Church of the Holy City

The Beginning of Wisdom

The Beginning of Wisdom
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
April 15, 2012`

Isaiah 54:9-14 John 20:19-31 Psalm 111

Today I would like to reflect on this connection between belief in God and the peace that is associated with it. When Jesus appears to His disciples after the resurrection, He says, “Peace be with you.” And next, as if He were filling their souls with that very peace, Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” For it is when we accept Jesus into our hearts, and when His Holy Spirit fills our souls, it is then that we find peace.
Likewise, we find similar statements about peace in our reading from Isaiah. There it is said that God’s love for Israel will not be shaken nor His covenant of peace be removed. We find here that God’s love is associated with peace. And in following verses we read, “Great will be your children’s peace. In righteousness you will be established” (54:13, 14). Here we find a connection between righteousness and peace.
Finally, in our reading from Psalm 111 this morning we find the well-known words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” God’s works are said to be just and his precepts are said to be upright. So fear of the Lord leads us into wisdom and God’s justice and uprightness. When the Bible talks about fearing God, I don’t take it to mean being afraid of God. I think of fear of the Lord as more akin to awe, or respect, or reverence. I think that to fear God is to respect His ordinances and to follow them. The Psalmist connects fear of God with following His precepts. He writes, ” The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.”
But God’s peace, His uprightness, and His justice all hinge on the question of belief. In our New Testament reading we see some familiar reactions to the question of belief. We find the disciples overjoyed when they see the resurrected Jesus Christ. Then we have Thomas who wants to be convinced by means of his senses that Jesus has risen. Thomas represents those who refuse to believe in God until it can be proven. We confront these issues every day in the world today.
Swedenborg talks about two principles we can apply when we approach the problem of belief. There is the affirmative principle and there is the negative principle. The affirmative principle is to begin with the assumption that spirituality is true and that spiritual life is real. From a positive belief in religion, one then investigates science, or philosophy, or we look at our experiences, or any other system of knowledge to find support for religion. The negative principle is to doubt spirituality until one finds proof of it in science, or philosophy, or other systems of knowing. This is the way Thomas was. He wanted to see the nail holes and touch them. Thomas wouldn’t believe until he saw and touched, or until his senses were convinced. About these two approaches to spirituality, Swedenborg writes,
There are therefore two principles; one of which leads to all folly and insanity, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in the heart that
we cannot believe them until we are convinced by what we can apprehend, or perceive by the senses; this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe within ourselves that they are true because the Lord has said them: this is the principle that leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle (AC 2568).
The consequences of these two approaches are either to strengthen faith by confirming spiritual truths with facts, knowledges, or experiences, or to deny faith because the proof one was looking for wasn’t found. So Swedenborg tells us,
The more they who think from the negative principle consult rational things, the more they consult systems of knowing, and the more they consult philosophical things, the more they cast and precipitate themselves into darkness, until at last they deny all things (AC 2568).
But with those who believe first, faith becomes more solid when it is supported by reasons and facts. For those who believe first and then look for proof, faith is strengthened.
to regard rational things from the doctrine of faith is first to believe in the Word, or in the doctrine therefrom, and then to confirm the same by rational things. [This] is genuine order, and causes the man to believe the better. . . . they who think from an affirmative principle can confirm themselves by whatever things rational, by whatever systems of knowledge, and whatever things philosophic they have at command; for all these are to them things confirmatory, and give them a fuller idea of the matter (AC 2568).
In our reading from John, it is when Jesus appears to His disciples that He gives them the Holy Spirit, and with it the blessing of peace. For it is only when we have Jesus in our hearts, or whatever God you worship, only then will we know what spiritual peace means.
The Psalmist says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I take this to mean that reverence for God is the start of spiritual growth. Or belief in God is the beginning of wisdom. There is so much that follows belief. It is belief in God that leads us to live a Godly life. It is belief in God that leads us to learn what is good and what is bad. Then belief in God leads us to strive to follow God’s precepts or to walk in the ways of Jesus. After we believe in God, we begin the process of repentance, reformation, and regeneration. Belief in God is just the beginning. It is far from the end or goal of spirituality.
I was asked by the editor of the Paulhaven Journal to write an article on, “How can our faith help us to create heaven here on earth?” And to respond, I thought about a seminar I attended at the Interfaith Centre. The question there was whether religion is a positive force or a negative force in society. Rabbi David Kunin brought up and interesting point. He told about asking an atheist friend whether this friend felt called to love and help everybody, or just his family and friends. The atheist said that he felt no obligation to help anyone but his friends and family. Without a love for God and our neighbor, why would we do good to anyone but those who benefitted us? How often do we hear, “What’s in it for me?” Or, “What will I get out of it?” These are not religious questions. These are questions we are likely to hear in this self-oriented society we live in. But in order for earth to be heaven, we need to extend our love to everybody. We need to be good to everybody we see. We need to try to make everybody as happy as we can. We need to see that everybody–not just our friends and family–is just like us and wants to be happy. We need to care about others even if there isn’t something in it for us. We need to good to others, even if no one knows about it. This, only religion teaches.
And there is one truth that stands out from this approach to living. Loving God and others makes us feel good. Expressing love to others gives us the peace that Jesus breathed on His disciples. Peace isn’t just relaxation. Peace is an active feeling of joy when we are doing what is good. And in order to find this joy, we need to know what is good. When I gave a talk about spirituality at a university in the US, many of the students and some of the faculty said that children have an inborn sense or right and wrong, and don’t need to learn it from religion. I’m not sure that is true. And even if it were true, do children have the sense that self-sacrifice is a virtue? Do children have an inborn feeling of generosity and do they naturally share their toys with their little playmates? Does anyone have an inborn sense that forgiving our enemies rather than retaliating is a virtue? Does humanity in general have the sense that trying to make as many people happy as we can in our lives and through our work, that this is a virtue. Do people today have the inborn sense that there is a God and we are not the centre of the universe?
I think not. I think we need to learn these things. I think that heaven can only be created by heavenly principles. Imagine a world in which everybody wants to make everyone else happy. Imagine a world in which everybody tries to understand each other, and tries to give each other what each one needs for their own welfare. Imagine a world in which everybody cares about everyone else. Wouldn’t living there be heaven? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live there? Wouldn’t you want to live there? This is a very basic image of how Swedenborg describes heaven. This world would have that peace of Jesus in it and we would have that peace living in such a world.
But it seems to me that such a world depends on religious principles. Such a world depends on the uprightness that God’s precepts lead to. Such a world depends on the fear of God, which is the beginning of such a world. Such a world depends on the acknowledgment of God who alone can fill us with His Holy Spirit and the joy and peace that follow from our receiving it.