with us. Our church gives us a place to stand that will never fail us. To complete the passage from the Psalm, You gave me a wide place for my steps under me, And my feet did not slip. These are some of the reasons we come to this church, continually rejoin it, even give up our Sunday mornings to be here instead of relaxing out in the yard or down at the beach or in front of the TV. We come here because this church gives us something we can get nowhere else. And for each of us, that something is a little different. As we look within ourselves and realize why we come to this church, the reasons we find are the very same reasons why _others_ might want to come to this church. We do not come here just to fill the pews and make sure there is someone to hold down the church. We come here because of the spiritual benefits and the spiritual companionship that we find here. And that is exactly why others will come. As we see what light it is that shines from this church and draws us to it, we have found the light that will draw others here as well. Our challenge is not so much to figure out ways to make our church grow, as it is to discover and feel very deeply what it is that brings _us_ here, and to hold that out for others to see. Our church will grow as each one of us recognizes what it does for us, and as we feel the desire to share with others the light and the strength that we gain from our church--for there are many people out there who are seeking the light that we have found in our church. We can shine our light for others to see. If we shine it with love and with concern and with respect and with joy, people will be drawn to the light. Once again, as Jesus says, You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: The New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jun 29 04:40:15 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 00:40:15 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Abide in the Lord's Word and You will Know the Truth Message-ID: <199806290041_MC2-5198-204F@compuserve.com> Abide in the Lord's Word and You will Know the Truth By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell June 28, 1998 If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31-32 What does it mean to know the truth? Imagine that you needed to hire someone to look after your aging parent or spouse. One of the people who came to interview for the job tells you that she knows all about caring for the elderly. You ask her for her previous experience and she replies, "None." When asked how could she know about providing excellent care for an elderly person without any experience, she says, "I've read three books on the subject." Would you be inclined to believe that reading several books qualifies her as knowing all about caring for the elderly? I doubt it. We know that knowledge and practice of that knowledge are separable. You can have a very knowledgeable person, say a medical doctor, who nevertheless consistently makes poor decisions concerning his own health. You can have a person who has little formal training in health or nutrition who conversely has been paying attention to what seems wise and unwise behavior for promoting long-term health. The second person may not know terminology and may actually be deficient in a broad understanding, but in terms of personally living from the truth that person is better than the medical doctor. Sometimes people have taken the last part of the quote that is the text for today, "the truth shall make you free" and misused it. They have thought that having a broad knowledge of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Heavenly Doctrines meant that they knew the truth and were free. But the Lord has clearly told us that we have several levels of thought that compose our minds. Knowledge of revealed truth can be just further facts stored in the natural memory. If they are learned and valued no more than practical worldly knowledge, such facts will be left behind by the person with the death of the natural body. None of these facts really become the person's own until that person freely chooses to live according to what they teach. A higher level of thought than simple memorized knowledge is the ability to organize that knowledge into broad ideas and to see how they might apply in new situations. A person's ability to do this also isn't a sure sign of knowing the truth. Someone can become very skilled at this kind of reasoning and be heading to a very unhappy place in hell after death. Such an individual does not know the truth. The Lord said that a person has to "abide in His Word" in order to know the truth and to be free. A person has to receive a growing desire to do what is good from the Lord before the truth can really be known. Consider the following teaching. All people are deceived who believe themselves to be in enlightenment, unless they love to know truth for the sake of truth and for the sake of the good of life, thus unless they love Divine truth for the sake of life, because to live according to Divine truths from the Word is to love the Lord, and all enlightenment comes from the Lord when He is loved. But those cannot possibly be in any enlightenment who have not as their end a life according to Divine truths from the Word; but who have as their end honor, gain, and reputation; and who thus regard the Divine truths of the Word as means; for this end is worldly and bodily, and not spiritual and heavenly; and it therefore closes the internal person, and when this is closed, no light can flow in from heaven and enlighten. If such persons, when reading the Word, believe that they are in enlightenment, they are quite mistaken; for they do not think from heaven, but from the world; thus not from the Lord, but from themselves; and in so far as they think from themselves and from the world, so far they think from natural light separate from heavenly light, and in spiritual things natural light separate from heavenly light is mere thick darkness. If these persons persuade themselves that they have seen something from enlightenment, it is a fallacy, for they perceive whether a thing is true solely from others by means of confirmations, which is to see truth from without and not from within, or to see it from persuasive faith. . . Such persons are able to see falsity as truth, and truth as falsity; also evil as good, and good as evil. (Arcana Caelestia 10551:2-3) What we care about gives order and form to what we think. Prior to any steps of regeneration or spiritual development people cannot have any motivations that their own other than natural ones tainted by hereditary inclinations to evil. No one enters adult life without having these hereditary inclinations to evil loves present and active. Certainly a young twenty-something may have strong convictions and have the capability of saying and doing many true and good things, but these things are only just starting to be the young adults own. Everyone arrives at adult life with the need to be reborn. Everyone arrives at adult life with parts of his or her mind significantly in slavery to natural and evil desires. These desires affect the persons' priorities, their view of themselves and the world around themselves. It affects how they think, what they say and do. Their first adult steps on the path to heaven occur when they work to do what is right and good and recognize that their personal evils and false ideas get in the way. Any one of us here today stand somewhere on our own spiritual pathway. Each of us is called to recognize what it means for us personally to grow in our ability to abide in the Lord's Word. Each of us have spiritual battles to be facing. People who are spiritually enslaved cannot possibly see the full reality of their state. There are certain truths that they cannot understand. Consider the implications of the following passage from the Arcana Caelestia. The person who is being regenerated and becoming spiritual is first led to good by means of truth; for a person does not know what spiritual good, or what is the same thing, Christian good is, except through truth or through doctrine drawn from the Word. In this way the person is initiated into good. Afterwards, when the person has been initiated, he no longer is led to good through truths, but to truths through good, for the person then not only sees from good the truths which he knew before, but also from good brings forth new truths which he did not and could not know before.... These new truths differ greatly from the truths which the person had previously known.... (Arcana Caelestia 5804) It is these new truths that the person did not and could not know before that bring true freedom. The order of regeneration requires us to first learn, then live according to what we've learned. It is valuable for each of us to acknowledge in humility that our understanding will always be flawed and limited. The Lord seems to want us to recognize that there is a change that will take place, which brings about new truths within our mind--truths that we will get in no other way than by living them. The people of the United States are looking forward to celebrating Independence Day. On that day we can reflect on the freedom and opportunities that this country provides for so many. We know that true freedom is not the ability to do whatever seems pleasurable at the moment. If any country is going to remain strong, healthy, and useful, it needs to recognize the value of personal commitment, acting better than one feels like or can get away with, and an understanding of how we as a greater community are to cooperate with the Lord. Our job as patriots is to be an influence for good in the places and roles within this country that we have. Through our efforts to follow the Lord as members of communities larger and smaller, we will grow in our understanding of what is genuinely true. We will come into the heavenly freedom that we would wish for all in this world as well. The Lord calls each of us to abide in His Word. He calls us to go beyond just knowing many true things. He calls us to go beyond being able to talk about them with others. He calls us to humbly submit our lives to their dictates. Through this He is able to gradually change us, giving us a new will or heart, and from this a new understanding or insight into what is true. It is then that we will be free indeed. AMEN. Lessons: John 8:30-36 To do evil from freedom, appears as freedom, but it is slavery, because that freedom is from the love of self and from the love of the world, and these loves are from hell. Such freedom is actually turned into slavery after death, for the person who has been in such freedom then becomes a vile servant in hell. But to do good from freedom is freedom itself, because it is from love to the Lord and from love towards the neighbor, and these loves are from heaven. This freedom also remains after death, and then becomes freedom indeed, for the person who has been in such freedom, becomes in heaven like a son of the house. This the Lord teaches in this way:- Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:34-36). Now, because all good is from the Lord, and all evil from hell, it follows that freedom consists in being led by the Lord, and slavery is being led by hell. New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 43 All freedom that is from the Lord is freedom indeed, but that which is from hell, and in a person from this source, is bondage. Yet to one who is in infernal freedom spiritual freedom must needs appear like bondage, because the two are opposite. But all who are in spiritual freedom not only know, but also see, that infernal freedom is bondage. True Christian Religion 495 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jun 29 14:21:06 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 10:21:06 -0400 Subject: SERMON: The Voice of the Lord Message-ID: <199806291021_MC2-5197-371A@compuserve.com> The Voice of the Lord A Holy Supper Address for the Sunday Prior to New Church Day By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell June 14, 1998 My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27 We, as a church, define ourselves by our dedication to being led by the Lord through His Word. We value hearing His voice in the words of the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Writings of the New Church. Jesus spoke of the sheep recognizing the voice of the shepherd as He was confronted by ostensibly religious Pharisees. They thought of themselves as being superior to others in their understanding of and dedication to the laws of the Old Testament. Yet they were in reality blind. Blindness of this kind--an inability to see the truth, because one is unwilling--challenges each of us in our lives here. It has challenged people throughout human history. It has also been far more than just an individual difficulty. Jesus was speaking to a people who had largely lost sight of the core principles and values that make a church the Lord's flock. When the Lord was in the world, a fundamental part of His mission was to re-establish a church on this earth that would acknowledge Him and strongly dedicate itself to obedience to Divine law and loving the neighbor. But the Lord knew that this church also would enter into a time of gross spiritual blindness. They would no longer have an ear to hear the voice of the good shepherd. Much too much emphasis would be placed on professed faith that had little to do with daily life. Much too much emphasis would be placed on membership in the right church. A clear understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one God of heaven and earth would be lost. Faith or external good works would be made the key to heaven. This coming week we celebrate an event that we mark as the birth of the New Church. After a period of turmoil and judgment in the life after death, order was once again restored by the Lord. On the 19th day of June, 228 years ago, the Lord called together His twelves disciples who had followed Him in the world; and sent them all forth throughout the spiritual world to preach the good news that the Lord Jesus Christ is king, and His kingdom shall be for ever and ever. For the Lord Jesus Christ to reign in our lives we must be profoundly changed from the state of heart and mind with which we entered adult life. We know that the knowledge of New Church ideas that a young person can gain during their years of formal school don't open the door to heaven by themselves. We know that the external order that we seek to instill in our children and teens also doesn't admit one to heaven. Think of how children and teens can react to the voice of their parents. A parent could say to two of her children, "I said, ^?No rough-housing.'" and the children chime out, "But we weren't rough-housing. We were wrestling." The children are taking a narrow legalistic interpretation of their mother's rule and saying that it didn't apply because they didn't think they were rough-housing in a specific technical sense. The adult mind is quite capable of similarly hearing the voice of the Lord calling that person to a better life and interpreting the meaning of the Lord's words to not apply to the specific situation before that individual. An adult can feel free to ignore a Divine command because it isn't seen to apply to the immediate situation. Or consider the teen who is asked by his father to clean-up the garage. Hours later it is still rather a mess. When asked the teen says, "But I did this and this and this, isn't that good enough." The father's call that the garage be cleaned up was interpreted by the teen in a manner that would require a minimum of work and time. The teen can be righteously indignant that she has done what she was asked to do--by her interpretation of the job. Again, adults can similarly hear the voice of the Lord calling them to a better life and pick this or that external good behavior to do and then feel relatively content that they have done all they need to do. There is a certain part of the human mind that likes to have expectations reduced to simple black and white rules. Since the time of the Lord's life and His clear teachings about the joys of eternal life in heaven and the eternal unhappiness of hellish life, Christians have been concerned about what they need to do to be received into heaven. The Writings of the New Church state that: "To hear the voice [of the Lord]" means to be instructed in the commandments of faith, and to receive them with faith and obedience. (Arcana Caelestia 9311:3) But the Lord doesn't ask just external obedience. In fact He promises that a person who has lived a life of carefully hidden evil in this world will, in the next life, lose the ability to shape his or her life by an external obedience. Things thought and intended in secret will be shouted out. The Lord doesn't ask for knowledge and understanding. To the extent that this knowledge and understanding doesn't come to be a guide for our daily life, we will leave it behind when we go to the life after death. The Lord calls us to a fundamental change of heart. This is the spiritual rebirth or regeneration that is necessary for anyone to enter into the happiness and usefulness of heavenly life. The Holy Supper is the act of worship that most clearly reflects our desire to led by the voice of the good shepherd. It reflects our desire to be regenerated by the Lord. By the Holy Supper we act out a our conscious turning to the Lord with a prayer that we might be ever better led by Him. We seek to receive more of His life within our own. The bread represents the Lord's love that we need within our own hearts, fundamentally changing what we care about and make most important. The wine represents the Lord's wisdom that we need in our thoughts, fundamentally changing how we see ourselves, others, and the life we are to lead. Each of us if we are to approach the Holy Supper worthily need to be actively acknowledging that we have specific faults and flaws that harm us, others, and the uses we seek to achieve. We need to acknowledge these evil loves and false ideas to ourselves and to the Lord. We are to pray for His help in fighting their influence and we are to be doing the best we can to change the quality of the thoughts, words, and deeds that have been tainted by them in the past. To begin with this effort will be more a matter of intellectual acknowledgment and we will in reality be seeking the Lord's grace. As the miracle of regeneration occurs we will come more and more to recognize and acknowledge on a progressively deeper level that we can not be the person we want to be or accomplish the things we hope to without the Lord's constant presence and help. From an ever greater humility we will turn to the Lord for this help. More and more we will truly know what His mercy is. We cannot instantly change who we are. In fact, by ourselves, we cannot change at all. With the Lord's help we can gradually become better and better human beings. If we dedicate ourselves to hearing and following the Lord's call as our shepherd, we come to recognize it more and more clearly. Where ever we are in spiritual growth, may we turn to the Lord, acknowledging as best we can our need for His guidance. May we do our part to receive His life, His love and wisdom more and more within our lives. And from this we will become more and more useful human beings. All who our lives touch will be blessed by this growing ability, and we ourselves will grow in peace and happiness from a surer and surer sense of the Lord's presence guiding our lives. AMEN. Lessons: John 10:1-5, 7-16 Arcana Caelestia 9310:3, 2356:2 [In the verse from John] The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out (John 10:3) "the sheep" mean those who are in the good of charity and of faith; "to hear His voice" means to obey His commandments; "to call by name, and lead them out" means to impart heaven according to the quality of good of love and of faith in a person; for "the name," when applied to persons, means their quality as to love and faith. Arcana Caelestia 9310:3 In the Word, "to hear" is to be obedient; and "to hearken to anyone" is also to obey. For the interior things of a matter are sometimes thus contained within the expressions of a person's speech, for the reason that it is the spirit of a person that thinks and perceives the meaning of the expressions of speech, and this is in a certain communion with spirits and angels, who are in the first principles of the expressions. Moreover such is the circle of things in people, that whatever enters by the ear and eye, or by the hearing and sight, passes into their understanding, and through the understanding into their will, and from their will into act. Similarly, the truth of faith first becomes the truth of faith in memorized knowledge; afterwards it becomes the truth of faith in the will; and lastly it becomes the truth of faith in act, that is, it becomes charity. Arcana Caelestia 2356:2 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From info@newchurch-cincy.org Tue Jun 30 22:24:24 1998 From: info@newchurch-cincy.org (New Church Cincinnati) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 18:24:24 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Sermon Mailing Message-ID: <3.0.16.19980630180515.0bafc6f8@mail.one.net> _______________________________________________________ (c) 1998 by Patrick A. Rose Some of the formatting is lost when I convert to ASCII for emailing. Formatted versions are available on our web site: http://www.newchurch-cincy.org _______________________________________________________ For Cinti. 06-28-98 THE KEYS OF HELL A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hell and of Death." (Rev. 1:18) ONE DAY, LIFE IN THIS WORLD is going to come to an end. One day, each one of us is going to leave behind all our worldly possessions, and we are going to continue our lives in another world, in the spiritual world. And in that world, that spiritual world, we will remain forever and ever. This world is only temporary. The other world is permanent. Because of this, what will happen to us after we enter the other world is of fundamental importance. Are we going to go to heaven? Or are we going to go to hell? Where are we going to end up living forever and ever and ever? It is a scary thought -- perhaps even a terrifying thought -- to contemplate the possibility that we might live forever and ever in hell. Who is it that decides whether or not a person is going to go to hell? Who decides whether he will be allowed into heaven? Who is it that has the power to make that choice? For much of its history, the Christian Church claimed this power for itself. When the Lord was on earth, He had apparently given to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). People believed that the Lord had actually given to Peter the power to decide who would go to heaven and who would not go. Not only that, they believed that this power over the gates of heaven belonged also to the successors of Peter, the bishops of Rome, that is, to the popes. And so it is no wonder that the Christian church for so many years wielded such awesome power. To challenge the authority of the church meant risking nothing less than an eternity in hell. This monopoly over the souls of men would eventually be challenged during the sixteenth century by the Protestant Reformation. The concept that the church determines who will enter heaven was challenged by those who saw that there exists, in fact, a direct and immediate relationship between each individual man and His Creator. A person's soul will be judged, not by the church, but by God Himself. Now for many people, the thought of being judged directly by God Himself was still frightening. At that time, God was not necessarily seen as a loving God. He was, above all, a just God, and men, being sinful, deserved to go to hell. Fear of hell, fear of eternal damnation, continued to dominate the religious life of many Christians, even after the Reformation. Today, though, there are many people who have lost all fear of hell. A lot of people don't even believe in a hell. And, even if they accept the existence of hell, they cannot believe that God would ever let them stay in hell forever. God is a loving God, a God who will not let them suffer. They have the idea that if they live a life that is generally good, then they will not have to worry about their fate after death. The pendulum has in some ways swung from one extreme to the other -- from an inordinate fear of hell fire and eternal damnation -- to an almost arrogant smugness which assumes that there can't possibly be anything to be concerned about, that of course one is good enough to go to heaven. And much of organized religion goes along with this viewpoint. The role of religion is then simply to comfort people, to make them feel comfortable with remaining the way they are, perhaps just giving them a motivational boost to get through the following week. Hell is not a popular subject, and all too often what is popular rules the day. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that there is indeed a hell. Hell is real. It is a real state. Those that go to hell live there forever. Hell is not a place in which people are constantly tortured by physical fire. It is, though, a miserable and wretched state -- with no real peace, no happiness. We need to know this and remember this. And so this very serious question still stands. Where are we going to end up living forever and ever and ever? And who is going to decide where it is that we end up? Now all too often we make the mistake of thinking that in some way our eternal fate will be decided by the Lord. We talk about how we hope the Lord will let us into heaven. Or we hope that we won't be sent to hell for some evil we have committed. And there is indeed a sense in which it is the Lord who judges us after death. He, after all, is the one who raises people into heaven. And He is the one who keeps the devils of hell subjugated. And it is the Lord who provides that the true nature of people will come out after they die. But it is not the Lord who decides where we end up. As we all know, this is something we must decide for ourselves by the way we live here on earth. But, in this decision, the Lord Himself does most certainly play a fundamental role. He is the one who gives us the power to make the right decisions. He is the one who gives us the strength to turn away from evils, away from hell. In the first chapter of the Book of Revelation there is recorded a vision that John had of the Lord while he was on the Isle of Patmos. When John saw the Lord, he fell at His feet, but the Lord laid His right hand on him, and told him not to be afraid. "Do not be afraid," He said. "I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hell and of Death" (Rev. 1:17-18). The Lord had the keys of hell and of death. It might sound at first as if the Lord is speaking about the power to cast into hell. But, that is not what is meant. "The Lord never casts anyone into hell, but man casts himself" (AR 62). We read in Apocalypse Revealed that "by 'having the keys of hell and death,' is not meant the power of casting into hell, but the power of saving" (ibid.). The Lord does not only rule and govern heaven. He also rules and governs hell. This is what is meant by the keys of hell -- He has power over hell. And this is a matter of great importance, for if the Lord did not have power over hell, then He could not save us from hell. As it is also said in Apocalypse Revealed, "to be saved is to be brought out of hell" (ibid.). The Lord is our Savior because He saves us, or delivers us, from hell, from spiritual death. This is why the concept of hell is important. We shouldn't spend every day thinking depressing thoughts about the possibility of our going to hell. Neither should we lie awake at night, frightened for our eternal salvation. But still, we do need to acknowledge that there is a hell, and that we need saving from this hell. This is why we need the Lord, and need Him urgently. We need Him to save us. And the wonderful thing is, is that the Lord has the power to do this. The Lord has power over hell. He has the power to deliver us from damnation. He has the power to keep us safe from harm. As we read in Apocalypse Explained, "'And I have the keys of hell and of death,' signifies that He has the power to save" (AE 86). As we go through life, as we learn from the Word and then reflect upon ourselves and upon the kind of people we really are, most people, if they are wise, will come to see just how real the hells are. Deep within our hearts, deep within our minds, there lurk monstrous things, monstrous tendencies, which are very deadly, and very destructive. As we go through life and come to know ourselves more and more, we realize that hell is not simply a concept, but a reality, a reality that exists within ourselves. And this would be very depressing, indeed completely devastating, were it not for the power of the Lord. The Lord does not simply have power over hell in a general abstract way. He has power over that very hell we find within ourselves, within our own hearts, our own minds. The Lord is, quite simply, the key to our salvation. He is the key because He alone has the power to shut the gates of hell -- to remove from us the influx of evil spirits. Even though we might discover a great deal of evil within ourselves, and even though we ourselves will go to hell if we remain in this evil, still, this evil does not originate within ourselves. It flows in from the hells. And the fact that evil is something that flows in means two things. First of all, it means that if we do what is evil, if we give in to evil, if we think and will what is evil, then, as to our spirits we are surrounded by the evil spirits of hell (cf. AE 86). Second, it follows that when these evil spirits are removed from us, once their grip over our minds is loosed, we are then saved from them, and raised, as to our spirits, into the company of angels. As it is said in the Apocalypse Explained, "when the hells are removed man is saved, for in their place heaven and eternal life flows in; for the Lord is constantly present with man, and desires to fill him with heaven" (AE 86). All it takes for us to be saved, therefore, all it takes for us to be uplifted into heaven, is for the evil spirits of hell to be cast out of our minds. They need to be thrown out, and the door through which they came in needs to be shut and locked. This is what the Lord means when He says that He has the keys of hell and of death. He is the one with the power to cast the hells out of our minds, and to prevent them from returning. He is the one who has the power to bolt and secure the door. Primitive keys were generally wooden devices, with nails, which fit into corresponding holes on the wooden bolt to a door, holding the bolt in place. And the spiritual key that the Lord is talking about here is the power to shut the hells out of our minds so that they never return. The power to deliver us from evil, the power to save us, is, then, the Lord's alone. This power of salvation, the power of the keys, is not, though, something that the Lord uses without our cooperation. He gives us freedom. In fact, in a sense, He gives us the power of the keys for us to use for ourselves. In the Gospels, it was Simon Peter who given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And Simon Peter represents something within us, something we ourselves can use to close the hells and to open the heavens. Peter here represents what is called the truth of good (AE 9:2) or the truth of faith from the good of charity (LJ 57). Much of the trouble we experience as we walk the path of religion is the way in which evils seem to constantly harass us. We know that certain things are wrong, but we find that the desire to do these things recurs time and time again. This is because the truth of faith, what we know from our religion, is not sufficient by itself to cast evil out of our minds. It has to be the truth of good. Truth, we are taught, gets it power from good. "All power is from the good of love through truths" (AE 209:4). Now what this means in practice is this. Knowledge from the Word, by itself, is not sufficient to save us. It doesn't have the power to save us. Only the Lord has this power. And so, if the truth that we have is to save us, then the Lord Himself must be within this truth. And the Lord is present in truth only when there is love or charity within the truth. Suppose, for example, we learn the truth for selfish reasons -- because we think that it somehow makes us better and more important than others, or for some other such reason. There is no charity within such truth, and no genuine love, but only selfishness (cf. AC 4368:3). There is no power in truth such as this. All it is, is mere knowledge. Truth is powerful against evil only when there is love within it. When we learn the truth because it is the Lord's, when we learn truth because it teaches us how to follow the Lord, when we learn truth because it shows us how to serve others, then, within this truth, there is humility, and there is love. There is the desire to follow the Lord by living a life of charity. And when, within truth, there is this love of the Lord, and this love of charity, then the Lord Himself can be present, present with the greatest power. As is said in the Writings, "truth from good, which is from the Lord, has all power, thus the Lord has all power from good through truth" (AE 9:2). When we learn the truth for the right reason, when we learn it so that we can obey the Lord and so that we can live a life of good, then this truth is the truth of good. And this truth has from the Lord greater power than we could ever imagine. In the other world this is the very source of the power exercised by the angels. It is said that just one angel is able to restrain a thousand evil spirits all at once (AC 6344:4.). This is something the angels do especially when they are with people in this world, defending them from harm in countless ways. And they have this power against the hells, we are told, "by means of the truth that is of faith from the good that is of charity" (AC 6344:5). Because such a faith is from the Lord, the Lord Himself is present with the power to protect the angels from all the evil of hell. Just imagine such a faith, a faith with the power to restrain thousands of evil spirits all at once, a faith so powerful that the evil spirits do not dare come near (cf. TCR 87). This is the faith that keeps the hells at bay. This is the faith that delivers a man from hell, and keeps him safe from harm. This is the faith that can save us. And this is the faith that the Lord offers us. All we need to do is turn to Him, turn to Him with all our hearts, and follow Him in faith and life, and He will deliver us from the hells. All too often people think that they can somehow save themselves. They think that all they need to do is live a good life, and they will go to heaven. Certainly people have to live good lives. But they also need the Lord (cf. AE 209:2). They need to turn to Him for the strength to obey His commandments. Before the Lord told John that He had the keys of hell and of death, He first said something else. He said, "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore" (Rev. 1:18). He said that He had been dead. It sounds as if He is referring to His crucifixion. But, in the Apocalypse Revealed, it is said that what the Lord was referring to was the fact that "the Lord is neglected in the church, and His Human not acknowledged as Divine" (AR 269). The Lord was describing the way in which the Christian Church would come to reject the Divinity of His Human Essence (cf. AE 315:1). And when people don't know that the Lord Jesus Christ is completely and totally Divine, when they don't know that He is the one and only God, then they don't fully understand who He is. They can't turn to Him, completely and totally, with their hearts and minds. And yet the Lord, in our text, declares that He is "alive forevermore." He is the source of eternal life (AR 60, AE 84). He is the source of all salvation. This is why we need to turn to Him, and worship Him, as our Savior and as our God. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our God, when we pray to Him, and follow Him, then He is with us. He is with us with great power. There is, then, no need to fear the hells. There is no need to be enslaved by evil. The Lord has power over hell. The Lord has power over evil. The Lord has the power to save us, and to keep us safe from harm, forever and ever. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and our God. Amen. AND NOW TO THE ONE ONLY GOD, JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. Lessons: Mt. 16:13-20 Rev. 1:9-18 AR 62 ___________________________ New Church Cincinnati Pastor: Rev. Patrick A. Rose info@newchurch-cincy.org From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jul 6 14:37:10 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 10:37:10 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Laying Down One's Life for Friends Message-ID: <199807061037_MC2-524D-C1AC@compuserve.com> Laying Down One's Life for Friends A Sermon for the Day after the United States Independence Day By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell July 5, 1998 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. (John 15:13) There are many sacrifices that a person can make in life. We have just celebrated Independence Day. It is a commemoration of a day when a group of men signed a document that began the United States as a country. Signing this document was no small commitment. A portion of it states the stakes to which the men were committing themselves, their families, and many others. It reads: And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. (Declaration of Independence) They believed that the cause of independence was one worth risking their lives, their wealth, and their reputations. There have been many other times that people have sensed that a similar commitment was demanded. In calling for a declaration of war that brought America into WWI, Woodrow Wilson stated: It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts^?for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything we are and everything that we have . . . (Address to Congress, April 2, 1917) People's love for their country, for the principles and possibilities it has and continues to provide has prompted them to be willing to make great sacrifices for its welfare and for the good it seeks to support. The ultimate sacrifice often is thought to be a person's willingness to risk death to defend his country, the welfare of people of other countries, and a belief in international order. Concerning love of country the True Christian Religion states the following: One's country is more a neighbor than a single community, because it consists of many communities, and consequently love towards the country is a broader and higher love. Moreover, loving one's country is loving the public welfare. One's country is the neighbor, because it is like a parent; for one is born in it, and it has nourished him and continues to nourish him, and has protected and continues to protect him from injury. People ought to do good to their country from a love for it, according to its needs, some of which are natural and some spiritual. Natural needs relate to civil life and order, and spiritual needs to spiritual life and order. That one's country should be loved, not as one loves himself, but more than himself, is a law inscribed on the human heart; from which has come the well-known principle, which every true man endorses, that if the country is threatened with ruin from an enemy or any other source, it is noble to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it. This is said because so great should be one's love for it. It should be known that those who love their country and render good service to it from good will, after death love the Lord's kingdom, for then that is their country; and those who love the Lord's kingdom love the Lord Himself, because the Lord is the all in all things of His kingdom. (True Christian Religion 414) Many soldiers have reflected on the risk and potential sacrifice that they face before going into battle. They have been aware of what their death would mean to loved ones: to parents, to wife, to children. Facing this risk requires dedication, courage, and commitment. Sometimes death strikes a soldier out of the blue. Other times, the soldier makes the ultimate sacrifice from a moment of deciding to help fellow soldiers who are in danger. A person's willingness to give up his life in war may be properly called the ultimate sacrifice, but it isn't necessarily the hardest one to make. We can be thankful that few of us or our children have been faced with the risk of battle. We hopefully won't face situations in which our natural lives may be put at risk for sake of others. But we all face a potentially harder challenge. We are all called to lay down our lives for our friends. We are called to live better, more loving, more useful lives than comes naturally to us. Over and over again we are called to lay down seconds, minutes, and hours of our time for the sake of others. We are called to give up financial resources that we could easily spend ourselves. We are called to risk the displeasure and criticism of others who do not appreciate the values we try to live and encourage in the world around us. For example, we know that the long-term welfare of this country is highly dependent on the values, ability, and commitment of each upcoming generation. These future adults will not turn out morally and spiritually healthy, as truly useful people without the effort and sacrifice of many. This effort and sacrifice isn't a matter of a single significant choice. For parents it requires countless choices day-in and day-out. Over and over again they are called to lay down their life for their children. It costs them time, energy, money, and a willingness to face a child's displeasure at rules and expectations. If parents are not willing to do these things their child is more likely to be a danger or parasite on others than a benefit to them. The Lord told His disciples, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13) His words are a call for willing sacrifice, but not willing sacrifice to all requests. The Lord did not intend them to be a call to give of oneself to support unhealthy, destructive, and evil goals and purposes. We know perfectly well that there are many people in this world who would ask things of us, sometimes pleading, sometimes demanding, that would be terribly hurtful for us and in reality for them. We know that anyone around us, even loved ones, are not perfect and so too can have expectations, hopes, requests of us that are not the requests of a true friend. For example, sadly, many a soldier going off to war has requested of his girlfriend that since he was willing to make the sacrifice of his life for his country couldn't she provide the sexual favors he desired. Which would be the greater sacrifice for the girl giving in, or not giving in? What would be truly wise and loving for them both? The Lord calls us to love one another as He loves us. He calls us to a life of willing service to others in ways that serves both their immediate and long-term welfare. In the highest sense He calls us to lay down our natural lives, so marred with false ideas and evil inclinations, to serve Him. He told His disciples: Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" and immediately followed it with these words: "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you." (John 15:13-14) While people in this world may make slightly inappropriate to horrendously evil requests calling us to sacrifice to meet them, the Lord always requests of us things that serve our welfare now and to eternity. He is the Friend to whom we should be most attentive. His will, His commands, His call should have no be in competition with any other force within our mind. Of course it is. We have many thoughts and motivations that would seek claim of superior need and right over what the Lord's will. These thoughts and motivations come so naturally to us they feel like our own. They feel like they are the sole likely source of happiness and contentment. Not gratifying them seems like a great sacrifice. But they actually have no ability to give lasting happiness and peace. These false thoughts and evil motives are not from our spiritual friends, but our spiritual enemies. Giving in to them is sacrificing for the sake of the evil spirits of hell. It is spiritual death. The Lord calls us to lay down our lives for Him, to lay down the life that comes from our natural inclinations to evil. He promises us a far better life in return. Receiving heavenly life requires us to be willing to commit our time, energy, resources, even our private thought to serve what is genuinely good and true. It requires us to be willing to be the enemy of evil spirits from hell and all on this earth who are being influenced by them. It requires us to be willing to take their manipulations, and even open attacks on our reputation and sense of favor in public eyes. In many ways it would be far more preferable if we could face this conflict like a single battle or a few years of warfare in our lives. It could then be over and done with. But receiving spiritual life requires commitment and effort on a daily, even moment to moment basis. It requires us to lay down our lives over and over again. May we trust in the Lord's love and wisdom. May we trust in His Friendship. Each day we can grow in understanding the wise and truly loving sacrifices He calls us to make. May we believe that it isn't loss and deprivation that He is leading us to, but rather great joy, fulfillment, and peace. AMEN. Lessons: John 15:9-14 There are many passages in the Word where "deeds" and "doing" are mentioned. There are also very many where "love" and "loving" are mentioned; and "loving" means the same thing as "doing," since a person who loves does, for to love is to will, since everyone wills what they interiorly love; and to will is to do, since everyone does that which they will when they are able. Furthermore, what people do is nothing but their will in act. The Lord teaches about love in many passages (Matt. 5:43-48; 7:12; Luke 6:27-39, 43-49; 7:36-50; John 13:34, 35; 14:14-23; 15:9-19; 17:22-26; 21:15-23), and in brief in these words:- You shall love the Lord you God with your whole heart and from your whole soul; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like it, You shalt love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:35-38, 40; Luke 10:27, 28; Deut. 6:5). "To love God above all things, and the neighbor as oneself," is to do His commandments (John 14:21-24); and "the law and the prophets" signify the Word in all things and in every particular. From all these passages cited from the Word it is fully evident that it is not faith separated from good works that saves, but faith from good works and with them. For they who do good works have faith, but they who do them not have no faith. Apocalypse Explained 785:6 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Jul 27 14:18:41 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 10:18:41 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Living in an Imperfect World Message-ID: <199807271018_MC2-5449-836D@compuserve.com> Living in an Imperfect World By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell July 26, 1998 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters; that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. (Jeremiah 29:4-7) When Jeremiah sent this words in the name of the Lord to the people of Jerusalem and Judea they were far from their homes. They were living in exile in Babylon with little idea of how or when they might be able to return to the promised land. They had been taught from childhood that the only place where they could worship the Lord was in the temple in Jerusalem. They had been raised with the idea that they were a special people, set apart by God, and the focus of their lives had strongly tended to be on themselves and their own welfare. Now they were cast adrift from this focus. They were in an alien land among alien people. What were they to do? How were they to live? Unlike so many of Jeremiah's tirades against their evils before this time, he sends them words of comfort and hope. He tells them to go about living their lives where they are in Babylon. He tells them even to seek the welfare of the cities in which they now inhabit so far, far from home. The Writings of the New Church teach that the seventy years when the Jews were held captive in Babylon represents a state of temptation. (Arcana Caelestia 755:3) It represents a time that comes over and over again to anyone who is on a path to heaven. Concerning these temptations we are told: There are evil spirits who at [the time of temptation] activate a person's false ideas and evil loves. Indeed they draw out of his memory whatever he has thought and carried out since early childhood. Evil spirits can do this so cleverly and wickedly as to defy description. But the angels who are with the person draw out his good loves and true ideas, and in this way defend him. This conflict is what the person feels and perceives in himself and is what causes the sting and torment of conscience. (Arcana Caelestia 751:2) A state of temptation isn't one during which a person is comfortably doing evil and denying it. It isn't one of spiritual sleepiness or sloth. During temptation people know that there are profoundly evil and false qualities within their motivations and ideas. They know it because they experience the conflict between good and evil within their thoughts and inclinations. When Jeremiah spoke to the Jews prior to the captivity he exhorted them to do better. He called them to open their eyes to their transgressions of the Lord's commandments. But few if any heard. They justified their lives. They felt smug in their righteousness. They apparently believed that they would be miraculously saved from the impending doom that prophets of God had so long called them to beware of. There are times when we can benefit from the exhortation to wake up. We can benefit from powerful reminders of that unless we are spiritual reborn we will never see the kingdom of God. There are times when the Lord comes to our mind with the words and tone of an Old Testament prophet denouncing our iniquities and transgressions, forewarning us of the terrible consequences that have brought and will bring to our lives, to the goals we seek, to our loved ones. But this is not the voice we most need to hear when we are clearly aware of these consequences and even sense some of their results. Jeremiah sent word to the Jews in Babylon that clearly counseled them that they should not withdraw from life. They were not to sink into abject discouragement and inactivity because of where they found themselves. Life was to go on. Jeremiah told them: "Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit." (Jeremiah 29:5) Concerning these words we read in the Writings of the New Church: "To build houses and to inhabit them" signifies to fill the interiors of the mind with the goods of heaven and the church, and thereby to enjoy heavenly life, "houses" signifying the interiors of the mind, and "to inhabit" heavenly life from these interiors. "To plant vineyards and to eat the fruit of them" signifies to enrich themselves with spiritual truths, and to appropriate to themselves good [thoughts and actions] from these truths; "vineyards" mean spiritual truths, "fruits" good things coming from them; and "to eat" to receive, perceive, and appropriate to themselves, for every good is appropriated to a person by means of truths, that is, by a life according to them. (Apocalypse Explained 617:12) Even in a setting that would have felt alien, they were to go about daily life. So too people who are in temptations, and so are aware of the faults and failings that mar their lives, are not to just wait till these things are taken away before they go forward. It is not a perfect world. We are not perfect, nor will we ever be. But in spite of imperfections, the Lord calls us to "build houses" and to "plant gardens." Each day He brings us opportunities to make the values of heaven the ones we will live by. He brings us opportunities to live according to what He teaches. Even when our best efforts seem flawed, the Lord calls us to do what we can, where we are now in our spiritual development. Jeremiah told the people: "Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters; that you may be increased there, and not diminished." I'm sure we've all heard people expressing the idea, "I'm not sure that I would want to bring a child into this world given what a mess it is." Again, when we see how far from perfect things are within our capabilities to care about, think, and do what is good and right, we can be waylaid by a feeling of "What is the use of even trying." But the Lord would have us know that He can bless sincere, but apparently feeble and flawed efforts beyond our belief. He would have us do what we can, because this is the only way He can freely lead us to heavenly life. Jeremiah told the people in Babylon: "[S]eek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace." (Jeremiah 29:7) A city represents the quality of the church with a person and the quality of their understanding of what the Lord teaches. Our lives are imperfect and our understandings are imperfect. But the Lord calls us to seek to bring a heavenly quality to our lives with His help. This is the source of true peace. It is the quality that can help us be content with our lot and still striving to become better human beings. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord told the people: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11) It is the Lord's very strong desire that we should experience the happiness of heaven. He wishes evil to no one. As He looks at us all of His perfect and complete love, wisdom, and power are focused on how to bring us a heavenly future and a true hope. We are told the following about the Lord's government of our lives: God continually withdraws people from evils so far as they are willing from freedom to be withdrawn. So far as people can be withdrawn from evil, God leads them to good and thus to heaven. But so far as people cannot be withdrawn from evils God cannot lead them to good and thus to heaven; for so far as people have been withdrawn from evils so far they, from God, do good that is in itself good, but so far as they have not been withdrawn from evils so far these people from themselves do good that has evil within it. (Apocalypse Explained 1136:8) The Lord knows our imperfections far better than we ourselves know them. He doesn't call us to already be something we are not. He calls us to learn from Him and with His help to grow spiritually. He calls us to day-by-day become better human beings. He calls us to have open eyes each day to see the battles we need to fight and the good things we are capable of doing. The Lord told the people in Babylon: Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. (Jeremiah 29:12-14) May we likewise search for the Lord, His order, His compassion, with all our hearts. May we be sure that we cannot sincerely search in vain. We will find the Lord. He will lead us from where we are, in the spiritual captivity of imperfect loves and flawed ideas, to the heavenly life He envisions for us. May we truly trust that His plans for us are plans of peace and of hope. AMEN. Lessons: Jeremiah 29:4-14 . . . it may be asked why every person is not saved. People who conclude that every one is saved, or that individuals are not to be blamed if they are not, are ignorant of the laws of Divine order respecting a person's reformation, regeneration, and consequent salvation. The laws of that order are called laws of the Divine providence These the natural mind cannot know unless it is enlightened. And as people do not know them, and consequently forms conclusions respecting the Divine providence from what happens in the world, by which they fall into misconceptions and thus into errors, from which it is difficult for them afterwards to extricate themselves, therefore these laws shall be disclosed. But before these are disclosed, it is important to make known that the Divine providence operates every particular thing pertaining to an individual, and even in the most minute particulars, for that person's eternal salvation; for the salvation of each individual was the end of the creation of heaven and of earth. This end was that out of the human race a heaven might be formed, in which God could dwell as in His own very home, consequently the salvation of each person is the all in all of the Divine providence. But the Divine providence proceeds so secretly that people can see scarcely a trace of it, and yet it is active in the most minute particulars relating to them from infancy to old age in the world, and afterwards to eternity, and in each one of these it is the eternal that is regarded. As the Divine wisdom is in itself nothing but an end, so providence acts from an end, in an end, and to an end. The end is that a person may become wisdom and may become love, and thus a dwelling place and an image of the Divine life. However the natural mind, unless it is enlightened, is unable to comprehend why the Divine providence, which works solely for each person's salvation, and works in the most minute things of the progress of that person's life, does not lead all to heaven, when it desires from love to so lead them, and is omnipotent. Apocalypse Explained 1135: 3-4 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. ___________________________________ from Eric Carswell Glenview, IL USA Internet: EHCarswell@compuserve.com From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Sep 13 18:35:32 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 14:35:32 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Corresponding with God," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199809131842.OAA08176@mail-out-1.tiac.net> Corresponding with God By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 13, 1998 Readings Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; Night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language; Their voice is not heard. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, Their words to the ends of the world. Matthew 5:13-20 Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is fulfilled. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Arcana Coelestia #9407.1, 9047.4 Correspondences The Bible is divine truth emanating from the Lord. In its origin it is divine, but as it passes through the heavens, it is heavenly in the inmost heaven, spiritual in the second or middle heaven, spiritual-natural in the first or lowest heaven, and worldly and material in the world. This last is what it is like in the literal meaning, which is intended for people here. From this we can see that the literal meaning, which is the lowest in order, contains a spiritual and a heavenly level of meaning, and inmostly the divine himself. These inner levels are contained in the lowest, or literal, sense and are seen by those who understand the Bible in a spiritual way.... Human learning in the earliest times, which were called the Golden and Silver Ages, consisted in speaking and writing in a style in which they paid no attention to the literal meaning except to enable hidden wisdom to shine through it. This becomes perfectly clear from the most ancient books, including those by Gentile authors, as well as from fragments in their languages. For their knowledge was primarily the knowledge of correspondences and representations, which are among the forms of knowledge that have been lost in the present day. Sermon The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. (Psalm 19:1, 2) Good morning everyone, and welcome to our first service of the regular church year! I can hardly believe that I am starting my third year with you as pastor here in Bridgewater. Still, coming here is like coming home. This church is where I came of age as a Swedenborgian back when I was a teenager; I have many good memories connected with this church, and especially the _people_ of this church. As I was getting ready for this church year, I spent a lot of time with pastors and members of some of the other churches in town planning the Invite A Friend church growth project that we are participating in along with other churches in Bridgewater. One particular conversation with another pastor has stuck in my mind, because it reminded me once again of one of the ways our church is special. We were discussing one sentence in the Invite A Friend flyer that we are designing. That sentence reads, "We all need community, a sense of meaning, opportunities for growth." And she remarked that in her church, most of the people seem to come for the community. I replied that our church probably attracts people for the _sense of meaning_ first. Perhaps that is one of the reasons we remain small. We do have a warm and loving community in this church, and I think it is one of the strengths we can build on. But it is a _small_ community compared to some of the other churches, and those who simply want a strong sense of belonging and community are more likely to pick another church where there are more people to be in community with. And yet, our church--the Swedenborgian Church as a whole--has always had something special that continues to draw a steady trickle of people to us, sometimes from other churches and sometimes from being unchurched. What we cannot offer in terms of a large community of faith, we make up for in the depth of meaning in our teachings--teachings that address the deepest of human questions and concerns in a thorough and satisfying way that no other church can match. From time to time, people do drift away from our church to other larger and more active churches. But some of them come back--and one of the reasons they give is that they simply have not found the depth of insight in other churches that they have found here. I am not saying we are _better_ than other churches. Churches are different because they serve the needs of different kinds of people. I _am_ saying that we have something special of our own to offer, and that is our reason for existing as a church. People have always been drawn to the Swedenborgian Church because of the depth and clarity of our teachings. This morning I would like to focus on just one aspect of those teachings that is unique to our church. It is sparked by the new name of our church newsletter: _The Correspondent_. It is not unusual for a newspaper or periodical to use the word "correspondent" in its name. The dictionary lists several meanings of "correspondent" most of them having to do with writing letters or supplying news and articles to newspapers and magazines. So our newsletter's new name--_The Correspondent_--will make sense to anyone who sees it, whether they are Swedenborgian or not. It is a "letter" bringing its readers news and information about our church. Yet we as Swedenborgians see a deeper meaning in the name _The Correspondent_. It is closely related to the final meaning of "correspondent" given in the dictionary: "A thing that corresponds; a correlative." For us, the name refers also to Swedenborg's teachings about "correspondences" in the Bible (which can be seen as a very long "letter" bringing news to us from God), in the world of nature, in the human body--basically, in _everything_ that exists. Just as we see a deeper meaning in our newsletter's name, the name itself points to deeper meanings in everything we encounter here on earth. What is this idea of "correspondences"? In our reading from _Arcana Coelestia_, Swedenborg explains this idea as it relates to the Bible. The Bible, he says, is divine truth from the Lord. And yet, it is divine truth that has gone through many levels on its way to the words that we have printed on the pages of our Bibles. Divine truth as it exists in the core of God's being is not in the form of words and sentences--still less of patterns of ink on a page. In the Lord's being, truth is a _living_ thing; it is the shape and form and direction taken by the Lord's divine love, which is the substance and source of all being. This infinite level of truth is far beyond our finite ability to grasp. But the Lord does not leave us in the dark. The Lord sends that truth downward through many levels of heaven, and finally puts it into words an stories and teachings that we human beings here on earth can understand and appreciate. They are stories about human events; stories about nature; stories about people and places; memorable stories such as the Parable of the Sower that stick in our mind. And yet, as with the Parable of the Sower, those stories have deeper meanings within. We _could_ read that particular story in a very literal way--as the story of a person going out and planting some seeds, some of which grow well and some of which don't, depending on what kind of soil they happen to fall on. It is not a bad story even on that level--especially if you happen to be planting a garden! But the powerful light of this story really starts to shine through when we look deeper. When we see ground as our own minds and the seed as the Lord's truth looking for a fertile place to grow. Will we be hard, rocky, thorny soil? Or will we be good soil bringing forth fruit of loving kindness toward our fellow human beings? This same type of deeper meaning, Swedenborg says, exists throughout the entire Bible. And this, we believe, is what Jesus was referring to when he said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is fulfilled. (Matt. 5:17, 18) Many Christians do not quite know what to do with large parts of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament where there are detailed ritual laws, accounts of battles and wars, strange prophecies that sometimes don't make much sense at all. Yet through correspondences, we can see that, looked at more deeply, those ritual laws have a lot to say about all the little rituals we go through each day without thinking about them--how can we serve the Lord through every little thing we do day by day? Those battles and wars, at a deeper level, are all about the battles we fight within ourselves: our struggles against bad habits and addictions; our temptations to give up and give in to things we know are not right; our discouragements and depressions; all of these and more are spoken of in the wars of the Bible. Even the strange and incomprehensible prophecies yield up meaning if we look for the spirit within rather than getting stuck on the literal flow of the words. These correspondences--these signposts bearing deeper, spiritual meaning--are not confined to the Bible. The Psalmist says, in the words of our text, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." Yes, the same divine and spiritual meanings that shine through the literal meaning of the Bible for those whose eyes are opened to them also shine through the world of nature. The very skies pour forth speech and display knowledge night and day to those who are looking for this deeper treasure. I remember one summer when I was in my late teens, and was visiting my brother in upstate New York. It was one of those days that could hardly be more perfect: a beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds here and there; a nice breeze swishing through the tall grass of the field where I was just lying on my back with nothing to do but enjoy the sun and the breeze as I watched the clouds go by. And as I watched those clouds go by, the words of this Psalm became very real to me, even though I wasn't thinking of them at the time. I seemed to feel that the sun shining on my body and on the earth all around me was not just photons, but was an actual expression of the Lord's love shining on each one of us, and on the whole world, warming us from the inside out. And since I knew something about correspondences, as I watched the clouds go by, I could sense how, when they obscured the sun, giving a bit of a break from those rays that could become too hot if they shone continuously, the clouds did become a living image of the way the Lord adapts pure and infinite divine truth to our finite level through stories in the Bible that we can understand, and through the plants and animals, the rocks and trees, in the world of nature around us. As these thoughts went through my head, the bright border around those clouds spoke to me of the Lord's presence in all the events of our lives, shining around the edges of all our experience if we will only lift our eyes upward and look for it. Yes, whether we are reading the Bible or going about our daily lives, the Lord has given us the privilege and the joy of _everywhere_ beholding the face of God. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: The New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Sep 20 19:06:55 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 15:06:55 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "The Parable of the Potter," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199809201932.PAA04440@mail-out-1.tiac.net> The Parable of the Potter By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 20, 1998 Readings Jeremiah 18:1-11. The Parable of the Potter This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. "Therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'The Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.'" Mark 7:1, 2, 5-8, 14-23. Clean and unclean The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were unclean, that is, unwashed.... So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with unclean hands?" He replied, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching human precepts as doctrine.' You abandon the commands of God and hold to human traditions."... Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can cause uncleanness by going in; the things that come out are what cause uncleanness." Let anyone with ears to hear listen. After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Do you also fail to understand?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can make the person unclean? For it does not go into the heart but into the stomach, and then out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on, "What comes out of a person is what causes uncleanness. For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside, and make a person unclean." The Heavenly City #159-161. Recognizing and regretting our faults If we want to be set free, we have to recognize our faults and regret them. We recognize our faults when we learn what sorts of things are wrong, see them in ourselves, admit them, take responsibility for them, and criticize ourselves for them. When we do this in front of God, we are recognizing our faults. We regret our faults when, once we have admitted them and asked with a humble heart for help in giving them up, we stop acting on them and start living a new life in harmony with the rules of kindness and faith. Sermon Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6) This morning we have several reasons to celebrate. Our Sunday School has started up again for the year. It is wonderful to see the children gathering together to worship and learn about the Lord and the Bible while enjoying each other's company. In honor of the start of our Sunday School, we are using the same Bible story for our theme in church today as we did in Sunday School: Jeremiah's Parable of the Potter. We also have several exciting projects and possibilities opening up for our church at the beginning of our church year. Those of you who can stay for the Church Committee meeting will hear more about them. The Invite A Friend program that we are participating in with other churches in Bridgewater is one of these, but not the only one! Another _big_ reason to celebrate is now sitting in our parking lot. (And I mean that "big" very literally!) The steel structure for our belfry has arrived, and structure for the lower part of our steeple's cone should arrive this week. The belfry section was delivered on Friday. It came on a big flatbed truck--in fact, it was delayed because the first truck they sent to carry it was not big enough! As Larry and I and some of our neighbors watched, a crew of six or eight workers hoisted the structure off the truck with a small crane, tipped it from its side to an upright position, and placed it on the temporary base that had been set up for it in the parking lot. There, it will be transformed from a steel skeleton into our beautiful and familiar belfry, while the lower part of the cone goes through a similar transformation next to it. (The upper part of the cone, constructed of fiberglass, is already nearly complete.) What does this have to do with the Parable of the Potter? While we were waiting for the belfry structure to arrive, and after it had been placed on its temporary foundation, Larry and I were talking with the workers. The conversation went here and there, but naturally a lot of it was about construction. At one point, the welder who runs the shop that is fabricating the steel structure for our steeple was talking about the process he goes through to put something like this together. The structure for the belfry weighs over seven thousand pounds; one of the partially assembled pieces can weigh five hundred pounds or more. So, he was telling us, you can't just pick up those pieces and carry them across the shop. You have to use forklifts and hoists to move and place them. It is a time-consuming process. Then he mentioned something that can _really_ slow things down. If any of the pieces are not quite right, when the crew gets all the pieces together to assemble them, they won't fit together properly. So on top of what could be several hours to get them all moved into place, the crew has to take the pieces apart again and make the changes and adjustments needed so that they fit just right and the structure will be true to the specifications. These days, our economy doesn't call for a lot of potters. Pottery is still beautiful and useful, but we have many other materials and processes to make the dishes and containers we use day in and day out. Where would this leave a modern day Jeremiah? If he were prophesying today, perhaps our Bible reading would go this way: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Go down to the welder's shop, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the welder's shop, and I saw the crew working with their arc welders. But the belfry they were shaping from the steel did not fit together the first time; so the crew made the necessary modifications to the pieces, forming the belfry according to the structural drawings. You see, as we watched those workers going about their work, and listened to them talking about the process they go through in shaping our steeple into the beautiful structure that it will once again be, I realized that Jeremiah's Parable of the Potter was being re-enacted right here in southeastern Massachusetts in the year 1998! It has been over 2,500 years--several eons from a human perspective--since the Lord sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to show him a living parable. In that long stretch of time, nations and empires have come and gone. There have been wars and rumors of wars; nation has risen up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there have been famines and earthquakes in various places. Over those eons, the human actors in this parable of life have changed; the technology has also changed. But the spiritual message is timeless. The infinite, unchanging Lord of the universe still brings us the same message through the stories of our day as he brought to the ancient Jews through the experience of the prophet Jeremiah. For although many things have changed, the human heart still faces many of the same issues that it did 2,500 years ago. _We_ are the clay that is being shaped in the hands of the Lord. Or, to use our modern metaphor, we are the steeple--the church--that is being formed by the hands of the welders and carpenters, the electricians and telephone engineers. We have been designed by the Lord to be sacred vessels; our divinely drafted structural drawings call for each of us to be a temple built to the glory of God and for service to our fellow human beings. Yet the temple that the Lord is building us into rarely comes out right the first time. Each one of us, if we are honest with ourselves, will find that Jeremiah was speaking about _us_ when he said that the vessel was marred in the Potter's hands. The clay that symbolizes our emotions, our desires, our loves--those basic human elements that form the substance of our lives--that clay is found to be marred in us. As we discover our own areas of thoughtlessness and prejudice, the steel pieces that symbolize the principles and beliefs by which we structure our lives are found not to fit together properly. Often we do not act from overflowing love for God and for our fellow human beings; we act from other, less noble motives. Jesus dragged these motives right out into the light of day, refusing to water them down and make them more palatable to us. In our Gospel reading he said: What comes out of a person is what causes uncleanness. For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside, and make a person unclean. (Mark 7:21-23) We do not like to see these human evils within ourselves. Yet if we are honest, we _will_ find them--as much as we might prefer to call them by other, more "socially acceptable" names. Our daily headlines bring us the story of one powerful man who allowed some of these evils to come out of his heart and into his life, and is now facing the consequences of his actions. It is easy for us to sit back and point fingers at politicians and public figures, at neighbors and even friends and family members, and point out how the evils Jesus mentioned have come out of their hearts and made them unclean. It is _so much harder_ to point that finger at ourselves, and admit to the ways in which, yes, _we_ have allowed selfish and greedy desires to flow out of our hearts and cause the vessel of our selves--the structure of our lives--to be marred and misshapen under the divine Potter's (or Welder's) hands. When we break civil and criminal laws, we face legal penalties for our actions. But in the Parable of the Potter, the Lord does not speak to us of penalties and punishments. Instead, the Lord speaks to us of _change_ and _renewal_. When the vessel in the potter's hands is found to be marred, the potter does not throw the clay in the trash, but reshapes it into a new vessel. When structural steel pieces are found not to fit together quite right, they are not thrown away, but re-machined and re-welded to the right fit. If they are so far off that they have been rendered unusable for that particular project, the steel is reused or recycled into something else. In the same way, when we have discovered that we are marred vessels--when we have discovered that we are temples whose structure does not fit together quite right--the Lord has no interest in consigning us to hell, but in helping us to re-form ourselves into useful vessels and beautiful temples. This does not happen all at once; rather, it is a process. Emanuel Swedenborg describes this process very compactly in one of my favorite passages, which we read earlier: If we want to be set free, we have to recognize our faults and regret them. We recognize our faults when we learn what sorts of things are wrong, see them in ourselves, admit them, take responsibility for them, and criticize ourselves for them. When we do this in front of God, we are recognizing our faults. We regret our faults when, once we have admitted them and asked with a humble heart for help in giving them up, we stop acting on them and start living a new life in harmony with the rules of kindness and faith. (_The Heavenly City_ #159-161) If we are willing to go through this process: to recognize our faults, admit them, take responsibility for them, and ask with a humble heart for help in giving them up, then the Lord will help us to start living a new life in harmony with the rules of kindness and faith. Whatever thoughtless habits and selfish desires may be marring our lives right now, the divine Potter is ready and willing to re-shape us into beautiful vessels of love, wisdom, and useful service--into a beautiful temple whose spire once again reaches upward toward God. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Sep 28 13:35:23 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:35:23 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "A Present Help in Trouble," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199809281407.KAA02993@mail-out-3.tiac.net> A Present Help in Trouble By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 27, 1998 Readings: 2 Samuel 22:1-7: Song of deliverance David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-- From violence you save me. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, And I am saved from my enemies. The waves of death swirled about me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. >From his temple he heard my voice; My cry came to his ears. Matthew 14:22-33: Walking on water Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it is you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." Arcana Coelestia #8567: Despair and comfort Spiritual struggles [or temptations] consist of constantly recurring feelings of despair about whether we can be saved. At first these feelings are mild; but as time goes on they weigh heavily on us, until finally we doubt and almost deny God's presence and the possibility that God will help us. When we experience inner struggles, our spiritual life is usually brought to these dire straits, since in this way our materialistic life is snuffed out. For when we are in the throes of despair, the Lord keeps the deepest parts of us actively engaged in the fight against false ideas. Because of this, our despair is dispelled soon afterwards by the comfort that the Lord then gives us. All spiritual struggles are followed by comfort and the renewal of our life. Responsive Reading: Psalm 46 Sermon: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) A preacher's job, it has been said, is to comfort the afflicted . . . and afflict the comfortable. In this church, we do a fair amount of afflicting the comfortable. The First Order of Service, which we follow on most Sundays, is a service of repentance--of recognizing our faults, our shortcomings, our misbehaviors (our "sins" in traditional religious language), and pledging to overcome them with the Lord's help. In other words, our First Order of Service is one designed to afflict us and prod us toward personal reformation, lest we become too comfortable with the way we are right now. And as Patty has pointed out to me more than once, the evils of selfishness and materialism take a beating quite often in my sermons! The fact is, by material standards, most of us _are_ quite comfortable. Oh, we may struggle with the bills each month; we do not consider ourselves wealthy. Sometimes we have a severe financial crunch and have to give up things that we have become accustomed to. But few of us have experienced real, ongoing hunger or homelessness--and if we have, it was probably many decades ago. We have grown used to having food on the table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs. This is a good thing! I am not among those who believe that as a rule, poverty is good for the soul. Perhaps in some cases a bout with poverty may help to humble us and focus us on what is really important in life. But I do not believe that God intends us to endure grinding poverty and a constant struggle just to keep body and soul together. Poverty, I believe, is a _human_ invention, brought about by our unwillingness as individuals, as a society, and as a race, to consider the rights and the needs of others to be just as important as our rights and our own needs. If the Golden Rule were in force, there would be no poverty. Most of us have managed to eliminate poverty from our own lives, thanks partly to the fact that we live in a wealthy and largely law-abiding nation, and partly to an awful lot of hard work! We do have our material worries, but compared to hundreds of millions of people in our world who really do experience poverty as the regular circumstance of their lives, we are relatively secure in our material circumstances. It is easy to get complacent in that security. It is easy to lose sight of the deeper dimensions of life--to "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isaiah 22:13). But the Lord has created this universe in such a way that our complacency is usually shattered by circumstances. Just when we think our life is in pretty good shape, we experience a setback or a shattering blow. We lose our job; we lose our best friend, our partner, our spouse; serious illness strikes; we are injured in an accident; a relationship we had counted on disintegrates. These blows may be _caused_ by our complacency--as when we take a relationship so much for granted that it dies for lack of attention. Or they may be the result of larger forces. We may also experience the deeper, _spiritual_ struggles that Swedenborg speaks of. We may have a continual sense of despair about our own worth as a person--which is another way of saying we may despair of whether we can ever be "saved," in Christian terms. Along with this despair, there is often a sense that God is absent; that we are all alone in our struggles. Our very faith in the existence of God may falter, bringing with it a fear that our life is meaningless--that we have nothing to look forward to but physical decay and death. In our reading from 2 Samuel (which is also found in Psalm 18), David painted a verbal picture of this despair in evocative imagery, comparing our pain and struggle to the experience of being overwhelmed by a flood or entangled in cords dragging us into the grave. It is a frightening and depressing picture: The waves of death swirled about me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; The snares of death confronted me. Perhaps we have read these familiar words too many times, and the images have lost their power. But with Hurricane Georges pounding our southern coast, they can come alive for us again in a terrible way. Hundreds of people have been experiencing David's imagery quite literally as they are swept away in the floods caused by the hurricane. Hundreds of poor souls have felt the waves of death swirling around them, and torrents of destruction have destroyed their houses, their cars, and their possessions. Though I have not experienced a hurricane firsthand, I have experienced some wild nor'easters here in New England. Still, the closest I've come physically to the experience of David's lines of poetry was when I was perhaps six or seven years old, and our family was visiting one of our favorite spots in Missouri: Johnson's Shut-Ins. This was a place where one of the local rivers went through a stretch of rocks and boulders, creating a whole series of rapids, small waterfalls, and pools that were great fun to play in. I remember one particular spot that had two or three small waterfalls in a row, with pools underneath them. We loved to slide down them one after another, and would spend all afternoon at it. However, I was quite young at the time, and not a strong swimmer yet. One time, I went over the biggest of the waterfalls and found myself caught in a whirlpool at its base. A panicky sensation hit me as I felt the water swirling me around. I struggled against the downward flow of the water, barely able to keep my head above water. To my seven year old mind, the torrents of water were closing in around me, and I was going _down_. My response was the same as David's: I yelled for help! However, at that point, I wasn't choosy about whether God or someone else pulled me out. Fortunately, one of my older brothers was standing in the water nearby; when I finally made my voice heard over the din of the rushing waters, he calmly reached over and fished me out. (After that experience, I can empathize with Peter in our New Testament lesson--though walking on water still escapes me.) Perhaps some of you have had a similar experience of being rescued from a frightening and dangerous situation by some Good Samaritan. There is nothing like the relief we feel when we are saved from what feels like certain destruction. Have you felt this on a spiritual level as well? Have you experienced _emotional_ waves of death, and _inner_ torrents of destruction threatening to smash and carry away everything you hold dear within your heart and mind? Most of us have felt this in some form--though we may not have thought if it in quite these images. This is the power of the literal meaning of the Bible: it gives us a concrete way to express our inner experience, so that we can grasp just what we are dealing with. For when we are in the middle of one of those periods of inner struggle, just as when we are being physically swept away by storm waters, all is crisis and confusion within us. We can't get our bearings; we are caught up in a flood of fear, depression, despair that overwhelms us so that we cannot think straight or see any way to save ourselves from the forces that we are caught up in. >From our viewpoint, it looks as though we are being swept toward emotional and spiritual destruction. In psychological terms, we see ourselves as completely lost, without any hope of recovery. In spiritual terms, we despair that we can ever be saved from the downward pull of evil and destructive forces within and around us; we feel that we must be lost forever--that we will never experience the joy of heaven. This is the inner, spiritual experience that David's words point to. It is something we would rather not experience. And yet, our teachings tell us that this experience does help us in our spiritual growth. When we fear for our spiritual life, Swedenborg says, this is actually a good sign. It is a sign that we are not focused only on physical survival--which has no meaning beyond our lifetime here on earth--but that we are focused also on our _spiritual_ survival and our spiritual life. Our very fear that we can never be salvaged as a person is a sign that we long for the higher, heavenly life that the Lord continually offers us. As we struggle with spiritual fear and despair, we gain something that we did not have before through losing something that conflicts with true spiritual living. What we lose is our sense of complacency, of having everything we need, of being sufficient unto ourselves for everything in this life. As long as we feel that we can handle on our own all that life may throw at us, we will make no progress toward God. But, like Hurricane Georges, the waves and torrents of our life's struggles make us realize that, no, we _cannot_ handle things alone. When we feel that inner life and death struggle, we come to realize that if we are left to ourselves, we will be lost forever. Yet this realization can bring us a gain so much greater than the loss of our proud self-reliance. It can bring us to the point where, with a humble sense of our great need, we are ready to call on the Lord for help. Then we are ready for the Lord's powerful presence to rescue us and give us a new sense of the goodness and beauty of life. Then we know, not only from reading the Bible and listening to sermons, but from _our own living experience_, that the Lord is indeed a very present help in trouble. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Sep 28 17:45:22 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 13:45:22 -0400 Subject: SERMON: Two Gates: Baptism and the Holy Supper Message-ID: <199809281345_MC2-5AE4-6888@compuserve.com> Two Gates: Baptism and the Holy Supper By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell September 27, 1998 [B]aptism and the holy supper, are like two gates to eternal life. By baptism, which is the first gate, every Christian is let into and introduced into what the church teaches from the Word respecting the other life, all of which teaching forms the means whereby a person can be prepared for and led to heaven. The second gate is the holy supper, by which people who allows themselves to be prepared and led by the Lord are admitted into and introduced into heaven. There are no other universal gates. True Christian Religion 721 The Lord knows that it isn't hard for people to be confused about the meaning and value of the sacraments of baptism and the holy supper. This has been true for hundreds of years and probably even more so in an intellectual climate that tends to a strong materialism and can be crudely pragmatic. If we look at these two sacraments, which are called the holiest parts of worship (True Christian Religion 667:2), only from the perspective of what we can know from our five senses, they can seem of questionable value. The Lord refers to this perspective in the opening words of the chapter on baptism in the True Christian Religion. If the spiritual sense of the Lord's Word were not disclosed who could think of the two sacraments, baptism and the holy supper, except in according with the natural sense, that is, the sense of the letter? And in that case he would say or murmur to himself, "Is baptism anything but pouring water upon a child's head, and what has that to do with salvation? And is the holy supper anything but eating bread and wine, and does it contribute anything to salvation? Moreover, where is the holiness in them, except from their having been commanded by the clergy and accepted as holy and Divine?" (Paragraph 667) The Lord calls us to think more deeply than this external perspective. He calls us to know and believe that we are not just thinking animals living for a short period of time and then having our lives extinguished forever. He wants us to know and believe that each of us is a spiritual being whose life will go on to eternity. We will all live some day in either heaven or hell. Our time in this world is a period of preparation for the next life. Even now as we live in this world our motivations and thoughts, our states of mind come into being through an interaction of this world and the next. We could not live without spirits associated with us. This is described in the following passage from the Arcana Caelestia: No human being, no matter who and what he may be, can live (that is, be affected by good, exercise will, be affected by truth, or think), unless in like manner that he is conjoined with heaven through the angels who are with him, and with the world of spirits, nay, with hell, through the spirits that are with him. For every person while living in the body is in some community of spirits and of angels, though entirely unaware of it. And if he were not conjoined with heaven and with the world of spirits through the community in which he is, he could not live a moment. (Paragraph 687) The effect of things on us for good or for ill would not take place without spirits being with us. We would not be angry or discouraged when things don't go as we might wish them to go. We would not be touched by the innocent presence of a newborn baby. We would not rejoice in the accomplishment of a fellow human being. Thoughts would not come to our minds with this spiritual presence as well. There would be no memory as we know of it. There would be no creativity. So close is the association of our lives with communities in the next life that if that connection stopped for a moment we would collapse like a person who had fainted. The Lord wants us to know and acknowledge that by spiritual heredity we arrive at adult life unprepared for heaven. He wants us to know that from our own senses we will consistently mis-perceive what is true, good, important, and truly useful. These mis-perceptions will bring false ideas to our thoughts on a consistent basis. We will be inclined to make judgments about others that we cannot know with certainty. We will be inclined to make small and temporary things very important and huge and eternal things relatively inconsequential. To save us from the evil loves and false ideas that we incline to the Lord has given us His Word as a guide and source of cleansing. The water of baptism represents the washing away of spiritual impurity and grime that we can bring about in our lives with the Lord's help. We wash spiritually when we consciously turn our mind to what the Lord has taught us and use it as the guide for our priorities, thoughts, and actions. Slowly and gradually the spiritual grime of our heredity can be washed away. The bread and wine of the holy supper presents another perspective on the change the Lord wants to bring about in our lives. Baptism is a washing. It takes something away. The holy supper is eating. It brings something into us that becomes a part of our life. Eating the bread and drinking the wine of the holy supper represents our reception of the Lord's life within our own. It represents a profound change that takes place within our lives when the power and influence of the hells is gradually withdrawn from our motivations and thoughts. The holy supper represents the spiritual rebirth or new life that the Lord can bring about within us. We know that the miracles of baptism and the holy supper will not take place just because the Lord loves us and is all powerful. Yes, He is working to accomplish the miracles of regeneration through subtly affecting many millions of things at each moment that have an impact on our lives. But the Lord needs our cooperation. We need to turn to Him in prayer. We need to turn to and guide our lives by the true ideas He has revealed in His Word. We need to acknowledge not just a broad and vague presence of evil within our lives, but specifically recognize and confess to the Lord the specific evils within ourselves that we have recognized harming us, people around us, and the uses we seek to serve. We need to seek the Lord's help in keeping these evils and the false ideas that support them from controlling our hearts, minds, and lives. Gradually, day-by-day, as we do our part to shun evils as a sin against the Lord, He will bring about a change in what we care about, think, and are inclined to say and do. There is great power in the sacraments of baptism and the holy supper to represent the Lord's miracle of change. May we acknowledge this power and seek it in our own lives. AMEN. Lessons: Revelation 21:9-13, 21, 25-26 True Christian Religion 717-718 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Oct 5 12:52:33 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 08:52:33 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Can We Really Believe?" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.0.1.19981005085117.00f7ccf0@pop.tiac.net> Can We Really Believe? By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 4, 1998 Readings: Psalm 20: Trust in the Lord May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble! May the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from his Temple And give you aid from Mount Zion. May he accept all your offerings And be pleased with all your sacrifices. May he give you what you desire And make all your plans succeed. Then we will shout for joy over your victory And celebrate your triumph by praising our God. May the Lord answer all your requests. Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his chosen king; He answers him from his holy heaven And by his power gives him great victories. Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses. But we trust in the power of the Lord our God. Those people will stumble and fall, But we will rise and stand firm. Save us, O King! O Lord, answer us when we call. John 20:24-31: Doubt and belief Now Thomas (called the Twin), one of the twelve disciples, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Arcana Coelestia #2568.4: Affirmative or negative? There are two basic mental attitudes, the first leading to complete foolishness and insanity, and the second leading to complete intelligence and wisdom. The first happens when we deny everything--meaning when we say in our heart that we cannot believe anything until we are convinced by things we can grasp mentally and perceive through our senses. This attitude leads to complete foolishness and insanity, and may be called "the negative attitude." The second happens when we consider affirmatively the various teachings that are drawn from the Bible--meaning when we think and believe within ourselves that they are true because the Lord has spoken them. This attitude leads to full intelligence and wisdom, and may be called "the affirmative attitude" Sermon: Jesus said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) Today is Worldwide Communion Sunday. Along with Christians all over the world, we are celebrating a sacred meal that goes back nearly two thousand years, and even farther in its roots in the Jewish Passover. We have no eyewitnesses to give us firsthand information about how the Holy Supper began. No one alive today was present when the Lord instituted this sacrament during his last supper with his disciples here on earth. Those who were present, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, died many centuries ago. If that is so, how do we know these events really happened? We have only one real source of information: the Bible. In fact, the Bible is the only detailed source of information about most of the events it records. Other histories overlap with the Bible occasionally, but nowhere near enough to corroborate most of what is recorded in it. Archeology can tell us a great deal about the physical circumstances and the lifestyles of the people in Biblical times. But archeology paints only a general picture; it cannot tell us about the specific human interactions that make up the flow of the Bible story. It cannot say whether a particular man named Jesus existed, and whether a week and a half after the Last Supper this Jesus had a conversation with a man named Thomas about doubt and belief. Anyone of a skeptical mind can find all sorts of reasons to believe that most of the things in the Bible--especially those recorded in the New Testament--never happened at all. Of the four accounts that we have of Jesus' life, three of them, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, seem to be based on same source. Yet even these three disagree with each other on many significant details. The fourth, the Gospel of John, tells the story very differently than the other three, calling the whole narrative into question. And then there are all the amazing events the Gospel accounts ask us to believe--which, quite frankly, strain the credulity of the modern, rational mind: a child born with no human father; water changed into wine; miraculous healings; a man brought back to life after he had been dead four days; and finally, Jesus himself rising from the dead and coming back to have the conversation that we read from the Gospel of John. It all sounds like magic and fantasy, not like real historical events. Can we really believe in all these incredible things without any physical or scientific evidence to support our belief? The man who has become known as "Doubting Thomas" could not. He needed to see and touch Jesus in order to believe in him--even though Jesus had been with him for several years, teaching him so many things about God and spirit. If Thomas couldn't believe even though he had previously seen Jesus with his own eyes and heard his teachings with his own ears, can we really believe now, two thousand years later? Beyond that, can we believe in the existence of God and the spiritual world in an era when science and reason lay claim to being the only sure basis for a knowledge of truth? We have all faced this question at one time or another. Presumably, most of us here in church today have found a way to resolve it in favor of God and spirit, or we would not be here. Other people have not been able to get past the need for scientific and rational evidence, and have rejected God and spirit. Still others have not decided one way or the other; for these people, it is an ongoing question. We must each find our own answer to this question. I could not answer it for you in a full-length book, let alone in a sermon of a few pages. Unlike science, which strives for objectivity, our spiritual beliefs are intensely personal--so my answer would probably not work for you anyway. However, I _can_ tell you about how I personally have faced this question, which may lead to some helpful thoughts as you or the ones you love face the same question. I recall very distinctly something that happened inside of me about the time I was leaving my parents' home and going off on my own. At that point in my life, I realized that I could either accept or reject everything I had ever been taught about the Lord, the Bible, and the spiritual world. And I knew that whichever way I decided to go, I would be able to come up with arguments to support the decision I had made. Whichever way I went, I would be able to convince myself more and more fully that I had made the right choice. As I faced this spiritual parting of the ways, I realized that science and knowledge could not make the decision for me. And I realized that even our highly prized human ability to reason could not make the decision, since my brain could go either way. In fact, I realized that my _head_ could not make the decision at all. Rather, it was a decision that had to be made in my _heart_. And once my heart had made the decision, my head would follow. You see, science and reason are wonderful tools that have opened up a whole new world of capabilities and possibilities for us. But science and reason have often missed a very important point about human beings--about what we are made of and how we come to know and believe things. The point that they have often missed is that it is not just our _mind_ and our _experience_ that make us who and what we are, but our _heart_ as well. Let's use an analogy from science and engineering. Heart, mind, and experience (or action) in human beings are like the three legs supporting a steel tower. When we rely only on our rational abilities and on knowledge that comes from experience, it is like trying to make the tower stand on only two legs; it will come crashing down because it does not have that third, vital leg to keep it balanced. That third leg, in human terms, is the experience and reality of our heart. We cannot make a decision about faith without consulting our heart as well as our rational mind and our outward experience. And it is only when our heart enters into it that we can begin to find an affirmative answer to the question, "Can we really believe in God and spirit?" As our teachings tell us, it is the _attitude_ behind our mental abilities that will really make the decision within us. If we fall into a negative attitude, hardening our hearts so that we refuse to believe anything unless it is proven through physical evidence, then our hearts have already made the decision to deny and reject both God and our own deeper reality. But if we hold to an affirmative attitude in our hearts, we will find that the whole knotted tangle of negative, skeptical human argument simply falls away in the face of the deeper wisdom that comes from within, through our hearts, from the God of the universe. We will find that we do not need to see with our eyes and touch with our hands in order to believe what our heart tells us is true: that there _is_ a God who loves us and cares for us--a God who speaks to us in the Bible, in nature, and in the people we see every day. And I pray that each of you may know that God _personally_, as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Oct 11 23:08:23 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 19:08:23 -0400 Subject: SERMON: "Jesus Calls Us," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199810112328.TAA07982@mail-out-3.tiac.net> Jesus Calls Us By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 11, 1998 Columbus Day Readings: Genesis 12:1-8: The call of Abram The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram travelled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Matthew 10:1-13: Jesus sends out the twelve He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for workers are worth their keep. "Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you." Apocalypse Explained #864: Following the Lord We cannot follow the Lord from self--only from the Lord. The Lord attracts us to follow him when we wish to follow in freedom. But he cannot attract us if we do not want to follow him. The Lord works with us in such a way that we may follow the Lord as if it were by ourselves, and in this way the Lord flows into our freedom. He does this so that goodness and truth may be received and planted in us, leading to our reformation and spiritual rebirth.... Following the Lord means accepting his Divine Humanity and doing his commandments, because we can be united with the Lord only when we do this. We are united with the Lord according to our acceptance and affirmation of him both from our hearts and in our lives. Sermon: The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1) Throughout the ages, humans have been driven to explore new lands and see new worlds. In mythological times, Jason and the Argonauts went on a quest to find the Golden Fleece. Odysseus was driven by various misfortunes to explore many strange lands on his way back from the Trojan War. The first explorer known to history was an Egyptian named Hennu, who in 2,007 BC took a sea voyage along the Red Sea coast of Africa, to a rich land that he called Punt. About 1,400 BC, the Phoenicians set out across the Mediterranean Sea. Alexander the Great, a Greek king, explored much of Egypt, Asia Minor, and India late in the fourth century BC, conquering them as he went. About 1,000 AD the Vikings, led by Leif Erickson, sailed across the North Atlantic and became the first Europeans to discover the North American continent. Nearly 500 years later, Christopher Columbus made his more famous journeys, rediscovering the New World. In our century, now that the major areas of our earth have been largely mapped and charted, the human urge to explore continues with an ongoing series of probes and human expeditions into space. Also in this century, the exploration of _inner_ space--the human mind and spirit--has gained momentum. Before any of the explorers recorded in secular history, in the twenty-first century BC, a man named Abram set out on a journey, taking his family with him. Abram's father Terah had already taken the family away from their ancestral home, a city named Ur in the land of Chaldea, known in later Biblical times as Babylon, and today as the nation of Iraq. At the time that Abram began his journey with his own family, he was living with the rest of his extended family in the city of Haran, named after Abram's brother who had died while the family was still living in Ur. In those days, long before airplanes could carry people directly from one place to another, when people wanted to travel from Babylon to Palestine they did not go straight across the desert. That would have meant certain death. Instead, they followed the Euphrates river northwest, going around the desert, until they could make their way westward to the Orontes river in Syria, travel south parallel to the Mediterranean coast until they reached the Jordan, and then continue into the heart of Palestine. Because of its semicircular shape, this swath of well-watered land around the Arabian Desert became known as the Fertile Crescent. This region forms the backdrop for most of the events of the Bible. The city of Haran, where Terah's family had settled, was located on the upper curve of the Fertile Crescent, somewhat north of the most commonly traveled route. The little clan apparently did well there, and seemed to be comfortably settled when Abram moved on. Throughout the history of human exploration, there have been many motives that have caused people to leave their homes in search of new lands. Some have been driven out by hunger or oppression. Some have gone in search of gold and treasure. Some have set out to conquer and subdue. Others have gone simply for the sense of adventure and discovery. Though some of these motives may have formed a part of Abram's decision to leave the comfort of his family's new home in Haran, our reading from Genesis gives a different reason: Abram was following a call from the Lord. "The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.'" If it had not been for that call from the Lord, Abram may never have pulled up his roots once again and set out for a land that he did not know. This _spiritual_ motive for Abram's journey sets him apart from so many of the travelers who have journeyed out into the unknown, both over the ages of history and in the present. How many of our great journeys and explorations have been undertaken simply because someone received a call from God? Most of the time, we human beings have been motivated to great and strenuous deeds for far more material motives. Isn't our own personal experience the same? How often in the history of our lives do we do some major task or set off in some new direction simply because the Lord tells us to? When we come into this world, our actions are naturally centered around our own wants and needs. In these "prehistoric" times of our infancy, we do not make conscious choices to act one way or another. We simply respond to the demands of our own bodies and minds, and react to the people and things around us. We are then in a stage symbolized by Babylon--a stage of simple absorption in our own selves. Just as the early chapters of the Bible do not contain literal history, but are a mythological account of the early stages of human culture on this earth, in our infancy and our early childhood years we simply move along from one stage to the next, scarcely aware of the momentous changes that are happening in our lives. When Terah took his family with him and traveled from Ur of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran, halfway to Palestine, there is no record of a call from the Lord to do so. Apparently, Terah simply responded to his circumstances, perhaps moving to Haran in search of a better livelihood. Our personal journey from the self-absorption of infancy and early childhood to the more socially aware times of our youth and young adulthood is similar. We don't particularly _choose_ to leave behind pure self-centeredness for a more naturally good and thoughtful way of acting toward those around us. We do so because our parents continually drill into us--using both the carrot of reward and the stick of punishment--that we _must_ think of others as well as of ourselves. In this way, most of us become decent and thoughtful young adults, not so much through conscious choice on our part, but because that is what our family and our society expects of us. We also treat others reasonably because we realize that if we want to get along in this world ourselves, we need to go along with those around us. Like Terah, we make the journey from self-absorption to an awareness of others' needs mostly because of the circumstances of our lives. This is a good thing. If it weren't for our parents, family members, friends, and many others continually shaping us toward good and decent behavior, most of us would have grown up to be insufferable and even downright nasty adults, always thinking that the world revolves around us just as it did--as far as _we_ were concerned--when we were two years old. Yet our story tells us that being good and decent people for these outward, material motives is not enough. It was not enough for Abram to move from the Babylon of self-centeredness and settle in the Haran of basic decency from outward motives. No, Abram was called to make a further journey. He was called to move beyond where he had been carried by his life's circumstances, to an entirely new land: the land of Canaan. However, this time Abram had to make a conscious choice to go on the journey. He heard the call from the Lord; it was now up to him to respond. If he had said no, he could not have carried forward the spiritual story. He would have died in obscurity in Syria instead of becoming one of the best known of the Biblical characters. There comes a time in our own lives--many times, really--that we also must make a conscious choice to follow a spiritual path. Most of the time we are carried along by our life's circumstances, and we simply do what is in front of us. We work because we need to support ourselves and feed our families. We correct bad physical habits because the doctor orders us to, and we do not want to die early. We deal with those around us in a socially acceptable manner because that is what is expected of us, and we do want to move along in this life. There is nothing wrong with these motives. They are simply not enough if we wish to reach our full potential as human beings. Our full potential does not lie in the material world at all--as fascinating as it can be to explore its vast reaches. Our full potential lies in an entirely different, relatively unexplored area: it lies in the development of our _spiritual_ life--a life symbolized by the land of Canaan, to which Abram was commanded to travel. It is in developing our spiritual life--our relationship with the Lord and our devotion to learning and living from deeper truth and goodness--that we break all material barriers. In seeking a spiritually-based way of life, we go beyond the things that separate human beings from each other outwardly. We go beyond race and class, beyond material jealousies and misunderstandings, beyond the continuing self-absorption that keeps us stuck in thinking about how any particular situation or relationship will benefit us. Jesus called the twelve disciples and sent them out on a journey of healing those who were broken and teaching those who longed for enlightenment. Jesus calls us as well. Jesus calls us to _spiritually_ leave behind the land of our own self-absorption, and travel to a whole new land. It is a land where we are always seeking truth from the Lord, and where we act from warm and genuine love in everything we do. It may be a long journey to get to that land. But if we choose to listen to the Lord's call and to take that journey, the Lord will be with us every step of the way--and we _will_ find our heavenly Canaan. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Oct 19 01:07:39 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 18 Oct 1998 21:07:39 -0400 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: Laughing and Crying, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199810190040.AAA18611@mail-out-4.tiac.net> Laughing and Crying By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 18, 1998 Readings: Genesis 17:1-5, 15-19; 18:1, 2, 9-15: Laughter for Isaac When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and will greatly increase your numbers." Abram fell face down, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.... God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." Abraham fell face down and laughed, and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!" Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.... The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.... "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. Then the Lord said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I have grown old and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh." Luke 6:20-26: Blessings and woes Looking at his disciples, Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your consolation. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Arcana Coelestia #2072: The source of laughter Laughter comes from a love for truth or a love for falsity. These give rise to the cheerfulness and pleasure which we express with our face through laughter. Sermon: Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I have grown old and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?" (Genesis 18:12) There are so many different things that make us laugh. What causes some people to go into hysterics leaves others scratching their heads. There are as many different types of humor as there are different types of people. Many people find humor in seeing people get a bucket of paint spilled over their heads or a pie squished in their face, or even getting whacked by boards and falling over a lot. The Three Stooges and other slapstick teams have always found a big audience. Others find it hilarious to see public figures and institutions satirized--and the more irreverent, the better. Others find humor in puns and word play. And then there are situations where something strikes us as absurd or incongruous, and that sets us off. About a month ago I was driving down Summer Street from Bridgewater to Middleboro. My two boys Chris (3) and Caleb (1 3/4) were with me, snugly belted into their car seats in the back seat of the car. As we approached the bridge that goes over the railroad tracks, I said to them, "Look at the train tracks!" Soon Caleb was happily announcing, "Day dats! Day dats! Day dats!" Then I heard Chris's voice chiming in. He said to Caleb, "Are you tying to say 'dain dats'?" Caleb said, "Yah," and paused a moment to digest this new bit of information from his older brother. Then he was off again with the _correct_ pronunciation: "Dain dats! Dain dats! Dain dats!" As pervasive as humor is in our society, though, we usually do not associate laughter with God and religion and the Bible. Historically, church services have tended more toward the solemn and reverent. It is okay to cry in church--especially at weddings and funerals. But we are not so sure about laughing in church. After all, religion is all about our eternal salvation, and surely that is no laughing matter! Yet when we actually start looking at the Bible, we find that even though there is indeed much there to be solemn about and even to cry about, there is also plenty of joy and laughter in the Bible. And the laughter in the Bible covers the whole gamut, from mocking and derision to simple pleasure in the delightful surprises of life. Our story today has some of each. Those of us who are familiar with the Bible can get so used to it that it is not easy to see either the humor or the grief in its pages. But consider the situation of Abram and Sarai as our story begins. He is ninety nine years old, and she pushing ninety. God has promised Abram that he will be the father of a great nation, and yet he and Sarai, his rightful wife, have no children of their own. For Abram, there was some consolation, since he had a teenage son named Ishmael, by his wife's female servant. But this only added to Sarai's grief at not having any children of her own. For women in her culture, having children--especially sons--was the greatest hope, the greatest pleasure, and the greatest pride. It was considered _shameful_ for a woman not to have children, and when Sarai's servant had a son of her own, she began looking down on her own mistress. Childlessness was a shame and a grief that Sarai carried with her not only throughout what should have been her childbearing years, but through many more decades of her very long life. We can only imagine the tears she must have shed. This is the setting into which the Lord's angel came one day, and made both Abram and Sarai laugh. Imagine it. A couple in which the husband is ninety nine and the wife eighty nine, and someone with the aura of an angel comes along and tells them they are going to have a child! What would you or I do? Confronted by such an angelic being bearing such a ridiculously unbelievable message, we might do the same thing Abram did: he "fell on his face and laughed." Now there is a phrase that is _pregnant_ with meaning! I love the image of Abram, feeling that he must honor this angelic message by bowing low to the ground before him, but all the while he is laughing at the silly thing the angel just said to him. And then, a little later, we read of Sarai listening, from the door of the tent, to Abram's conversation with the Lord through several angelic messengers. She can't restrain herself either. "Here I am, ninety years old, and these guys are telling me I'm going to get pregnant? Come on!" She laughs to herself. But she is overheard--whether with physical or spiritual ears we do not know. She beats a hasty retreat, denying that she had laughed, afraid of the consequences of having committed the serious social blunder of laughing at their honored guests. But she is told quite firmly, "Yes, you did laugh." Up to this point in her life story, Sarai has gone from the hope and idealism of her marriage to Abram as a young woman, through grief, shame, and tears at her inability to have children, into resignation and acceptance of her fate as a childless woman. So her first reaction to being told that she _will_ have a child is the laughter of disbelief and derision. But Sarai's story does not stop there. A few chapters later we find that Sarai, now renamed Sarah, did indeed conceive and bear a son. And she named him . . . Laughter! That is the meaning of the Hebrew name Isaac. By this time another shift has taken place in Sarah's consciousness. She no longer laughs in derision at the thought of bearing a child when she is ninety, for it has actually happened to her. And when she names her child Isaac, she gives a new meaning to the name besides its original source in her own and her husband's laughter at the ridiculous prospect of having a child at their advanced age. We read: Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name "Isaac" to the son Sarah bore him. . . . Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." (Genesis 21:1-3, 6) Yet Sarah is still mindful of her original skepticism when she adds: Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. (Genesis 21:7) And so, as Sarah comes full circle back to joy in the fulfillment of her youthful hopes and dreams, she carries with her into that new joy and laughter all the experience that she had gained over a lifetime of disappointment, pain, and struggle, and also of satisfaction in other accomplishments over that great span of years. In this new and entirely unexpected blessing that the Lord has given her, she reinterprets and reintegrates the flow of her lifetime's experience, and she finds reason to laugh, not with derision, but with joy. We go through similar cycles of our own. In our youthful years, when the whole world is before us and our whole ahead of us, we may look idealistically into the future, full of hopes and dreams for what we will accomplish. Then, for most of us, the realities of life intervene, and we find ourselves struggling simply to satisfy the physical needs for food, housing, clothing, and other necessities for ourselves and our families. All too often, our youthful dreams begin to fade, and we find ourselves looking backward with envy at our younger selves, wishing we could recapture that spark of idealism and joy at the prospect of living. This regret and this envy of our younger selves is behind much of our culture's chasing after the fabled Fountain of Eternal Youth. So many of us in this culture try to recapture what we have "lost" through various tonics and regimens that promise to restore us to our youthful beauty--and hint that the _feelings_ of our youth will come back along with the promised physical recapturing of youth. I suspect many of us have had our bouts of tears and depression, our agonized nights of wondering where our lives went, and how we lost what had seemed so real to us as young people. We have had our times of crying and pain--and our spiritual pain is much worse than any physical pain we may have had to endure. And many of us have moved through the same stages Sarah went through, becoming resigned to our life as it is, and finally coming to an acceptance of what we have become as people. Even if we have not done everything we envisioned in our younger years, we _have_ accomplished some good things with our lives--things in which we can take satisfaction and pleasure. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they _will_ be comforted." And yet, the Lord is telling us that we have more than resignation ahead of us--more, even, than acceptance and satisfaction. No matter how "old" we may feel spiritually, the Lord is telling us that we are not only going to smile with satisfaction; we are going to laugh with joy at the things the Lord has in store for us! If we have had an especially difficult life, as Sarah did in some ways, our first reaction to this sort of prediction may be to laugh it off. "I've seen it all," we may say, "and the Lord has nothing new to show me." But the Lord _does_ have new things to show to each one of us. The Lord is just waiting for the right moment to bring each of us new births of understanding and sharing and compassion for those around us. And if we have our eyes and ears open for it, the Lord's sense of humor is one that brings us unexpected pleasure at the time we least expect it. Yes, the Lord has many more _good_ practical jokes to play on us--ones that will leave us, not laughing _at_ anyone, but laughing _with_ each other, and with the Lord. Amen. --- Lee Woofenden leewoof@tiac.net * 508-946-1767 * FAX: 508-946-1757 http://www.tiac.net/users/leewoof/index.html From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Oct 26 02:49:58 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 25 Oct 1998 21:49:58 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "Steeple-Raising," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199810260152.UAA09942@mail-out-1.tiac.net> Steeple-Raising: Reaching Upward, Reaching Outward By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, October 25, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5: The Mountain of the Lord This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations, and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Matthew 7:24-27: The Wise and Foolish Builders Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; but it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Arcana Coelestia #4599: Towers reaching toward God In the Bible, goodness and truth are described as things that are high because in heaven they are nearer to the Most High--that is, to the Lord. Also, "towers" refer to truth, and "mountains" to goodness. Sermon: Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3) Speaking of mountains, yesterday was definitely a peak experience! Two years after we first began talking with Sprint, and several months after the work began, it all came together. For me, it wasn't until the lower cone section was set down on the new belfry, and the steeple began to rise up above the staging, that it really hit me just how amazing it is that our steeple is being rebuilt, and just how good our church will look once again. This morning I drove up Bedford Street just to get that steeple view that no one has had for over four years now. For me, the steeple-raising was an uplifting experience in a very literal way. When I saw the news photographers going up in the lift, I got a gleam in my eye, and soon I was riding aloft as well. There are advantages to being pastor of the church! Just before we went up, someone said, "Now you're going to get God's view of the steeple." And it _was_ a different perspective on our church. We are used to looking at it from the ground up. But when I was up there looking down, and I saw all of you watching and waving, it was a wonderful feeling--this small but dedicated group accomplishing wonders in cooperation with the Town of Bridgewater and the companies that have made our beautiful new steeple a reality. As I reflect on the experience now, that remark, "Now you're going to get God's view of the steeple" sticks with me. What _is_ God's view of our steeple? And what is God's view of our church? For us, there is a lot of excitement in seeing our church restored to its former beauty. There is excitement in seeing so many townspeople out to watch this great event. There is hope for our future as we see our church in the newspapers and on TV and radio. And the possibility of income from the steeple to help support our church and its programs gives us further optimism about our church's prospects for outreach and growth. But what is God's view of all of this? Of course, what is in God's heart of hearts we cannot know, since it is far beyond our ability to grasp. But we do know from the Bible that "the Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). We humans live in a physical world, and we need physical sights and sounds to find our direction and keep us moving along. As Emanuel Swedenborg suggests in our brief reading this morning, seeing a church steeple towering upwards toward the Lord can give us a sense of our spirits reaching upwards toward God. And since our church, and our sister church across the common, with its steeple, are centrally located in the town, it is easy to make the conceptual leap to seeing our churches and their steeples as representing the entire community's willingness to look upward to God for guidance and inspiration. This significance of our steeple is more than mere symbolism; it is correspondence. The very structure of our steeple, pointing upward toward the sky, suggests that upward vision of our spirits. As we reflect on this, we begin to approach something of God's view of our church and our steeple. God does not look at the outward appearance. As exciting as it is to us, in God's scrapbook there will not be a picture of our steeple going up! But there _will_ be a picture in God's scrapbook of the hearts of each one of us--and the heart of our community--as this event unfolds. Whatever the material or financial or aesthetic effects of our steeple, what God is paying attention to is the effect it will have on the _spiritual life_ of this congregation and this community. We, the people of this congregation--the people who are in this sanctuary right now, and all the others who are active in our church--we will be the ones who determine what the spiritual consequences of this exciting physical event will be. While the construction is going on, we are more visible than we have ever been. Thousands of cars drive by our church every day, and they cannot help but notice that we are an active church, still rebuilding, restoring our church to its full glory. Our name is in the media, and for the time being, almost everyone in our community knows who we are. On the way home after the Halloween party yesterday evening, I stopped at the grocery store to drop off the _three_ rolls of film I took of the steeple-raising, and to pick up a few groceries. The checkout clerk greeted me, "How are you doing this evening?" I said, "I have to be doing well: my church just got a new steeple!" He said, "The one in Bridgewater? I've been watching them build that steeple whenever I go by." When someone at the grocery checkout in the next town over knows about our church, that's community recognition! Our task is to turn that great publicity and recognition into _spiritual_ growth, not only for our church, but for our community as well. Our task is to take some of the same energy and innovation that went into rebuilding our church and our steeple, and put it into rebuilding this church as a congregation. And even more important, our task is to rebuild this congregation as a body of people dedicated to serving the spiritual needs of Bridgewater and the surrounding communities. From God's view, our church has something far more exciting and amazing than the fact that such a small group of people could become the focal point for such a wide variety of people and companies all coming together to accomplish a rebuilding that we could never have done on our own. Our community has given us a great gift in helping us to rebuild; we have a great gift to give in return. For me, this gift was summed up when one of Sprint's people complemented me on the quote that is on our Wayside Pulpit for this occasion. It reads, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1). It is the job of the architects, engineers, welders, construction workers, crane operators, and so on, to focus on the physical task of designing and building a new steeple. It is our job to give that rebuilding _spiritual_ significance. And by extension, it is our job to give spiritual significance to all the ordinary and extraordinary events and activities of people's lives. As Swedenborgians, we have an especially rich gift to give in this area. Built right into our church's teachings is the idea that literally _everything_ in nature, everything in the human world, everything in the Bible--in fact, everything in the entire universe--has a deeper, spiritual meaning. And I believe very strongly that people are now searching for a spiritual significance in their ordinary lives in a way they never have before. Popular interest in angels, near death experiences, and personal growth has never been higher. This presents us with an opportunity, but also with a challenge. I have looked at many religions, and as much as I love some of their ideas and practices, I have never found another one that I believe addresses so fully and so _deeply_ the great spiritual questions of our age. In the teachings of our church about the Lord, the Bible, and living a spiritual life, we have the richest of treasures--the most precious of gifts. When we realize how many people are searching for this sort of inspiration, the opportunity for our church is clear. And yet, as a church we have had difficulty--especially in this century--in getting that message out in a way that reaches the people of our community. We are not the only church that has seen a long decline lasting many decades. But given the soul-satisfying nature of our teachings, I believe that we should be _growing_, not declining. And, being an optimist, I believe that our church and our denomination _will_ grow. But this will not happen automatically. We all know of churches in our denomination that have dwindled until they could no longer continue as a church. And our hearts go out to those who have lost their church homes. Other Swedenborgian churches, though, are growing. Even some of the ones that had to sell their buildings have revitalized themselves by looking for new and creative ways to serve the spiritual needs of their communities. And this, I believe, is the key for us as well. As a church, we have always been good at reaching upward toward God. We are good at praying, at studying the Bible for the deep and satisfying meanings within it, and at guiding our own lives by what we learn. In this way, our church's steeple reaching upward is an accurate emblem of who we are. But for many years, we have not been so good at reaching outward and serving the needs of others in our community. Because of that, as our members have moved away or passed on to the next world, there have not been enough newcomers to take their places. However, our new steeple is _more_ than the old steeple was. Our new steeple is a tower holding antennas. It is a tower whose job is not only to reach upward toward God, but also to reach _outward_ and connect with people. Are we ready as a church to follow the new symbolism . . . the new _correspondence_, of our steeple? We have always been good at reaching upward toward God. Are we ready to reach _outward_ into our community, looking for spiritual needs that we are uniquely able to satisfy? Is each one of us personally ready to begin a new chapter in the life of our church? A new chapter of actively offering to our community the priceless treasures that each of us has found here? If so, then we as a congregation _will_ get a glimpse of God's view of our new steeple, as we reach upward toward God and outward into our community. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Nov 2 00:28:38 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 1 Nov 1998 19:28:38 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: Calling All Saints! by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199811020007.TAA03551@mail-out-1.tiac.net> Calling All Saints! By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 1, 1998 All Saints' Day Readings: 1 Samuel 2:1-9: The Lord guards the feet of his saints Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. "Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. "The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was childless has borne seven children, but she who has had many children pines away. "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his saints...." Revelation 11:15-19: The seventh trumpet The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: "We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth." Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Apocalypse Revealed #586: Who are the saints? People are called saints when they are involved in divine truth that comes from the Lord through the Bible. The saints of the Lord are people who live according to the commandments, meaning they live according to the truths in the Bible.... The Ten Commandments are the covenant which these people are to keep. Responsive reading: Psalm 145 Sermon: All that you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom, and speak of your might. All people will know of your mighty acts, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. (Psalm 145:10-12) Yesterday afternoon, as I was driving home from the Teaching Parish Committee training on Cape Cod, I happened to catch part of Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" on the radio. Naturally, it was a special Halloween edition, and Keillor was quipping about how Halloween is a time we can impersonate the evil side of our nature. He added, "Of course, we wouldn't want to impersonate our _good_ side!" It is a curious phenomenon that Halloween--the time when the evil spirits come out in force--should be the holiday that has caught on in our culture, and not All Saints' Day--the coming of the light of morning, when the saints and angels take over and carry the day. We still tend to think of evil as somehow more mysterious and exciting--and probably a lot more interesting and intriguing--than good. Halloween is all not bad, though. After all, in an age that tends to discount the notion of evil, and even deny its existence, Halloween is a time when our popular culture does recognize the existence of evil in its own way. And even on Halloween, evil characters do not entirely hold sway. There are also appearances from princesses, fairies, genies, and superheroes fighting for truth, justice, and the American Way! Today, though, let's move entirely away from the nocturnal shades of Halloween and into the sunshine of All Saints' Day. It is a day that our culture as largely forgotten--a day whose observance has been kept alive over the years largely by the Catholic Church. We Swedenborgians have not had much to do with All Saints' Day, since we have never been very comfortable with the idea of saints. We especially have problems with the idea of saints as intermediaries between human beings and God--the idea that God is much too busy to listen to prayers from little ol' me, but if I can convince a big, important saint to whisper a good word in God's ear for me, then my prayer has a much better chance of getting answered. However, this is only one end of the "sainthood spectrum." On the other end of the spectrum, saints are seen, not as intermediaries, but as examples and mentors for Christian living. For many centuries, the stories of saints have been used to inspire and instruct the faithful in the virtues that good Christians are meant to practice. Though I am not a historian of sainthood, I suspect that this was the original reason that some men and women were raised up as saints by the church, and that the idea of saints as prayer brokers was a later popularization in a culture and a race that has a hard time conceiving of the infinity and omniscience of God. This idea of saints as Christian examples and mentors gives us a handle where we, as Swedenborgians, can begin to appreciate the significance of All Saints' Day. Garrison Keillor's quips aside, All Saints' Day is a day where we can celebrate the Lord's _goodness_ working among human beings. It is a day when we can celebrate people of all faiths who shine out as examples of living in a selfless and loving way. If Halloween is a day when we can recognize the evil mixed in with the goodness of our existence here on earth, All Saints' Day is a day when we can, for a moment at least, leave the evil behind and focus on the light of the Lord's truth, and the warmth of the Lord's love, working in human society. Each one of us has our personal "saints" that we look to. We each have had people in our lives who have inspired us with their good qualities. Some gave us guidance we needed in confusing periods of our lives. Some gave us unconditional love, affection, and acceptance at times when we had trouble respecting ourselves. Some inspired us with the amazing potential of human beings fired with passion for the Lord's kingdom. Personally, I cannot listen to Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech without feeling tingles go up and down my spine at the depth and power of the message he was delivering to a world that sorely needed to hear that message--and still does. And within our own faith tradition, it inspires me to read stories of the early Swedenborgians who worked tirelessly to spread the new light that they saw dawning on the world. One of my special saints is Johnny Appleseed, who set aside almost all worldly aspirations and devoted his life to planting both physical and spiritual seeds in the frontiers of his day. Each of you can probably list several people who have inspired you, and who continue to inspire you. We may not think of these people as saints. Most of them have not been through any formal canonization process leading to official sainthood. Still, each person who inspires us toward finding God and living a good life is a saint in the truest sense of the word. There is one way in which we _can_ accept the idea of saints as intermediaries. As Swedenborgians, we do not believe there is a need for someone to stand between _us_ and _God_ when we pray, since we worship the Lord Jesus as a divinely human being, who can be with each one of us personally. But sometimes we do need people to serve as intermediaries bringing _God_ to _us_. We do not always see the Lord's presence in our lives; but others who are on a spiritual path can give us inspiration and guidance as we seek our own path toward the Lord. And so, as we look at sainthood--what it does _not_ mean to us, and what it _does_--we move closer and closer to the Biblical idea of saints. The Bible, of course, was written before Christianity had developed a formal process and title of sainthood. When we encounter "saints" in the Bible, they are people and angels who honor and serve the Lord, who are faithful, and who carry out the Lord's will. As Swedenborg puts it, "The saints of the Lord are people who live according to the commandments, meaning they live according to the truths in the Bible." This view of saints represents a growing awareness, not just among Swedenborgians, but among many Christians. Yesterday at the Teaching Parish Committee training, one of the leaders of the training, who is a minister in another Christian denomination, expressed the idea that every person who lives in faithfulness to God is a saint. I believe that this view of sainthood is a return to the Biblical view of saints. Literally, "saints" means "holy ones." And people who are holy are not holy from anything of their own, but because they have received the _Lord's_ holiness into themselves, and have allowed it to flow through themselves out into a life devoted to the holiness of love and service to others. This is a way that each one of us can be a saint. And each one of us _is_ a saint when we do our best to live according to the truth that the Lord shows us in the Bible, and show through our lives our living, growing faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Each one of us is a saint when we allow the Lord's holiness to work through us. On All Saints' Day especially, we can become aware that the Lord is calling all saints to serve in his kingdom. And that means that the Lord is calling each one of us to do our own unique work in building the Lord's kingdom in our own communities. Of course, we need to do this for the sake of our own eternal happiness and salvation, and we need to do this because it is what the Lord is calling us to do. But I would like to bring in one more reason for us to be especially mindful of and faithful in our own role as saints of the Lord. For just as each one of us has our personal "saints" that we look to--who have helped us and inspired us to become more understanding and more loving and more dedicated people--the Lord is calling each one of us to be saints for others. The Lord calls us, not only to strive for our own best spiritual potential, but also to be intermediaries bringing God's presence into the lives of those around us. It is so _crucial_ that each one of us accept the Lord's call to personal sainthood, because we may be the one who is just right to reach out and help and inspire someone else who needs to feel God's presence in his or her own life right at this moment. I'd like to share with you a story that a friend of mine sent to me by email last month. I do not know who wrote it or where it came from, but it speaks to our theme perfectly: Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed that the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove, and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked, Mark discovered the boy's name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball, and history, that he was having lots of trouble with his other subjects, and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend. They arrived at Bill's home first, and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly, with a few laughs and some shared small talk. Then Mark went home. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long-awaited senior year came, and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker that day because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills, and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time, and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more . . . You saved my life." We do not have to perform acts of greatness in order to be saints. Only acts of goodness toward the people we encounter each day. Amen. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Nov 9 18:54:40 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: 9 Nov 1998 13:54:40 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: Learning the Truth Message-ID: <199811091257_MC2-5FA8-2760@compuserve.com> Learning the Truth By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell November 8, 1998 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. Genesis 12:14-16 There is much that each human being needs to learn if he or she is to become an angel. If we rely on our own senses and understanding there is much that we can never know. We would know nothing about the Lord or the life after death. By ourselves, there are also many aspects of ourselves and others that we will misunderstand and there are many aspects of our lives in this world that we will handle very poorly. By ourselves, it is much too easy for us to value earthly treasures and not heavenly ones. By ourselves, we're inclined to love our friends and hate our enemies. By ourselves we can believe that we are to give others what they seem to want when they want it. Or by ourselves, we can belive that we are to resolutely insist that there is one and only one right way to do things, that we know what it is, and others should do it that way. By ourselves, we will not be good friends, good spouses, or good parents. The Lord wants to lead us from the ignorant and natural state in which we are born to a truly angelic life. If we are to be led by the Lord we need to learn His will and follow it. Sounds simple. A preschool child could memorize these words and recite them with some degree of understanding. In a very real sense this is the essential of being led by the Lord. We must learn and live according to what we've learned. In reality though the progress of a human being from ignorance to wisdom is a far more involved process. Every step of this process is overseen and guided by the Lord far more carefully than we could ever imagine. One of the gifts the Lord has given us in the Writings of the New Church is a wealth of more detailed description for the process of learning and living what we've learned. One of the sources of this wealth is the series of books called the Arcana Caelestia. Through its description of the internal sense of the stories of Genesis and Exodus many features of our paths to heaven become more recognizable. Within its pages are several series of stories that shed light on the way our minds work. We can see both the strength, wisdom, and love the Lord can bring to our lives and also the flaws that will cause all human beings to stumble and sometimes fall badly. The saga of Abram's journey to Egypt is one of these stories. Abram had been called by the Lord to journey to the land of Canaan. He had been living in the city of Haran in Mesopotamia. This call represents the first crucial step in being led by the Lord. It represents a subtle and often quiet sense that something needs to change in our lives. It can be the first stirring of our hearts that a long-time habit needs to change. It can be the uncomfortable feeling we get from the expression on someone's face after we've said or done something. It can be the beginning of a commitment to help someone, accomplish some task, or to become a better, more useful human being. Abram heard and followed the Lord's call. He took his wife, nephew Lot, and all that he owned and journeyed to Canaan. The progression of this journey represents the growing motivation or commitment to work for a new goal. Even before we have conscious ideas that define what needs to change and the clear goal that we seek the Lord draws communities of angels to our lives that prepare us with the strength, hope, and trust to do what needs to be done. Abram obeyed the Lord's call to go to Canaan. He journeyed there but found that he could not yet live there. There was a famine in the land. A natural human response to this turn of events would be to feel let down and to say to oneself, "I followed the Lord's words and look there are problems where He has led me." The reality is that journeys of Abram's life and of his descendants have only just begun. The first call from Haran to Canaan was only just the beginning. The journey to and into Canaan represents a growing motivation or love. But love or caring by itself is blind. It needs to be given form by knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. When we care about something and sense that something isn't right with it or could be better, we need to focus our minds on what exists at present and what to define what could be. In our spiritual development, this requires that we learn from the Lord's Word. The famine in the land of Canaan represents the lack of knowledge in a person's conscious mind. It can represent the state of childhood and youth in which the individual can go from complete ignorance to an ever growing knowledge of what the Lord has revealed in His Word. This knowledge will first enter the person's mind as simple statements of black and white fact. Factual knowledge, then deeper understanding, and finally wisdom of life follow one after another and seem to be built from the lower form. Abram's journey to Egypt represents the need all human beings have for learning from the Lord's Word what is good and true, right and wrong. In the story in Genesis, Egypt is a sanctuary during the famine in the land, but as Abram and his family approach it, Abram fears that it also represents a danger to him and his family. Sarai, his wife is very beautiful. He is afraid that the Egyptians will see this beauty and kill him in order to take her. So they agree that they will say that they are brother and sister. Abram's fears seem to be realized when the Egyptians do recognize her beauty, Pharaoh's princes praise her to Pharaoh, and she is taken to his house. Abram's journey's represent the spiritual progress of a human being. The first step to change has to be a growing motivation or concern that something needs to be different. The second step is the realization that knowledge is needed. But the necessary pursuit of knowledge carries a danger. This is described in the following passages from the Arcana Caelestia: Within knowledge an inclination so to speak exists - for that inclination is innate in human beings - which disposes it first of all to take pleasure in knowing just for the sake of knowing, and with no other end in view. This is so with everyone: his spirit takes great delight in knowing, so that it scarcely desires anything better, knowledge being its food by which it is sustained and renewed, as the external body is by earthly food. (Arcana Caelestia 1480) When however a person begins to take delight in knowledge alone, it is a bodily desire that carries him away; and to the extent it carries him away, that is, to the extent he takes delight in knowledge alone, to the same extent does he move away from what is celestial, and to the same extent do the facts he knows close themselves up in the Lord's direction and become materially inclined. (Arcana Caelestia 1472) Picture a mother who recognizes that she isn't doing a very good job as a parent. She could seek out books on parenting and find that many of them are stimulating and informative, delightful to read. None of this is bad in itself. But what if the mother finds the reading and sharing the ideas from the reading with friends the biggest delight of her life and she continues to do a poor job of parenting. Her children come to her needing her help and she shoos them away so that she can continue to read her books. The same can be true of someone seeking wisdom from the Lord. The person can become captivated by the gaining of knowledge and the simplest forms of knowledge themselves. In Genesis, it says that Pharaoh's princes saw Sarai, praised her, and she was taken to Pharaoh's house. The meaning of these words are that the first and foremost commandments were seen as pleasing and that they were captivating to the mind. When first learned and understood in childhood and youth these commandments are very limited in their scope. Those first facts are for the most part earthly, bodily, and worldly. No matter how Divine the commandments may be that a child or youth absorbs, he nevertheless gains from them no other mental picture than what may be obtained from such facts. Therefore as long as those very lowly facts from which he gets his ideas remain with him, the mind cannot be raised any higher. (Arcana Caelestia 1489) For example, a young woman can grow up with the firm belief that the Lord says she is always supposed to be nice. This is her best understanding of what charity and love of the neighbor means. She then assumes that this means that any time her children are unhappy with her that she has done something wrong. She uses her children's immediate happiness or unhappiness as a measure of whether she is doing what is right or wrong. She can do this with the firm belief that she is following the Lord, when in fact her mind has been captivated by a very simplistic interpretation of what it means to be a good person and a good mother. She would be inclined to use the same definition in her relationship with her husband and friends. So long as she stays in this state her ability to be useful will be greatly harmed. In Genesis, the Lord intervenes with plagues on Pharaoh's household. It is according to order that as a person matures, lives life, pays attention, that the simplistic ideas first learned be destroyed. It is not uncommon for a person in his thirties or forties to look back on the clarity of black and white judgment that he had in his college years and feel sadness that this no longer exists with him. A part of him can feel like he has digressed from a superior state to a more muddled one. Yet, the Lord tells us that this can be part of a necessary progression. Certainly a person can become muddled because of evil loves and false ideas he has adopted during his adult life. But this is not what is being described in the story of Abram and Sarai in Egypt. The Lord wants us to gain knowledge, grow in understanding, and most especially grow in wisdom that comes from living according to what is true. In fact until a adult chooses to live according to what the Lord teaches he or she cannot really be said to have the truth. This is reflected in the progression of the Lord's words to His disciples "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32) Until we abide in the Lord's Word--that is, until we live it--we will not really understand what He means. The ideas that the Lord wants us to gain from His Word are in one sense very simple. We are to love Him with all our soul, mind, and strength and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. But truly understanding what this means isn't easy for fallible human minds. It is too easy to focus on one aspect of what this might mean and leave others out of the picture. Consider the following passage about instruction in the next life and how it reflects an important value that the Lord has. . . . it should be recognized that it is in accordance with the laws of order that no one should become convinced of the truth instantaneously, that is, should instantaneously be made so sure of the truth that he is left in no doubt at all about it. The reason for this is that when truth is impressed on a person in that kind of way, he becomes so fully convinced of it that it cannot be broadened in any way or qualified in any way. Truth like this is represented in the next life as that which is hard, not allowing good into itself to make it pliable. This goes to explain why in the next life as soon as some truth is presented through plain experience to good spirits, some opposing idea giving rise to doubt is presented. In this way they are led to think and ponder over whether it is indeed a truth, gather reasons in support of it, and so introduce that truth into their minds by the use of reason. This enables their spiritual vision in respect of that truth to be broadened, seeing even into the ideas that are opposed to it. They therefore see and perceive with their understanding every characteristic of the truth, and from this are able to let in the influences coming from heaven as the situation demands; for truths take varying forms as dictated by circumstances. (Arcana Caelestia 7298) Each human beings journey from natural life to a heavenly life has many qualities and elements that we will never understand. There is much that we can know and that we are to do. We need to learn what the Lord teaches, and we are to try to live according to His Word, with His help. We are to consciously study our own lives to see the most significant evil loves and false ideas that are getting in the way of us living as the Lord would have us do. May we be sure that in spite of our own foibles and imperfections that the Lord can guide us forward step by step, from the ignorance of childhood to the wisdom and usefulness of the angels. AMEN. Lessons: Genesis 12:10-20 And Pharaoh's princes saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. "Pharaoh's princes saw" means the first and foremost commandments, which are "pharaoh's princes". "And they praised her to Pharaoh" means that they were pleasing. "And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house" means that they sought to capture the mind (animus). Arcana Caelestia 1481 With regard to facts, these are acquired in childhood with no other end in view than that of knowing . . . The facts that are acquired in childhood and youth are very many indeed, but the Lord arranges them into order, so that they may serve a use - first to enable the person to think; then so that through his thinking those facts may be of use; and at length so that the following may be accomplished, namely, that his very life may consist in use and be a life of uses. These are the things effected by the facts which he absorbs as he grows up. Without them his external person could not possibly be joined to the internal and at the same time become use incarnate. When a person becomes such, that is, when all that he thinks stems from use as an end and all that he does is for the sake of use - if not by reflecting openly yet by doing so silently from a disposition acquired from reflecting openly - the facts which have served the first use, that a person may become rational, are now destroyed since they serve no further use; and so on with other facts and the uses they serve. These are the things meant here by the statement "Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues". Arcana Caelestia 1487 Unless the facts which have performed the use in childhood and youth of making the person rational are destroyed so that they are nothing, truth cannot possibly be joined to what is heavenly. Those first facts are for the most part earthly, bodily, and worldly. No matter how Divine the commandments may be that a child or youth absorbs, he nevertheless gains from them no other mental picture than what may be obtained from such facts. Therefore as long as those very lowly facts from which he gets his ideas remain with him, the mind cannot be raised any higher. Arcana Caelestia 1489 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Nov 23 16:48:27 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 23 Nov 1998 16:48:27 -0000 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "Sukkot and Thanks-Giving," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199811231636.LAA27774@mail-out-3.tiac.net> Sukkot and Thanks-Giving By the Rev. Lee Woofenden And by the Rev. Ron Brugler, on whose sermon and service it is based Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 22, 1998 Thanksgiving Sunday--Invite A Friend Service WORDS OF WELCOME Good morning everyone! Welcome to our Thanksgiving Invite A Friend service. It is wonderful to see all of you here today--both our faithful regulars and the newcomers and visitors who are with us today. I hope you will find today's service meaningful and enjoyable, and that you will join us again next week as we begin our series of special Advent services. Today's service is special in many ways. It is special because a number of you are joining us for the first time, or rejoining us after being away for a while. It is special because in order to make this Invite A Friend Sunday possible, almost all of the churches in Bridgewater have joined together and worked with each other across denominational lines in a way that would not have happened ten or twenty years ago. It is special because the construction is almost complete on our new steeple. It is special because today's service was originally written by the Rev. Ron Brugler, President of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. And for those of you who don't usually go to church--and who almost didn't come today because you just _knew_ you'd have to listen to a sermon--it is special because today there _is_ no sermon! Instead, we'll have a series of brief talks spread throughout the service. But most of all, today's service is special because we have gathered together to give thanks to God for all the blessings God has given to us, both material and spiritual. Whatever struggles and setbacks we may have faced in this life, we also have much to be thankful for. Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday, we have an opportunity to step back and notice the _good_ things in our lives, and give thanks to our Creator for them. Thanksgiving has become a largely secular holiday--one centered around food and feasting. Grocery stores really like Thanksgiving! And many of us appreciate a day when we can fill our stomachs a little too much without feeling guilty about it. But Thanksgiving also has strong religious roots. >From those roots, we will discover today how Thanksgiving can fill our souls as well as our stomachs. Let's start with the Israelites--the people of the Old Testament who later became the Jews. The Israelites went on a long journey to reach their Promised Land. This morning we will commemorate a point at which they were instructed to observe the festival of Sukkot, which Jews throughout the world still observe today. We will learn about this early Thanksgiving observance as a way to gain a clearer understanding of what this day means spiritually. On their journey, the Israelites received the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. These were not a mere listing of acceptable behaviors. They were also a promise that the people could become what God intended, and that God would give them what they needed in order to do so. Today, in our first Bible Reading, we recall the time when Moses taught the people more about what this promise meant. BIBLE READING: Deuteronomy 8:7-18 The Lord your God is bringing you into a fertile land--a land that has rivers and springs, and underground streams gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land that produces wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey. There, you will never go hungry or ever be in need. Its rocks have iron in them, and from its hills you can mine copper. You will have all you want to eat, and you will give thanks to the Lord your God for the fertile land that he has given you. Make certain that you do not forget the Lord your God; do not fail to obey any of his laws that I am giving you today. When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in and when your cattle and sheep, your silver and gold, and all your other possessions have increased, make sure that you do not become proud and forget the Lord your God who rescued you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you. It the desert he gave you manna to eat, food that your ancestors had never eaten. He sent hardships on you to test you, so that in the end he could bless you with good things. So then, you must never think that you have made yourselves wealthy by your own power and strength. Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors. HOW THE ISRAELITES REMEMBERED The Israelites were taught to remember all that God had done for them. One way this was accomplished is explained in the Book of Leviticus, where Moses gave the people instructions concerning the five festivals that they were to observe. These festivals were in addition to the weekly observance of the Sabbath. The first was the Passover festival, which commemorated the deliverance from Egyptian slavery. The second was the Feast of Firstfruits, which took place in the spring when the wheat was harvested. The Feast of Trumpets, or New Moon, was celebrated at the dawn of the new year. The Day of Atonement was a time for national penitence and mourning. And last was the Festival of Sukkot, which commemorated the many ways God had been with the Israelites during their wilderness journey as they camped in simple shelters on their way toward the prosperity of the Promised Land. Let's listen to what Moses taught the people about this festival: BIBLE READING: Leviticus 23:33, 34, 39-43 The Festival of Shelters begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continues for seven days. . . . When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest. On that day take some of the best fruit from your trees, take palm branches and limbs from leafy trees, and begin a religious festival to honor the Lord your God. Celebrate it for seven days. This regulation is to be kept by your descendants for all time to come. All the people of Israel shall live in shelters for seven days, so that your descendants may know that the Lord made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the Lord your God. They Remember Still As the years passed, the Sukkot Festival came to be called by two other names: the Festival of Tabernacles and the Festival of Shelters. Many Jews traveled to Jerusalem to observe this festival. There, in the Temple courtyard, they would build simple huts (represented today by the shelter on our Ingathering table) made out of branches, leaves, and straw. They would live in these huts for seven days. For those who could not travel to Jerusalem, the huts would be erected in the fields, as the work of the harvest continued. The shelters served as a reminder of two things: First, of the hardships their ancestors had faced while traveling in the wilderness, where for forty years they lived in tents and simple huts. Second, the shelters reminded them that they did not need to live that way any longer, since they had been given the Promised Land. The Festival of Shelters reminded them that God was with them in both the hard times and the good times of life--just as God is still with us today in both the hard times and the good times of our lives. WHEN JESUS RESPONDED In Jesus' time the religious authorities commanded that there be a strict observance of the Festival of Shelters. But this was not because of its spiritual meaning--there was another reason. The temple treasury relied heavily on the offerings the people were required to make during these seven days. And the priests did all that they could to make the people believe that their continued success depended upon their making these offerings. Each morning of the seven day festival, a procession of barefoot priests clad in white linen robes descended the temple steps carrying golden pitchers. They went to a nearby spring, where they filled the pitchers as the people sang, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." The people carried branches of myrtle and willow tied together in their right hands, and lemons in their left hands. These were symbols of the harvest. Then the procession headed back to the temple, where the priests sang, "Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord. We beseech thee, give us success!" And to these words the water would be mixed with wine and poured on the altar fires as the offerings were brought forward. Each night of the festival, the entire temple area was lit by huge candelabras. And by this light, the people would dance and sing, accompanied by the music of flutes. And as the sun rose in the east, all would turn westward and face the temple sanctuary, chanting, "Our fathers turned their faces toward the east, and they worshipped the sun toward the east, but as for us, our eyes are turned westward toward the Lord." In the Gospel of John we learn of a time when Jesus himself traveled to Jerusalem to observe this festival. He used it as an opportunity to remind the people of its true meaning: that it was not a celebration of success, but a reminder of God's presence with all people. He criticized the modern observance of the festival, reminding the people that its purpose was to "make sure that you do not become proud and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from Egypt, . . . so that you may never think that you have made yourselves wealthy. . . . For God is the one who gives you that power" (Deuteronomy 8:14, 17, 18). Just as today we all too often forget the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving, observing it only as a time to see our extended families and to fill our stomachs, Jesus condemned the religious authorities of his day for ignoring the true meaning of Sukkot and making the festival a time for profit instead. And he did the job that the priests were supposed to be doing by reminding the people that harvest was not merely a time of material plenty, but a time to count our _spiritual_ blessings, and to share those blessings with others. On the final day of the festival, as the people sang, "With joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation," Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "Whoever is thirsty come to me, and let anyone who believes in me drink. As the scripture says, 'Out of the believer's heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Let's hear the story from the Gospel of John. BIBLE READING: John 7:10-18, 37, 38 After his brothers had gone to the festival, Jesus also went; however, he did not go openly, but secretly. The Jewish authorities were looking for him at the festival. "Where is he?" they asked. There was much whispering about him in the crowd. "He is a good man," some people said. "No," others said, "he fools the people." But no one talked about him openly, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. The festival was nearly half over when Jesus went to the Temple and began teaching. The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, "How does this man know so much when he has never been to school?" Jesus answered, "What I teach is not my own teaching; it comes from God, who sent me. Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. Those who speak on their own authority seek their own glory. But the person who seeks glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him."... On the last and most important day of the festival Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let anyone who believes in me drink. As the scripture says, 'Out of the believer's heart will flow rivers of living water.'" HOW DO WE RESPOND? Just as the Israelites journeyed to the Promised Land, we have also traveled on a special journey. God has led us. God has given us strength and direction. God has quenched our thirst and satisfied our hunger. In a very real way, the same command that came to the Israelites is coming to each of us: "When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in, and when your cattle and sheep, your silver and gold, and all your other possessions have increased, make sure that you do not become proud and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you out of Egypt." This morning, we take the time to remember that God is with us. And we remember by responding. We have responded today by bringing forward food offerings for those who are less fortunate than we are. And we will respond by offering some of our livelihood to the work of the church. As we make these offerings, let us be mindful of God's many blessings to us--blessings of food, shelter, families, friends, country. And let us commit ourselves to sharing these blessings with others. As we gather here today, giving thanks for the good things God has given us, there are people in our communities who are living in shelters--whether they are cardboard boxes, underneath bridges, or in public accommodations such as homeless shelters. Today, let's remember that the word "Thanksgiving" is made up of two smaller words. We are not just to offer thanks. We are to _give_ of our blessings. As we make our food offerings, and our financial offerings to the work of the church, may we also renew our willingness to support the work of homeless shelters, food banks, and soup kitchens. There are several food programs right here in Bridgewater that are always looking for donations--such as the St. Vincent DePaul society at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. If we can remember to support those who are less fortunate during the rest of the year, we will be doing our part to help eliminate hunger in our communities. In addition to these material ways of giving to others from the blessings God has given us, there are _spiritual_ ways we can observe Thanksgiving. We have all had difficult times in our lives when we were strengthened and pulled through by the love and support of a friend or family member, or when we turned to God in prayer and felt God's love strengthening us from within. Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate the love, understanding, and support that we have received from other people and from the Lord. Each of us here today also knows of people who are struggling with their life right now, and who need a helping hand. We can turn our thanks into giving by making the decision to be the helping hand that someone else needs so much. Or, if there is someone we are in conflict with--someone whom we know is feeling pain because of the conflict--we can make the decision to move beyond our own feelings of anger and pain, and extend to the other person a hand of forgiveness, renewed friendship, and love. This Thanksgiving, as we give thanks for the many material and spiritual blessings God has given to us, let's remember to observe the other half of Thanks-Giving by giving to others the same blessings that God has given to us. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Nov 30 15:26:46 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 30 Nov 1998 10:26:46 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "God So Loved the World," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199811291523.KAA24571@mail-out-2.tiac.net> God So Loved the World By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, November 29, 1998 First Sunday of Advent Readings: Zephaniah 3:14-17 The Lord your God is with you Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment; he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you; he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing." John 3:16-21 God so loved the world "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe stand condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their actions were evil. Those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done through God." Divine Love and Wisdom #1 Love is human life We know that love exists, but we do not know what love is. We know from everyday conversation that love exists, since we say, "He loves me," "The citizens love their ruler," "The husband and wife love each other," "The mother and her children love each other," and, "They love their country, their fellow citizens, and their neighbors." We also talk about loving things that aren't alive, as in "He loves this or that thing." But even though we are constantly talking about love, hardly anyone knows what love is. Since we cannot come up with any clear idea about love when we stop to think about it, we either say that love is not really anything at all, or we say that it is merely something that flows in from what we see, hear, touch, and talk about, and that it influences us in that way. We are entirely unaware that love is our very life. And love is not only the generalized life of our whole body and all our thoughts; love is the life of every single part of us. Sermon: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17) Thanksgiving is past. Our stomachs have been filled . . . perhaps a little too full. I hope our souls have been filled too, both with the warmth of sharing a holiday feast with family and friends, and with the warmth of gratitude for all of the Lord's blessings. Now we are entering the season of Advent, when we have especially strong reasons to be thankful for the Lord's blessings. We are preparing ourselves to celebrate the greatest gift and the greatest blessing that has ever come to humankind: the Lord's birth among us as a little baby who would become our Savior. This morning, as we begin those spiritual preparations, I would like to share with you some of our church's beliefs about who the Lord was and is, why he came to earth, and what this means to us. Some of you may be very familiar with what I have to say, and others may be less familiar. Either way, our beliefs about the Lord are so central to our faith that it is good to revisit them and remind ourselves of who it is that is at the center of our faith and our life. Another reason to revisit our beliefs about the Lord is that there are many ideas about Jesus Christ running around in our society. Some of them are very good and genuine, but others can lead to real problems, both for those who believe in them and for those who feel some of the negative effects of what we consider to be faulty beliefs. I am thinking not only of the more literal or fundamentalist views of Jesus, but also of the more humanistic views. We need to examine these perspectives as well our own church's views so that we ourselves can have a clear, constructive, and living faith. The passage we heard from John this morning is one of the most commonly quoted passages among evangelical Christians. It is also one of the most troubling for people with a more liberal, humanistic perspective because it says that those who do not believe in the God's only Son stand condemned already because of that lack of belief. Many people these days cannot accept the idea that God would condemn people just because they do not believe in Jesus. But for an evangelical Christian, this is one of the prime motivators for making converts to Christianity. How can we resolve this dilemma? How can we have a strong faith in the Lord in the midst of such conflicting and emotionally packed views? Let's step back from this muddle for a moment, and consider some of our church's most basic teachings about who God is. This morning we read one of my favorite passages from Emanuel Swedenborg's writings: the opening statement in Swedenborg's great cosmological work _Divine Love and Wisdom_. After setting the stage by remarking on how little we understand love--even though we talk about it all the time--Swedenborg grabs our attention with this bold statement: "We are entirely unaware that love is our very life. And love is not only the generalized life of our whole body and all our thoughts; love is the life of every single part of us." We _are_ love! Love is not merely a wispy feeling or influence. Love is our very life--our guts, our substance, our being! Everything we do comes from love, because love is who and what we are. Without love, we are nothing. This is no accident. The reason _we_ are love is that _God_ is love. And just as the love that drives us and makes us who we are is shaped by our knowledge, our understanding, our faith and beliefs about life and its meaning, so also the infinite love at God's core is shaped and directed by God's infinite wisdom. Infinite love flowing through infinite wisdom. That is our God! And God's love and wisdom are just as warm, bright, and human--no, _much more so_ than our own deepest and most personal emotions and beliefs. We are love and wisdom because God is love and wisdom. Swedenborg states this very clearly in _True Christian Religion_ #37. He writes: God is love itself and wisdom itself; these two form his essence. Our earliest ancestors realized that love and wisdom are the two essentials that account for all the infinite qualities that are in God and flow out from him. . . . Love cannot exist in the abstract without taking form; rather, it works in and through forms. And since God is the genuine, only, and primary substance and form--the essence of which is love and wisdom--and since everything that was made came from him, this means that he created the universe and all its parts out of love through wisdom. So divine love together with divine wisdom are present in every single created thing. Further, love is not only the essence that forms everything; it also joins them together and unites them, and in this way keeps together the things that have been created. God's love, says Swedenborg, is not only the source of everything created; it is also the attractive force that holds all things an all people together. It is God's love that makes it possible for us to love each other, to care about each other, to work and to play for each other's happiness. It is God's love in us that makes us human beings. God is pure, infinite love. And as Swedenborg explains later in the book _Divine Love and Wisdom_, from that pure and infinite love God could not help but create beings who have their own identity and can choose of their own free will to accept God's love, and to love God in return. We--you and I here in this church, and every other person on this earth--we are the beings whom God created to be capable of receiving God's love and loving God in return. And whatever else we do here on earth, the choice about whether or not to accept and return God's love is by far the most important choice we will ever make. Other things that we do may make us more comfortable or happier for a time, but allowing God's love into our lives will give us a deeper joy that will remain with us both here and to eternity. Now let's take this view of God as infinitely loving and wise back to our passage from John. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Yes! It _had_ to be from pure love that God sent his only Son into the world to reach out to us and save us. And through the perfect life that Jesus lived, he became not only God's Son, but reunited himself with the divine that he came from, becoming one and the same as God. Because of this, God now has a personal presence with us in the form of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God did all of this, not from any sense of wrath or anger or thwarted justice against the human race. No! As John says, it was because _God so loved the world_--meaning God loved each and every one of us. Some of you may have heard a story I like to tell about a conversation with one of my high school friends. As the decade of the seventies pushed on, this girl must have been one of the last of the Jesus freaks. She was also a big Janis Joplin fan. One day, as we were sitting on a grassy hill outside the school building, she said to me, "I really love Janis Joplin. She's got such a great voice! It's too bad she's in hell." "What?" I replied, not quite believing my ears. "Yes," she said, "It's too bad she's in hell. She didn't accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior." At that point I didn't know quite what to say. I had heard that people believed this sort of thing, but until this conversation, I never really _believed_ that people believed it. But there is a curious thing about our reading from John. Though it does say that those who do not believe in God's only Son are condemned already, it does not say _who_ condemns them. Many people of literalistic beliefs have jumped to the conclusion that it is God who condemns them. But a God of pure love cannot condemn--and John himself tells us that "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world." The Bible also says that God "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). No, it is not God who condemns us when we refuse to have faith; it is not God who condemns us when we refuse to accept God's love. It is we who condemn ourselves. And we condemn ourselves by shutting ourselves off from the only source of genuine love, light, and joy--because God's love is our life. We do not need to dogmatically insist that people must literally accept Jesus as their Savior in order to be saved. What really saves us is our belief in the love and wisdom of God that Jesus represents--and our willingness to _live_ from that love and wisdom. Do we truly believe that God _is_ love and God _is_ wisdom, and that Jesus Christ expresses the love and wisdom of God? If so, then we must realize that every time people accept the love of God--no matter what their particular beliefs are--they are accepting and believing in the essence of who Jesus was. And they are saved through their acceptance and faith even if the God they worship wears a Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish face. It is all the same God. This is the message we can carry with us into our Advent season. God loves the _entire world_, including every single one of us, so much that God reaches out to us and comes to us in love, to show us the way back to God and the way back to each other's hearts. For us as Christians, that love is shown to us fully in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth we are preparing to celebrate. This Advent season, may each one of you be touched deeply by the love and wisdom that comes to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Mon Dec 7 15:55:46 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 7 Dec 1998 10:55:46 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "Divine or Human?" by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199812071516.KAA07269@mail-out-1.tiac.net> Divine or Human? By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 6, 1998 Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11: The glory of the Lord will be revealed Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together--for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All people are like grass; their glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever." You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. His reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He tends his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. John 1:1-18: The Word became flesh In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to that light, so that through him all people might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of bloodlines, or of physical desire, or of a husband's will, but of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him; he cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'" From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, has made him known. Apocalypse Explained #52: Human and Divine The Christian Church accepts the Lord's divinity, but not his divine humanity. So when they think and speak about the Lord from doctrine, they separate his humanity from his divinity, and consider his human side to be like the human nature of any other person. Yet the divine is in his human side just as the soul is in the body.... Believing in an invisible divine is not very different than believing in the deepest levels of nature--an error that our mind easily falls into when we indulge in our own illusions. But a continual inflow from heaven ingrains in all of us a desire to have our own view of the Divine--and further, to see the Divine in a human form. Sermon: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth. . . . No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, has made him known. (John 1:14, 18) We began our Advent reflection last week with a look at the Swedenborgian Church's view of the Lord Jesus, and who he was and is. Our focus was especially on how our views contrast with what might these days be called a Fundamentalist view of Jesus Christ. But I left a loose end in last week's sermon, because I said that it is good to look at our views of Christ both as they compare with Fundamentalist views and as they compare with more humanistic views of who Jesus was. This week I would like to tie up that loose end by addressing this question: Was Jesus divine or human? We did not read the Nativity story this week, since that is usually reserved for a little closer to Christmas. But it is a familiar story. It begins when an angel announces to Mary that she is to have a child, even though she has not "known a man," in that most delicate of Biblical euphemisms. Mary is understandably surprised at this. But the angel tells her, in essence, that this child will have no human father; rather, he will be the Son of God. If we step back and think about it, it is quite a tall order to believe this! Those of us who grew up Christian have gotten used to the idea that God, rather than Joseph, was Jesus' father. But there are many people who either did not grow up with that belief, or who have left it behind as adults. And many people in our culture simply do not think about Jesus very much. They're too busy doing other things. However, other people do spend time thinking about the central figure of Christian belief--and they can find plenty of reasons to dismiss the "Divine Jesus Theory" as a myth and as religious wishful thinking, or even delusion. For one thing, Christianity is not the only religion that has divinely fathered (or mothered) humans in its belief system. Greek and Roman mythology are full of gods and goddesses (mostly gods) "knowing" human beings, resulting in divine/human hybrids. The myths of other cultures have the same theme. And we find this belief in Eastern religions as well. For a skeptic, the idea that God was Jesus' father is just another one of those myths that religions come up with to give stature and authority to their important figures. Hardened atheists often ridicule Christians' belief in a divine Jesus; and their ridicule of Christians spills over into ridicule of Christ as well. But others take a softer stance. Many atheists and agnostics simply do not see the need for any belief in God or Christ, but they don't bother arguing about it. And there are many people who do believe in God but cannot see Jesus as anything other than a human being--perhaps a great, inspiring, and charismatic human being, but a human being nonetheless. For those who are satisfied with their beliefs and who are building a good life for themselves and those around them, we can accept their right to believe as they wish, and to live according to their beliefs. Our church's view is that people of all beliefs can be saved if they look to something higher than themselves, and do their best to live a good life according to their beliefs. So as I said last week, we need not join with the Evangelicals in fearing for the souls of everyone who has not accepted Jesus in a literal way. And yet, from our perspective there is something missing from a belief that does not see the divine nature of the Lord. Our church is Christian in the strongest sense, since we worship the Lord Jesus Christ as both our Savior and our God. And although we are not all theologians--and most of us don't spend a lot of time exploring the deeper theological mysteries of God, Jesus, and the Incarnation--still we have reasons in our hearts and lives, as well as in our minds, to turn to the Lord Jesus as our God. As we approach the Lord's birth, let's look a little further at one or two of these reasons. Our reading from Swedenborg gives us some direction for our thoughts about Jesus. He was speaking of the Christianity of his day when he said that the Christian Church accepts the Lord's divinity, but not his divine humanity. Yet even among the mainline Christians of today, there is some difficulty in finding a coherent view of just who Jesus was. As mainline Christians move away from the harshness of fundamentalist Vicarious Atonement theology of the type I referred to last week, they have been groping for a theology that will satisfy their minds in the way that the Jesus of Scripture satisfies their hearts. Many mainline Christians teeter on the edge of the question of whether Jesus is truly and fully "God with us," or whether he is somehow a lesser being than God the Father--perhaps with a divine spark from God the Father within, or, at the edges of Christian belief, perhaps a human being who was especially filled with God's spirit. Many of our Unitarian Universalist friends have moved entirely over to the belief that Jesus was simply a great prophet and seer among other great prophets and seers. Swedenborg comes at this question from two basic directions: the earthly, human perspective and God's divine perspective. From the earthly side of things, he points out that if our God is an invisible one--the greatest, creative force in the universe, perhaps--then we are not far from a belief in God as a blind and impersonal force at the deepest levels of nature. Perhaps, as Star Wars fans would say, "The Force is with us." But it is hard to have a real relationship with an impersonal force at the deepest levels of nature. Still, this is, perhaps, as far as we human beings can reach without the Lord's help. In fact, this is exactly the way C.S. Lewis put the situation in one of his books that was mentioned in a recent "Talk of the Nation" program on National Public Radio. (Unfortunately, I have not been able to track down just which book it is.) Lewis uses the analogy of a play--say, one of Shakespeare's plays--to illustrate our situation in relation to God. As the character Jaques says in Shakespeare's play _As You Like It_, "All the world's a stage, and the men and women merely players." Now, consider the position of the melancholy Jaques in relation to his author. Would it be possible for him to get to know Shakespeare personally? Could Shakespeare cheer the poor fellow up a bit? Apparently not. For Jaques cannot break out of the play and into the wider world in which Shakespeare, his author, lives. But C.S. Lewis finds a way around this problem. What if Shakespeare were to write himself into the play? Then he could meet not only the melancholy Jaques, but Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and a host of other characters that he created. To adapt a Biblical saying, "For the characters this is not possible, but for the author all things are possible." The real saying, of course, is "with humans it is impossible, but for God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27). And this completes the connection between C.S. Lewis's analogy and our own situation in relation to God. As I mentioned before, we as human beings probably could not make it much farther than conceiving of some great and powerful force at the deepest levels of nature that gives rise to all that exists and somehow controls it from within. But the grand vision of both our readings, from Isaiah from the beginning of John's gospel, is that God, from his side, has something far greater to show to us than an impersonal force at the depths of nature. A skeptic would say that we humans make God in our image, and that is why we think of and depict God as a human being. That is the earthly, human perspective. But God's perspective is just the opposite. God is not human because we are human; we are human because God is human. And the simplest, yet deepest and most satisfying reason God came to earth as a human being is that, like Shakespeare writing himself into one of his plays, by coming to us as Jesus Christ God accomplishes what we cannot accomplish: God bridges the gap and makes it possible for us to have a personal, thoughtful, and loving relationship with our creator. This is something that no impersonal force, no electron or quark or muon, no abstract uncaused cause can offer. For we human beings are not simply abstract minds walking around with a body attached. We are beings who have both thoughts and feelings, beings of emotion and belief, faith and action, spirit and body. And we are made this way for a reason: we are human beings because we are created in the image and likeness of a God who is human at a level far beyond our own humanity. We have emotions and beliefs at the core of our being because the core of God's being is pure love and pure wisdom. And so we return to the question that got us started: "was Jesus divine or human?" The answer, from a Swedenborgian perspective, is "Yes." Jesus was (and is) divine _and_ Jesus was (and is) human at the same time. This is not an either/or situation, but a both/and situation. Jesus Christ was God's own divinely human nature taking physical form as a human being. And now Jesus Christ continues to be our personal God and Savior--one with whom we can have a relationship as both our Master and our Friend. Next week, as we continue moving closer to our celebration of the Lord's birth, we will look more closely at the Lord's divine humanity as expressed in the birth and life of Jesus. Meanwhile, as our hearts and minds move closer to that blessed event, we can each know and have faith, through both the Bible and the teachings of our church, that the Lord is an infinitely loving and wise _human being_, who has come to us to share in our lives. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Dec 13 21:06:46 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 13 Dec 1998 16:06:46 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "A Life of Jesus Little Known," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <199812131524.KAA23163@mail-out-2.tiac.net> A Life of Jesus Little Known By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 13, 1998 Third Sunday of Advent Readings: Isaiah 53:1-6: By his wounds we are healed Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others--a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom others hide their faces, he was despised, and we considered him of no account. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. We thought he was punished by God--struck by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has taken upon him the iniquity of us all. Luke 4:14-21: The year of the Lord's favor Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Arcana Coelestia #1846.3: The Lord overcame the hells Isaiah 53:3, 4 refers to the Lord's temptations. When it says, "He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows," it does not mean that believers will never go through temptations, nor that he transferred our sins to himself and in that way bore them in himself. Instead, these words mean that the Lord overcame the hells through struggles and victories in temptation. In this way, he was willing to endure the temptations of believers all by himself, in his human nature. Sermon: He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has taken upon him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5, 6) "Imagine the interest which the Christian world would feel in the discovery of a new Gospel, another record of the Lord's life here on earth more full than the records of the evangelists, entering more deeply into the secrets of that life, and telling many things which they leave untold." This is the tantalizing opener of the Rev. William Worcester's classic and very beautiful pamphlet, _A Life of Jesus Little Known_. Most Christian writers who opened in such a way would have to concede that we do not have such a new Gospel. Worcester, though, from his Swedenborgian perspective, is able to deliver for his readers by showing how the Old Testament itself provides us with a Gospel that is both ancient and new at the same time. For as Worcester points out, if we look beneath the literal surface of the Bible to the deeper meanings within, we find the story of Jesus' inner life told with such depth and clarity that we discover whole new dimensions in the versions written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This Advent season, we have looked into the Swedenborgian perspective on why the Lord came into the world, and what the Lord's personal presence can do for us that no impersonal God or universal life force could do. Today, let's follow William Worcester's lead and dig deeper into the inner life of Jesus, whose birth we are preparing to celebrate. As we will see, the life and teachings of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels is only one side--the most visible side--of the Lord's life work. It is true that without the Gospel records of the Lord's life and teachings we would be without the core truths on which our faith is based. Without the teachings given to us in the Gospels, we could no more live a Christian life than modern astronomers could study distant stars and galaxies without telescopes through which to see them. The Gospels are a _spiritual_ telescope enabling us to see at a distance of nearly two thousand years the blazing star of the Lord's physical presence here on earth. Yet as with a telescope looking at a distant star, the literal Gospel record does not give us the level of detail about the inner processes of the Lord's life that we would like to have. In the Gospels we read about the Lord's birth and infancy, about one incident when he was twelve years old, and then about a few years of public ministry leading up to his death in his early thirties. The bulk of his life is missing from the literal story. Trying to fill in all the gaps and details of that life from the Gospels would be somewhat similar to the astronomers' current efforts to locate planets around other stars: a few Gospel verses give us some vague hints, just as almost infinitesimal wobbles in a distant star's path give us a hint that a huge planet is circling that star. But what we _really_ want to know is whether there are _little_ planets like ours out there; planets teeming with life--especially with intelligent life. And that our telescopes can't tell us. Yet through our church's teachings about the deeper meanings of scripture, we are able (to continue our metaphor perhaps a little too far), to step into a spaceship and zoom at warp speeds right up to the distant planet of the Lord's inner life. We can learn in a very direct way about what he was going through in his mind and heart as he walked those dusty roads of Palestine. We can discover the Lord's deeper accomplishments, which, as we find out, made it possible for us to be spiritually free and growing human beings. Gaining a thorough picture of the Lord's inner life would involve many years of study. Even then, as finite human beings we could never hope to do more than scratch the surface of the infinite depths of experience within the divine being who inhabited that physical body for a few decades. Still, even in the short time we have this morning we can find some pearls of wisdom about the Lord if we look at a couple verses of scripture and draw out their meaning in the light of the new revelation given to us through Emanuel Swedenborg. Few verses in the Old Testament scriptures have been more _mis_understood that the words of our text from Isaiah: "He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has taken upon him the iniquity of us all." We will do well for now if we can simply unpack some of the meaning in these few words and discover in them an initial understanding of how the Lord Jesus redeemed us by his birth and life in this world. "He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. . . . The Lord has taken upon him the iniquity of us all." In Evangelical circles, the meaning is clear: since Christ struggled and suffered instead of us, our struggle and our suffering is taken away. By simply accepting Christ's free gift of salvation, which he gave to us by dying in our place, all our sins are washed away, and we are clean and pure in God's sight. Yet even when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior--which we as Swedenborgians must do just as much as the most Evangelical of Christians--we are still fallible human beings. We still have within us and around us the accumulated weight of our past life; we still have the same emotional issues, the same relationship issues, the same struggles and failings we have always had. Both psychology and common sense tell us that we human beings cannot be transformed from darkness into light in an instant. Rather, when we consciously accept the Lord into our lives and make a commitment to follow the path the Lord lays out for us, we begin a _journey_ of spiritual healing and growth that will, in time, replace the darkened parts of our lives with new realms of light and warmth from the Lord. And so we read these words of Isaiah from a different perspective. The Lord did indeed take our iniquities upon himself; but this does not mean he took them away so that we would never have to experience any struggle or temptation, any sorrow or grief. Rather, the Lord was--and is--willing to come down from the infinite heights of divine love and wisdom where he resides, and bear our struggles and our sorrows _with us_, just as we share our struggles and sorrows with those we love most closely. The Lord was willing to come among us as one of us, to share in all the passages of our lives with us, and to give us far greater strength to overcome in our struggles than any human being could give. The Lord did something through his life on earth that no mortal human could ever have done. We get glimpses of this in our reading from Isaiah: "He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has taken upon him the iniquity of us all." Yes, each one of us has gone astray in one way or another. Not a single one of us has lived a perfect and blameless life. We all make our mistakes--and sometimes we go beyond mistakes and _intentionally_ hurt other human beings. We have our areas of selfishness and greed, which sometimes lead us to say and do things that are hurtful and destructive. Now imagine the total weight of all human greed and selfishness, of all human malice and folly, focused against one life. That life was the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born into a dark chapter in our world's history. Unthinking cruelty and oppression were the norm, as one empire succeeded another, each more brutal than the last. The light of religious truth had nearly gone out, and we were in danger of snuffing ourselves out spiritually in much the same way that we have more recently been in danger of snuffing ourselves out physically through the buildup of weapons of mass destruction. All our human weapons of _spiritual_ mass destruction were focused on the Lord's life. While he was going about his outward business of teaching, preaching, and healing, he was inwardly going through fierce spiritual battles against the accumulated weight of human evil that would have swept any one of us away like a speck of dust. The Gospels give us only a hint of these terrible inner struggles--telling us, for example, of Jesus' three temptations from the devil, and of his struggle in the garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion. Our church's teachings give far more detail through the spiritual interpretation of Old and New Testament Scriptures. And we learn, both from them and from a careful reading of Scripture itself, that Jesus did indeed take upon himself the iniquity of us all. Through punishing and wounding struggles against the combined forces of evil, he overcame all evil in the universe, and gained the power to save each one of us from our own little slice of evil. Does this mean that we humans have no more work to do? That as soon as we accept Jesus our slate is wiped clean? No. It means that through his birth, life, death, and resurrection, the Lord took for himself the power to overcome all that is selfish and evil within us. It means that now, if we will dedicate ourselves to following the Lord by living according to his teachings, then the Lord Jesus will always be there for us, offering us the strength and support, the insight and the love that we need to endure our own struggles, and to come out of them stronger, deeper, and more loving people. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Swedenborgian sermons are available on the Worldwide Web: Sermon of the Week--the Online Edition of _Our Daily Bread_: http://www.swedenborg.org/odb/ Current and past sermons by the Rev. Lee Woofenden: http://www.tiac.net/users/leewoof/sermons/lswsermons.html The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From emanuel@newearth.org Thu Dec 17 18:44:38 1998 From: emanuel@newearth.org (Philip N. Odhner) Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 13:44:38 -0500 (EST) Subject: SERMON: The First and Second Advents of the Lord Message-ID: <199812171900.OAA18148@sapphire.newearth.org> A Sermon on the First and Second Advents of the Lord by the Rt. Rev. Philip N. Odhner Bryn Athyn, Pennsyvlania December 21, 1975 Lessons: Isaiah 25:1-9; John 16:12-22; True Christian Religion 625. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and exult in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) In the Word "in that day" signifies the Advent of the Lord. For the most part, men take this prophecy in Isaiah to refer only to the First Advent of the Lord. In the Third Testament this prophecy refers both to the First Advent and to the Second Advent of the Lord. In relation to the First Advent of the Lord, it is used to show that the Lord is Jehovah. But it is evident that in the Church established by the Lord at His First Advent it was not said that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God, nor that He is Jehovah. The early Christians had indeed a perception of the Divinity of the Lord, and thought of Him as God. They thought of Him as the Son of God who has all power in Heaven and on earth. But they did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see the complete unity of the Divine and the Human in the Lord. They could not see that He is Jehovah Himself in His Human. This supreme truth was proclaimed only in the Second Advent of the Lord. And from this, we can see that this prophecy in Isaiah refers to the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. This same twofold application of the prophecies of the Coming of the Lord is true of many which we generally understand to mean only the First Coming of the Lord into the world. That very familiar prophecy in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, "And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace," for example, applies to both Advents. The early Christians did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Father of Eternity. And so, also, it is with many other prophecies of the Advent of the Lord. The reason for this twofold application of the prophecies to both Advents of the Lord is because everything of the First Advent of the Lord looks to the Second Coming of the Lord, and toward that conjunction of the human race with the Lord which has been made possible by the Second Coming of the Lord. There are many in the New Church who look upon the First Advent as having all importance by itself, as being the focal point of the spiritual history of the human race. They regard the Second Coming as being of less importance. They regard it as a kind of by-product of the First Advent, made necessary only by the contrariness of the Christian Church. This is obviously not true, because the Lord foretold His Second Coming even in the Old Testament, and in many places in the New Testament; and the whole book of the Apocalypse foretells those things which would take place at the Second Advent, and foretells the eternal Kingdom of the Lord meant by the Holy City, Nova Hierosolyma, descending from God out of Heaven. This is the Kingdom, the Church, which the Lord foresaw from the creation of the world (see Summary of the Coronis LII). There is thus an order foreseen from eternity, from the beginning of creation, in those states of the human race before the First Coming of the Lord, in the assumption and glorification of the Human which took place in the First Advent, and the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Second Coming of the Lord in the Word of the Third Testament. And the last is the crowning work of the Lord in providing for the salvation of the human race, in providing for that conjunction of the human race with Him for which He has longed and to which He has looked from the very beginning. At this season, in which we celebrate the First Coming of the Lord into the world, we should strive to see something of the real meaning of both Advents, and their relationship one to another. To express this in very ultimate terms, the genuine meaning of Christmas comes as we see the relation of the First Advent to the Second, thus, its internal relation to the 19th of June, which we celebrate as the representative of the whole work of the Lord in the Second Advent. We know from the Third Testament that when the Lord was in the world, He made the Human which He there assumed first the Divine True, and then made the Human one with the Divine Good Itself. In His Divine Human, He is present with men in their souls, and from His Divine Human comes all the good and true which men can receive, that which saves them. And yet, in the Word that was given to the first Christian Church the Lord did not reveal this supreme thing that He had done. He said that He had many things yet to reveal to them, but that they could not bear them then, but that, when He, the Spirit of Truth had come, He would lead them into all truth (John 16:12,13). From this and many other teachings given in the New Testament and in the Third Testament, it can be seen that from the glorified Human of the Lord there could take place with those of the Christian Church an influx of the Good of the Divine Human, but not as yet any immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. With those Christians who looked to the Lord, and who loved and obeyed the New Testament, there could be the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to the appearances of the true which they had from the New Testament. This adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to those appearances of the true according to which they lived and which they strove to understand, made it possible for them to be received into the New Heaven, the New Christian Heaven, at the time of the Second Advent of the Lord. Out of the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with those Christians arose all the wonderful insights and the precious things of life which the Lord gave to those of that Church. But it was not possible for them, nor was it expected of them, to come to that conjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with the True of the Divine Human which is the inmost conjunction of man with the Lord. This is what is meant by their being unable to see that the Lord is Jehovah in His Human, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of Heaven and earth. This also is what is involved in their acknowledging a life after death, but not having any idea of what that life is. Out of this, they had the faith to accept death as an entrance to life, knowing that what that life was they could not yet see. And yet, rising above all false doctrinal teachings, they, out of common perception, could see that they would be united with their loved ones after death, and that they would be such as their life here had internally formed them. In His Second Coming, by combating all the evils and falses which had arisen in the Christian Church against the truth contained in the New Testament, and by the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Third Testament, the Lord became the Divine True in ultimates. This meant that there could be an immediate influx of the Divine True as well as of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human with men, and that the good which He adjoined to men could be conjoined to its own true, both of them of and from the Lord. One can say that with the upright Christians the good which could be with them when they looked to the Lord and obeyed His commandments, longed for its own true. In this sense, with every upright Christian, there was internally the longing and the expectation of the Second Coming of the Lord, whether they were externally and consciously in such a longing or not. This is why they could receive the Lord in His Second Coming, in the Spiritual Word, and be formed into the New Heaven. This is what is meant in our text, "This is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." In these things we can see that although, with regard to the Lord Himself, His whole Human was glorified and thus made Divine during His life here in the world, yet in relation to men in the world, the result of the First Advent was that the Good of the Divine Human could be immediately present with them. Whereas by the Lord coming again into the world as the Word of the Third Testament, the True of the Divine Human can now also be present with those men who are being regenerated. It is the reception of these two in their conjunction that makes man now an angel of Heaven. And the reception of these two in their conjunction is the inmost conjunction of the Lord and man. It is said that the Lord has come again into the world as the Word which is from Him and is Himself (True Christian Religion 776). How is He present on earth now? He is present in the Third Testament, externally, outside of man. But that is a representative and significative of His presence, of His living presence. His actual presence on earth now is in the inmost of the rational of man. There is where the influx of the Divine True of the Divine Human is received. And the mind of the man of the New Church, on the basis of the Third Testament, must be opened to this inmost of the rational before man is in the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. Then it is that he can truly see the union of the Human and the Divine in the Lord. Then it is that he can truly say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us; This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." This then is the general relationship between the two Advents of the Lord. Through the First Advent it is possible for men to come into the immediate influx of the Good of the Divine Human; and through the Second Advent it is possible for men to come to the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human which is the genuine form of that Good. And the salvation of man is through the reception of that Truth, just as the salvation of those of the first Christian Church in the Spiritual World was through their reception of the Lord in His Second Coming. Again, the difference and the relationship may be seen in this way, that the First Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Spiritual Church, whereas the Second Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Celestial Church. For it is the mark of the man of the Spiritual Church that he can receive good from the Lord in appearances of the true not yet genuine; whereas it is the mark of the man of the Celestial Church that he can receive appearances of the true genuine, ordered by the Lord Himself, in which the Lord's good is in its own. For us these things have this meaning, that the whole end of life for which we live, that toward which all our love and faith is bent, is the entrance into the internal trues within the Third Testament, the deepening of our understanding of that Testament, not through reasoning, not through abstract learning, but through the purification of our lives according to such understanding of this Word as the Lord may now give us. The good which the Lord may adjoin to such appearances of the true out of the Third Testament as we may now have, longs for and is in the expectation of the Divine True of the Divine Human which is the internal sense of this Word in which the Lord has come again. Let our celebration of the First Advent of the Lord be filled with the longing that this may be fulfilled in us in order that we may approach and receive the Lord in the Word of His Second Coming. Amen. From emanuel@newearth.org Thu Dec 17 19:01:17 1998 From: emanuel@newearth.org (Philip N. Odhner) Date: 17 Dec 1998 14:01:17 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: The First and Second Advents of the Lord Message-ID: <"uS0Fz.0.TS4.xJLUs"@sapphire> A Sermon on the First and Second Advents of the Lord by the Rt. Rev. Philip N. Odhner Bryn Athyn, Pennsyvlania December 21, 1975 Lessons: Isaiah 25:1-9; John 16:12-22; True Christian Religion 625. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and exult in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) In the Word "in that day" signifies the Advent of the Lord. For the most part, men take this prophecy in Isaiah to refer only to the First Advent of the Lord. In the Third Testament this prophecy refers both to the First Advent and to the Second Advent of the Lord. In relation to the First Advent of the Lord, it is used to show that the Lord is Jehovah. But it is evident that in the Church established by the Lord at His First Advent it was not said that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God, nor that He is Jehovah. The early Christians had indeed a perception of the Divinity of the Lord, and thought of Him as God. They thought of Him as the Son of God who has all power in Heaven and on earth. But they did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see the complete unity of the Divine and the Human in the Lord. They could not see that He is Jehovah Himself in His Human. This supreme truth was proclaimed only in the Second Advent of the Lord. And from this, we can see that this prophecy in Isaiah refers to the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. This same twofold application of the prophecies of the Coming of the Lord is true of many which we generally understand to mean only the First Coming of the Lord into the world. That very familiar prophecy in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, "And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace," for example, applies to both Advents. The early Christians did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Father of Eternity. And so, also, it is with many other prophecies of the Advent of the Lord. The reason for this twofold application of the prophecies to both Advents of the Lord is because everything of the First Advent of the Lord looks to the Second Coming of the Lord, and toward that conjunction of the human race with the Lord which has been made possible by the Second Coming of the Lord. There are many in the New Church who look upon the First Advent as having all importance by itself, as being the focal point of the spiritual history of the human race. They regard the Second Coming as being of less importance. They regard it as a kind of by-product of the First Advent, made necessary only by the contrariness of the Christian Church. This is obviously not true, because the Lord foretold His Second Coming even in the Old Testament, and in many places in the New Testament; and the whole book of the Apocalypse foretells those things which would take place at the Second Advent, and foretells the eternal Kingdom of the Lord meant by the Holy City, Nova Hierosolyma, descending from God out of Heaven. This is the Kingdom, the Church, which the Lord foresaw from the creation of the world (see Summary of the Coronis LII). There is thus an order foreseen from eternity, from the beginning of creation, in those states of the human race before the First Coming of the Lord, in the assumption and glorification of the Human which took place in the First Advent, and the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Second Coming of the Lord in the Word of the Third Testament. And the last is the crowning work of the Lord in providing for the salvation of the human race, in providing for that conjunction of the human race with Him for which He has longed and to which He has looked from the very beginning. At this season, in which we celebrate the First Coming of the Lord into the world, we should strive to see something of the real meaning of both Advents, and their relationship one to another. To express this in very ultimate terms, the genuine meaning of Christmas comes as we see the relation of the First Advent to the Second, thus, its internal relation to the 19th of June, which we celebrate as the representative of the whole work of the Lord in the Second Advent. We know from the Third Testament that when the Lord was in the world, He made the Human which He there assumed first the Divine True, and then made the Human one with the Divine Good Itself. In His Divine Human, He is present with men in their souls, and from His Divine Human comes all the good and true which men can receive, that which saves them. And yet, in the Word that was given to the first Christian Church the Lord did not reveal this supreme thing that He had done. He said that He had many things yet to reveal to them, but that they could not bear them then, but that, when He, the Spirit of Truth had come, He would lead them into all truth (John 16:12,13). From this and many other teachings given in the New Testament and in the Third Testament, it can be seen that from the glorified Human of the Lord there could take place with those of the Christian Church an influx of the Good of the Divine Human, but not as yet any immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. With those Christians who looked to the Lord, and who loved and obeyed the New Testament, there could be the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to the appearances of the true which they had from the New Testament. This adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to those appearances of the true according to which they lived and which they strove to understand, made it possible for them to be received into the New Heaven, the New Christian Heaven, at the time of the Second Advent of the Lord. Out of the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with those Christians arose all the wonderful insights and the precious things of life which the Lord gave to those of that Church. But it was not possible for them, nor was it expected of them, to come to that conjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with the True of the Divine Human which is the inmost conjunction of man with the Lord. This is what is meant by their being unable to see that the Lord is Jehovah in His Human, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of Heaven and earth. This also is what is involved in their acknowledging a life after death, but not having any idea of what that life is. Out of this, they had the faith to accept death as an entrance to life, knowing that what that life was they could not yet see. And yet, rising above all false doctrinal teachings, they, out of common perception, could see that they would be united with their loved ones after death, and that they would be such as their life here had internally formed them. In His Second Coming, by combating all the evils and falses which had arisen in the Christian Church against the truth contained in the New Testament, and by the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Third Testament, the Lord became the Divine True in ultimates. This meant that there could be an immediate influx of the Divine True as well as of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human with men, and that the good which He adjoined to men could be conjoined to its own true, both of them of and from the Lord. One can say that with the upright Christians the good which could be with them when they looked to the Lord and obeyed His commandments, longed for its own true. In this sense, with every upright Christian, there was internally the longing and the expectation of the Second Coming of the Lord, whether they were externally and consciously in such a longing or not. This is why they could receive the Lord in His Second Coming, in the Spiritual Word, and be formed into the New Heaven. This is what is meant in our text, "This is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." In these things we can see that although, with regard to the Lord Himself, His whole Human was glorified and thus made Divine during His life here in the world, yet in relation to men in the world, the result of the First Advent was that the Good of the Divine Human could be immediately present with them. Whereas by the Lord coming again into the world as the Word of the Third Testament, the True of the Divine Human can now also be present with those men who are being regenerated. It is the reception of these two in their conjunction that makes man now an angel of Heaven. And the reception of these two in their conjunction is the inmost conjunction of the Lord and man. It is said that the Lord has come again into the world as the Word which is from Him and is Himself (True Christian Religion 776). How is He present on earth now? He is present in the Third Testament, externally, outside of man. But that is a representative and significative of His presence, of His living presence. His actual presence on earth now is in the inmost of the rational of man. There is where the influx of the Divine True of the Divine Human is received. And the mind of the man of the New Church, on the basis of the Third Testament, must be opened to this inmost of the rational before man is in the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. Then it is that he can truly see the union of the Human and the Divine in the Lord. Then it is that he can truly say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us; This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." This then is the general relationship between the two Advents of the Lord. Through the First Advent it is possible for men to come into the immediate influx of the Good of the Divine Human; and through the Second Advent it is possible for men to come to the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human which is the genuine form of that Good. And the salvation of man is through the reception of that Truth, just as the salvation of those of the first Christian Church in the Spiritual World was through their reception of the Lord in His Second Coming. Again, the difference and the relationship may be seen in this way, that the First Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Spiritual Church, whereas the Second Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Celestial Church. For it is the mark of the man of the Spiritual Church that he can receive good from the Lord in appearances of the true not yet genuine; whereas it is the mark of the man of the Celestial Church that he can receive appearances of the true genuine, ordered by the Lord Himself, in which the Lord's good is in its own. For us these things have this meaning, that the whole end of life for which we live, that toward which all our love and faith is bent, is the entrance into the internal trues within the Third Testament, the deepening of our understanding of that Testament, not through reasoning, not through abstract learning, but through the purification of our lives according to such understanding of this Word as the Lord may now give us. The good which the Lord may adjoin to such appearances of the true out of the Third Testament as we may now have, longs for and is in the expectation of the Divine True of the Divine Human which is the internal sense of this Word in which the Lord has come again. Let our celebration of the First Advent of the Lord be filled with the longing that this may be fulfilled in us in order that we may approach and receive the Lord in the Word of His Second Coming. Amen. From emanuel@newearth.org Thu Dec 17 18:41:55 1998 From: emanuel@newearth.org (Philip N. Odhner) Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 13:41:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: SERMON: The First and Second Advents of the Lord Message-ID: A Sermon on the First and Second Advents of the Lord by the Rt. Rev. Philip N. Odhner Bryn Athyn, Pennsyvlania December 21, 1975 Lessons: Isaiah 25:1-9; John 16:12-22; True Christian Religion 625. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and exult in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) In the Word "in that day" signifies the Advent of the Lord. For the most part, men take this prophecy in Isaiah to refer only to the First Advent of the Lord. In the Third Testament this prophecy refers both to the First Advent and to the Second Advent of the Lord. In relation to the First Advent of the Lord, it is used to show that the Lord is Jehovah. But it is evident that in the Church established by the Lord at His First Advent it was not said that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God, nor that He is Jehovah. The early Christians had indeed a perception of the Divinity of the Lord, and thought of Him as God. They thought of Him as the Son of God who has all power in Heaven and on earth. But they did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see the complete unity of the Divine and the Human in the Lord. They could not see that He is Jehovah Himself in His Human. This supreme truth was proclaimed only in the Second Advent of the Lord. And from this, we can see that this prophecy in Isaiah refers to the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. This same twofold application of the prophecies of the Coming of the Lord is true of many which we generally understand to mean only the First Coming of the Lord into the world. That very familiar prophecy in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, "And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace," for example, applies to both Advents. The early Christians did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Father of Eternity. And so, also, it is with many other prophecies of the Advent of the Lord. The reason for this twofold application of the prophecies to both Advents of the Lord is because everything of the First Advent of the Lord looks to the Second Coming of the Lord, and toward that conjunction of the human race with the Lord which has been made possible by the Second Coming of the Lord. There are many in the New Church who look upon the First Advent as having all importance by itself, as being the focal point of the spiritual history of the human race. They regard the Second Coming as being of less importance. They regard it as a kind of by-product of the First Advent, made necessary only by the contrariness of the Christian Church. This is obviously not true, because the Lord foretold His Second Coming even in the Old Testament, and in many places in the New Testament; and the whole book of the Apocalypse foretells those things which would take place at the Second Advent, and foretells the eternal Kingdom of the Lord meant by the Holy City, Nova Hierosolyma, descending from God out of Heaven. This is the Kingdom, the Church, which the Lord foresaw from the creation of the world (see Summary of the Coronis LII). There is thus an order foreseen from eternity, from the beginning of creation, in those states of the human race before the First Coming of the Lord, in the assumption and glorification of the Human which took place in the First Advent, and the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Second Coming of the Lord in the Word of the Third Testament. And the last is the crowning work of the Lord in providing for the salvation of the human race, in providing for that conjunction of the human race with Him for which He has longed and to which He has looked from the very beginning. At this season, in which we celebrate the First Coming of the Lord into the world, we should strive to see something of the real meaning of both Advents, and their relationship one to another. To express this in very ultimate terms, the genuine meaning of Christmas comes as we see the relation of the First Advent to the Second, thus, its internal relation to the 19th of June, which we celebrate as the representative of the whole work of the Lord in the Second Advent. We know from the Third Testament that when the Lord was in the world, He made the Human which He there assumed first the Divine True, and then made the Human one with the Divine Good Itself. In His Divine Human, He is present with men in their souls, and from His Divine Human comes all the good and true which men can receive, that which saves them. And yet, in the Word that was given to the first Christian Church the Lord did not reveal this supreme thing that He had done. He said that He had many things yet to reveal to them, but that they could not bear them then, but that, when He, the Spirit of Truth had come, He would lead them into all truth (John 16:12,13). From this and many other teachings given in the New Testament and in the Third Testament, it can be seen that from the glorified Human of the Lord there could take place with those of the Christian Church an influx of the Good of the Divine Human, but not as yet any immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. With those Christians who looked to the Lord, and who loved and obeyed the New Testament, there could be the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to the appearances of the true which they had from the New Testament. This adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to those appearances of the true according to which they lived and which they strove to understand, made it possible for them to be received into the New Heaven, the New Christian Heaven, at the time of the Second Advent of the Lord. Out of the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with those Christians arose all the wonderful insights and the precious things of life which the Lord gave to those of that Church. But it was not possible for them, nor was it expected of them, to come to that conjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with the True of the Divine Human which is the inmost conjunction of man with the Lord. This is what is meant by their being unable to see that the Lord is Jehovah in His Human, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of Heaven and earth. This also is what is involved in their acknowledging a life after death, but not having any idea of what that life is. Out of this, they had the faith to accept death as an entrance to life, knowing that what that life was they could not yet see. And yet, rising above all false doctrinal teachings, they, out of common perception, could see that they would be united with their loved ones after death, and that they would be such as their life here had internally formed them. In His Second Coming, by combating all the evils and falses which had arisen in the Christian Church against the truth contained in the New Testament, and by the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Third Testament, the Lord became the Divine True in ultimates. This meant that there could be an immediate influx of the Divine True as well as of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human with men, and that the good which He adjoined to men could be conjoined to its own true, both of them of and from the Lord. One can say that with the upright Christians the good which could be with them when they looked to the Lord and obeyed His commandments, longed for its own true. In this sense, with every upright Christian, there was internally the longing and the expectation of the Second Coming of the Lord, whether they were externally and consciously in such a longing or not. This is why they could receive the Lord in His Second Coming, in the Spiritual Word, and be formed into the New Heaven. This is what is meant in our text, "This is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." In these things we can see that although, with regard to the Lord Himself, His whole Human was glorified and thus made Divine during His life here in the world, yet in relation to men in the world, the result of the First Advent was that the Good of the Divine Human could be immediately present with them. Whereas by the Lord coming again into the world as the Word of the Third Testament, the True of the Divine Human can now also be present with those men who are being regenerated. It is the reception of these two in their conjunction that makes man now an angel of Heaven. And the reception of these two in their conjunction is the inmost conjunction of the Lord and man. It is said that the Lord has come again into the world as the Word which is from Him and is Himself (True Christian Religion 776). How is He present on earth now? He is present in the Third Testament, externally, outside of man. But that is a representative and significative of His presence, of His living presence. His actual presence on earth now is in the inmost of the rational of man. There is where the influx of the Divine True of the Divine Human is received. And the mind of the man of the New Church, on the basis of the Third Testament, must be opened to this inmost of the rational before man is in the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. Then it is that he can truly see the union of the Human and the Divine in the Lord. Then it is that he can truly say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us; This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." This then is the general relationship between the two Advents of the Lord. Through the First Advent it is possible for men to come into the immediate influx of the Good of the Divine Human; and through the Second Advent it is possible for men to come to the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human which is the genuine form of that Good. And the salvation of man is through the reception of that Truth, just as the salvation of those of the first Christian Church in the Spiritual World was through their reception of the Lord in His Second Coming. Again, the difference and the relationship may be seen in this way, that the First Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Spiritual Church, whereas the Second Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Celestial Church. For it is the mark of the man of the Spiritual Church that he can receive good from the Lord in appearances of the true not yet genuine; whereas it is the mark of the man of the Celestial Church that he can receive appearances of the true genuine, ordered by the Lord Himself, in which the Lord's good is in its own. For us these things have this meaning, that the whole end of life for which we live, that toward which all our love and faith is bent, is the entrance into the internal trues within the Third Testament, the deepening of our understanding of that Testament, not through reasoning, not through abstract learning, but through the purification of our lives according to such understanding of this Word as the Lord may now give us. The good which the Lord may adjoin to such appearances of the true out of the Third Testament as we may now have, longs for and is in the expectation of the Divine True of the Divine Human which is the internal sense of this Word in which the Lord has come again. Let our celebration of the First Advent of the Lord be filled with the longing that this may be fulfilled in us in order that we may approach and receive the Lord in the Word of His Second Coming. Amen. From emanuel@newearth.org Thu Dec 17 19:06:56 1998 From: emanuel@newearth.org (Philip N. Odhner) Date: 17 Dec 1998 14:06:56 -0500 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: The First and Second Advents of the Lord Message-ID: <"rrgxj.0.NV4.EPLUs"@sapphire> A Sermon on the First and Second Advents of the Lord by the Rt. Rev. Philip N. Odhner Bryn Athyn, Pennsyvlania December 21, 1975 Lessons: Isaiah 25:1-9; John 16:12-22; True Christian Religion 625. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and exult in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) In the Word "in that day" signifies the Advent of the Lord. For the most part, men take this prophecy in Isaiah to refer only to the First Advent of the Lord. In the Third Testament this prophecy refers both to the First Advent and to the Second Advent of the Lord. In relation to the First Advent of the Lord, it is used to show that the Lord is Jehovah. But it is evident that in the Church established by the Lord at His First Advent it was not said that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God, nor that He is Jehovah. The early Christians had indeed a perception of the Divinity of the Lord, and thought of Him as God. They thought of Him as the Son of God who has all power in Heaven and on earth. But they did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see the complete unity of the Divine and the Human in the Lord. They could not see that He is Jehovah Himself in His Human. This supreme truth was proclaimed only in the Second Advent of the Lord. And from this, we can see that this prophecy in Isaiah refers to the day of the Second Coming of the Lord. This same twofold application of the prophecies of the Coming of the Lord is true of many which we generally understand to mean only the First Coming of the Lord into the world. That very familiar prophecy in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, "And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace," for example, applies to both Advents. The early Christians did not see, nor could they see, nor were they expected to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Father of Eternity. And so, also, it is with many other prophecies of the Advent of the Lord. The reason for this twofold application of the prophecies to both Advents of the Lord is because everything of the First Advent of the Lord looks to the Second Coming of the Lord, and toward that conjunction of the human race with the Lord which has been made possible by the Second Coming of the Lord. There are many in the New Church who look upon the First Advent as having all importance by itself, as being the focal point of the spiritual history of the human race. They regard the Second Coming as being of less importance. They regard it as a kind of by-product of the First Advent, made necessary only by the contrariness of the Christian Church. This is obviously not true, because the Lord foretold His Second Coming even in the Old Testament, and in many places in the New Testament; and the whole book of the Apocalypse foretells those things which would take place at the Second Advent, and foretells the eternal Kingdom of the Lord meant by the Holy City, Nova Hierosolyma, descending from God out of Heaven. This is the Kingdom, the Church, which the Lord foresaw from the creation of the world (see Summary of the Coronis LII). There is thus an order foreseen from eternity, from the beginning of creation, in those states of the human race before the First Coming of the Lord, in the assumption and glorification of the Human which took place in the First Advent, and the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Second Coming of the Lord in the Word of the Third Testament. And the last is the crowning work of the Lord in providing for the salvation of the human race, in providing for that conjunction of the human race with Him for which He has longed and to which He has looked from the very beginning. At this season, in which we celebrate the First Coming of the Lord into the world, we should strive to see something of the real meaning of both Advents, and their relationship one to another. To express this in very ultimate terms, the genuine meaning of Christmas comes as we see the relation of the First Advent to the Second, thus, its internal relation to the 19th of June, which we celebrate as the representative of the whole work of the Lord in the Second Advent. We know from the Third Testament that when the Lord was in the world, He made the Human which He there assumed first the Divine True, and then made the Human one with the Divine Good Itself. In His Divine Human, He is present with men in their souls, and from His Divine Human comes all the good and true which men can receive, that which saves them. And yet, in the Word that was given to the first Christian Church the Lord did not reveal this supreme thing that He had done. He said that He had many things yet to reveal to them, but that they could not bear them then, but that, when He, the Spirit of Truth had come, He would lead them into all truth (John 16:12,13). From this and many other teachings given in the New Testament and in the Third Testament, it can be seen that from the glorified Human of the Lord there could take place with those of the Christian Church an influx of the Good of the Divine Human, but not as yet any immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. With those Christians who looked to the Lord, and who loved and obeyed the New Testament, there could be the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to the appearances of the true which they had from the New Testament. This adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human to those appearances of the true according to which they lived and which they strove to understand, made it possible for them to be received into the New Heaven, the New Christian Heaven, at the time of the Second Advent of the Lord. Out of the adjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with those Christians arose all the wonderful insights and the precious things of life which the Lord gave to those of that Church. But it was not possible for them, nor was it expected of them, to come to that conjunction of the Good of the Divine Human with the True of the Divine Human which is the inmost conjunction of man with the Lord. This is what is meant by their being unable to see that the Lord is Jehovah in His Human, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only God of Heaven and earth. This also is what is involved in their acknowledging a life after death, but not having any idea of what that life is. Out of this, they had the faith to accept death as an entrance to life, knowing that what that life was they could not yet see. And yet, rising above all false doctrinal teachings, they, out of common perception, could see that they would be united with their loved ones after death, and that they would be such as their life here had internally formed them. In His Second Coming, by combating all the evils and falses which had arisen in the Christian Church against the truth contained in the New Testament, and by the revelation of the True of the Divine Human in the Third Testament, the Lord became the Divine True in ultimates. This meant that there could be an immediate influx of the Divine True as well as of the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human with men, and that the good which He adjoined to men could be conjoined to its own true, both of them of and from the Lord. One can say that with the upright Christians the good which could be with them when they looked to the Lord and obeyed His commandments, longed for its own true. In this sense, with every upright Christian, there was internally the longing and the expectation of the Second Coming of the Lord, whether they were externally and consciously in such a longing or not. This is why they could receive the Lord in His Second Coming, in the Spiritual Word, and be formed into the New Heaven. This is what is meant in our text, "This is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us; this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." In these things we can see that although, with regard to the Lord Himself, His whole Human was glorified and thus made Divine during His life here in the world, yet in relation to men in the world, the result of the First Advent was that the Good of the Divine Human could be immediately present with them. Whereas by the Lord coming again into the world as the Word of the Third Testament, the True of the Divine Human can now also be present with those men who are being regenerated. It is the reception of these two in their conjunction that makes man now an angel of Heaven. And the reception of these two in their conjunction is the inmost conjunction of the Lord and man. It is said that the Lord has come again into the world as the Word which is from Him and is Himself (True Christian Religion 776). How is He present on earth now? He is present in the Third Testament, externally, outside of man. But that is a representative and significative of His presence, of His living presence. His actual presence on earth now is in the inmost of the rational of man. There is where the influx of the Divine True of the Divine Human is received. And the mind of the man of the New Church, on the basis of the Third Testament, must be opened to this inmost of the rational before man is in the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human. Then it is that he can truly see the union of the Human and the Divine in the Lord. Then it is that he can truly say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us; This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in His salvation." This then is the general relationship between the two Advents of the Lord. Through the First Advent it is possible for men to come into the immediate influx of the Good of the Divine Human; and through the Second Advent it is possible for men to come to the immediate influx of the True of the Divine Human which is the genuine form of that Good. And the salvation of man is through the reception of that Truth, just as the salvation of those of the first Christian Church in the Spiritual World was through their reception of the Lord in His Second Coming. Again, the difference and the relationship may be seen in this way, that the First Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Spiritual Church, whereas the Second Advent made it possible for men to become men of the Celestial Church. For it is the mark of the man of the Spiritual Church that he can receive good from the Lord in appearances of the true not yet genuine; whereas it is the mark of the man of the Celestial Church that he can receive appearances of the true genuine, ordered by the Lord Himself, in which the Lord's good is in its own. For us these things have this meaning, that the whole end of life for which we live, that toward which all our love and faith is bent, is the entrance into the internal trues within the Third Testament, the deepening of our understanding of that Testament, not through reasoning, not through abstract learning, but through the purification of our lives according to such understanding of this Word as the Lord may now give us. The good which the Lord may adjoin to such appearances of the true out of the Third Testament as we may now have, longs for and is in the expectation of the Divine True of the Divine Human which is the internal sense of this Word in which the Lord has come again. Let our celebration of the First Advent of the Lord be filled with the longing that this may be fulfilled in us in order that we may approach and receive the Lord in the Word of His Second Coming. Amen. From leewoof@tiac.net Sun Dec 20 21:12:28 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 20 Dec 1998 21:12:28 -0000 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: "God With Us," by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.19981220152423.00bbe100@pop.tiac.net> God With Us By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 20, 1998 Christmas Sunday Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7: A child is born to us The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Matthew 1:18-25: God With Us This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. Sermon: A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means "God with us." (Matthew 1:23) God with us. This seems like a distant concept--especially right now when our country is in turmoil, both domestically and overseas. For only the second time in our country's two hundred year history, our President has been impeached. And as if that weren't bad enough, the impeachment involves lying under oath about a sexual scandal that has been aired to the public in all its sordid--and frankly, rather boring--details. Further, though there is a national consensus that the President acted badly, there is no such consensus that his misbehavior adds up to an offense that warrants removing him from office. And so we have the sorry spectacle of partisan squabbling, national confusion, and now the resignation of the newly elected Speaker of the House under his own sexual scandal. But that's not all! On the very eve of the scheduled impeachment debate, our President ordered air strikes half a world away in the Persian Gulf. So now, at the same time our government is locked in internal combat, our nation has gone to war, and we are raining death and destruction down on another nation. And just as there is no consensus in our country about the current goings-on in Washington, there is no consensus in the world community about the current offensive that the United States and Britain are waging against Iraq. Some argue that our country's actions are good and right; others believe it is a cynical last-ditch effort by America's leader to salvage his presidency. In other words, as we approach Christmas--our celebration of God with us--both our country and our world are in turmoil. I don't know about you, but for me it is a little harder to get into the Christmas spirit this year with all these depressing events going on. We never like to see these kinds of events in our news at all, but if they are going to happen, couldn't they happen some time other than the Christmas season? I wonder if Mary and Joseph were having similar thoughts as they headed toward Bethlehem two thousand years ago. It was not a trip they took willingly or with joy. They were not visiting friends and family, nor were they making a business trip on which they could earn some much-needed income. In fact, they were being forced to make the trip by an oppressive government--a government based in faraway Rome. That government had decreed that everyone in the empire must register in a census whose main purpose was to make it easier for the Roman government to tax the people under its yoke. And as if that weren't bad enough, the Roman emperor's census decree had come at a particularly bad time for Mary and Joseph. You see, Mary was in the last stages of pregnancy, and had every reason to expect that her baby would be born while they were on the road. This is not something that any woman, or her husband, would look forward to. Perhaps if they had family to visit in their hometown it wouldn't have been so bad. But if they did have family in Bethlehem, why were they looking for a room in an in? Imagine the scene: Mary, extremely pregnant with her first child, perhaps already in labor, among strangers in a faraway place, with only her husband to help her. Joseph, frantically trying to find a place for his pregnant wife to lay her head and have their first child--perhaps without even the benefit of midwives. . . . Joseph, coming up empty until finally, in desperation, he managed to arrange a place for them in a stable. Childbirth itself was enough to worry about--especially in those days, especially with the first child--without the added anxiety the two of them had to go through surrounding the birth of this particular child. And yet, those were the circumstances under which the all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe chose to be born into our world. Not in the plush surroundings of a royal palace--as he certainly could have arranged. Not in the comfortable mansion of a wealthy nobleman. Not even in the snug, tidy home of a well-to-do businessman or government official. No, the God of the universe chose to be born in the dirt and squalor of a noisy, smelly stable, far away even from his earthly parents' home. Does this picture seem a little too familiar . . . a little too much like the dirty, squalid, even smelly affairs that are going on in our country and in our world right now? We would like to get into the Christmas spirit by romanticizing the story of Jesus' birth perhaps a little too much. We would like to think of the event we are preparing to celebrate as a lot of good, clean fun, with a Walt Disney beginning. But the reality of Jesus' birth was quite different--just as the reality of our world, especially in the past few days, is quite different from what we would all wish for as we prepare for the biggest holiday celebration of the year. But God did not make a mistake in coming into our world at the lowest ebb in human history, in coming during a time of oppression for the nation among which he came, and at perhaps the worst possible moment in the lives of the two people who would raise him. For it is exactly when we are at our lowest ebb that we need God's presence with us the most. And it is exactly when everything seems to be going wrong in our world and in our own personal lives that God can show himself to us in the most deeply moving way. God did not come into our world to merely share a few laughs with us and enjoy a quiet, comfortable life. God came into the world to rescue us from everything that damages and destroys us. God came into the world to save the entire human race from destroying itself through selfishness and greed. And God comes into our own personal world to save each one of us individually from going off in wrong directions and wrecking our lives. Like you, I wish we didn't have to listen to news of war and killing, affairs and adultery, lying and mistrust just as Christmas approaches. But it is precisely because of these human failings that we _need_ the presence of God with us so very much. God is born among us when things look darkest because it is at the darkest times in our lives that, by contrast, the light of God's love and understanding shines most brightly in our hearts. On our own, we humans tend to do so many foolish and depressing things. That is why now, of all times, we need the God of the universe to come among us and be with us personally, teaching us and _showing us by his own example_ how to live in a more thoughtful, kind, and loving way. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. . . . For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. (Isaiah 9:2, 3, 6, 7) Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Swedenborgian sermons are available on the Worldwide Web: Sermon of the Week--the Online Edition of _Our Daily Bread_: http://www.swedenborg.org/odb/ Current and past sermons by the Rev. Lee Woofenden: http://www.tiac.net/users/leewoof/sermons/lswsermons.html The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From michael@newearth.org Mon Dec 21 13:07:37 1998 From: michael@newearth.org (Michael David) Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:07:37 -0500 Subject: SERMON: Philip N. Odhner Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 01:15:33 -0500 From: Gerry Hurst Subject: Bishop Odhner The Right Reverend Philip N. Odhner passed into the Spiritual World on Sunday, December 20 after a brief illness. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday on Christmas day. Philip was the last surviving child of Reverend Carl Theophilus and Marie-Louise Odhner. Interment will be at 3:15 p.m. in the graveyard near the chapel of The Lord's New Church Which is Nova Hierosolyma*, followed by a service in the chapel at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23. *1725 Huntingdon Road, Bryn Athyn PA 19009-0533, USA From leewoof@tiac.net Fri Dec 25 14:53:46 1998 From: leewoof@tiac.net (Lee Woofenden) Date: 25 Dec 1998 14:53:46 -0000 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: Wonders of His Love, by the Rev. Lee Woofenden Message-ID: <4.1.19981225094613.00b6ce00@pop.tiac.net> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Wonders of His Love By the Rev. Lee Woofenden Bridgewater, Massachusetts, December 24, 1998 Christmas Eve Readings: Jeremiah 33:10-16: A Righteous Branch "This is what the Lord says: 'You say about this place, "It is a desolate waste, without people or animals." Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, "Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the Lord. "This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In this place, desolate and without people or animals--in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says the Lord. "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfil the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. "'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.'" Luke 1:26-38: Gabriel Foretells Jesus' Birth In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 2:1-20: The Birth of Jesus In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Sermon: Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever. (Jeremiah 33:11) It is wonderful to have all of you here this evening. This is my favorite service of the year--and not only because it is our _biggest_ service of the year! That helps; but the _reason_ it is the biggest is that in this service we celebrate the biggest event in our world's history: the birth of our Lord Jesus. It seems that each Advent season, one or two things especially strike me as I think about the Lord's birth among us. This year, what strikes me most strongly is that God chose to come down and be born among us. "Well, of course!" you say, "That's what Christmas is all about!" But let's think about it for a minute. God is an infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful being who exists outside of time and space, in an eternal present that is pure love. This state of being is far beyond our limited human minds, so let's put it in terms we can understand. Was there someone on your Christmas shopping list who was practically impossible to get a present for because he or she "already has everything"? Well, God is the ultimate person who already has everything! God is pure love, pure wisdom, pure creativity, pure joy . . . . The list could go on and on. Suffice it to say that if it's good, God already has it--because everything good _comes_ from God. Why in the world would the God who has everything have the slightest interest in coming down into this world of ours where there is so much selfishness and greed? Where we do so many damaging and painful things to one another? Even today, in this "enlightened age," we humans continue to wage war on each other, continue to engage in lying and stealing, corruption and bribery. And we as individuals continue to say and do things that hurt each other. Or, perhaps even more often, we simply don't put out our best effort to do for others what we would like them to do for us. We are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world. What could there possibly be here to motivate the God of the universe to come down from a state of pure bliss and enter this world of light mingled with darkness? The only answer I can come up with has to do with the wonders of God's love. God may not _need_ anything from this world or from us. But there is something God wants to offer to us--to _give_ to us if we will accept it. That something is God's love. Emanuel Swedenborg wrote, "Love is wanting to give what we have to someone else, and feeling the other person's joy as joy in ourselves" (_Divine Love and Wisdom_ #47). This is the kind of love God feels for each one of us. God has and _is_ everything that is good, and God wants to give it all to us. God wants to give us love and understanding, joy and peace. And God is willing to do whatever it takes to give these gifts to us. God did not choose to come to earth and be born as the baby Jesus in order to get something for himself. No, God chose to be born and live among us in order to give to us the gift of his divine presence among us. God chose to join us and live among us to show us how we, too, can feel something of the joy that God has at the core of his being. God gave of himself 100%, even to the point of being willing to die for us, to show us what love and joy are all about. And even though God is the ultimate "person who has everything," there actually is something we can give to God in return. Love is not only giving what is ours to others, but also feeling the other person's joy as joy in ourselves. When we accept the love and the pure joy of living that God offers to us, we complete the circle of love. Then, the joy that we feel in ourselves makes God's love and joy complete. Love can never be real unless it is given away, and God has chosen to give his love to us. What remains is for us to accept it. How do we accept God's love? If love is giving what is our own to others, then we accept God's love by showing the same love to all the people that we come in contact with each day. We can return God's love by loving the other beings God has created to be with us. Every time we bring joy to another person, we bring joy to God. God loves each one of the beings he has created, and feels their joy very intensely in his own soul. Each time we decide to make that extra effort to show kindness and understanding to another person, we are multiplying the wonders of God's love. Amen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Swedenborgian sermons are available on the Worldwide Web: Sermon of the Week--the Online Edition of _Our Daily Bread_: http://www.swedenborg.org/odb/ Current and past sermons by the Rev. Lee Woofenden: http://www.tiac.net/users/leewoof/sermons/lswsermons.html The Rev. Lee Woofenden's email sermons are a ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. If you enjoy these sermons and would like to support the the church that sponsors them, please send your contribution to: New Jerusalem Church Central Square Bridgewater, MA 02324 USA Thank you, and God be with you. From EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com Mon Dec 28 14:58:26 1998 From: EHCARSWELL@compuserve.com (Eric Carswell) Date: 28 Dec 1998 14:58:26 -0000 Subject: [Sermons] SERMON: For Unto Us a Child is Born Message-ID: <199812280034_MC2-64D9-FB44@compuserve.com> Unto Us a Child is Born By the Rev. Eric H. Carswell December 25, 1998 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) In our imaginations we can see the stable in the little town of Bethlehem on that first Christmas night. We can smell the fresh straw that might have been scattered about. We can imagine the gentle and dim light that probably existed there, perhaps provided by a lantern. We can hear the quiet noises of a few animals moving in their stalls. We can hear the gentle cry of a newborn baby and Mary's gentle comforting voice as she wraps Him in swaddling cloths and lays Him in the manger. Once the newborn infant and his mother were settled quiet would have descended on that stable. A gentle quiet on that first Christmas. Children had been born on countless nights before this evening, but none like this infant. The Writings of the New Church assure us that the newborn infant came into this world knowing no more that you or I knew at birth. We are told that "the Lord was born as any other is born and to outward appearance was like any other." (Arcana Caelestia 2094) "He was a small child, and learned to talk as any small child does." (Arcana Caelestia 2523) "The Lord also was taught like any other child." (Arcana Caelestia 1457) The True Christian Religion summarizes these ideas with the following words: Therefore in His Human He was a child like any other child, a boy like any other boy, and so on, the only difference being that He achieved that progress more quickly, fully and perfectly than others. (True Christian Religion 89) There are many fables and stories of kings or mighty heros disguising themselves to wander among the simple and down-trodden peoples. These are nothing compared to the wonder of the Infinite God of the universe having His Spirit rest within and be contained by the body and as yet empty mind of a tiny newborn infant. The Lord "bowed the heavens" (Samuel II 22:10) and came down. At first nothing of His Divine Love and Wisdom could shine within the infantile mind of Jesus. It was completely hidden. While we can picture Jesus radiating with light and sometimes even have a light shining from manger as a symbol of the Divine presence with the tiny infant, the Lord would not have glowed except at the awe-inspiring time of His transfiguration before Peter, James, and John. The Lord's birth into the world as the tiny infant Jesus cannot be understood or appreciated as well if one doesn't understand the Lord's love for all people in this world and in the next life. It cannot be understood unless one knows that without freedom there can be no human happiness whatsoever. Being born into the world was the perfect way for the Lord to accomplish several inter-related tasks. By being born into the world He could save and redeem all human beings from that time onward and indeed many before the time of His life on earth. He could ensure that each of us has had the capability of making the essential choice between good and evil in the daily direction of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Our capability of making a free choice between good and evil requires a proper spiritual equilibrium in the life after death. At the time of the Lord's birth the power of the evil spirits of evil had grown so great that people could not freely see the truth or freely choose to do what is good and loving as they might otherwise. The Lord could have utterly destroyed these evil spirits by the slightest approach of His Infinite power and love. He loves even these evil spirits and wants them to have as much freedom and life as their chosen paths will allow them. Rather than destroy them, the Lord came into the world taking on a human body and a limited human mind that allowed these evil spirits, evil by evil, community by community, to attempt battle with Him. He defeated them all and upon defeat they freely chose to flee from His love, wisdom, and power. Even today it is their sense of the Lord's presence with each of us that redeems us from their otherwise overpowering misguiding of our lives. The communities of angels in heaven also benefitted from the Lord's birth and life in this world. There were important ideas and spiritual relationships that they could not understand until He revealed them through His battles with the hells and His example of perfect humanity. Because of their flaws the angels of heaven had been imperfectly aiding the Lord's work of guiding people to heaven. They wanted to do the right thing but they could not understand, from all that they knew, what that right thing was. When the Lord was in the world and gradually revealed His perfect wisdom and love in perfect Humanity they could freely learn and better be led by the Lord in doing their work as angels of caring for us in this world. By being born into the world the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us an example of Divine love in human form. There is much to carefully observe and reflect on the principles and priorities behind the things He said and did and also didn't say or do. We can see the times Jesus was gentle and to whom. We can see the times that He was rough and hard and to whom. We can see Him exhort and challenge His disciples to do better. The Lord was born into the world because He loves His created children. In an effort to reach each of us and care for us, He was willing to be born in a humble time, among a humble people, in the most humble of settings. Reflect on the fact that the Lord knew so much more than even the closest of His disciples, had far deeper and more spiritual values than anyone around Him. When we as human beings feel that different, we often can feel deeply alienated and remote from the people around us. The Lord met them where they were. He spoke indirectly sometimes knowing that they could not understand the raw truth. He allowed them to have impure motives, knowing that they were impure. He lovingly guided the people as best as could possibly be done to understand and follow His example. May we take heart from the message of the birth and life of the Lord, Jesus Christ. May we feel the awe of reflecting on the infinite creator of the universe being born into the world, taking on the body and natural mind of a tiny infant. May we see within His birth an all-powerful God reaching out to His often scattered children to gently guide them home. The message of the first Christmas is one simultaneously of wisdom, and power coming to be revealed and that of gentle and humble service from a deep love for each of us, His created children. These ideas are gathered together in the prophecy of Isaiah: O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. (Isaiah 40:8-11) AMEN. Lessons: Isaiah 9:6-7 Luke 2:1-7 That the Lord bore the iniquities and evils of the human race is also a statement commonly made by preachers, yet the diversion of iniquities and evils to Himself can never come about except through a hereditary channel. The Divine cannot take evil upon Itself, and therefore in order that He might overcome evil by His own powers - which no human being has ever been able to do or ever can do - and in so doing might make Himself alone Righteousness, He was willing to be born like any other. Otherwise there would have been no need for Him to be born at all, for the Lord could have assumed Human Essence without going through the process of birth, as He had indeed sometimes done when seen by members of the Most Ancient Church, and also by prophets. Therefore in order that He might be furnished with evil against which He was to fight and over which He was to conquer, and in so doing might join together in Himself the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, He came into the world. Arcana Caelestia 1573:7 Anyone who has not been given to know heavenly arcana may imagine that there was no necessity for the Lord's Coming into the world to fight with the hells, and by means of the temptations He suffered to war successfully against them and overcome them, since Divine Omnipotence could at any point have subdued them and confined them to their own particular hells. That it was nevertheless necessary stands as an unchanging truth. To disclose merely the most general aspects of those arcana however would take up a whole work, and would also provide opportunities for reasonings about Divine mysteries which, though disclosed, people's minds would not grasp. Nor would the majority wish to grasp them. It is enough therefore if people know and, since it is so, believe it to be an eternal truth that unless the Lord had come into the world and by means of the temptations which He suffered had overcome and conquered the hells, the human race would have perished, and that if He had not done so none who have lived on this planet even from the time of the Most Ancient Church could have been saved. Arcana Caelestia 1676:2-3 All books mentioned, other than from the Bible are written by Emanuel Swedenborg and are often referred to in the New Church merely as "the Writings." We believe that they are equally the Word of God as the revelation of the Old and New Testaments.