Church of the Holy City

The Promise of the Messiah
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
December 21, 2014

2 Samuel 7 Luke 1 Psalm 89

We hear a lot about the Messiah this time of year. Handel’s great choral piece is called the Messiah. We read the prophesies in Isaiah about the coming Messiah. And for Christians, the Messiah is identified with Jesus. The name “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, “Messiah.” So when we say “Jesus Christ,” we are saying “Jesus the Messiah.”
But what we forget is that the Messiah has a specific meaning. And one of the things that divide Jews from Christians is how we interpret the meaning of the term Messiah.
The term Messiah in Hebrew means “anointed.” To consecrate and establish the king’s rule, kings were anointed with oil. So the term Messiah means the “anointed one” or a king. But Messiah came to mean one king in particular: King David.
We heard in our reading from 2 Samuel the Messianic promise. In 2 Samuel 7, God promises King David that his descendants will rule on the throne of Judah forever. In 2 Samuel 7:16, God tells King David, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.” Psalm 89, which we heard this morning refers to this promise.
Thou hast said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
‘I will establish your descendants for ever,
and build your throne for all generations’” (Psalm 89:3-4).
But this promise was broken. Babylon conquered Judah and took away the rule of the king from David’s lineage. This was a shocking development in Israelite history and theology. God who rules the heavens made a promise to King David, and that promise was to endure as long as the sun and moon.
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
His line shall endure for ever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
Like the moon it shall be established for ever;
it shall stand firm while the skies endure” (Psalm 89:35-37).
Psalm 89 records the bewilderment the Israelites felt at this apparent divine lie,
Thou hast renounced the covenant with thy servant;
thou hast defiled his crown in the dust.
Thou hast breached all his walls;
thou hast laid his strongholds in ruins.
All that pass by despoil him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
Lord, where is thy steadfast love of old,
which by thy faithfulness thou didst swear to David? (Psalm 89:39-41)
Since God can never go back on His Word, the Israelites came to the conclusion that the Messiah was going to come and take back His throne in Jerusalem. This is the source of all those prophesies in Isaiah we read about the coming Messiah. And this is what the Israelites expected of Jesus. We hear it in the angel’s words to Mary,
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).
Since Jesus did not throw off Roman rule and assume the throne in Jerusalem, Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Anointed, the Messiah, the king from David’s line.
What happened was the birth of a new world religion, instead. Jesus reinterpreted what the Messiah was supposed to be. While claiming to be the Messiah, Jesus at the same time shifted the expectations of Jews. He spiritualized the nature of His kingdom. Telling Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world, Jesus claimed a kingship that is otherworldly. His kingdom is within, we should not look for it in the world, saying, “Here it is, or there it is!”
Even Judaism itself has changed dramatically since the time of Jesus. Rabbinic Judaism replaced temple sacrifices. Humane values have come to dominate Jewish observance. A rabbi I met through the Interfaith Centre told me that she believes that love for the neighbor is at the heart of Judaism. Loving the neighbor is found in the Old Testament, in Leviticus 19:18.
Now a days we are like those Israelites who were bewildered at the broken Messiah promise. We see church doors closing across denominational lines. The National Council of Churches USA had to undergo a radical streamlining and restructuring because churches were not able to donate as generously as before. And the reason churches were not able to donate as generously is simply because their numbers are falling. We church-goers wonder what’s going on. Is society becoming less religious? Is God becoming a thing of the past? Are we in what some people are calling a “post-Christian age?” We feel like exclaiming, as the Psalmist did, “Thou hast renounced the covenant with thy servant!”
I cannot renounce my belief in God, nor in His kingdom. I can’t believe that God is becoming a thing of the past. I don’t see religion dying, but changing. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Give me insight into today and you may have the antique and future worlds.” That is what we all need. I believe that religion is being transformed. But what it is becoming, I can’t see. We have the promise of the New Church in Revelation 21. We have that vision of the Holy City New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. We have the promise of the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of nations. We have, in other words, a promise of a reclaimed world of holiness. But what that reclaimed world will look like I can’t see.
Perhaps the old forms of worship can no longer hold the new wine of the New Church. We need to remember that the Swedenborgian Church was modeled after what we call the Old Church—that is traditional Christianity. Our worship service is adapted from the hymnal of the Anglican Church. And our founders had a rather grandiose notion that this denomination was the New Church described by John in the book of Revelation. Perhaps what we are witnessing is a new form of piety emerging as older forms are being transcended. The old modes of worship perhaps are not sufficient to embody the freedom and glory of the Holy City.
Our world has certainly changed dramatically within the span of one generation. In the first century AD, who could have seen the development of Christianity? Who could have predicted that that new religion would overthrow the powerful Roman gods and become the religion of the entire western world? The rise of Christianity and the transformation of Judaism were developments no one in the first century AD could have predicted. If religion as we know it does die out, I have every confidence that some new form of worship will emerge. Some new form of connecting with God will develop. Some new understanding of the relationship between God and humans and a new way of experiencing that relationship.
We are bewildered at the way things are going for organized religion. But there are many people who consider themselves spiritual, but not religious. Perhaps these free-thinking individuals will find a new, creative way to bring heaven to earth. I don’t know. But as a speculate about the future of religion, I know this: There is a God and His kingdom will endure.

PRAYER

Lord, in ancient days when you were in this world, people were overcome with wonder. Some thought you were the Messiah, the king who would liberate Israel and rule on the throne in Jerusalem. Some saw you as a divine wonder-worker. And some saw you as a political threat. Now, 2,000 years later, we see you as our Lord and Savior. We see that you came to this world to save it, and to shepherd us home. And now, we wonder about the fate of religion in this world. We see frightening signs of apathy and indifference. We wonder about the future state of Christianity, in fact, of religion at all. And yet, just as pious Jews couldn’t see Christianity arise, so we may be blind to a new unfolding of faith in this world. We know that you shall reign for ever and ever. And we know that your kingdom in the heavens and on earth is an eternal kingdom. We pray this morning for faith. Faith that your church is unfolding as you would have it.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

Prepare Ye the Way of the LORD
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
December 14, 2014

Isaiah 6 John 1:6-34 Psalm 126

In this third week of Advent, we are in a state of preparation for the coming of Jesus. The coming of Jesus is celebrated on Christmas Day. For this church, the coming of Jesus is no less than the coming of God. For we believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. Our Bible readings deal with two appearances of God—one to the prophet Isaiah and the other to the prophet John the Baptist.
In both readings, the idea of purification from sin, or forgiveness of sin accompanies the presence of God. In Isaiah, the prophet feels unclean in the presence of God. Coals are taken from the altar of the temple and the prophet is purified by them. In the remainder of the chapter, the process of our purification is described by correspondences. We are purified, or regenerated, as our selfhood is utterly destroyed. When selfhood is annihilated, our remains of goodness and truth from God are left to shine through our new self. This destruction of self is figured in the destruction of Judah described by Isaiah:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without men,
and the land is utterly desolate,
and the LORD removes men far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land (Isaiah 6:11-12).
In this case, the destruction of the land is good, in that it symbolizes the destruction of ego, selfhood, or proprium. This same passage contains a reference to remains:
And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump (Isaiah 6:13).
The number ten signifies remains. Notice, too that there is a stump that remains from the oak tree. Here the actual language is to remain. Then we are told that the stump is, “the holy seed.” So after we are purged of selfhood, what remains are all the good things that God has implanted in our soul. This process is captured excellently by the Swedenborgian poet, William Blake. He speaks of,
A false body, an Incrustation over my immortal
Spirit, a Selfhood which must be put off & annihilated away.
To cleanse the Face of my Spirit by Self-examination . . .
As with an Ark and Curtains
Which Jesus rent & now shall wholly purge away with fire’
Till Generation is swallowed up in Regeneration (Milton. 40.35-37; 41.26-28).
This brings us to the New Testament passage from John. I find the theology in John 1 to be striking. It is striking in what is left out. Our passage is about John the Baptist. The Apostle John tells us that John the Baptist’s purpose is to bear witness to the light. That is, John the Baptist is to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God and that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. John also makes the memorable statement, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This line is one of the Bible verses that people use to support the doctrine of the atonement. By calling Jesus the Lamb of God, John the Baptist is suggesting a sacrificial lamb. In the Jewish religion at the time of Jesus, one could sacrifice a lamb to take a person’s sin away. The Apostle Paul, and here John the Baptist are suggesting that Jesus’ death on the cross is such a sacrifice. They claim that when Jesus died on the cross, he took away all the sins of the human race.
But John’s Gospel is unique in this. The other three Gospels give us a different message. They talk about repentance for the forgiveness of sins. They teach that our preparation for Jesus’ coming is to repent. Matthew and Luke repeat the words of Mark,
“Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way;
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight—”
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins (Mark 1:2-5).
The way we repent is exactly as Blake and Mark put it. We examine ourselves and confess our sins to God. Then we take action to resist doing them in the future. Swedenborg recommends that we only take on one at a time, in order not to become overwhelmed. We will not be perfect on this plane of existence, most likely. But we can claim spiritual progress instead of perfection. And an honest self-appraisal will keep us humble. I think we all have a temptation to want to feel better than others, sometimes. But when we measure ourselves against Infinite Goodness, who is God, we will see that we are all struggling humans shooting for the stars.
As we put off our sins, then more and more the good feelings and the true thoughts that God has gifted us with appear. These are called remains. They are particularly given to us in childhood, when we are in our innocence. In our infancy, angels and God Himself are particularly close to us. They give us feelings of love that stay with us throughout our lives. But the good feelings given us by God and the angels are not only from childhood. They come all through our lives. Swedenborg calls this “implanting” good feelings and true thoughts in our souls. These remains are God’s dwelling place with us. God actually lives in these states of innocence and feelings of love.
God’s dwelling with us is what the incarnation is all about. The name Immanuel means “God with us.” And this Christmas season we reflect on God’s coming to humans on earth. For us living in the age after Easter, Jesus comes to us in our hearts. The coming of Jesus is a coming into our hearts when we put off selfhood and let Jesus in. This putting off of selfhood is done by repentance. As we repent, more and more we see Jesus coming to the waters of our baptism. The power to do this is from Jesus. So in that sense, Jesus does take away the sins of the world. But He does so not by a sacrifice of atonement, but by giving us the power to see, confess, and put away our sins. Then we, like John the Baptist, will say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”

PRAYER

Lord, in this Advent season we eagerly await your coming. We are filled with hope and joy at the thought of Christmas Day, when you came into the world. And as your kingdom is at hand, we prepare with acts of repentance. We pray that you give us the courage to look at ourselves and to see where we may be falling short of your ways and where we depart from your Law. We ask you to shine a light on our souls and illuminate those areas where we need to change. And we pray, too, that you give us the strength to desist from the shortcomings we identify. And we pray that you give us the strength to change those areas of our lives where change is needed. May we do these things in a spirit of love toward you, and with the joy of your imminent coming playing in our minds.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

And the Glory of the Lord Will Be Revealed
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
December 7, 2014

Isaiah 40:1-11 Mark 1:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

The readings for this morning treat the coming of Jesus into the world. The Isaiah reading makes clear that Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh. It prophesies that the glory of the LORD will be revealed to all flesh. It says in clear language that The Lord God will come:
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:5, 10-11).
Did you notice that our reading from Mark quotes Isaiah 40? Mark does this to establish the fact that Jesus is God come to earth. After Mark uses Isaiah to establish that Jesus is Yahweh come to earth, John the Baptist also affirms Jesus’ divinity,
And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8).
After John says that one mightier that he will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes and is baptized by John. And to reinforce Jesus’ divinity even further, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus as a dove, and a voice is heard, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The Isaiah passage Mark cites established Jesus’ divinity, as do John the Baptist’s words, and the wonders that accompany Jesus’ baptism.
The Isaiah passage Mark quotes says much about the nature of Emanuel—God with us. It is a remarkably peaceful and intimate picture of the coming of the LORD. This passage is one of the many passages about the Day of Yahweh. The prophets predict that there will be a Day when Yahweh comes to earth to right a world so depraved that only God Himself can set it right. Many of the prophesies are terrifying and dreadful. One such prophesy is Isaiah 13:
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every man’s heart will melt,
and they will be dismayed.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in travail.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.
Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it (Isaiah 13:6-9).
This account of the Day of the Yahweh is terrifying as are other accounts of it in the prophets.
But the passage Mark selects typifies Jesus’ ministry. It is gentle, comforting, and intimate. It even begins with the words, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” (40:1). God will right the fallen world, but God does so to make it more pleasant for us. Rough ground will be made level, mountains will be lowered and valleys will be lifted up.
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 40:3-5).
And in this Isaiah passage we find the image so deeply associated with Jesus: that if a shepherd tending His flocks. This Isaiah passage makes the Shepherd intimate and tender, as is Jesus,
He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11).
This is how we think of Jesus. The Good Shepherd who seeks sheep who have wandered astray. The Shepherd whose voice the sheep recognize. The Gentle God, as Whitman calls Jesus.
And our Psalm tells us that we are to follow in Jesus’ gentle, caring way. “Righteousness will go before him,/and make his footsteps a way” (Psalm 85:13). The Psalm also tells us the nature of Jesus’ gentle way:
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
Yea, the LORD will give what is good (Psalm 85:9-12).
In this Psalm passage, we see the very Swedenborgian idea that love and faith will be joined. We are assured that salvation is at hand for those who seek God. And we have the promise that the LORD will give us what is good.
These gentle promises are what the Christmas season is all about. As we go about preparations for the season, let’s keep these messages in our mind. Peacefulness and righteousness together, love and faith together, and the glory that these will bring to the land. For when we follow in the ideals of Jesus, we will bring Jesus’ glory into the world, and all the land will be glorious.

PRAYER
Lord, ages ago your prophets foretold your coming into the world. Some expected a terrible day of wrath and destruction. But when you came, you came in a peaceful night, silently in the form of a helpless babe. And your ministry to us was just as gentle and peaceful. You healed, you taught, and you loved. You showed us the way. We can follow in your gentle footsteps. We can embrace the peaceful way you practiced. And we can show a similar love to that which you showed us when you were here. In this advent season, may we all ponder the gentle way you came to earth, and the peaceful path you walked when you were here.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

The Face of God
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
November 23, 2014

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Matthew 25:31-46 Psalm 95:1-7

There is an Indic greeting that goes, “The god in me salutes the god in you.” Our reading from Matthew reminds me of that saying. Jesus says that when we do good to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do it to Him. To me, this means that Jesus is dwelling in each of us. It reminds me of another line from a poet I much admire named Michael Harper. In a poem called “High Modes: Vision as Ritual: Confirmation,” Harper writes the wonderful line, “A man is another man’s face.” I’d like to let that line just hover for a few minutes. But to explain what it means to me, I would say that to another man, we are but a face. And another man’s face is a man like us. The lines from Matthew tell us to honor another man or woman’s face, as if we were honoring Jesus.
I think that Swedenborg’s doctrine of the Divine Human relates to this Bible passage. When God took on a human form in Jesus, God sanctified humanity. With God as a Human, we see humanity differently. For when we do something to a human, we do something to God’s form. What we do to another human we are doing to God, since our very humanity is from God’s Divine Humanity. It is this idea that leads the poet William Blake to say,
So all must love the human form in heathen, Turk, or Jew
Where mercy, pity, peace are found, there God is dwelling, too.
We have our mortal human form from God’s Divine Humanity.
And this honor accorded to all humanity is found in the Old Testament, too. Leviticus 19:18 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus takes this to be one of the two commandments that sum up all the law and prophets. I spoke with a rabbi at the Edmonton Interfaith Centre and she told me that this command takes precedence over all the rituals devoted to God. To her, love for the neighbor is what Judaism is all about.
It’s harder to mistreat our fellows when we think that mistreating them is mistreating Jesus. When faced with a decision about how to act, we often hear it said, “What would Jesus do?” This is a good question to ask. But another way to put it would be to consider, “Would I do this to Jesus?” That is a solid rule to guide our behavior.
So we are called to do good to our fellows. And we are taught that in doing good to our fellows, we are doing good to Jesus. This unifies the two commands to love God and to love our neighbor. By doing good to our neighbor, we are loving God, as God is in our neighbor. And in doing good to our neighbor, plainly, we are loving our neighbor.
And we are called to do good to all our neighbors. This includes our near neighbors—that is, our friends, our family, our next-door-neighbors, those in our city. And it also includes distant neighbors—those who live at remote distances from us.
But Jesus singles out certain kinds of neighbors to whom we are to exercise charity in a special way. Jesus speaks of showing mercy to the hungry, the naked, prisoners, the sick, and the stranger. In other words, Jesus calls us to show mercy to those who are down and out.
This makes me think of Edmonton’s plan to end homelessness in ten years. It also makes me think of the problem of mass incarceration, or the problem of prisons and recidivism. These are issues that churches need to be sensitive to, it seems to me.
I’ve heard the damaging myths about the homeless. Some people have told me that people choose to be homeless. I have even heard someone say that some of the homeless are doctors and lawyers who simply don’t want to work. These ideas are false. When the temperatures get down to minus 30, can we actually think that people choose to be homeless? Many of the homeless have drug dependency issues. Some have mental illnesses and haven’t been helped with psychiatric care. Some are fleeing abusive homes. None choose to be homeless.
As president of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre, I recently signed a document rededicating our efforts to end homelessness in ten years, supporting the Edmonton Homeless Coalition. This document was signed by faith leaders from many different traditions. This is not a pie-in-the-sky dream. To date, Edmonton has housed 2,909 homeless persons. At this signing ceremony, we heard a speech by Joe Roberts, a man who was formerly homeless, but became the CEO of a multi-million dollar company. His talk was called, “From Skid Row to CEO.” It was an illuminating talk and equally inspiring. Joe was forced to leave home at the age of 15 to escape domestic abuse. He lived on the streets of Vancouver for years and became addicted to heroin. He was about as hopeless a man as you could run into. Some might have thought him as worthless a man as you could run into. One day he heard something that started his road to recovery. Someone told him, “There’s more to you than you see.” Joe entered drug rehab and later enrolled in a university. In university he excelled, graduating with straight A’s. He entered the business world and built up a small company into a multi-million dollar company. He was now CEO. In his talk, Joe passed over the wealth he acquired rather quickly. Now he is dedicated to raising public awareness to homelessness. This worthless bum is now a millionaire.
We need to see the homeless as faces of Jesus and we need to treat them as such. There are ways to get involved. In fact, I have brochures about an excellent program that requires nothing but friendship to homeless persons who have been placed in housing. The dynamics of homelessness are complex. And finding someone a home doesn’t exhaust the needs of the individual. Support in learning to live in an apartment or home is needed. The program I’m thinking of asks only to visit homeless individuals who have been housed. It asks people to take them out for coffee, to a movie, in other words, to help orient them to living in a home. And, no surprise, this initiative is run by the Catholic Church
The second problem that comes to mind from our Matthew reading is the plight of prisoners. Society is structured so that certain ethnic and racial demographics are far more likely to end up incarcerated than others. There are certain neighborhoods that are more likely to have its residents end up incarcerated. There is an injustice built into society that unfairly targets individuals for imprisonment.
Then, once in prison, an individual is much more likely to return to the system. This is because living in prison is so unnatural that one loses normal living skills. I have a friend who ended up incarcerated. When he was released, they gave him a few dollars in his pocket and dropped him off at Claireview Station. That was it. We were able to help him get readjusted to life on the outside. But for those who don’t have family or friends to help them get set up, what alternative is left? Homelessness? Hunger? Crime and reincarceration? As a society we need to consider other ways of treating offenders. I knew of a program by a university that offered classes in prison. The inmates could continue in the university after their release and complete their degree. So they had a better chance of adjusting to society after their incarceration. This was in Ohio. But the people of Ohio complained about inmates getting degrees for free while others in the state had to pay. So they cancelled the program. The irony is that is costs several hundred thousand dollars to incarcerate someone for a year. The cost of an individual returning to prison far outweighs the cost of educating them and providing them with the means of gainful employment upon release. And to break the unbalance in the ratio of certain neighborhoods and racial groups who end up incarcerated, we need to recognize the full humanity of all sorts of different races and socio-economic groups.
Perhaps this talk today is more worldly in its topics, speaking of homelessness and incarceration. But these are situations that a prosperous society shouldn’t have in it. And we have the words of Jesus pointing to justice for the marginalized in society. We have enough food, we have enough wealth, and we have enough charity to end homeless and mass incarceration for unjust reasons.
The face we see in another is Jesus’ face. For God’s Divine Humanity dwells in everyone in the depth of their being. When we say hello to someone, the god in us is greeting the god in another. And when we act to help those less fortunate than us, we are helping Jesus. And when we show that we love our neighbor, whoever they are, or whatever racial group they come from, we are showing love to God. Thus the two great commandments are realized–love for God and love for the neighbor. “A man is another man’s face.” When you do it for the least of these brethren of mine, you do it for me.

PRAYER

Lord, you have come to us as a human. And in doing so, you have hallowed the human form. You dwell in the depths of each one of us. So when we see the face of another human, we are seeing your image. Soften our hearts to our fellows. May we treat each other as we would treat you. You have said that when we do good to the least of your children we do good to you. May we always remember that the way we treat our fellows is the way we treat you. Give us, we pray this morning, to look upon one another with love. And may our love for you find its expression in the love we show to each other.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

How to Remember?
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
November 9, 2014

Isaiah 65:17-25 Revelation 21:1-7 Psalm 18

When I thought about Remembrance Day, the present overwhelmed me. Traditionally, on Remembrance Day we think about World War I and World War II. But all I could think about when I thought about Remembrance Day was what a different world we now live in.
I thought about the recent attack in Ottawa. I thought a little further back to Montreal. And the Boston Marathon bombing. And of course the World Trade Building attack on 9/11. This led my thinking to Iraq and Afghanistan.
World War I and II were about soldiers attacking soldiers, country attacking country. Now, civilians are targets. It is no longer nation against nation. It seems more like individual against individual. Our whole understanding of who the enemy is has changed.
The modern enemy is not a country, it is more an ideology. The closest parallel to this would be in World War II. In World War II Hitler created a national mythology about the Aryan Race that he used to mobilize his country. But this mythology was closer to a fantasy, indeed, even a falsity. It certainly had no real historical grounding. But this national fantasy was sufficient to generate genocidal horrors unlike any previously seen.
Today we are seeing fighting—I don’t even know if war is the right term—for an apparently religious cause. We who know little about world religions have difficulty understanding the nature of the great religion that has become radicalized in some people. For many of us, all we know of the great Muslim religion is what we hear from radical fundamentalists who misuse the name of the Prophet. These days when we hear about civil unrest, it is all too easy and all too common to see the labels and not the persons. The danger in this is that people will be painted with broad strokes drawn from the worst examples of a given label. And moderates and caring individuals can be seen under a label that extremists claim for themselves. And we especially need to keep in mind that by far the greatest number of victims of the conflicts in the Middle East are innocent Muslims.
The kind of work I do at the Edmonton Interfaith Centre has never been more important. At the Interfaith Centre I know on a friendship basis Muslims who decry the terrible events committed in the name of their own religion in the Middle East and here in North America. At the beginning of their Muslim prayers, which I have been privileged to participate in, often they will begin, “In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.” The Allah my friends worship is good and merciful, not inclined to war. I have heard citations from the Koran about not acting in hate but in justice.
We Christians need to remember that in our own past, violence and warfare has been perpetrated in the name of our religion and our God. And some of these wars were between rival factions of the same Christian religion. It was Protestant against Catholic in the 100 Years’ War—both Christians. And there were the crusades, when over a period of several hundred years Christians waged war on Jerusalem for its wealth and in the name of religious purity. We need to remember, too, that knights who fought in the crusades were promised a place in heaven if they died in the great cause of the Christian crusades. And earlier still, Charlemagne–called “the Great”–converted much of Europe to Christianity at the point of a sword.
But war and fighting aren’t the only expressions of religion. Those who hate religion will use these examples to criticize religion one-sidedly. There are countless examples of beautiful cultural contributions of religion–from Mosques to medieval cathedrals, from paintings, mosaics, statues, to music and poetry. And good people of all religions personally embody the best qualities of their faith when they live honorable lives, justly and with love, and with kindness embrace their fellow humans.
I chose two beautiful readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures today. Their language is so close that it is clear that John borrowed from Isaiah when he wrote Revelation 21. These two parallel passages show us that the human hope for a better world lives in the Jewish Tradition and in the Christian. I think that it is a universal human hope. We all look forward to a time when God will wipe away every tear from every eye. We hope for that time and kingdom when, “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” Perhaps we think of that kingdom where there is no more death nor mourning nor pain nor crying, perhaps we look forward with hope for the next life. But both our readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures speak of a new heaven and a new earth.
I think that we do hope for a new earth when there will be no more hurt or destruction. We hope for this and we work for this. Otherwise why would we struggle and fight in distant lands? We wish to secure peace on our homeland, of course. But I think that we also feel a sense of obligation to support and protect those innocents who are unable to defend themselves. We wish for them to have the good things in life like those simple things stated in Isaiah:
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD,
and their children with them (Isaiah 65:21-23).
These are the reasons why we fight. These are the reasons why honorable men and women have given their lives on the battlefield. These are the reasons we continue to fight. And in the midst of this troubled world, we look forward to a new earth in which God will wipe away every tear from every eye and there will be no more hurt or destruction.

PRAYER

Lord, we read in your Bible about a time when you will wipe away every tear from every eye. We read about a time when the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And yet when we look at the world, we are grieved at the violence and bloodshed we see. We long for that time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Yet we continue to strive in this world to bring about justice and peace. We pray for you to end the trouble of these times. We pray for justice and peace in these difficult time. And in the meanwhile, we hold fast to the hope of a time when there shall be no more mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things will have passed away. For it is this hope that sustains us as we struggle to bring peace to this troubled world.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

The Problem of Self Love
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
November 2, 2014

Micah 3:5-8 Matthew 23:1-12 Psalm 43

Our readings this morning bring up the problem of self-love. I call it a problem because self-love can be interpreted two ways. Our society commends self-love. We hear it often said that one can’t love someone else unless one loves one’s self. This gives self-love positive connotations. But in the history of Christianity, and in Swedenborg’s theology in particular, self-love almost always has negative connotations. In Christianity, self-love is usually contrasted with love for God, or love for the neighbor. Self-love is the opposite of love for God, or love for the neighbor. In this understanding of self-love, self-love is seen as selfishness and ego. So self-love is a problem. It is seen as both something positive and as something negative.
I must confess that I don’t understand the idea of loving self in a positive way. I don’t understand how thinking about myself and loving myself wouldn’t spill into self-absorption. It seems to me that it would make a person full of themselves. I think of a psychologist in the 20th century named Leo Buscaglia. He was a champion for love and for self-love. I remember reading one of his books, I don’t remember which one. But it started out like this, “Hi! I’m Leo Buscaglia–isn’t that great!” I remember thinking at the time, “What’s so great about that?” But Dr. Buscaglia was affirming himself, embodying that idea of self-love in a positive way. But it seemed like a thin philosophy to me at the time, and does to this day.
I don’t know what to make of the idea that we need to love ourselves in order to love others. I suppose that there is some merit in the idea that we need to feel worthy of love. If we think we are unlovable, or somehow deficient, we will not see others reaching out to us. We will not know how to respond to love because we will be convinced that no one is showing us love. But if we do think ourselves lovable, we will be able to see when others are being friendly or loving to us. The shield of negative self-image that blocked offers of friendliness and love would be broken up.
I think that it is necessary to have some kind of healthy self-image. I remember one person in a 12-step program saying that he thought himself a “Sorry SOB.” A young person then spoke up. He said that he is a valuable person. He is not a waste. That he is lovable, that he is made by God and God doesn’t make junk. The idea here, is that if a person thinks themself worthless it is easier to let themself go to pot through substances or alcohol. I’m no good, anyway, I night as well drink. So I think that a healthy self-image is necessary for individuals who have been given destructive ideas about who they are.
But over-emphasis on self can have the same effect as that of under-valuing self. If we are always thinking how wonderful we are, we will not be open to others either. I wonder how the average person would respond if I greeted them, “Hi, I’m Pastor Dave! Isn’t that great?!” So I can confess that I don’t know what to make of self-love in a positive way.
So I’m not sure how to take the current idea that self-love in a positive sense is necessary in order for us to love others. I’m a lot clearer about self-love as a religious problem. I can pose the issue this way, “What about the person who loves themself but never makes the bridge to loving other people–who remains with self-love alone?” Here we are dealing with self-love in a negative sense. This is the self love we call selfishness. These are people who think only about themselves in everything they do. These are people who qualify everything they do with the question, “What’s in it for me?” When we think of self in this way, it becomes a religious problem. Then self-love does oppose love for God and for our neighbor.
People who have self-love in a negative sense do things with an eye to their own gain. They are friendly to others only when others show them favor. And when others don’t revere them or treat them as special, they are angry and spiteful. These are the bad prophets in our Micah reading from this morning. It is stated very plainly in the Bible,
Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths (Micah 3:5).
These false prophets are peaceful to people who give them food offerings. But they declare war against those who don’t bring them offerings. By this metaphor, the Bible teaches us about self-love in a negative sense. People filled with negative self-love appear friendly to those who pay them court, but turn against whoever doesn’t treat them as someone special. Swedenborg speaks to self-love in a negative sense.
the impulses that arise from that love are urges to wound people who do not offer respect and deference and reverence. To the extent that rage takes charge, and the hatred and vengefulness that come from rage, people are driven to attack others viciously (HH 573).
There are other aspects to self-love. There is the issue of status and prestige. People who have self-love in a negative sense want honor, prestige, and status. Their interest is in the titles and honors they have–not in the job or function itself. These are like politicians who want to be Prime Minister not because they want to make their country a better place, but for the sake of the title, alone. We see this in party-spirit. When people want their party to be in office at all costs. This leads to political gridlock. Nothing gets done because both parties are not concerned with the actual issues and the good of the country. They care only for what makes their own party more powerful. Swedenborg describes these people in stark language. He, himself, must have seen a lot of this because he held a seat in his country’s house of nobles most of his life. So he tells it like it is,
people whose self-love leads them to take power intend good to no one but themselves. Any services they perform for others are actually for their own esteem and renown, since only this is of any use to them. Helping others is for them simply a means to being waited on and respected and deferred to. They strive for high office not for the good they ought to do for their country and their church but to be prominent and praised and therefore in their heart’s delight (HH 564).
These are the scribes and Pharisees from our Matthew reading,
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men (23:5-7).
But there is also a positive way to be in power. For Swedenborg, when a person’s heart is on the good he or she is doing, then status and power are good things. They want to do good, and they are happy when opportunities arise for them to do good. So when they are promoted to high positions, and receive important titles, their mind is only on the notion that now they have more opportunity to good to their city, country, or church. We have seen what the quest for power and status looks like for those who are caught up in self-love in a negative sense. It now remains for us to consider what status looks like for those who use it to do greater good. Swedenborg describes this as well,
There are two ways of being in power. One comes from love for our neighbor and the other from love for ourselves. In essence, these two kinds of power are exact opposites. People who are empowered by love for their neighbor intend the good of everyone and love nothing more than being useful—that is, serving others (serving others means willing well and helping others, whether that is one’s church, country, community, or fellow citizen). This is their love and the delight of their hearts. As such people are raised to high positions they are delighted; but the de-light is not because of the honor but because of the constructive things they can now do more abundantly and at a higher level. This is what empowerment is like in the heavens (HH 564).
High office and honorable titles for these people are ways of doing good to their country, their city, or their church. The status and titles they are given are means to their end, which is service. There was a time when politicians were called public servants. I don’t know if we still call them that. But these two ways of finding status–from self-love and from a love of service–are not only for politicians. We all have ways of being more or less useful and there are many ways of being given titles and honors. But if we are Christians, we are interested in the service we can do to others. We can serve personally to individuals, or collectively through organizations. And if service is our main intention, we can accept any position or title that comes our way. For Jesus has said, “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12).

PRAYER

Lord, you have created us in your own image and likeness. That means that we have the capacity to grow forever in wisdom and in love. We are all made with the same needs and wants–that is, to be loved, not to feel pain, and to be happy. Help us to see our fellows as just like we are. That our neighbors want the same things that we do, to be loved, not to feel pain, and to be happy. Give us the humility to see our neighbors as fellows–not better than us, not below us. May we feel like one among others, not looking down upon our neighbor; not looking up to him or her. And just as you accept and love us, so give us to accept and love our neighbor.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

Delight in the Law
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
October 26, 2014

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 Matthew 22:34-46 Psalm 1

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it. And this does not mean just the prophesies of the coming Messiah. Jesus taught the same Law that bound the people of Israel. That Law is summed up in Leviticus 19:18 and is cited by Jesus in Matthew 22:39: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Even Paul, whose name is sometimes used to say the Jesus abolished the Law, repeats what Jesus says and affirms the Law of love,
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10).
It is this love for the neighbor that brings delight to our lives. Psalm 1, which we read this morning, says, “his delight is in the law of the Lord.” We may think of the list of rules called the 10 Commandments to be unhappy commands characterized by the words “Thou shalt not.” These may look like they were given by a stern taskmaster. But when we see that this list of thou shalt nots actually points to a joyous love for our neighbor, then we find delight in the Law. For when we live in love, we are delighted in everything we do.
I have heard it said that love is an action word. It is not just a feeling. Or should I say that because it is a feeling, it wants to pour forth into act. Love seeks to express itself. It wants to flow into good deeds.
These good deeds are called uses by Swedenborg. We can call any act of love a use. For the term use is not just useful. Uses are any expressions of heavenly love. When we are filled with love, our love will flow into good deeds.
This is why Jesus links his commands of love and with bearing fruit. His command is to love one another as He loves us, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). And He says that this command of love will show itself in good deeds, which Jesus calls bearing much fruit,
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:7-8).
Swedenborg says that heaven is a kingdom of uses–”The kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of uses” (HH 387). In heaven, everyone is filled with love for their neighbor. And as love wants to flow into kindly deeds of love, heaven is a place where everyone is doing kindly deeds of love one to another. Imagine how delightful such a kingdom is. Swedenborg does a pretty good job of describing the wonderful joy of heaven,
How great the enjoyment of heaven is, may be evident only from this, that it is an enjoyment to all in heaven to communicate their enjoyments and blessings to others; and because all such are in the heavens, it is manifest how immense is the enjoyment of heaven; for . . . in the heavens there is a communication of all with each, and of each with all (HH 399).
Imagine it! Heaven is populated with the souls of all the good people who have ever lived. And there is a communication of everyone with everyone. The whole of heaven flows into each individual and each individual contributed their good to the whole, “heaven being a communication of all goods” (HH 268). Swedenborg calls this an extension of thoughts and affections into heaven and from the whole heaven into an individual,
all the thought of his or her understanding, and all the affections of one’s will, extend themselves every way into heaven according to its form, and wonderfully communicate with the societies there, and these in turn with him or her (HH 203).
This mutual desire to share one’s joys and to receive the joys of others flows forth ultimately from God. This is God’s nature. God created humans in order to give us happiness and joy forever. “God in creating [the universe] had one end in view, which was an angelic heaven from the human race” (TCR 13). It is God’s nature to give of God’s self. And as God is Love Itself, God wants to flow into our hearts with His Divine love.
His love is the love of communication of all that He has with all, for He wills the happiness of all. Similar love is in everyone of those who love the Lord, because He is in them; hence there is a mutual communication of the enjoyments of angels with one another (HH 399).
Love for God and for the neighbor is a love of sharing. And sharing means receiving and giving. Heavenly love feels another’s joy as joy in self. Everyone can share in another’s misery. This is because we see our own misery in it. But only heavenly love feels another’s joy as one’s own joy. This is because to feel another’s joy we need to transcend self and open ourselves to another’s world.
I think that the dynamics of the me-generation have done much damage to this mutual sharing of joys. Back in the ’70′s we were taught to become our own selves. We were taught self-actualization. This meant the discovery of who we are. We were taught to do our own thing. We were taught not to please others, but to please self. Being caught up in striving to please others was mockingly called the “please me game.” I think of a rather tragic story that illustrates this world view. Back in the ’60′s there was the first group of a movement later called “Hippies.” These were the “Merry Pranksters” led by Ken Kesey. There is a story about Kesey and one of the Merry Pranksters named Pancho. Pancho had discovered a book of oriental carpets that blew his mind. He exclaimed, “Come on, man! I mean, like, I gotta share this thing . . . I can’t keep this whole thing to myself!” He showed the book to Ken Kesey. But instead of sharing in the joy of these beautiful patterns, Kesey replied with a sad rebuff: “Why should I take your bad trip?” It wasn’t Keyse’s trip so Kesey saw no reason to share the other’s joy in the oriental patterns. This story captures well the attitude of the ’60′s and ’70′s. Psychology and philosophy preached the doctrine of self, self-actualization, and self-affirmation. This doctrine had little to say about sharing another’s joy, which was often labeled as co-dependancy.
I think most of us may have made a better effort at sharing the joy this young man found in his oriental rugs. He was attempting to share his discovery with others. In order to feel another’s joy we don’t have to share the same interest. We may not have seen the same beauty in the carpet patterns. But we would surely have seen that they meant something to the young man. And we could still feel his happiness in these carpets. His happiness would become our happiness even if we didn’t understand why he was so enthralled with the patterns. On a personal note, I think I would have seen something in those carpets, anyway, though. The whole essence of loving is feeling another’s joy as our own joy.
The hallmark of love is not loving ourselves but loving another and being united with them through love. The hallmark of love is also being loved by others because this is how we are truly united. . . . The essence of love is that what is ours should belong to someone else. Feeling the joy of someone else as joy within ourselves–that is loving (DLW 47).
This understanding of mutual love and mutual union is what Swedenborg’s notion of heaven is all about. Otherwise there can’t be that wonderful communication of each other’s joy with each other. The very love we feel is because we accept God’s love. That receiving is what makes us want to give all we have to our neighbor and to be united with our neighbor by being happy when they are happy. This isn’t co-dependency. Feeling another’s joy is heavenly happiness. Sharing and being united through sharing is what makes loving union possible. And loving union is the sum of all the Law and Prophets.

PRAYER

We give you thanks, Lord, because you have given us your law. Your law teaches us the way to you. Your law guides us in the ways of your kingdom. And we are grateful that your law is not too difficult for us. We do not need to travel across the sea to obtain it. Nor do we need to ascend up into the heavens to obtain it. For you have written your law upon our hearts. You teach us that loving you and loving our neighbor are what you command. And if we treasure these words of yours in our hearts, we will show our love in good deeds to our neighbors. Help us to see opportunities to do good. And liven our hearts to take action when we see the opportunity to do good. By this we show that we are your disciples.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

God and Man
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
October 19, 2014

Isaiah 45:1-7 Matthew 22:15-22 Psalm 96

Today’s readings concern the relationship between God and humans. And in particular, between God and man. Jesus’ words carry the full implications of this relationship, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and render unto God the things that are God’s.” There is so much contained in this statement that it could exhaust many sermons. I will try to unpack some of this statement this Sunday.
The relationship between God and man in our Isaiah reading is between God and Cyrus, the king of Persia. Cyrus emerged onto the world scene when the Israelites were captives in Babylon. Cyrus conquered Babylon and liberated the Israelites. He allowed them to return home and rebuild the temple. But even as God announces that He would subdue nations before Cyrus, God also says very clearly, “I will strengthen you” (Isaiah 45:5). God is clear that Cyrus’ power comes not from the might of the king, but from God. Then just a little further in the text, Isaiah goes on to preach a sermon saying that there is no other God besides Yahweh, or Jehovah as the King James Bible translates His name.
I am Yahweh, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God. . . .
I am Yahweh, and there is no other.
I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, Yahweh, do these things (Isaiah 45:5, 6-7).
So although Cyrus was invincible, and although all the kingdoms in the Near East fell before him, Cyrus was still a man. From the point of view of Israel, it was God who gave Cyrus his power. Furthermore, in this rather late development in Israelites thought, Isaiah says that there are no other gods. There is only Yahweh–”apart from me there is no God.” There are suggestions that earlier in Israelite history there may have been an idea of a pantheon of gods, of which Yahweh was king. Psalm 29:1 says, “Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,/ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.” These heavenly beings may have been lesser gods in a Hebrew pantheon. And in Genesis 1:26 God creates humans in the image and likeness of God. However, the Hebrew is in the plural. It is not God in the singular who does the creating. So Genesis 1:26 reads, “Let us make man in our image.” But Isaiah 45 makes clear, if there may have been earlier doubt, that there is only One God–”Apart from me there is no God.” I don’t know much about Persian mythology, so I can’t say whether Persians thought that Cyrus was a divine-king, a god-man. I do know that they had such an idea in their mythology. When Alexander came back from Persia, he adopted their beliefs and called himself a god. So it is possible that Cyrus was thought a god. But Isaiah makes clear that from an Israelite point of view, Cyrus is still a man. All his seemingly divine power was given him by the one and only God, Yahweh.
We encounter a similar dynamic in our story from Matthew. In this case, I am more certain. In the time of Jesus, Caesar thought himself to be a god. It was this idea that gave the Pharisees their ammunition to try to trap Jesus. They even bring representatives from the local ruler, Herod, with them. They indirectly challenge Jesus as to whether He thought Caesar was a god. They ask Jesus, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17). Some Christians and Jews refused to pay taxes because Caesar’s image was on the coins. They thought that paying taxes to Caesar was admitting that Caesar was a god. They thought that paying taxes was a form of idolatry. Jesus shows His divine Wisdom in His answer. He even begins by asking whose image is on the coin. His questioners say, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then brings the issue to its basics. The coin is Caesar’s–give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. He then adds to give to God what is God’s. Paying taxes is a civil duty, not idolatry.
With that one statement, Jesus captures the challenge of living in this dual world. For we live in God’s world, and we live in Caesar’s world. We need to give our attention to both. We need to position ourselves to succeed in this world, perhaps even to thrive in this world. And yet we need to reserve our highest concern for the demands of God. So we are neither to forget God when we make plans in this world, nor are we to forget the world when we turn to God.
The Catholic hierarchy turn radically from this world. They give up the world and live in convents and monasteries. Or they take a vow of poverty and give up family to live as priests. As a Protestant, Swedenborg would say that this is sacrificing the demands of Caesar for only God. And as a Protestant Church, we encourage people to live in the world. For it is in the world that we are able to do good to our neighbor. By paying our dues to the world, by positioning ourselves to succeed in the world, we are able to be of service to our fellows.
I recall when I was younger that I had a kind of contempt for the world. My head was in the clouds and my feet weren’t planted firmly in the world. When I did something good, I tried not to take credit for it. And being a good Swedenborgian, I kept my good deeds to myself, not broadcasting them to others. I did this to the point that one person in the church complained to the school administration that I wasn’t doing anything and the church was sinking good money into me in the form of scholarships for my divinity education. So in the middle of the school year, when I was buried in my school work, the faculty had me write a letter to this anonymous individual detailing all that I had been doing, which was considerable. The anonymous individual–and to this day I don’t know who they were as that was kept from me–the anonymous individual said that she didn’t know I was doing all that. My faculty said that maybe I needed to run around waving a flag whenever I did things for the church.
I was angry at all this. I had grown up thinking that good was to be done without taking credit for it. This is true. That is how a person renders to God what is God’s. But then there is Caesar. When we are in a subordinate position, Caesar demands that we let our supervisors know our merits as an employee. This brings to mind another story from my early manhood. When I was applying to Harvard, I had to write a 5,000 word essay about myself. In effect, this was a document selling myself to the admissions committee. At this point, I knew that I needed to pull out all the stops. I very eloquently narrated my sterling qualities, my worldly and extra-curricular experiences, and my academic brilliance. This document was a testament to my brilliance and uniqueness. When my younger brother read it, he said that I was saying how great I was. I explained to him that this document was not the place for false modesty. It was the purpose of such a document to let the admissions committee know all the qualities that would make me a fitting student at Harvard. To my extreme relief and delight, my document worked. The case is similar for job applications and résumés. The purpose of these documents is to put forth all your positive qualities so that a potential employer knows you are the best person for the position. All this is rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. These are some of the ways we position ourselves to be effective in the world. For even in the Lord’s Prayer we say, “On earth, as it is in heaven.”
But in all this self-promotion, we dare not lose sight of God. We are doing this all in order to be in a strong position to serve in the world. We are serving God in all this. It is a delicate balance indeed to remain in the world and not forget our Maker. The temptation is to get lost in the world. To take ourselves too seriously and our worldly success to importantly. Success and self-promotion can become ends in themselves. We can think only of what benefits self, of who worships us as a god, and how successful we will appear in the eyes of others. Should this happen, then we do not render to God what is God’s. For if we succeed, it is because God strengthened us and caused our plans to succeed. God says in Isaiah, “I bring prosperity and create disaster” (45:7). And if we get lost in the world, we forget why we set out to position ourselves to begin with, which is to be of service.
When we render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, then heaven descends to earth. Then we are a walking church, bringing God into our lives and into the world around us. Then things truly are, “On earth as they are in heaven.”

PRAYER

God, you reign in the heavens above. And you reign in this material world. And you have created us humans to live in both worlds. For it is in this material world that we do good services to our neighbor. And it is through the heavens above that we are inspired with the love for doing good. This morning we pray for you to grant us favorable opportunities in this world to serve. We pray for good work, for prosperous leisure activities, and the means for success in this material world. And as we pray for the good things of this world, we pray likewise for the eternal gifts of love and wisdom that come from you through heaven. May we seek the good things in this life for the sake of you and your kingdom. May we bring heaven to earth, and play our own small part in the descent of the Holy City.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

The Many Voices of Gratitude
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
October 12, 2014
Thanksgiving Day

Leviticus 23:33-43 Matthew 6:25-33 Psalm 107

Thanksgiving is almost my favorite holiday. What I like about it is the official recognition of thankfulness and gratitude. Gratitude is a core response to God’s salvation. We are saved by God’s unceasing efforts to bring us to Him. He lifts us out of our cravings for selfish satisfaction and brings us into a love for others and into the happiness of heaven. For all that I am eternally grateful.
God wants to bring us to Himself in order to give us the ineffable happiness of heaven. The joys of heaven so transcend the joys of this world that there are no words to describe them. This the Lord wants for every human being,
it is the constant effort of the Lord’s divine providence to unite us with himself and himself with us and thereby to make us his images. It also follows that the Lord is doing this so that he may give us the bliss of eternal life, since this is the nature of divine love (DP 123).
God wants us to experience these joys because that is the nature of love. Think of someone you love–maybe a child of yours or your partner. Aren’t you happy when they are happy? Don’t you seek to render them happy by any means at your disposal? Don’t you wish to be in their company–united in a reciprocal relationship? This is pre-eminently the case with God, who is all love, and is the source of our own very love,
The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself. Such is the Divine love, or the Lord‘s love (AC 1799).
God works unceasingly to bring about this happiness in us. God works unceasingly to lift us out of our self-destructive and unsatisfying pleasures and into truly gratifying and satisfying delights. If we open the door to God, this will happen to us. Swedenborg tells us that there is a spiritual current lifting us all upward toward heaven, like the tides or a powerful river,
There is actually a sphere elevating all to heaven, that proceeds continually from the Lord and fills the whole natural world and the whole spiritual world; it is like a strong current in the ocean, which draws the ship in a hidden way. All those who believe in the Lord and live according to His precepts, enter that sphere or current and are lifted (TCR 652).
This all is a gift from God. It is not because we work to earn it. It is not because we deserve it. It is a freely given gift from God. For that I am grateful and I give thanks.
But there are also things in this natural world that I have a heart of gratitude for. These too, I thank God for. Sometimes it is helpful to stop and consider just what we have. When times are hard for us it is helpful to make a list of the good things we have. If we do this simple exercise, we will see that we have enough. We may even find that our cup runs over.
I start with the basics. I have a roof over my head. I have enough food. I have reliable transportation. I have a job. I have pleasant entertainment like my musical projects. I have a YMCA membership that gives me healthy exercise. I have books to expand my knowledge with. I have friends. I have Carol in my life and her love. I have clothes to wear. I have the Canadian Health program for when I am ill. I have a lot to be grateful for. All these material goods are gifts from God. And I know that He gives me what I need.
A while back I gave a talk at an AA meeting. This was a meeting that had some tragically unfortunate people in it. I realized that some of the things I just listed these unfortunates did not have. When they asked us to talk about gratitude, I had to get even more basic than the list I just made. So I thought about what things I had to be grateful for on a more basic and profound level. I am grateful that I’m alive. I am grateful for health. I am grateful for my sobriety. I am grateful that the sun rises each day. I am grateful for the beauty of nature. I am grateful that there is a God who cares about me and who loves me.
You know, with all these things to be grateful for, why would I ever feel that I want for anything? Clearly I have more than enough.
The origins of our Thanksgiving Day are religious. It goes way back to one of the oldest parts of the Old Testament. It goes back to the Festival of Booths, or as it is called in Hebrew, Sukkoth. This festival is still in practice. It is essentially a harvest festival. It was one of the most joyous festivals in the Hebrew Calendar. God tells the Israelites,
And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days (Leviticus 23:40).
There were to be offerings of various kinds brought to the temple each day of the seven-day festival. There was music and feasting. In general it was a celebration of God’s bounty in giving the harvest to the Israelites.
We live in a society of supermarkets, and food is always available to us. It may be difficult for us to imagine what it was like for a society to depend on the season’s harvest. But the very survival of the Israelites depended on a bountiful harvest, as is the case with other ancient cultures. In the Old Testament there are records of seasons of drought, and the devastating consequences that drought had for society. There were no supermarkets with shelves full of every imaginable produce and meat that the Israelites could go to if the crops failed. In fact, the Israelites considered a bountiful harvest to be one sign that their society was in right relation with God. Bountiful harvests were part of that grand Hebrew term, “Shalom”. Peace is only one meaning of that word. Rest from war, and bountiful harvest was also part of the peace of God when in right relation with Him.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough. . . . 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, within the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:2-5, 11-12).
All these blessings–blessings of fertility–follow upon being in right relation with God: “If you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
This Thanksgiving, as you prepare to eat your feast, as cultures have done since agriculture was developed, remember that the food you are about to eat is a gift from God. Although you may have bought it at a supermarket, it was God who grew the crops and turkeys. I ask you to remember all the many small things your life is blessed with–things that are gifts from God. And I ask you to remember that you are loved by God, who labors continually to give you happiness and joy that last forever.

PRAYER

Lord, we give you thanks this Thanksgiving morning for the countless blessings you shower upon us. You fill our lives with good things which are so many we can’t begin to name them all. We thank you especially for your unceasing work for our salvation. You constantly lift us up out of our selfhood and give us new life as if our own. Yet it is your own good and truth that forms this new self. And with the grafting of your good and truth in us, we are filled with the joys of heaven that are lasting and eternal. We thank you, too, for the good things of this world. We thank you for our material goods–food, shelter, friends, family, and loved ones. These, too, are gifts from you. For this and all the good things in our lives, we thank you Lord God Almighty.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.

The Stone the Builders Rejected
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
October 5, 2014

Isaiah 5:1-7 Matthew 21:33-46 Psalm 80:7-15

What connects our Old Testament reading and our New Testament reading is the metaphor of the vineyard. In the Old Testament, a vineyard is planted and nurtured, but it grows only wild grapes. The metaphor in the Old Testament symbolizes Israel’s turning away from God and God’s righteousness. Jesus draws on this metaphor in our New Testament reading. In the reading from Matthew, the owner of a vineyard hires out the land to tenants. They try to take possession of the vineyard, killing the servants and finally the son of the owner. Jesus says that the owner will remove those tenants from the vineyard and replace them with others who will yield good crops for the owner. In this parable, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God will be taken from the ruling powers of the Jews in His time. He buttresses this parable with another reference to the Old Testament, saying, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.” This is from Psalm 118:22, 23.
The New testament story about the vineyard refers to the development of the Jesus movement in Jewish society. The owner of the vineyard is God. The wicked tenants are the religious authorities in Jesus’ day–the Pharisees, the temple priests, and the Sadducees. The kingdom of God is taken from their hands and given over to the lower social strata in Judea and even to outsiders like the Romans and Greeks. We are told in Matthew that the leaders of the Jews know this, but that Jesus is so popular that they fear the crowds,
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet (Matthew 21:45, 46).
We can’t say that all the Jews rejected Jesus. There was a strong group in Israel. But the Apostle Paul brought Christianity to the un-churched. Paul brought Christianity to the Greeks and Romans. And in doing so, Paul relaxed Jewish practices and the Jewish religious calendar. Since Christianity began in Israel, among the Jews, to release Greek Christians from the practices of the founders of Christianity would have seemed like watering down the faith. It would have seemed like letting anyone be a Christian regardless of how they practiced religion. It was a momentous shift in practice and belief.
While this was going on with the early church, there was the issue of Jesus Christ Himself. The reference to the stone rejected by the builders is a reference to Jesus Himself. Jesus was rejected by the religious authorities of His day and handed over to be executed by the Roman authorities. But Jesus was embraced by the lower classes of Roman society and by social outcasts.
We can forget just how anti-establishment Jesus actually was in His day. He was not on the side of those in power. He was not on the side of the elites. It was the peasantry, the social outcasts, and even Romans who embraced Jesus and His teachings. The established religion of Judaism rejected Jesus. And the leading religious authorities sought to silence Him. When they could not silence Him, they got rid of Him.
But they could not silence Jesus. They could not get rid of Him. They could not stop the power of this bright new religion. Not only was the Jesus movement rejected by the powers in Judaism, but this was also the case among Romans. The religion of the Roman Empire was that of the mythic gods like Jupiter, Diana, Mars, Mercury, and the goddess of good luck, Fortuna, among others. Also the Roman emperor himself was called a god, and there were shrines for Romans to bring offerings and sacrifices to him. While this was the state religion of Rome, Christianity was considered illegal. Christianity was against the law and punishable by death. One of the things that made Christianity irritating is that they would not offer sacrifices to the Roman gods. They refused to do so because they considered this idolatry. But what made them even more irritating is that they would not sacrifice to the emperor god. This made them actually a threat to the emperor’s rule and power.
So in its beginnings, Christianity was not part of the status quo, as it is today, or was today. The leader of Christianity, Jesus Christ, was a capital criminal, and the religion itself was illegal, punishable by death. The early Christians met underground, in catacombs, and hid their practices from Roman society.
For this reason, many of the underprivileged groups in western history have drawn support from the New Testament. The African-Americans during slavery and after during civil rights movements of the 1960′s have drawn support from the New Testament. There have also been more recent movements in Latin America that have drawn support from the New Testament for social liberation. There is a whole discipline of theology called Liberation Theology.
And yet, these scriptures are so inclusive that the socially powerful also draw support from the New Testament. People in power positions and regular members of the dominant social groups in western society are Christian. And before I paint too anti-establishment a picture of Jesus, there are New Testament stories in which Jesus dines with a Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50) and finds tremendous faith in a Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-10).
Despite being forbidden by Roman society, despite the attempts to silence Jesus and do away with Him, Christianity survived, grew, and thrived. So powerful are the teachings of Christ that they transformed the western world. They speak to issues that every human faces. The stories are simple enough that everyone can understand them, if they use a modern language translation. And yet the stories are deep enough that everyone from learned to simple can find lessons for life in them. The parables have such depth to them that they speak to us in all the different states we go through in our spiritual development. They are meaningful at the start of our faith journey. And they are meaningful after we have progressed far in our faith journey. They speak to me when I am troubled and downcast. And they speak to me when I am at peace and feeling close to God. So Jesus says, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). And Peter affirms this, saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).
Jesus’ words are words of eternal life. He teaches us the way to heaven and the way to live in this world with peace. His words still the troubled mind and kindle in our hearts the sacred flame of heavenly love. His words guide our steps and teach us what is good.
But His words only affect us if we know them. I recommend daily reading of the Bible. Let the words sink in. Think about the stories. Consider the main characters and how they function in the stories. I find that just meditating on the New Testament stories themselves puts me in a more peaceful state. And I gather ideas about life from these stories, the morals from the stories , or lessons they teach. Sometimes, just reading a story carries my emotions along with it. This can elevate my feelings and deepen my love and compassion for the whole world.
It is reasons like all the above that have made Christ’s teachings last for 2,000 years. Jesus’ teachings prevailed against the Roman gods, against the threat of a terrible death, and against a society structured to support the Roman Empire. These teachings even survived when the Empire fell into chaos. And for good or for bad, these teachings held the western world together as it rebuilt through the dark ages, the middle ages, and into the status it now enjoys in the world. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

PRAYER

Lord, we have sought to learn about you and to follow in your footsteps. We pray that you enlighten our minds when we read your scriptures. For you have left us writings that contain Your Word. These stories and parables are inspired by you and contain unlimited wisdom. May we turn to them for guidance and comfort. And when we turn to Your Word, we pray that you come to us. We pray that you enlighten our mind and enkindle our hearts with the holy flame of your love.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.