Saul's Dilemma

A sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish

Pittsburgh, September 27th, 2020

“Then David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’

“And Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth’” (I Sam. 17:32-33).

One aspect of the story about David and Goliath that doesn’t get much attention is the role of poor Saul, the king.  Of course, it is true that Saul got himself and the armies of Israel into this predicament with the Philistines in the first place by turning away from the Lord, but if we think about Saul under the threat of Goliath we could have a great deal of sympathy for him since, in some ways, we often find ourselves in exactly the same situation!  – We turn away from the Lord, doing something we’re not supposed to do, and then maybe we even try to gloss it over or cover it up as Saul did.  But when finally confronted we recognize our evil and acknowledge it and pray for forgiveness.  Meanwhile, life goes on.  We find ourselves in positions of responsibility sometimes involving many other people, and we have to make tough decisions that could affect these people either very well or very badly.  How is our judgment affected in these circumstances?  How can we know with confidence what we should do?  (And even if we do know what to do, it’s fair to say that having made major mistakes in the past our credibility on any new decisions will be suspect.)

In the story Saul stands alone, accountable in many ways for the lives of thousands, and it at least seems that he really wants to do the right thing.  The Philistine giant has been challenging his army for more than forty days, morning and evening, and he (Saul) hasn’t been able to find anyone to take him on.  Suddenly the young shepherd boy who had played the harp for the king in his distress appears in the camp and volunteers.

What is he supposed to think?  Is this brash, ruddy, bright-eyed musician/shepherd capable of such a fight, or is he just carried away by the promise of the great reward Saul had offered?  Can he really take on a seasoned warrior twice his size and win, or is he simply overcome by the pride of youthful zeal?  Saul isn’t convinced.  He says,

 “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth” (I Sam. 17:33).

What would YOU think if you were Saul?  Would you trust the lives of all the armies of Israel to this one eager boy?  Would YOU gamble everything on one fight between a teenager you had never seen in battle and a defiant hulking veteran?  I doubt it.  But of course David was ready for the king’s objections.  He told Saul how as a shepherd he had fought wild animals, rescuing lambs of the flock single-handedly from both lions and bears.  So he spoke of his experience, courage and strength.

Still, Saul was in a difficult position.  Even if he did believe the story, lions don’t wear armor and bears don’t carry swords, and spears the size of weavers’ beams.

Now all this is not to say you should feel sorry for Saul or in any way doubtful of David.  The point is to think a moment from Saul’s point of view.  Why?  Because only when we get inside of a character like Saul can we begin to feel the impact of the lesson that the Lord presents in the story for the purpose of our spiritual growth.  We need to feel Saul’s doubt; we need to feel his insecurity; we need to feel his sense of guilt and fear and responsibility for what is going on.  THEN, when we learn the spiritual significance of Saul and understand the Saul in us, we are at last in a position to know what WE must do in our doubt and fear, and how we may summon the confidence of David – and ultimately of Saul – against the arrogant Philistine.

So let’s be clear first that ALL the characters (and even the material places and things) in the story are representatives of spiritual things in us.  We’re not just Saul; we’re not David or Goliath; we’re a combination of all these characters and more – very complex, very active and volatile, so that only the Lord Himself can really know the whole quality of our lives.  But we can certainly appreciate the feelings that belong to each character and the thoughts they represent.

In a way, we can appreciate the tension as we consider the ongoing conflicts in the middle-east.  For in the end, apart from everything else we may say about it, one thing for sure is that these illustrate the very challenging and difficult spiritual battles we must face within ourselves.  Try as we might to simplify it, the situation is very complex.  It’s hard to tell the good from the evil; the true from the false.  And that’s the way it is in most of our temptations, for apart from the atrocities themselves committed in war probably the most horrible aspect of it all is the doubt, the uncertainty, the threat to our own (and our nation’s) integrity, the never-ending challenge to understand the issues correctly and to fight unselfishly for what is good.  Think about it.  If you knew absolutely, without any doubt that this or that was the right course of action to take in ANY conflict wouldn’t it be a lot easier?  If you could identify entirely with only one side and not the other, wouldn’t it simplify everything?  (In some ways, this is how it was in WW II.)

Getting back to our story, this is exactly the challenge King Saul faced as he contemplated whether to send David out to confront the giant.  And as we dig down into the spiritual meaning of the challenge, we find that it represents something fundamental to our personal experience of life.  For Saul as the first king of Israel stands for the truth that governs the Lord’s kingdom in us.  Unfortunately, at this stage it is not a very deep or enlightened truth.  In fact, it seems to be a very external, natural and literal form of the truth corresponding exactly to the character of the man.  Remember? – Saul was tall and good looking, outstanding among the children of Israel.  But he was unstable, inconsistent, prone to rash judgments, and in the stories before this conflict he showed that he did not have the ability to provide real leadership.  So he LOOKED good but he didn’t DO well in the stress and confusion of the nation’s daily struggles.

And that pretty well describes an external or literalistic understanding of the truth, actually the truth as it comes across in appearances rather than in real life.  Oh yes, we may know things from the Word – or think we know them – but if this knowledge is not informed by rational understanding born of deeper perceptions and application to life it breaks down in conflict and cannot help us in our times of spiritual need.  Then an opportunity is given for our spiritual enemies to challenge and threaten us.  And in that situation Goliath particularly stands for the pride of our own intelligence.

You see, the Philistines in the Word generally represent “the knowledge of the interior truths of faith” (AC 9340:4) that can help us through life.  They were in fact clever people, aggressive, warlike and skilled in working with iron, using chariots for battle on the relatively flat plains of their territory.  You may recall, too, that both Abraham and Isaac, and even David himself at different times lived among the Philistines and made covenants with them (Gen. 20 & 26).  So, representatively, we see that our own spiritual life at times depends on a healthy relationship with such knowledge – knowledge that provides a fundamental strength for overcoming obstacles.  But when knowledge is separated from a life of charity it can easily lead to arrogance and conceit, taking form as it has done in many churches in the concept of “salvation by faith alone” – salvation based on what you know rather than on how you live.  And that is nothing but trouble.  It generates false confidence and contempt for others, it is often belligerent, and it can be mean.

This is the giant, Goliath, within us.  It is not somebody separate from us, outside of us, threatening us as if we were completely innocent.  It is a part of us that seeks to dominate over the other parts that remain loyal to the Lord.  It claims our attention morning and evening, that is to say, in our morning states and in our evening states, when we are alert and when we are tired or confused.  It says, “I know, I know; I understand; I’m not stupid!  I don’t need any help; and not only do I not need religion but I find it annoying – naïve, simplistic, impractical, foolishly sentimental or maudlin, taking up important time and energy.”

In fact this is a sort of spirituality without the Lord, a sort of enlightenment without any real concern for the neighbor; it is what we call “enlightened self-interest,” true and valid insight that is used, unfortunately, merely for purposes of self-promotion.  And of course, it actually separates us from the Lord.  It causes us to pull away from the protecting sphere of His love and if it is allowed to dominate our thinking it leaves us spiritually weak and helpless.

This was the situation on the battlefield of Judah, where Israel was camped on one side and the Philistines on the other side of a great valley.  And here’s an example – just to get you thinking – from ordinary life today: you know that the Word says “Judge not that you be not judged,” but you are struggling with what to do about a situation in which a neighbor or a family member is making bad decisions.  Or again, you’re struggling with how to vote on a particular issue that involves a judgment on the behavior of others.  It’s hard.  You don’t know what to do.  Love and compassion seem to suggest that you cannot judge, and that you must accept whatever decision others make in freedom, but then, common sense tells you that without any judgment or discernment at all there would be anarchy and a lot of people could get hurt. 

The Philistine argument in this case might be that the Word teaches not to judge.  And in a sense it’s true.  This idea comes from a knowledge of the interior truths of the Word.  But it’s not related to life, is it?  Life requires us to make judgments, or to use a more neutral-sounding word, decisions about what we will or won’t support.  Knowing that the Lord loves what is GOOD and wants us to make GOOD decisions for ourselves and others we try to argue, to make a case, but we get nowhere.  We are like Israel, helpless before the Philistines. 

What can we do?  In the story it is a young shepherd who comes in to save the day.  David, the son of Jesse, bringing food for his soldier brothers, is amazed at the situation and looks around in wonder, saying, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Circumcision for the Jews was a rite of purification, protection from disease and a sign of commitment to the Lord.  The fact that the Philistines were uncircumcised represents the fact that this Philistine attitude is impure, defiled in fact by the love of self, lacking in any real commitment to the Lord or the neighbor.  In our example it represents the easy way out: don’t take a stand, don’t risk your reputation, don’t worry about anyone but yourself.   David, on the other hand, represents all that is clear and strong and insightful with a view to defending what is good and true from the Lord.  He represents the deeper spiritual truths that come with the acknowledgment of the Lord and with a real appreciation of the spiritual sense of His Word applied to life.  The fact that he was young – like Joseph when he was thrown into the pit by his brothers, or like the Lord Himself when He taught the teachers in the temple – represents the innocent idealism he brings to the story.  And the fact that he was a shepherd represents his desire and ability to care for the human flock that is the church – all the elements of faith and charity that are in us. 

Recall the 5 smooth stones of the brook with which David approached the giant.  These represent the simple, basic truths of the Word that have been polished in our minds by consistent application to life.  What we see now in the story is that when Saul after forty days of harassment comes to realize that he is helpless (representing our own experience when we are exhausted by the doubts of temptation) at last he agrees to let this confident young lad face Goliath with these little stones.  (Well, almost.  At first he tries to cover him in the chain mail and armor that represents our old superficial understanding, but when David sees that this only makes his life difficult he casts it off and runs without it to meet the giant.)

Just so when we come to the point in temptations where we realize that we are getting nowhere, if we will open our hearts and minds to a deeper understanding of the Word in its spiritual sense and innocently, simply commit that understanding to doing what is right, we will be able to overcome the enemies of our spiritual life no matter how intimidating they may seem.

In our example David represents the Lord Himself showing us that true love to the neighbor is loving what is good IN the neighbor, and that true judgment is not condemning any person but rather condemning the evil IN a person - to the extent that we can see what that is.  Remember, the Lord also said “Judge righteous (or “just”) judgment,” in other words, make FAIR judgments, always giving the benefit of the doubt (CL 523). 

Of course, since our lives are complex, we can’t always expect the resolution of a conflict within us to be as clear as it is shown in this story.  But the story shows us the principles that are at play, and it shows us that if we stay focused on one problem at a time – the main problem, the BIG problem – and let the Lord address it through a spiritual understanding of His Word, the giants of our own spiritual arrogance will fall and the perception of interior truths – truths that flow from the Lord’s love – will grow in strength even as David’s reputation and power grew in the kingdom of Israel where he became a great conquering hero.

Amen.

Lessons:          I Samuel 17:17-36      

Children’s talk on David’s Courage and his 5 Smooth Stones

Matthew 10:16-31 & Apocalypse Explained #817:6-7

The Third Lesson

(Speaking of the Philistines) these in the Word represent faith separated from love.  It was for this reason that they were called the "uncircumcised;" for "one uncircumcised" signifies one who is destitute of spiritual love, and is solely in natural love, and with that love alone no religious principle can be conjoined, much less anything of the church; for every religious principle and everything of the church has regard to the Divine, to heaven, and to spiritual life; and these cannot be conjoined with any other than a spiritual love; but not with a natural love separated from a spiritual love; since natural love separated from spiritual love is man's own [proprium], and this, regarded in itself, is nothing but evil. All the wars that the sons of Israel waged against the Philistines represented the combats of the spiritual man with the natural man, and thence also the combats of truth conjoined with good against truth separated from good, which in itself is not truth but falsity.  For truth separated from good is falsified in the idea of the thought respecting it, and for the reason that there is nothing spiritual present in the thought to enlighten it.  For the same reason those who are in faith separated from charity have no truth, except merely in their speech or in their preaching from the Word, the idea of truth instantly perishing as soon as truth is thought about.

Because this religion exists in the churches with all who love to live a natural life, so in the land of Canaan the Philistines were not subjugated, as the other nations of that land were, and consequently there were many battles with them.  For all the historical things of the Word are representative of such things as pertain to the church; and all the nations of the land of Canaan represented things heretical confirming either the falsities of faith or the evils of the love; while the sons of Israel represented the truths of faith and the goods of love, and thus the church….  This is why the sons of Israel whenever they fell away from the worship of Jehovah to the worship of other gods were given over to their enemies, or were conquered by them:

Thus (in Judges 10; 13) they were given over to the Philistines, and served them eighteen years, and afterwards forty years.  This represented their departure from the worship from the good of love and the truths of faith to worship from the evils of love and the falsities of faith.

Likewise (in 1 Sam. 4) the sons of Israel were conquered and distressed by the Philistines.  But when they returned to the worship of Jehovah, which was the worship from the good of love and the truths of faith, they conquered the Philistines (1 Sam. 7, 14; 2 Sam. 5, 8, 21, 23; 2 Kings 18).

The Challenge of an Uncertain Future

A sermon by Rev. Michael Gladish

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.  And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”  ~ Exodus 16:4

Probably more energy is wasted worrying about the future than anything else in our human experience.  We worry about our health, our careers and our finances; we worry about time, opportunities and decisions; we worry about whether people will like us or not, and whether we’ll succeed or fail at any given task.  We worry about ourselves, we worry about others, we worry about the nation and the church, we worry about the future of the whole planet!  To top it off probably most of us at one time or another have worried about our spiritual lives.

And yet the Lord says, “Do not worry...” for your heavenly Father knows all the things that you need.  He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

So the question is, given all the uncertainty that does exist in our lives, given the responsibilities that we feel for ourselves and our families, how can we learn to live in the present without worry?  How can we meet the challenge of the unknown with equanimity and peace?

There are hundreds of stories in the Word that speak to this question, and even more passages in the heavenly doctrines that help us to understand the issues involved.  Perhaps this morning we can take a careful look at just a few critical lessons and how shed light on the way the Lord provides for us every day.

The first lesson is about the manna, the peculiar bread provided for the Children of Israel that we just illustrated for the children.  One of the things that was so powerful about that was the recognition that to do it they had to get down on their hands and knees, a real representation of the humility we all need if we are to gather up what is good from the Lord.

This is discussed at length in the Arcana, as you heard in our lessons this morning.  The point of reference is that in gathering the manna the people were told to gather just so much and no more each day, trusting the Lord to provide for the next day – and the next, and so on for forty long, brutal years in the wilderness (Num. 14:34).  So the difficulty of this is also represented. 

Our experience with other people often teaches us that we can’t trust them to do what they promise, and that experience can make it hard for us to trust the Lord.  But, we read, “Those who trust in [Him] are constantly receiving good from Him; for whatever happens to them, whether it seems to be advantageous or not advantageous, is nevertheless good, for it serves as a means contributing to their eternal happiness” (AC 8480:3). 

The problem with the Israelites, of course, is that they didn’t trust the Lord.  And so they

suffered.  The extra manna that they gathered in anticipation of the next day bred worms, representing falsities arising from their self-concerns, and they were constantly having to fight against various enemies, and to endure other consequences of their grumbling and disobedience.  The worms are particularly interesting – if that’s the right word – because they ate at the manna– just as worries about the future eat at the good the Lord provides us.

But the question is, what can we DO about this?  What can we learn from the Lord about how to face the challenges of an uncertain future – for ourselves, our families, our church, and even the earth itself, as we confront one natural and spiritual crisis after another?

The Lord speaks to this in our other lesson, the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:25-34) urging us not to worry about our lives – what we should eat or what we should drink or how we should be clothed.  And what could be more BASIC than these needs?  Yet He said, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”  Now the Greek word for “stature” can mean length, age, or time of life, as well as size.  So we may ask, will worrying make you grow – or live longer?  The truth is, No.  Studies have shown that even mild anxiety can actually shorten a person’s life.  “Therefore,” the Lord said, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34).

Okay; easier said than done.  So what are the practical tools we can apply to this challenge?

Well, as usual the Lord does not leave us guessing.  In telling us to “look at the birds of the air” He reminds us that birds have no thoughts about the future, they just DO what they know how to do; the instinct is built in.  How much better off would we all be if we just DID what we know we should do, and let the Lord look after the rest?  But of course beyond this we know that birds correspond to thoughts, and the ability to “look” at our own thoughts is a uniquely human trait that provides us an opportunity to think differently, according to what the Lord teaches instead of from ourselves.  We all know that the worst fear is the fear of the unknown.  So if we can identify and name the fears that we are experiencing, and counter them with the truths of eternal life, is there anything we can’t face? 

But the Lord goes on in Matthew, saying, “Why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field....”  Naturally these are very beautifully “clothed,” (even though they are not the lilies we normally think of, but more like the poppies in a meadow).  But the deeper spiritual point is that all flowers represent the truths of faith and wisdom gleaned from the Word and applied to life.  If we look to these truths surely we will be encouraged about the Lord’s providential guidance in all things toward eternal life in heaven, and not be so consumed by our challenges in this world. 

Are you, for example, worried about your health?  Think.  What good does it do to worry?  Just do something about it.  Resources are everywhere at hand today, thanks to modern science and the Internet, and even if there’s no known cure for what ails you there are support groups for every conceivable disorder.  This is not to say that overcoming the anxiety (and pain) that comes with illness or disability is easy, and it certainly does not mean that you are a failure spiritually if you can’t do it.  But your point of view matters, and if you point your view toward eternal values, that is, toward what really matters in your life, then some of this, at least, may be easier to bear.  And in the meantime you can take some comfort from the teaching that you are not really you, not truly free or fully responsible for your emotions under the influence of sickness or drugs.  Yet even so, you can train your thoughts and discipline your actions for the best possible results under the circumstances.

Turning back, now, to the manna in the wilderness, let’s remember that the real lesson here is to take things one day at a time.  We don’t live in the past; we don’t live in the future; we live in the NOW, hour by hour, day by day – which is why we ask the Lord to “give us this day our daily bread,” meaning day by day.  As Swedenborg wrote in the Arcana #2493,

“I have spoken to angels about the memory of things of the past and about consequent anxiety concerning things of the future, and I have been informed that the more interior and perfect angels are the less do they care about things of the past or think about those of the future, and that this is also the origin of their happiness.  They have said that the Lord provides them every moment with what to think, accompanied by blessing and happiness, and that this being so they have no cares and no worries.  This also is what is meant in the internal sense by the manna being received ‘day by day’ from heaven, and by the ‘daily [provision] of bread’ in the Lord’s Prayer, as well as by the statement that they must not worry about what they are to eat and drink, or what clothes they are to put on.”

Does this mean that no one should ever think about the future?  No, of course not!  In fact the passage goes on to say, “...although angels have no care about things of the past and are not worried about those of the future they nevertheless have a most perfect recollection of things of the past and a most perfect insight into those of the future, because their entire present includes both the past and future within it.”

Note, this does not imply clairvoyance or any certain knowledge of the future!  It is always conditional, and is a view based on current states, that is, it “predicts” the future to the extent that the future is an extension of the present.  But we are free at any moment to make new choices that provide for new insight and a new, different future.  The key is that rather than concerning ourselves with all the things we think we need we should be turning to the Lord to ask Him what it is we really need.  And given that He asks us to lay down our lives for His sake, should we be surprised if He doesn’t provide everything we want?

This business of living in the present is terribly important.  Of course we need to provide for our futures: we don’t go grocery shopping every day, much less for every meal.  And yes, it is good to save up for old age, health contingencies, retirement, and so on.  Even ants do that.  But there’s no point in worrying about it.  We just need to DO it.  Make a plan and do it.  And if we’re in trouble for any reason, what good does it do to imagine that trouble going on forever?  Nothing in this natural world goes on forever; only our spirits do, and there is no time in the world of our spirits, only states, and these states only exist in the present. 

But suppose what you’re worried about is your spiritual state.  Suppose you have a problem that is so overwhelming that you really feel you’re not able to rise above it even for a day.  Then you worry that you don’t really trust the Lord, that your faith isn’t strong enough, that you’re not being useful to anyone – yourself or others, and ultimately that you’re on the road to hell.  This may sound melodramatic, but there must be at least 20 people here today who have felt this way at one time or another.

So if any of this sounds familiar, the following quotation, which occuirs in numerous places throughout the Writings, may also be familiar, but there’s something at the end that may surprise you.  We read,

“That it is not so difficult to lead the life of heaven as some believe, is now clear from this, that when anything presents itself to a person that he knows to be dishonest and unjust, but to which his mind is borne, it is simply necessary for him to think that it ought not to be done because it is opposed to the Divine precepts.  If a person accustoms himself so to think, and from so doing establishes a habit of so thinking, he is gradually conjoined to heaven; and so far as he is conjoined to heaven the higher regions of his mind are opened; and so far as these are opened he sees whatever is dishonest and unjust, and so far as he sees these evils they can be dispersed....  This is meant by the Lord’s words, ‘My yoke is easy and My burden light’ Matt. 11:30" (HH 533).

The words, “dishonest and unjust,” in what follows may not seem relevant in this way, but actually, given the Lord’s wisdom, mercy and providence in every aspect of every life, along with this insight about the influence of spirits, condemning yourself is both dishonest and unjust. 

Again, though, the key is not to worry about the future or the past: our job – our spiritual work – is to shun the evil of a given moment and ask the Lord for help to do what is good, not this afternoon, not tomorrow, not “forever,” but right now, right here, even as we see and feel our choices coming up: will we direct our thoughts this way or that way?  Will we nurture this attitude or that one?  Will we focus on the negative or on the positive?  How do we want to BE right now? 

Remember, it’s not YOU who thinks it’s too hard, or that you’ve made too many mistakes, or that bad or even well-meaning people, friends, family or fellow church members make it too hard; it’s the spirits from hell who have taken you captive.  But you can be free.  You can make a decision right now to BE positive, just for this moment.  And you can enjoy that.  You can be sustained by it.  And you can know that this afternoon, tomorrow, the next day and the next you will have the SAME opportunity, the same new moment in eternity, and the same “Word” from the Lord to make it possible and the same support from heaven – if you choose it.

The manna in the wilderness was not to be saved up.  It was given to the people of Israel day by day, every day for forty years – which means the whole state of temptation that anyone has to endure.  Will we get down on our hands and knees and gather it up or not?  Let’s do it, and see how He can sustain us.

Amen.

Lessons:          Exodus 16:1-21 with a Children’s talk on Gathering Manna

                        Matthew 6:25-34

Arcana Caelestia #8478

“[the verses in Exodus 16 about the manna] refer in the internal sense to concern for the morrow, a concern which was not only forbidden but also condemned.  The forbiddance of it is meant by their being told not to leave any of the manna till the morning, and the condemnation of it is meant by worms breeding in any they did leave and its becoming putrid.  Anyone who does not view the matter from anywhere beyond the sense of the letter may think that all concern for the morrow is to be avoided, which being so, people should then await their requirements every day from heaven.  But a person who views it from a position deeper than the literal meaning, that is, who views it from the internal sense, may recognize what concern for the morrow is used to mean - not concern to obtain food and clothing for oneself, and also resources for the future; for it is not contrary to order to make provision for oneself and one's dependents.  But people are concerned about the morrow when they are not content with their lot, do not trust in God but in themselves, and have solely worldly and earthly things in view, not heavenly ones.  These people are ruled completely by anxiety over the future, and by the desire to possess all things and exercise control over all other people.  That desire is kindled and grows greater and greater, till at length it is beyond all measure.  They grieve if they do not realize the objects of their desires, and they are distressed at the loss of them.  Nor can they find consolation, for in times of loss they are angry with the Divine.  They reject Him together with all belief, and curse themselves.  This is what those concerned for the morrow are like.

“Those who trust in the Divine are altogether different.  Though concerned about the morrow, yet are they unconcerned, in that they are not anxious, let alone worried, when they give thought to the morrow.  They remain even-tempered whether or not they realize desires, and they do not grieve over loss; they are content with their lot.  If they become wealthy they do not become infatuated with wealth; if they are promoted to important positions they do not consider themselves worthier than others.  If they become poor they are not made miserable either; if lowly in status they do not feel downcast.  They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things are moving towards an everlasting state of happiness, and that no matter what happens at any time to them, it contributes to that state.”

The Ten Commandments

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

A sermon by the Rev. Lawson M. Smith – 1998, 2011, 2020

Lesson:

THE DECALOGUE TEACHES WHAT EVILS ARE SINS.

Doctrine of Life 53. What nation in the wide world is not aware that it is evil to steal, to commit adultery, to murder, and to bear false witness? If men were not aware of this, and if they did not by laws guard against the commission of these evils, it would be all over with them; for without such laws the community, the commonwealth, and the kingdom would perish. Who can imagine that the Israelitish nation was so much more senseless than other nations as not to know that these were evils? One might therefore wonder why these laws, known as they are the world over, were promulgated from Mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself with so great a miracle. But listen: they were promulgated with so great a miracle in order that men may know that these laws are not only civil and moral laws, but are also spiritual laws; and that to act contrary to them is not only to do evil to a fellow-citizen and to the community, but is also to sin against God. For this reason those laws, through promulgation from Mount Sinai by Jehovah, were made laws of religion; for it is evident that whatever Jehovah God commands, He commands in order that it may be of religion, and that it is to be done for His sake, and for the sake of the man that he may be saved.

Doctrine of Life 57. As by means of this Law there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, it is called the “Covenant” and the “Testimony,” the “Covenant” because it conjoins, and the “Testimony” because it bears witness, for a “covenant” signifies conjunction, and a “testimony” the attestation of it. For this reason there were two tables, one for the Lord and the other for man. The conjunction is effected by the Lord, but only when the man does the things that have been written in his table. For the Lord is constantly present and working, and wills to enter in, but man must open to the Lord in the freedom which he has from Him; for the Lord says:

               Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will have supper with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20).

Doctrine of Life 58. In the second table, which is for man, it is not said that man must do this or that good, but that he must not do this or that evil, as for example, “Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet.” The reason is that man cannot do any good whatever from himself, but when he no longer does evils, then he does good, not from himself but from the Lord.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

“Happy is the man who fears Jehovah; in His commandments he delights exceedingly.” (Psalm 112:1)

There are people who act as though the Ten Commandments are good for children, but that when you become an adult, there are more practical rules for behavior. In business, in government, in family life, and so on, people seem to think they have outgrown the Ten Commandments. Even in religion, some churches have taught that Christians are not under the law. They go so far as to say that human beings cannot obey the commandments because we are so weak and sinful.

This attitude is a great pity, because everyone would be so much happier if we kept the Lord’s commandments. We could avoid so much grief, pain, crime, sickness, expense, even accidents, if we would just put some sincere effort into keeping the commandments. The economy would be so much more productive. There would be plenty for all, and good employment for all. Marriages and homes would be strong, loving environments where children could grow up in a healthy way. The generation of the upright would be blessed. Wealth and riches would be in our houses, and our justice would stand forever (Ps. 112:2-3). The Lord was quite serious when He gave us the words of the psalm, “Happy is the man who fears Jehovah, who delights greatly in His commandments” (v. 1).

All things of religion are gathered together in the Ten Commandments. They are the first principles of the Bible. They were the first part of the Old Testament that the Lord gave to Moses. God spoke the Ten Commandments in a living voice from Mount Sinai, amidst thunder, lightning, smoke, earthquake, and a loud trumpet, to emphasize that the idea of not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting are not mere man-made rules, but Divine laws (Life 53, 62). They are the path to eternal life, not just to a peaceful society. All religions everywhere around the world include these laws. And all who keep these laws for God’s sake are saved, no matter what other beliefs they may hold. After death, they gladly receive instruction from angels, because a person living a good life loves the truth (Life 65). “To the upright, light arises in the darkness” (v. 4). But all who do not live according to them for religious reasons are damned, because they are unwilling to be taught, nor to give up their harmful ways.

The Lord gave us the Decalogue to show us what evils are sins, that is, what harmful behaviors and attitudes create barriers between us and Him. We learn that all kinds of murder, adultery, theft, and false witness, with their lusts, are evils that we must shun as sins against God (Life VII). To the extent that we get involved in these evils, we close the Lord out of our lives with His love and wisdom. Spiritually, we live in the cold and dark of hell.

On the other hand, the wonderful truth is that so far as anyone shuns or flees from all kinds of murder as sins, he grows in love towards the neighbor. Murder includes hatred, revenge, grudges, resentment, contempt, all kinds of verbal and physical cruelty, character assassination, and so forth. In the spiritual sense, murder involves wishing to destroy a person’s soul. In the deepest sense, it is hatred of the Lord. All the different levels of murder are closely linked. If we harbor a serious grudge against someone, inside we also hate the Lord, though we may not realize it. The Lord warns us to watch out for these attitudes and habits in ourselves, because all human beings have a weakness for hatred. From the time we’re children, we are taught to cover our murderous feelings with the civil and moral principles of life among other people. But if we only cover them up for the sake of our reputation, we remain devils on the inside, however nice we may be on the outside.

But the Lord provides us freedom to see the truth and to make a choice. If we recognize an evil to be a sin and deliberately turn away from it, not just in our outward behavior but in our thoughts and intentions, then the opposite good qualities automatically begin to flow in from the Lord. “His heart is supported; he shall not fear, until he shall look upon his adversaries” (v. 8)

The Lord is like the sun of heaven, radiating the warmth of love and the light of truth to us. As God is love itself, He is always reaching out to share His love and light with us. As soon as we turn away from the opposing evils, our minds and hearts open up to His gifts, and they pour in. So we read, “When a person is no longer in the evil of murder, but in the good of love towards the neighbor, then whatever he does is a good [result] of that love, so it is a good work…. A magistrate who is in that good, as often as he… pronounces judgment, does a good work, because he acts from the love of caring for the good of his country, of the society to which he belongs, and of his fellow citizens. In like manner a merchant [or businessman] does a good work; if he is in that good, every one of his business transactions is a good work. There is in it the love of the neighbor, and the neighbor is his country, his society, his fellow-citizens, and also his servants [or employees], whose welfare he cares for along with his own. A workman also who is in the good of love towards the neighbor, under the influence of that love works faithfully for others as for himself, fearing his neighbor’s loss as his own. The doings of all these people are good works because so far as anyone shuns evil, so far he does good… And a person who shuns evil as sin does good not from himself, but from the Lord” (Life 72). “The good man is gracious and lends; he shall maintain his affairs in judgment” (v. 5).

Similarly, as far as anyone shuns all kinds of adultery as sins, so far he loves chastity, that is, cleanness of mind and heart. Not chastity in the sense of abstinence from physical relations, but abstinence from any intimacy outside of marriage, for true married love is holy, pure and clean above every other love. No one can know the blessed cleanness of marriage unless he shuns all kinds of obscene speech, actions and stimulation as sins against God. But the more a person first turns away from such things, and then flees from them, and finally fights and abominates them in himself or in herself, the more such a person comes to perceive the blessedness and peace of true married love. Obscenity, lasciviousness and adultery are hell with a person, so as we deliberately turn away from them, the Lord is able to open heaven in us, and let the sweet fresh air of springtime in heaven flow into our spirits. “He shall not fear an evil report; his heart is prepared, trusting in Jehovah” (v. 7).

As far as anyone shuns all kinds of stealing as sins, he loves honesty. Stealing includes all kinds of fraud and depriving another of his goods under any pretext. The evil of theft, we are told, enters more deeply into a person than any other, because it is united with cunning and deceit. The problem is that we lie to others and to ourselves to the point that we see nothing wrong. Then our minds are tightly closed to the light of truth, which could set us free from slavery to evil. But if we shun, that is, avoid or flee from stealing, to that extent we love honesty, integrity, justice, faithfulness, and uprightness. We cannot love these virtues from ourselves, just from self-interest. But if we shun fraud, cunning and deceit as sins, then we become principled in these virtues not from ourselves but from the Lord, because we are open to the influence of His light. Slimy, sneaky, deceitful attitudes cannot hide in the light of heaven, so they slink away, and angels come into our minds instead. “He has dispersed, he has given to the needy; his justice stands forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory” (v. 9).

As far as anyone shuns all kinds of false witness as sins, he loves what is true. False witness includes lying of all kinds, especially gossip and deliberate lies to damage others’ reputations. On a deeper level it also includes persuading someone that something bad is okay, even clever or virtuous, and that something good is bad or contemptible. On the lowest level it is to belittle the Lord and His Word. All these kinds of false witness go together in someone who tells lies. But the more we shun false witness, the more precious the truth becomes to us, and the more we are aware of the beauty of seeing clearly what is right. The truth becomes like good seed falling on fertile ground in our minds, bringing forth a bountiful harvest of honesty together with kindness, and the peace of acting according to conscience. “For to eternity he shall not be moved; the just shall be for a remembrance eternally” (v. 6).

We cannot keep the commandments and shun evils as sins inwardly, unless we fight against evils in ourselves. It’s not our fault, but the fact is that human nature is full of weaknesses toward every kind of perversity. Every generation that doesn’t keep the Lord’s commandments makes the problem worse. So inevitably there is a part of us that enjoys murder or cruelty, obscene pleasures, sneaky cleverness, and defamation of other people. The only way to get rid of these attitudes is by fighting them in ourselves from a higher point of view. It’s a battle.

Everyone who believes there is a hell and a heaven, a heaven of eternal happiness and a hell of eternal misery, and that the good go to heaven but the evil to hell, takes up the struggle against his lower nature. Then good from the Lord gradually takes the place of evil. Now, from a real appreciation of the joys of a good life, a person looks evil in the face. Now we can see that instead of being pleasant and clever, it is horrible. So he not only avoids it, but holds it in aversion, and at last abominates it. This battle, the Lord says, is not grievous or terribly hard, except for people who have relaxed all restraints on their lusts and deliberately indulged them, and for people who have confirmed themselves in rejecting the holy things of the Word and the Church. This is not talking about occasional failings, but an attitude that says, “The Ten Commandments are for kids and wimps—not me.” For others, however, the combat is not too tough. We read, “Let them resist evils in intention [before they get into act], only once a week or twice in a month, and they will perceive a change” (Life 97). “The wicked one shall see and be provoked; he shall gnash with his teeth and melt; the lusting of the wicked shall perish” (v. 10).

The first and great commandment of all is to love the Lord with all our heart and soul and strength. The reason is, we cannot shun or fight against evil in ourselves by our own strength and accomplish anything more than a temporary cover-up, unless we look to the Lord, ask Him for help, and do it for Him. We must shun evils and fight them as if by our own strength, because it feels to us as if we’re on our own. The Lord wants us to have and feel responsibility for our lives, and to make real choices. He will not compel us. So we need to examine ourselves, confess our sins before God, desist from them, and begin a new life, all as if on our own. But at the same time, we need to know that the Lord is the One giving us the inspiration, the objectivity, the hope of amendment, and deliverance from evil. That way we remain open to His help, His warmth and light, and we do not become conceited and contemptuous of fellow sinners.

The Lord gave us wonderful, easy to use tools, so that we can prepare ourselves for heaven, for a life of true love towards our neighbors, and for growing closeness with God Himself, the source of love and truth. These tools are called the Ten Commandments. They work just as well now as they did 3000 years ago. They are the essence of religion. They are the fabric of human nature, indeed of the whole universe. The power of the Lord God is in them. Let’s use them to investigate our lives and our spirits. Let’s find a problem area that we can work on for the Lord’s sake, for our neighbors’ and loved ones’ sake, and for our own eternal happiness. Let’s ask the Lord for help to be honest with ourselves and the guts to make a few changes, and go for it, because what the Lord said in the psalm is true: “Happy is the man who fears the Lord, who delights exceedingly in His commandments.”  Amen.

Sermon: Can Conjugial Love Return?

Sermon: Can Conjugial Love Return?

Pittsburgh New Church

February 23, 2020

Rev. Calvin Odhner

Introduction

Does anybody in here have a pet?  What is it?  Do you love it?  Yes, of course we love our wonderful pets!  How about a little brother or sister, do you love them?  Sometimes!  But that’s a different kind of love isn’t it!  There are different kinds of loves, aren’t there?  And today the Lord shares with us a special love that is the king of all loves!  All other loves are wrapped up in this love and that love is called conjugial love. It can only happen between a husband and wife. Let’s read how it started in Genesis chapter 2 verse 15:

Conjugial Love 58.1

That by virtue of its origin and its correspondence this love is celestial, spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, beyond every love from the Lord that exists with the angels of heaven and with the men of the church. (CL 64.4)

Sermon

Sometimes it’s good to reflect for a minute what it is we are actually supposed to be doing here on earth—what is our real purpose here?  Even the casual New Churchman recognizes the basics we are supposed to be living by:

(1)       That there is one God, in whom is the Divine trinity, and that he is the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2)        That saving faith is to believe in him.

(3)        That evils must be shunned as sins, because they are of the devil, and from the devil.

(4)       That goods must be done, because they are of God, and from God.

(5)       That they are to be done by man as of himself; yet that he must believe they are from the Lord with man, and through him.”  (CL 82)

 Ok, so that’s it in a nutshell!  Doing these things will lead us to heaven—they will open up an “inner way” incrementally as your knowledge and intelligence increase. We read

…When we are born, we come first into the earthly level, which gradually develops within us all the way to that summit of intelligence called rationality. The second level called spiritual is opened by a love for being useful that comes from our intelligence, a love for our neighbor. (The) third level called celestial is opened by a heavenly love for being useful, that is a love for the Lord; and love for the Lord is nothing but applying the precepts of the Word to our lives, these precepts being essentially to abstain from evil things because they are hellish and demonic and to do good things because they are heavenly and divine. This is how the three levels are opened in us sequentially. (DP 237)

The more we learn of how Divine Providence operates on the universe the more we understand what is best for us, how we should live and what will ultimately make us happy. There is a lot of trial and error on this pathway.  If I were to read a quote from the heavenly doctrines to you, how much could you accept from it?

The state of the man who conjoins himself with..(the Lord), by a life according to His commandments, is more blessed and happy after death than before it in the world;   (CL 29.28)

You might be able to easily hear that but do we really understand it?  It would be different if you had had the experience of being in the other world for a couple of years, lamenting how much more you should have followed the Lord on earth.  Experience is such a great teacher!  The Lord wants us to be proactive in our spiritual life right now!  We know this from the Lord’s words to Thomas:

because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.  (John 20:29)

If we actually knew all the secrets today, what the Lord has in store for us—could we handle it? That we are only one of an infinite amount of earths with humans on them (Earths in the Universe), that heaven is made up of people from many different religions (DP) and is in the shape of a human!  That we must be married in the world to come, to enter fully into heaven.  That we must transform the loves we have now for new affections which the Lord provides when we shun those spirits which attack us each day.  The truth is fantastic! It frees us from the slavery of living our own man-made truths, trading them in for what actually is so!

So, what’s the problem?  We know what to do!  The problem is something that we have to get to know so well and be able to recognize so easily that we understand it inside and out!  This thing is called the “natural man.”  The natural man is all about the love of self and the world but the amazing thing is that we can observe our natural man at work!  With practice, we can watch it do its dirty work. When someone says something not in our favor the natural man goes into a frenzy of anger and resentment. Yet it wants to remain as secret as possible for when it gets discovered, it is so obvious that it gets exposed and possibly rejected not only by the outside world but also by the individual who is suffering from it. Nowhere is the “natural man” more prominent than in our marriages, as you all know!  When we have not done our spiritual work, the work of shunning evil and lust, the natural man is alive and well in our marriage and is even running the show.  If we have done some spiritual work, then a husband and wife have a common point of spiritual connection where the Lord can bond them deeply together. We read 

They who…love corporeal natural things, and only from them love things rational, cannot be conjoined with a consort as into one except as to those externals; and when the externals fail, a coldness invades the internals, and dispels the delights of that love, as from the mind so from the body, and afterwards as from the body so from the mind, and this until nothing is left of the remembrance of the earliest state of their marriage, and consequently no cognizance of it. (59.2)

So our marriage is a great place to observe our spiritual life’s progress and to witness the “natural man” at work.  Now you would really have to not be paying attention to recognize that women are very different than men. Yet males have a tendency to overlook these amazing differences in their efforts to be right! Sorry men, but its doctrinal!  We are told that

The universe was created by the Lord a most perfect work; but nothing more perfect was created therein than woman, beautiful in countenance and charming in manner, to the end that the man may render thanks to the Lord for this bountiful gift, and repay it by the reception of wisdom from him. (CL 56)

As husbands we tend to misjudge these creatures and their love for us!  With their God-given perception, perception that we unfortunately don’t have, they are constantly trying to get us back on track and we are doing our best to ignore it!  Strange set-up isn’t it?! 

That the Lord has taken the beauty and grace of life from the man and transcribed them into the woman; and for this reason the man without reunition with his own beauty and grace in woman is stern, austere, dry, and unlovely; and is not wise unless for himself alone, and such a one is foolish. But when the man is united with his beauty and grace of life in the wife, he becomes agreeable, pleasant, animated, and lovely and thus wise. (CL 56.4)

So why are couples often in constant battle or even in mild disagreements?  The “natural man.”  It is this natural man that wants to divide, separate and destroy. If we are not paying attention, it will do just that.  Yet, if husbands will recognize it, they have been given a secret weapon from the Lord to manage their lust for variety and wandering eye. Each woman is given the perception of the delights of conjugial love and with this perception comes beauty.  In fact, their whole body is an organ of perception(CL 56.3) where they are constantly perceiving their husbands changes of state.  If a husband can find it in himself to trust his wife and to tell her what he is experiencing, at the time it is happening, from the lusts of the natural man through her perception she can guide him in his journey out of the abyss. That is, as soon as she recovers from finding out just how bad our condition is!  This is the secret weapon the Lord has given every husband if he has the courage to use it!  To recognize that the lusts of the flesh are not him, but come from hell, and with practice, they both can stand above them and see them for what they are as a team.   We read

All good flows in from the Lord, and all evil from hell, Arcana Coelestia 904, 4151. A man at the present day believes that all things are in himself and from himself, when nevertheless they enter by influx, and he knows from a doctrinal of the Church that all good is from heaven, and all evil from hell, Arcana Coelestia 4249, 6193, 6206. But if he would believe as the case really is, he would not appropriate evil to himself: for he would cast it away from himself into hell; neither would he account good to be his own, and thus would not claim any merit from it, Arcana Coelestia 6206, 6324, 6325. How happy the state of a man would then be, because from the interior he would then see from the Lord both good and evil.

Your challenge this week, if your married or single, is to observe the “natural man” at work and to watch him work behind the scenes to create drama, distress and discontent in your life.  If you’re a husband, take it one step farther and share your challenges with your wife and watch what happens!  Allow her to use her God-Given talents to purify the love you both want!

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He [h]made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Genesis (2;21)

Amen. Let us pray

Sermon: Feeding the 5000

Sermon: Feeding the 5000

Pittsburgh New Church

February 9, 2020

Rev. Calvin Odhner

 Text: John 6:1-14

Arcana:AE 617:4

He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.                                                                                 (John 6:12-13)

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church! We have been learning about the beginning of the Lord’s ministry—who can tell me a miracle the Lord performed? (water to wine, lame to walk, raised from the dead) good!  These are all miracles the Lord can perform in our spiritual life!   Today, we discover the Lord can even feed us spiritual food!  Let’s read from John chapter 6. 

Sermon

We are so fortunate in the New Church to know what life after death is like—to understand the system, how it works and what is required of us.  Even more incredible is how much the Lord has put in place for us to succeed in our spiritual efforts and to help us along the road to becoming an angel.  Our job for this short time on earth is simply to keep striving, keep evaluating, searching for truth in our lives and following the Lord’s teaching.

 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

He asks each one of us: Do you believe this?”

Often when people transition to the other world it is so smooth, so complete they don’t realize they have moved from one world to the next.  An important question to ask ourselves is “will you seek out the Lord in the other life when you discover you are in a different land? The answer is simple—if you sought the Lord in this life you will definitely seek Him out in the other! Your hunger for spiritual truth can guide you while you are on this earth. This was also true for the people in Lord’s time as well. Some were following Him, tracking Him, wanting to be near Him. 

With the disciples, the Lord crossed the Sea of Galilee to the sunny green pastures which rise gently from the shore at the northeast corner of Lake Tiberius. As they sailed, they were not far from land so people on shore could track them. They ran on foot along the shore to follow them while others joined the company from the little towns which they passed along the way.  When the boat with the Lord and the disciples touched the beach, a great multitude were already there waiting for them. We are told the Lord pitied them; they seemed to Him like sheep not having a shepherd. The Lord uses this metaphor in so many places to describe us in the Word:

•         Psalm 23:1-3 ESV
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

•         Psalm 78:52 ESV

   Then he led out his people like sheep
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

•         Psalm 79:13 ESV
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;

•         Psalm 119:176 ESV
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
    for I do not forget your commandments.

•         Isaiah 53:6 ESV
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—everyone—to his own way;

If you can imagine this scene on the shore of the lake from the Lord’s eyes, there are about 5000 men not including women and children in front of Him. Possibly 10,000 people altogether, waiting for Him to teach them and heal them.  If the Lord looked to the left, He could see several towns with people roaming around not interested in Him, not in the fold.

 Who are you following?

 Once you're outside the fold its dangerous out there, isn’t it?! Where the shepherd cannot fully protect you.  In the Lord’s sphere, the focus is on love to the neighbor.  When we are outside of it, we immediately begin to focus on self. This leads to self- gratification and non-stop pleasure seeking, most of which gets us in trouble!  Who are you following?  Depression, anger, resentment, addiction, marital discord—there are so many ways the hells keep us out of the “fold”, outside the fence.  They stop us from running along the shore towards the Lord!  If you feel like that right now, you’re following several different masters.  The Lord has a promise for you if you choose to come back:

•         Ezekiel 34:11-16 ESV
Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

This is just what the Lord did this day to the 5000!  For those who were willing to follow Him, He went among them and healed those that were sick.  Leading them up on the grassy slopes, above the sea, He sat down and taught them. These people wanted the Lord!  They wished to be cured from their sicknesses and addictions to false masters. Because He loves all people, He did to them as they wished—just as He will feed us if we ask. In Matthew we read "He saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick" - in Mark we read "He began to teach them many things," and in Luke "He spake unto them of the kingdom of God." By teaching us and talking to us of the kingdom of God, the Lord is doing something for our inner being: He is feeding our souls!

As the body corresponds to the soul, so the fish and the bread correspond to our “inside food" or the good and truth from the Lord. Here is a secret which the Lord has given to us of the New Church. Just as the soul is in the body, so the spiritual food is in the natural food. It is the kernel of which the natural food is the shell. Goodness which the Lord gives is inside the bread, and knowledge of truth which He gives is inside the fish. There could be no bread in the world if there were not goodness from the Lord, for through this the Lord creates the bread. There could be no fish in the sea if there were not truth from the Lord, for He creates the fish through this.

To see how this works —think of a walnut, see how beautifully the shell outside fits the nut inside? The two are quite distinct, right? Yet the one fits the other so closely. The Lord makes the shell to grow from the kernel to protect the kernel and also to further the growth of the kernel.  Although the shell cannot be created without the kernel, yet the kernel would not develop perfectly without the shell. Everything in Nature has a shell, or a sheath, or a covering, that fits it snugly and promotes its growth and protects it. A tree has bark; a bird has feathers; the animal has fur. The muscles have a membrane; an ear of corn has a husk;  fruit has skin; the seed has a covering.  Everywhere, if you look for it, you will find a kernel or an inside, and a shell on the outside.

Everything in Nature, both the outside and the inside, is itself a shell. For everything in Nature is natural, or outside; and its kernel, or inside, is something spiritual, which is in the spiritual world; for the natural world outside snugly fits the spiritual world inside and protects it. And every particular natural thing is said to "correspond" to a particular spiritual thing that is inside of it. The Lord asks us to seek out this spiritual food, this good and truth, which as a shepherd, He wants to feed us with. Your challenge this week is to allow the Lord to be your shepherd!  Follow Him in humility.  We read:

to love one another as I have loved you        (John 13:34)

11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them [b]to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”                      (John 6:11-12)

Amen. Let us pray.

Sermon: The Samaritan Woman at the Well

Sermon: The Samaritan Woman at the Well

Pittsburgh New Church

February 2, 2020

Rev. Calvin Odhner

Text: John 4

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” TCR 579

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church!  We have been studying the beginning of the Lord’s ministry. He’s been baptized by John the Baptist, gone through a forty day fast followed by temptations in the wilderness and has performed the miracle at Cana—changing water into wine.  Now he is on the move again, to Samaria.

Sermon

We read:

4 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

When the Lord’s on the move you can be sure, because the Word is Divine, this describes something happening in our spiritual life!  At the time of the Lord’s pilgrimage on earth the land of Canaan was divided into three regions—Judea, Samaria, and Galilea. These three regions stand for the three degrees of our mind. Moving from Judea (the higher part of our mind where good is implanted) to the lower part of our mind (the natural part), truth must go through the rational part of our mind—called Samaria. 

 Let’s talk about Samaria for a minute, this was the thriving capital where the 10 tribes of Israel made their homes.  It is here the Assyrians swept down from the north and captured those pesky Jews, carrying them off to Assyria.  To replace these Jews the king of Samaria peopled Canaan with Assyrians from his own land—what better way to make sure there would be no resistance in the future! The Assyrians brought with them their idol worship.

 At one point these Assyrians were being eaten by wild lions. The king of Assyria thought that it must be because they are not worshiping the God of the land—Jehovah.  So, he sent a Jewish priest back to Samaria from Assyria to teach them how to worship Jehovah along with their idols.  These new “Samaritans” still represented the “rational mind” but now, because they opposed Israel, they represented a perverted rational that was opposed to the spiritual.  They worshiped Jehovah and they worshiped their own gods—a sort of Jewish/gentile.  Does that sound familiar?  Somebody who sort of worships the Lord and sort of worships their own gods?  Yep!  It’s us! It’s our rational mind.  We know the Lord, we know what He wants us to do, but this pesky love of self also has needs and wants to be worshiped!  Every piece of this history describes us to the last letter!

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 

It may seem like this traveling around by the Lord from place to place was random, until we learn that this exact plot of ground is the one Jacob gave to Joseph two thousand years earlier. Everything in the Word connects with everything else. In fact, Joseph’s bones are buried on this site!  Jacob represents the natural mind and Joseph represents the spiritual.  The transfer of the plot of ground from Jacob to Joseph represents natural good becoming spiritual. This is what is about to happen with the Samaritan woman at the well.

Despite our need to worship foreign gods, the Lord has implanted good in us that seeks the truth—just as these Samaritans have!  His coming to this Samaritan city spiritually means that His influx of divine truth into the parts of us that have an affinity for good is where He seeks to give us a deeper perception of the truth.  This teaches us how little we know of the work the Lord is doing behind the scenes, it’s staggering! When the Lord’s on the move in your mind, He’s coming to awaken every good thing in you!  He is connecting in every way imaginable that He can connect with you!  Remember what He told us:

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

                                                                   (John 15:16)

It’s our job to just begin the reading of the Word and the applying of little bits and pieces where we can in our life just crack the door open to allow the Lord to work in your external life. This is where He brings the “living water!”

6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

The well represents the literal sense of the Word. The woman of Samaria represents our state—one of having interest in the Word and coming to draw truth from it as we are doing today. But also knowing we have our idols waiting, doing push-ups outside and waiting for us to walk out those church doors! The Lord’s thirst is His desire to save everyone!

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Just imagine being so resentful to a race of people you weren’t allowed to even ask them for a drink of water!  This is the predicament the Jews got themselves into and it had been getting worse for 700 years. It’s the predicament we can all get ourselves into with longstanding resentments!  We cannot dissolve these on our own!  We need the power of the Lord which we receive in humility when we draw from His well.  This is why the Lord had to come again, we read

that but for the Lord's coming no one could be saved, is to be understood as meaning that no one could be regenerated but for the Lord's coming. (TCR 579)

Without the Lord “coming into our mind,” we are as trapped as the Jews of old. This hatred for their Samaritan brothers represents the separation of faith and charity. When what we know to be true stays in our mind and doesn’t come out into the world in our daily life.  But here by the well, we witness the pattern of respect and tenderness demonstrated by the Lord that we need to have for our neighbor. The Lord shows the woman this is why He came, to break down the barriers between people. 

The truths that we learn from the Word are first just knowledge, they have no life.  Only when you walk out of here today and connect the truth you have learned with love and affection for the Lord, making Him the source of all life and acting on that truth with all your heart does it become “living water.”  This is the “gift of God,” that the saving truth in the inner man implanted by the Lord craves and begs for the truths received from the Word in the outer man so that when the inner truth is lived it becomes that living stream carrying life and health wherever it goes!  Your challenge this week is to spend five whole minutes with the Lord at the well—ask Him what Living Truth is needed in your life. Ask Him what truth He wants you to bring into your life.

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Sermon: Fill up, Draw out!

Sermon: Fill up, Draw out!

Pittsburgh New Church

January 12, 2020

Rev. Calvin Odhner

Text: John 2:1-12

Arcana: 2649

Introduction

Good morning! Welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church!  What’s missing in your life?  Have you ever given that a thought?  Maybe money is missing or friends or happiness, what’s missing? I’ll tell you what’s missing in my life, Spanish!  I had 5 years of Spanish but how much Spanish can I speak now? Nada!  Why? because I never used it. I never had the day in day out give and take of talking with people in Spanish. Whatever we don’t use, we lose, don’t we?  This morning we are going to learn about what everybody's life is missing and how to learn it, grow it, and keep it going.  Let’s read from John Chapter 2:

“Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.”    (John 2:2-3)

Sermon

First, I want to mention how awesome it is to be in the New Church!  I don't know why you were chosen to be here, or what’s special in you?  But you’re about to unlock the story of the “Marriage at Cana” which millions of people have wanted to do for centuries and we are going to make that happen right now!

If you want to be in the New Church, you’ve got to learn to hear stories from the Word and turn them into intangibles, spiritual elements, that are just as real as this lectern. The spiritual pieces we are all made of, this is the world the Lord lives in! In 1998, the Ford Motor Company spent millions of dollars on the slogan— “Built to Last” Yeah, well… they don’t last! Nothing survives this trip to the other world but the spiritual parts of ourselves. These are the things we all need to focus on because they’re all we’ve really got! 

You're in a unique position—you get to see and hear a “sneak preview” of the other life because of the Second Coming!  But you’re always left in freedom, to believe or not!  If you choose to believe it, that the Lord knows you to your very core… that He deeply loves you… and wants to teach you how to be with Him….then these first 11 verses of John are what you’ve been looking for…they are literally “dripping” with Divine Truth…. and teach us… what’s missing in our lives! Before we start, let’s do some map work: At the time of the Lord’s ministry the Holy Land has been divided into 3 provinces: 

 Galilee

Samaria

Judea

Because you’re in the New Church, you have "let go” of the idea that there are “accidents,” or things that happen by “chance.” The Lord is in control of even the tiniest things in our lives and the division of these three provinces at that time represents our mind. Galilee representing our “will." Samaria representing somewhere between our will and our understanding—our “thought life.” Judea representing our “understanding.” When our will and understanding—the two parts of our mind are separated, the good desires we have do not seek the truth that can carry them out.  In other words, it pictures a person who knows a lot of book facts about how to live but never acts on any of them!  This is when we get into spiritual trouble. What we're after is the truth that we know, to be applied in our life!  This is the marriage of good and truth!  The Lord’s whole job on earth was to glorify His Human, that is, overcome the evil tendencies in the “Mary human” and gradually unite the Son with the Father, combining Divine Truth with Divine Love. 

You’ve felt this if you have ever fallen in love. The highest and deepest joys of life come from the love between and man and a woman, the marriage of good and truth and the greatest evils and disasters in life come from its abuse. This marriage of love and wisdom is why men and women are different. It’s how the whole world works, always an effort in nature, in space, in our minds—everywhere! A constant effort to bring love and wisdom together—heat and light, soil and water. This is the reason the first miracle takes place at a “marriage feast” for marriage in its highest sense represents the union of divine love and divine wisdom.

2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

A wedding pictures a person whose “desires” and “understanding” agree as to what to do.  The number “three” pictures completeness; so "the third day” after the Lord was baptized suggests the fullness of time, the fact that the Lord had now reached a state in which He could be in His active ministry. Galilee—(look on your handout) pictures our external plane of life, and Cana, which means "reedy," suggests a mere external understanding. A “reed” is the symbol for the literal sense of the Word. It can easily be bent by the winds to whatever a person wants to justify. Mary represents the church (her presence) and the fact that the church is recognized. The fact that the Lord and His disciples were invited shows that we are talking about a person who desires the presence of the Lord and knowledge of Him. All of these details together give us a picture of a person living an external life with a mere external knowledge of the Word, yet having a genuine desire to live rightly, recognizing the church, and desiring to know more of the Lord. Isn’t this the state that many of us are in today?  Lots of “water,” external knowledge and truths, and Mary said, "They have no wine." Water and wine both represent truth, but water is truth on the natural plane, wine is truth on the spiritual plane. When we can see truth not only as necessary in our external life, but through acting on the truth, we see it in our spiritual life and this brings us real spiritual satisfaction. Through putting our truth into our behaviors with others, the water is changed into wine. Mary told the servants at the feast,

"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." This is following the Lord. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (John 15:14)

Then the Lord made use of the vessels which were there—six of them, representing the general knowledges essential to the orderly development of a spiritual life. He asked the servants to fill them with water to the brim. Did He send them out for new wine? No! He just used what he had!

 "For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off ... But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)  Then He said, "Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast."

 This is the command to use the truth we have! This is the Lord’s kingdom within us!  As we do this, the water is changed into wine.  Just like my Spanish, if you never take your truth out of your mind and use it—you forget it.  When you are facing a difficult problem in your life, use what truth you have, trust in the Lord, and watch a way open for you. The Lord gives two commands: fill up, draw out. Fill your water pot with truth and draw out that truth into your life!

10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

  Amen. The sacrament of Holy Supper will now take place.

Beginning a New Year

Sermon: Beginning a New Year: Reading And Reflection

Pittsburgh New Church

December 29, 2019

Rev. Calvin Odhner

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

Christmas: The Annunciation

Sermon: Christmas: The Annunciation:

 The Birth of Charity

Pittsburgh New Church

Dec 15, 2019

Rev. Calvin Odhner

 Text: Luke 1:28-37

TCR:688

 “Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”        (Luke 1: 28)

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church! Last week we heard that John the Baptist is calling us to prepare for the Lord’s birth!  He is crying out in the wilderness of our mind “Hey, the Lord is coming!  Are you ready to receive Him?  Now all kinds of things are happening.  Today, we get to see an angel appear to Mary—let's read about it! 

Sermon

Think back for a moment to past Christmases in your life!  Such lovely times! There is something so peaceful, so precious about Christmas.  It’s a time we set aside to celebrate the Lord’s miraculous virgin birth.  We celebrate the life-giving truths He brought into the world.  Every year we are touched by the Lord’s birth story. 

“Hallelujah, the Lord God, omnipotent shall reign, and His name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, father of eternity, prince of peace."

Those who have studied the times and history of the Jews are agreed that at the time of the Lord's birth, there was a universal expectation of His coming. Throughout Jerusalem, Judaea and Galilee, wherever Jews or Israelites met together they would talk of the Messianic prophecies and express their feeling that the time was at hand. The Jews had suffered heavily under Roman rule and it seems, although they expected the Lord’s birth almost as one man…they had turned away from the reliance upon the Lord to a reliance on the sensual—on what they could only touch and feel.  They had closed the upper door which love and wisdom freely flowed through.  Maybe you have suffered too! For some of us Christmas can be a stressful time, a dark time, a time when our old challenges re-surface as we navigate family, money, and relationships.  Holidays sometimes underline loss and“old wounds that bring us down on our emotional knees.  If Christmas has more darkness than light for you, now more than ever we need to hear His announcement, that He is coming into the world!   That He is at this moment drawing near and we are to reach out our hands to receive what He has to offer.  He brings heaven down near to people and He draws people up, to a closer conjunction with Him. There must be a human reciprocal action.  The Lord acts but we must react, in freedom, as of ourselves, to the Divine action.  We read

“linking is impossible unless it is reciprocal, since a one-sided link not balanced by one on the other side falls apart of its own accord.” (CL 61)

Not only is this true for us but it was true for Mary!  Every act of her life had conspired to make her fit to be the mother of the Lord. Her devout study of the Word showed her response to the salutation of Elisabeth, known as the Magnificat; this is made up entirely from phrases of the Old Testament, which must have been in her memory from repeated reading and meditation to be called forth spontaneously, in beautiful order and sequence under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This Annunciation, this announcement to Mary that she would bring the Lord into the world, gives us the assurance that our constant work toward walking the streets in heaven is not in vain.  We know that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary during this dark time in the world, a time when the light of truth was nearly extinguished.  Herod, the dominion of the love of self, like in our lives today, is present and dangerous.  His goal is to kill any hint of opposition to his power, any small act of kindness between you and your family.  The family carnage he is capable of is not unknown to many of us.  But let us go now to Galilee with the angel Gabriel to find Mary.  She is young, betrothed and full of hope.  She is looking forward to her coming marriage to Joseph.  We know she is loved by a “just man” and that she is an obedient woman (AC 4593).  Mary represents an affection for truth and so the angel says,

 “Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

  Although we are aware of Herod’s presence, we all carry ideals—good ideas about how we should live, how we should love one another.  We may be needy ourselves, but we automatically comfort a friend in need, deeply care for the welfare of our children, and many times refrain from making that mean comment.  The Lord protects our ideals in Galilee—the quiet part of our natural mind.  He guards our innocent affections and heavenly loves despite the turmoil of our natural life.    You may not always be in touch with your ideals as they are more or less hidden depending on our state of reception.  But eventually, and especially at Christmas, they may long to come forward as Mary longed to marry a “just man,” a carpenter: Joseph of the house of David. Her wish represents the longing to have our gentle ideals wedded to a way that we can apply them to life.  Through repentance and the shunning of evil’s that pass through our mind, we seek to bring these ideals into our life.  Yet we fail more often than not, which prompts Mary to ask “How shall this be seeing I know not a man?” How can I have charity for the neighbor in my life when I don’t have enough wisdom or understanding to conceive of it? The answer is that the Lord provides for the birth of charity in each of our lives.  When there is an innocent affection for truth in our ideals the Lord can now be born.

 “The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you.”

Just as the Lord was born in a dark time in the world the Lord can be born among your suffering, in your sadness, right in the midst of the evils that plague our own natural minds.    Take this opportunity with Christmas around the corner, to put your earthly life in order, to focus on repenting from evils you know you are committing, to prepare and wash the birthing area of your mind with the truths of the Word.

     Mary discovered that she not only got to marry Joseph and have children of her own, but she was also permitted to be part of the most important event in history, the birth of the Lord.

“Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest.”  

She was not only to have her dreams and ideals that she wanted for a happy and useful life on earth, but when we allow the birth of the Lord into our own mind, He gives us His dream for us too.  That He will live inside of us forever. Interestingly, Swedenborg met the Lord’s mother, Mary in the other world….

… I once saw Mary, the mother of the Lord, pass by; she appeared overhead dressed in white. She paused then for a moment to say that she had been the Lord's mother, and He had been born to her. But on becoming God He had put off everything human He had from her, and she now worships Him as her God, being unwilling for anyone to acknowledge Him as her son, since everything in Him is Divine.  (The Last Judgement 66 continuation)

 We too are to get on our knees and worship this Divine Man as Mary does.  It takes time to realize a life of merely sensual living, focusing on ourselves, is dry and not worth living.  When we discover the uplifting effects of repentance and love to the neighbor, we finally hear the voice of one crying in the wilderness, John the Baptist,  "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”  This discovery creates an environment, where the Lord combines the true thoughts we have with the good things we do—this is the birth of charity towards the neighbor.

 When this birth is imminent, the angel Gabriel appears, and we move beyond the love of self!

      Childbirth is a painful process as many of you know!  During the height of delivery,  mothers sometimes feel like giving up.  Often this is a sign that the baby is about to be born.   The Lord is born in us the same way!  Do not give up…  Repentance, the giving up of the self, is painful!     Yet it brings satisfaction and contentment—the “feeling of Christmas.” Look for the simple ways the Lord reveals Himself in your relationships and connections and remember the Angels words to Mary:

“Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 

                                                            Amen

Thanksgiving Day Service

Thanksgiving Day

Pittsburgh New Church

November 29, 2019

Text: John 4:35, Matthew 9:35

Arcana: AC 5957

"He that reapeth receiveth reward, and gathered fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." (John 4:36)

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to the Pittsburgh New Church! Who had a good Thanksgiving?  turkey? yes what else, potatoes? yes

Great!  But what makes it really good?  Yes we have family and friends…that is great! It is so fun to hang out together but even if you are having Thanksgiving alone,

to be grateful to the Lord, somehow this gratefulness brings the Lord’s presence and brings contentedness into our life.  I want to read to you some passages from the Lord and I think you will recognize them all but I want you to think about them with the idea of thankfulness and being content.

Sermon

From most ancient times, people have recognized the fruits of the earth are a free gift from the Lord.  If you’ve ever had apples growing in your back yard, it’s fantastic to watch them come out without doing anything! Every fall you have delicious fruit!  Every summer, if you have a garden, you can watch the magic!  Everything blooming and growing and bursting with life.   And in the fall, we store what we have harvested, we thank the Lord for his delicious bounty!

It is so easy today to become disconnected with our source of food.  With all the packaging and fast food we may not see the day to day miracles of plants blossoming, fruits growing and ripening on the tree. Yet, none of this growth could happen without the fertile ground, sun and rain, the wonderful balance of our environment.  We have no control over these and yet the Lord gives these to us according to His Will.  In fact, every thought we have, the labor we give to make the produce are from the Divine, although they feel they are our own.  Our produce harvest then, is truly a miracle, an example of how the Divine Presence of the Lord, through His love and wisdom, sustains our lives and keeps our bodies alive.  But in the Lord’s sight, the real harvest is not the fruits, grains, and vegetables, and produce from the earth, but the spirit we carry within us!  This is because the Lord looks to what is eternal.  Just as we can be disconnected from our food source we can get so wrapped up in our life that we disconnect from our spiritual source where our life and happiness come from.  Gratitude and thankfulness for this spiritual life get us back on track!    They are essential for the nourishment of our soul and this is the true Thanksgiving!

            We read: 

“Thanksgiving and its accompanying gratitude” cause people to turn to the Lord and be separated, at least temporarily,  from the love of self and its evils which are obstacles to the Lord's inflowing good (AC 5957).[1]  

Gratitude opens our mind and heart for the reception of eternal blessings. “Thankfulness” inspires love, and with it, gives us the desire to make a return for the benefits we have received. When this love is directed to the Lord it drives us to inquire how we may truly serve the Him. This enables the Lord to feed us with the bread of heaven, providing that spiritual harvest to which He referred when He said to His disciples:

 "He that reapeth receiveth reward, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

 In the Word, we find traditions of “thanksgiving”way before the Pilgrims.  There is the feast of weeks and the feast of tabernacles celebrated by the Children of Israel—these were all commanded by the Lord!

When we look at children today, are they grateful without being taught and trained to feel and express gratitude? If parents do not teach gratitude to their children, and no one else teaches them to express it, will the children themselves ever think of it?  Experience teaches us that they will not!   Parents know they must begin very early in a child's life teaching them to say "please" and "thank you."  Think of how an ungrateful person affects you?

The Heavenly Doctrines equate ungrateful with love of self and self-centered behavior. When we develop the skill of being grateful, we are building a truly noble character! An ungrateful child is utterly selfish, and selfishness is destructive of all human connections. It’s destructive of all contentment and happiness, and it’s not just true for children!  Thankful and grateful adults carry a heavenly trait!

 We may be sure people would never have thought of giving thanks to the Lord for His blessings, unless He had taught them to do so, unless He had required it of them, not for His own sake, that He might glory in it, but for our sake, as a means of making us unselfish, humble, and content with our lot. 

What are you grateful for? what do you have in your life that you can’t imagine not having?  Now here comes the hard part—have you told that person how grateful you are to know them and to have them in your life?  Being grateful is like a muscle we can develop and strengthen.  Many people have a grateful list, they write down in their journal 5 things they are grateful for each day and not surprisingly this brings contentment. We are told that gratefulness comes from the Divine truth we receive from the Lord.  It is the presence of the Lord with us that causes us to “give thanks” to Him. It is by His continual presence that we are grateful (AR 372).[2]  

“Thanksgiving” signifies -all worship of the Lord is from the Lord. In other words, we can worship the Lord only from those things which we receive from Him. We are to worship Him only from the things of good and truth He has given us through His Word (AR 249).[3] 

In fact, the word “thanksgiving” in the original tongue means “confession”; confession not only of our own unworthiness but of the Lord's goodness, of His unceasing mercy—a confession that His truth is eternal.[4]   Think of the humility involved with this confession!

Music starts

 Short meditation on “thankfulness.”

In this state of appreciation, what do we want to do?  We want to give to others! We want to love everyone!  We are so grateful, we want to share that gratefulness in a life of use and charity with others!

Your challenge for the day is to keep this gratefulness alive all day and bring it to others throughout the day.

1 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31)

Amen. Let us pray.