|
A New Beginning
Sermon by F. Robert Tafel
for Sunday, January 9, 2000
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the
spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "let
there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was
good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light
day, and the darkness he called night. So the evening and the morning were
the first day.
Genesis 1:1-5
It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee,
and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the
water, he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like a
dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved son, in whom I am
well pleased."
Mark:1-9-11
The creation of the world; the baptism of Jesus; our baptism. A new world,
a new name, a new beginning. Baptism represents the application of truth to
daily living. As such, it pictures our being born anew and becoming children
of light.
Our Scripture lessons combine the story of the baptism of Jesus (in which
he also instituted baptism as a sacrament of spiritual cleansing) with the
story of godıs creation and giving of light. Baptism also represents for the
Christian a new beginning. As Swedenborgian Christians, we do not see the
spiritual washing as cleansing from original sin, but as representing both
for the child and for the adult, an intention to walk in the light from the
Lord as he gives us to see it. It is a sacrament for us because we believe
we are actually joined spiritually with the forces of the angelic heavens.
Whether we talk about our new life in the Lord or any other new project, we
shall find that this is true: in any new beginning, there will be darkness,
emptiness, confusion.
This age-old truth comes to us vividly in the words of the author of
Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth
was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the spirit of God was moving over the waters."
Each of us has experienced the confusion, the feeling of bewilderment, the
unnerving state of not knowing where to take the next step when launching a
new enterprise. Whether the first day of school. The first day on a new job.
The first date with a loved one. Writing a paper. Or, repairing a faulty
piece of equipment.
There was an initial period of orientation, discovering a starting place.
All of this is known to us through our past experience. It is appropriate to
reflect upon creativity and new beginnings today, for you and I together are
beginning a new venture as we will be performing our ministry of uses to a
larger community, more well-known than in the past, and more on our own, as
we begin the process of separation from our past partner, the Swedenborg
School of Religion.
We find in the theological heritage of Emanuel Swedenborg and some of the
early Swedenborgian theologians a significant spiritual perspective on the
book of Genesis.
In his opening paragraph of commentary on Genesis, Swedenborg writes:
"From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever
discern the fact that this part of the word contains deep secrets of heaven,
and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears
reference to the Lord to his heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and
to all things connected therewith...." Arcana Celestia #1
Many radio and television preachers are bound by the literal meanings in
Genesis. They use it to argue against even the most sophisticated and
spiritual concepts of evolution, arguing strenuously that this planet is the
only one containing life, that God created this planet 4000 years
ago in the precise manner outlined in Genesis.
But Swedenborg discovered through a process of revelation that there are
deeper symbolic meanings contained within the literal story. The story of
creation is the story of our life, our rebirth. It is the story of every
human life, in its development. Because our spiritual life unfolds in steps
and stages in a creative process, the story of creation helps us understand
why it is that in every beginning there is darkness, emptiness and
confusion.
The earth without form and void with darkness upon the face of the deep is
a pictorial image of our spiritual state prior to being reborn. The phrase
"being. In the dark" is a universal symbol of lacking knowledge or
information. We are all in the dark before the Lord enlightens us. We are
all in the dark when beginning a new project and have to absorb information
and gain knowledge about the details of the project.
Fortunately, we are not left alone in our darkness. The spirit of God moves
over the waters of our spirit and commands that there be light. We are
invited to approach that light giving spirit in Jesus who declares: "I am
the light of world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will
have the light of life ." As further testimony of the Lordıs desire for us
to have light that we may see, we find the many instances of Jesus healing
the blind. Each instance is symbolic, yet based in fact.
In order for such healings to take place in our spiritual development, it
is only necessary at the beginning for us to acknowledge the darkness in
which we find ourselves, ask the Lordıs guidance, and follow the light we
are given. Moreover, if we acknowledge our tendency to love ourselves more
than others and ask the Lordıs help in changing the direction of this love,
we will find the Lordıs love and wisdom can then flow in. In his book divine
providence, Emanuel Swedenborg presents a picture of how this happens:
On the removal of self-love the Lord enters with the affections of
neighborly love opening the overhead window and then the the side windows
thus enabling the person to see that there is a heaven, a life after death
and eternal happiness. By the spiritual light and at the same time the
spiritual love which then flow in, the Lord causes the person to
acknowledge that God governs all things by his divine providence. (#207)
It is the Lord's constant desire to have us turn to to him to be delivered
from the destructive love of ourselves above everyone else that we may then
find the light that leads to our eternal happiness.
Certainly each of us has made much progress through the Lordıs divine
providence our personal journey from darkness to light . Yet while in this
world we shall never find ourselves completely enlightened. Rather we hope
we are engaged in a process of gradual enlightenment. As long as we are
being regenerated we shall find ourselves periodically in states of
darkness, void, formlessness and confusion. Each affection of our will which
is not in harmony with the divine goodness and truth needs to be redirected.
Spiritual enlightenment is ever the first step in such redirection. We can
be sure of the Lordıs love leading and guiding us and perfecting us to
eternity. There will be constantly recurring states of darkness and light.
I find great hope and encouragement in the story of creation. I find
comfort in the sure knowledge that darkness is to be expected as part of
life. I find the greatest hope of all in the Lordıs providence which moves
as a spiritual force over the face of the deep; that is, over our spiritual
rebirthing.
Let us turn to the Lord that he may open our eyes. May we find ourselves
in the happy condition of the man who was blind from birth and given sight
by the Lord. May we declare as he did: "this one thing I know, that though I
was blind, now I see."
Let us pray.
Copyright 2000 by Rev. F. Robert Tafel
|
