Introduction

Good morning and welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church! What amazing thing happened at Christmas? Who knows? Yes, the Lord was born! And just as the Lord was born and grew into a young boy, he had to learn from the Word. He had to learn how to behave just as we all had to learn! Did the Lord understand everything all at once? NO! It took years, just as we know nothing when we are born but over time we start to learn and we pick up speed and momentum! All this on our way to becoming and angel! Let’s read about the Lord as a young boy. Luke chapter 2 verse 40:

“and He said to them, Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Sermon

I’m sure most of you have never heard of Matt Stutzman. In December of 2015, he shot an arrow 930.04 ft. in Mckinney, Texas and hit the bull’s eye! This made him the Guinness Book of world records holder for the longest accurate shot in archery history—oh, by the way he has no arms! He taught himself to shoot with his feet and his shoulders! Now, if Matt had been off by just one degree he would have missed the target by over a 2 feet! It reminds me of the teaching in the Heavenly Doctrines that:

“every moment of our life is a new beginning to all that follow”

Every moment has a series of consequences to eternity. We are given the analogy that each moment of our life is as if we are shooting an arrow at a target. If we are just slightly off the mark at the first moment, the arrow goes far off the target if no adjustment is made. In fact, the word "sin" in Greek literally means "to miss the mark." This is why, at the beginning of this New Year, 2020, is such a great time to make some new spiritual adjustments to take an opportunity to adjust our course! Traditionally many people do this with new year’s resolutions! I want to share with you the top 10 “failed” new year’s resolutions:

1. Lose weight/exercise.

2. Quit smoking.

3. Learn something new.

4. Eat healthier.

5. Get out of debt/save money.

6. Spend more time with family.

7. Watch less TV, spend less time on Facebook.

8. Travel.

9. Be less stressed.

10. Get more sleep.

11. Volunteer.

Do any of these sound familiar? But the Heavenly Doctrines offer another way to really target the personal work we need to begin this year and that is through reflection. Reflection is our ability to stand above and to look down on our life, to see the bigger picture. Let’s take a moment right now and reflect on where the areas of pain are in your life. Resist the temptation to blame it on your mother-in-law. Just examine where it hurts, take your time. This is why you are here this morning, to spiritually grow so let’s practice it, go inside and notice the pain? Remember, spiritual or emotional pain is just as much a danger signal that something is wrong as pain in your body. Close your eyes and reflect, see if you can target the pain. Ask the Lord to show you very clearly what you are to work on, when you can see it—this is your New Year’s resolution! It is through reading the three-fold-Word and reflection that we slowly begin to see the areas of our life that are fertile for change!

“And when He was twelve years old, they went to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.” And it came to pass, after three days, that they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His intelligence and answers.

The Lord learned information just as we do! His mind was attracted to the truth in the Word because of His Divine heredity- so He absorbed the truth from the Word much faster than anybody else! He was wise at 12 years old! It is by means of knowledge that the Lord teaches us! When we reflect on and apply these knowledges in our life, we become spiritual. We learn to think as the Lord thinks—it is easy, no? Why? Because we must compel ourselves. This is the reciprocal action the Lord is looking for! Compelling ourselves, despite the fact that we want to do it our way. This is how the Lord became wise at 12—He was just beginning to understand why He was here and who He really was. Just as we need to understand why we are here, that this world is not the end, but rather the beginning and that by living a spiritual life from the Word we are journeying to becoming angels for eternity! For many of us this is a stretch and this is where reading the Heavenly Doctrines can help!

We read:

"Without the Word no one would possess spiritual intelligence, which consists in having knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, and of a life after death; nor would [he] know anything whatever about the Lord, about faith in Him nor anything about redemption, by means of which nevertheless comes salvation" (SS 114).

But the practice of reading and reflection in the New Year will pay-off big returns not only as you slowly regenerate in this world but it makes all the difference in the other world. This habit alone will completely change your experience when you first enter the other world. When we wake up in the spiritual world we go on thinking and feeling just as we did before. Our thoughts and emotions seem exactly the same as before. At first we are not aware of the slightest change! We seem to be in our accustomed surroundings, in the company of those we have known and loved. The Lord is so gentle we do not know we have departed out of the world. Only through angelic instruction are we brought into a state of reflection on our former state of life. As we ‘reflect’ we begin to notice strange things that could not happen on earth. By this experience we are brought to recognize that we are, in fact, in a spiritual world. This reflection must come from our association with others; that is, from angels whose use and function it is to preside over the process of resurrection from the dead. Without this instruction we continue to believe we are still on earth. Indeed, with the evil, who reject the instruction of the angels, the fantasy that they are still in the body returns, and some never escape from it. This instruction from the angels is with the good who love spiritual things and are willing to be instructed. They gladly accept the idea that they have departed from the world and eagerly seek to explore the wonders of their new life. Yet after a brief time, they no longer reflect on this, but take it for granted, enjoying the spiritual world even as people on earth enjoy the natural world. Swedenborg describes the experience of a newly arrived spirit, saying:

"He knew not at first where he was, supposing himself to be in the world altogether as if living in the body, for all souls [recently] from the life of the body [have this impression], inasmuch as they are not then gifted with reflection upon place (SD 2031)...[or upon] time, the objects of the senses, and the like… which would enable them to know that they are in another life… (SD 2032).

To reflect is to fix our thoughts on something give it careful consideration and, it literally means to “bend back.” It is in reflection that we can view our loves and make incremental changes towards being reborn.

We read:

As long as man lives in the world, he can advance in…regeneration only by alternations of state between the natural and the spiritual. AC 933

And again in Divine Providence:

It is only through innumerable changes of state that the individual can be "born again of the spirit," and from natural become spiritual, angelic. And these changes involve alternations between the dominance of the natural and the spiritual in man, and the gradual subordination of the natural to the spiritual. (D. P. 279.)

The whole purpose of our lives on earth is to learn to judge between good and evil, truth and falsity, and freely choose the one and reject the other. We are not alone in this, the Lord is by our side bending our thoughts toward Him every day. We are all about to embark on a New Year! Through our reading and reflection, we will make incremental changes that will make this a fantastic year! Set your spiritual goals—put reading and reflection at the top of the list! And submit to the Divine Guidance that comes…

“and He said to them, Why is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Amen