Readings: Luke 10:25-37, Secrets of Heaven #133 & #9874[3] (see below)
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Today I want to introduce you to one of my favorite Easter children’s stories: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. I cannot tell you how many times I read this book as a child. It is a sweet, whimsical, and moving story, that is surprisingly feminist for being written in 1939.

It begins with a little country bunny who is wishing she could grow up to be one of the Easter Bunnies. One of - yes - in this story, there are five special bunnies to deliver all the easter eggs to all the children of the world, and they are the wisest, kindest, and swiftest of all the bunnies. 

Most of the fancy bunnies made fun of the country bunny’s aspirations, and while she didn’t lose hope, over time she did grow up and have a family. Suddenly one day though, it is announced that it is time for one of the Easter bunnies to retire. All the hopeful bunnies assembled at the house of old, wise, kind Grandfather Bunny to audition, and Mother Cottontail showed up with her 21 children to see the festivities. The fancy bunnies did their best to convince Grandfather bunny they were right for the job, but while they were able to prove they were pretty and fast, they had not proven they were wise and kind. 

At last, Grandfather bunny’s gaze landed on Mother Cottontail, and he invited her to come forward. As she spoke of her family, and they way all the children helped her and each other, Grandfather bunny was convinced that she was wise and kind, and when she ordered her children to scatter, and she chased after them and returned them quickly, she also proved she was swift. Grandfather Bunny appointed her to be the newest Easter bunny.

Mother Cottontail spent the next night delivering Easter eggs all over the world, with her fellow Easter Bunnies. Towards the end of the night, Grandfather Bunny gave her a very special task: to deliver an Easter egg to a sick child who lived on top of a high mountain. Mother Cottontail was surprised and a little intimidated but couldn’t bear for a such brave child to be forgotten, so she set out. She made it almost to the top of the mountain but at the last minute lost her footing, and fell all the way to the bottom. When she tried to stand, she found that she had sprained her ankle. To her dismay, the sun was starting to rise, and she would not be able to make it. 

Suddenly, Grandfather Bunny appeared and told her that in addition to being wise, kind and swift, that she was also very brave. He gave her a pair of little golden shoes, and once she put them on, she could bound up the mountain in just two jumps. She slipped inside the house to deliver the egg to the child, and then bounded home to her own children. They were safe and sound; all of them had taken care of the house and each other. And from that day forward, the little gold shoes would hang on a hook in Mother Cottontail’s house, to be used again each Easter to bring joy to the children of the world.

Now, apart from the obvious Easter theme, why would I choose to preach on this story today? Certainly because I love this story and always will, but also because of the way it grounds us in the same kinds of virtues that we see time and time again in the Bible, and in particular, from Jesus. 

Grandfather Bunny was looking for bunnies who were wise, kind, and swift, and for the most important tasks, bunnies who were brave. What else are *we* doing here at church, other than trying to learn how to be wise, kind, brave, and swift to help? For Swedenborgians, this trio of being wise, kind and swift, immediately echoes the trinity of aspects that we see in God, and that we try to cultivate within ourselves - Wisdom, Love, and Usefulness, and of course, the courage that it takes to steadfastedly live them out in life.

I chose the story of the Good Samaritan today because it is one where we can see someone being wise, kind, swift and brave in service to others. We heard in our reading that a traveler was beset by bandits and left for dead in the road. A priest and a Levite both went by without helping him. But finally, a Samaritan (meaning someone of a tribe of people to the north of Judea and the south of Galilee) stopped and rendered aid.

This Samaritan was wise in that he saw what was needed and he did that. He took care of the most urgent things first - disinfected and bandaged the man’s wounds. Then he placed the man on his donkey and took him to the nearest inn, in order to keep them both out of further danger and continue his immediate care throughout the night. Then, when he needed to leave, he provided provision for the man’s further care. Wisdom assessed the situation, and continued assessing it as needed, showing flexibility according to context. 

How was the Samaritan kind? It seems obvious of course, in that he stopped where others had not. As we dig a little deeper though, we have to recognize the context that might have prevented him from acting. Jews and Samaritans shared a deep mutual contempt going back many hundreds of years. They were in fact, the same people, and worshiped the same God, but had diverged on what where they should worship, and some other disagreements. Over time, these differences grew into an intractable hatred. Perhaps this sounds familiar - for it is a very human occurance. This was at the heart of the question to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? We get the sense that it was asked with the hidden question: who am I allowed to ignore? who am I allowed to say is NOT my neighbor? Jesus’ answer was essentially: no one. 

And the Greek word used in v.33 illuminates things even further. It is splanchnizomai (v.33), which means means a compassion felt viscerally, in the gut. It invokes the deep empathy that can drive us to care for our fellow human beings, and acknowledgment of how in herently connected, regardless of context. Jesus is making clear that this intuitive connective empathy should guide our actions. Kindness to people to look like us, sound like us, believe like us, is not sufficient. We don’t actually get to decide who is an isn’t our neighbor.

Did the Samaritan move swiftly? Was he swift to act? Yes, indeed he was. The Samaritan was swift in his initial response. He was moved, and then he acted with wisdom. Yet, he wasn’t swift to depart, and when he did, he made provision. We see a swiftness in the beginning, when it was warranted, and a steadiness that continued the injured man’s care. Sometimes quickness, being first, being fast, can be lauded in our culture in a way that makes no space for accountability. Move fast and break things has been considered a desirable business strategy by prominent CEOs. But it is an immature one. We see in the story a deft demonstration of the power of both being swift and being steadfast, according to need.

And was the Samaritan brave? I think so. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous, which was why Jesus used it as an illustration. Stopping to help put the Samaritan in danger as well, for there was no guarantee the robbers were no longer nearby. This took physical courage. Yet, even futher, there was the social danger that comes from crossing lines in the sand that everyone seemingly agrees with. What would the Samaritan’s family and peers have thought of this actions? What would the inn keeper have thought? Would he experience repercussions? Would he need to explain himself? This is a quieter kind of courage but no less important. For who knows what benefit his example might bring, as it quietly loosens one small strand of habitual prejudice. 

So in this familiar Bible story, we see the virtues of being wise, kind, swift, and brave, just as in the story of the Country Bunny. And after the week we have had, a week in which the President of our own United States threatened another civilization with destruction, perhaps this all talk of these virtues seems too much like a fairytale? Why focus on a children’s story today? Because I believe that the stories we tell shape us deeply. Whether they are bible stories, or other stories, our stories have the power to create meaning, communicate values, and suggest action. When we are being told stories about how we, or our country, or our religion, must dominate, must “win”, must control, must care only about ourselves, when we are told that this what we deserve, this is what we are owed, this is the only way, then we will become we will become people embody those ideas.

But if our stories tell of people caring for one other, tell of people being wise, kind, swift and brave, tell of one person taking a rish to help another, then we have a chance of embodying those virtues instead. We’ll still do it imperfectly. But it matters what we aspire to.

In our tradition, when encountered in the Bible, gold always represents the goodness of love, the inherent way that love creates goodness, simply the essence, the purpose of love. How appropriate then, that the County Bunny was given shoes of gold, and these shoes gave her the power to do her work of bringing joy to others. They provided her with the power to literally jump towards others, to cross the distance between people. With whatever constitues our own golden shoes in this world, Jesus tells us “Go and do likewise.”

Amen.

Readings:

Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Secrets of Heaven #133
Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good that belongs to wisdom or else to love to be meant and represented by 'gold'. All the gold of the Ark, the Temple, the golden table, the lampstands, the vessels, and on Aaron's vestments, meant and represented good that belongs to wisdom or else to love.

Secrets of Heaven 9874[3]
The truth that this good is the good of love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord may be recognized from the consideration that all good belongs to love, for what a person loves they call good and also feel to be such. From this it is evident that heavenly good is the good of love to the Lord, for this love is what joins angel and people to the Lord; through this love they are brought to God and enjoy all the good of heaven.

Readings: Isaiah 42:5-9, John 20:1-18, Secrets of Heaven #842[3] (see below)
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This tender depiction of easter morning will always be one of my favorites from the gospels. It is a story with its heart in its throat. Who cannot relate to Mary Magdalene’s confusion and grief in this story? Perhaps we can do so especially in these days. Perhaps we feel as if we are figuratively outside that empty tomb right now, eyes blurred with tears, as we encounter an increase in injustice all around us. Perhaps we might be wondering: Where are you, my God? Where have you gone? Are you still here with us? What are we supposed to do now?

What I notice especially this year, is the joy and relief with which Mary addresses Jesus as her teacher. For this is what he had been to her: a guide, an inspiration, a loving corrective, and a compassionate companion. We need this in our own lives too.

And so, as we look to the many things in our lives that teach us, we also look to this text, the story of Easter morning. What is it that we can learn from it?

We learn that Jesus, our God in human form, endured a painful and humiliating death and rose again, alive. This is indeed an incredible occurance. But the deeper question is what does it teach us? For I don’t believe its purpose is to teach us to believe in an incredible thing that once happened. It’s purpose is to help us believe in a pattern of God’s care and intention.

A pattern that communicates the reality of suffering but also the overcoming of it. A pattern that communicates God’s ability to create newness where there appears there can be none. A pattern that communicates God’s willingness to be present with us in it all.

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear these three things right now. I need teachers of all kinds to teach me these things over and over again, for I repeatedly forget. Our fear makes us forget, our shame makes us forget, our despair and overwhelm makes us forget. 

But while the remembering can be freeing, getting there is not always pleasant. Mary was devastated outside that tomb, in those moments she was lost and floundering, everything that she was expecting had been shattered. She was in a moment that would ask her to see in a new way, but that also would ask her to let go.

As we heard in our reading earlier, there is as teaching in our tradition that clarity often first requires a time of confusion or seeming chaos. That to reach a sense of what is real and true, many of our assumptions will need to be shaken apart. That in order to know what we truly believe, we first have to question and doubt. That in order to create something good, we have to be willing to see what our true obstacles are.

This is one of those teachings that I both love and hate. I love it because I know that it is true. I have experienced the clarity that comes after the storm, as I’m sure we all have at some point. But I am also super grumpy (and honestly a bit heart-broken) about having to go through the chaos at all. Why should this have to be so? Why should chaos (which can often translate in the real world as suffering) be a pre-requisite for clarity? 

So we can choose, and in choosing, create our selfhood from within. The resurrection points to us to new life, yes, but not just for Jesus. The resurrection points us to the new life that is being re-created within us each time we brave the chaos and come out on the other side with new resolve, new clarity, and new understanding, of ourselves and who we are called to be.

And yet, the chaos is not an abstract, intellectual thing. As we note painfully today and throughout history, chaos can have real consequences. The necessary revealing of obstacles to growth, such as self-serving assumptions, dangerous prejudices, unfair expectations can wreak havoc on both our emotional lives and the world stage upon which they play.

The resurrection was never meant to erase the crucifixion. The resurrection teaches us that yes, human frailty will create suffering, human frailty will create systems that perpetuate suffering. The necessity of our basic human freedom to make choices must allow this to be so. But our human frailty is not all that can be. It does not get to have the last word. And in fact, the very chaos that human frailty causes can also serve to shake us awake, can cause us to wipe the tears from our eyes as Mary did, and see God right in front of us, a God embodying our own resurrected and transformed humanity.

Jesus kept telling his disciples that he was going to die, and in fact, needed to, for a greater purpose. Even now, I can tell you that my heart resists this teaching. I understand why the disciples said no no no, every time. No one, not even Jesus, should have to do that - there should be no such need. And yet, there was a need. In order to have the freedom to choose God, to choose goodness, to choose love, and have that choice count for something, we have to be able to choose the opposite. And we do. Often. That is the story of Good Friday, a painful dark story that is still enacted in life and in hearts and minds, even now. That is the story of Holy Saturday, a day filled with confusion, mourning, and disappointed hopes.

And yet, what do we see Mary doing on the morning of what we now call Easter but to her was just the day after the Sabbath? In the gospel of Luke we are told that she went to annoint the body of her beloved teacher, she showed up to do the next most loving thing, even in the midst of her grief.

Which brings us to another teaching: that the thing that ultimately brings order to chaos is goodness and love.(1) We are invited to focus on, and center ourselves in, the practice, the ethos, and the *strategy* of love, and the goodness that love creates for all. As chaos swirls, and we experience the suffering and the heart-break of it, we are invited to see the on-going potential for resurrection in it. To see the on-going potential for resurrection that *we* can choose to both participate in and create.

Jesus was not in the tomb, he was alive in the garden, and Mary called him Teacher, for he was teaching her still. Jesus was teaching his followers the whole time, not just in parables, not just in healings, but also in the chaos of losing him, and then seeing the life that came from that loss. And in doing so, Jesus was enacting a larger pattern of God’s care and intention. 

God has given us the freedom to create chaos and suffering if we so choose. What an enormous gift of love, to give us the fullness of that responsibility, an awful and awesome one. We will fail in it, and we have. Friends, we crucified the literal embodiment of God! And yet in response, that God took that moment of complete failure and transformed it into something that can teach us, something that can give us hope, something that tells us about how much God believes in us and loves us.

So let us rest this morning in three of the things that Easter can teach us: there is suffering and yet there is also the overcoming of it. God can and will create newness where there appears there can be none. And above all, that God’s deepest desire is to be present with us in it all. 

Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #3316


Readings:

Isaiah 42:5-9

5 This is what God the LORD says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

John 20:1-18

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Secrets of Heaven #842[3]

Before being reduced to order, it is very common for everything to fall into confusion or seeming chaos. This allows things that cling together poorly to separate, and when they have separated, the Lord arranges them in their place.

Nature offers parallels, since in it too each and every thing first falls into some degree of disorder before being put in order. If the skies did not storm, causing unlike elements to scatter, the air would never clear; destructive forces would amass and wreak havoc.

Readings: ​Revelation 21:1-6, 10-14, 21-27, 22:1-5, 12-14, 17, Secrets of Heaven #5608[9]
(see below)
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Welcome, friends, to our final installment in our series on the Book of Revelation. Today we have reached the end of the book, and not only that, but the end of the entire Bible. The culmination of the sacred text of our tradition of Christianity is the image of the New Jerusalem. It is a richly detailed and inspiring image that bookends a motley collection of narratives from different periods of history, that pulls together the strands of all these stories of human spirituality into one image that is, in the words of my colleague Rev. Sage Cole, a “symbol of a renewed individual and collective life.”

The bible has the story of humanity metaphorically begin in the Garden of Eden. We exist there, at first, in innocence, deeply connected with God, with nature, and with life itself. But then, there is the famous story of The Fall, where the first humans eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. They are no longer automatically innocent and connected, and must leave the garden to discover the trajectory of their own life. The rest of the bible is the necessary stories of our human spiritual development, showcasing all the different kinds of obstacles and triumphs we will encounter on our journey. Indeed, the Book of Revelation takes its part in that parade, revealing to us in particular the kinds of challenges humanity has regarding tools of domination, structures of power, and how we wish to wield them against each other. 

And yet, at the end of it, here in the Holy City, what do we find? We find the Tree of Life, once again, just as in the Garden of Eden. We have taken a journey and it has brought us back around to where we were at the beginning. But are we the same people that we were at the beginning? No, we are not. If we have taken the journey of life with intention, curiousity, and commitment, we find that we are transformed, we are spiritually regenerated. We can enter the Holy City, leaving behind what we no longer need and what no longer serves.

One way that Swedenborg describes this journey is using the idea of innocence, which we might think of as an innate sense of trust. We are all born into our own state of Eden, which Swedenborg describes as the “innocence of ignorance.” Which sounds a little bit like shade, but it is really not. For what *are* we ignorant of in those days, as tiny infants? We are ignorant of the whole notion of separation, of domination. We are ignorant of boredom, self-doubt, ? We are ignorant of all the intricate structures that human beings erect, in our hearts and minds and literally in the world, to try to prove we are better than others, that we are more deserving, that we are more worthy.

And what do we innately *know* in those days? We know that we are loved, cherished, and fed. We sleep when we need to. We cry when we are sad. And while we love our parent’s faces especially, every face is a new and compelling adventure. Our connection with our caregivers, and through them, the world, is unquestioned and automatic. Swedenborg tells us that infants and very young children are deeply connected to and surrounded by the highest angels, which is why I suspect our souls are deeply quieted in the presence of a newborn.

And yet, this was never to be our end point. As we grow, we are cast out of that state of innocence. We begin to understand we are separate from everyone else, and that we have our own personal identity. Connection with others is often no longer assumed, we must chose it, we must do the work that creates it, we must nurture it, we must be accountable to it. We start to experience questions around who we are, who others are, why this has all come into being. We are tempted to believe we can and must control, or dominate, or manipulate what is outside of us, to create peace inside of us. If we allow it, we are guided towards compassion, understanding, and growth. And thus, we are on our individual journey towards the Holy City, one that will eventually bring us *back* to connection, belonging, and wholeness but in a way that has allowed us to intentionally choose it and make it a part of ourselves. Swedenborg calls this state the “innocence of wisdom.” We return to a state of trust in God, trust in our connection with each other, but we do so because we have learned that it is what we want in our hearts, and we have learned ways to foster and nurture it. We step into the fulfilment of it (pictured by the Holy City), we take our place in this transformed reality that we have worked to bring into being, for ourselves and for each beloved child of God.

And as we observe the image of the Holy City in our text today, what does it tell us about what this transformed reality might look like?

We are first told that this city will be God’s dwelling place with the people, and crucially, that there will be no temple in the city. The tabernacle and then the temple are both incredibly important in the biblical narrative. They were both ways that God’s presence was made available to the Children, and then nation, of Israel. It was a part of the way that the one true steadfast God showed up for the people with whom God had made a covenant. God promised “this is where you can always always find me.” This was a very big deal, and an incredible act of love on the part of God. But it also, over time, became a way that God’s presence was withheld or at least mediated by those in power, a very human tendency in any tradition. So God chose a radical new vessel of presence: Jesus. The gospel of John even uses a very particular word in his prologue to describe this. He says essentially that in Jesus, God was “tabernacling” with humanity. God was pitching God’s tent with God’s people but in a new way: in the body of human being.

But Jesus could not stay with us indefinitely. So now, the “vessel” of God’s presence with us will be the Holy City New Jerusalem, and it must be built by us in partnership with God. The vessel of God’s presence with us is our transformed hearts and minds. The vessel of God’s presence with us is our transformed world. God everywhere and with everyone who makes space for the divine.

What else will this look like? 

The city has twelve gates, which tells us there are multiple ways to enter. And yet, there are also walls, boundaries to remind us that while all people are welcome, not all behaviors are welcome. The text tells us that Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful (21:27). We should be careful here, for this observation should not prompt the question: what shall we guard against, all us pure and perfect people inside the city. No. It should prompt the question, what do I need to let go of to enter the city? What is no longer serving me? What is preventing me from loving others in the way that they need? What is causing me to harm others or myself and how can I stop? What idol has felt necessary to my psychological survival that is now ready to fall way? The walls are not for the purposes of gate-keeping but rather they a gift to us, an invitation to let go of what has been holding us back.

We are told the nations will enter, that “the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into [the city]” Individuality, uniqueness, diversity will be maintained, and not only tolerated but celebrated. Pluralism is a non-negotiable part of the Holy City, and a perspective of supremacy must be left at the gate, it cannot come in.

The streets are gold —valuable, durable, beautiful—but they are also somehow transparent. This seems to communicate that their value will not and cannot be co-opted to serve selfish interests, all such desire will be seen for what it is. The river of life flows through the city, life-giving water available to all, and more specifically, life-giving truth, clarity, and insight that refreshes and cleanses. Our transformed reality must be open to the flow of honesty and accountability, for when it is, it is open to growth.

And finally, we return to the Tree of Life, originally seen the the Garden of Eden, now in pride of place in the Holy City. This miracle tree bears fruit every month, an image of dedication to mutual love and service, the life-blood of a thriving and connected existence. The leaves of the tree, the insights grown within us from the flow of the river of life, they will heal us. Our transformed reality does not excise pieces of ourselves so that we might enter the city; instead our wounds, our misunderstandings, our mistakes, they will be healed, and we will be made whole.

These are just a few of the details we could dive into; there really is so much more to explore. But perhaps this all sounds too fantastical? What chance is there, truly, that this transformed reality might become real in our hearts and minds, and in our world? I don’t really know that answer to that. I cannot give you odds or a percentage likely for success.

What I do know, is that we can choose what we strive for. We have been given many images of harmony and transformation in the Bible, in other sacred texts, in literature, in media. We can draw something good from them all. I particularly like this one, and you may prefer another. This is okay. What matters is the spirit of what we are all striving for. What matters is that, for those of us who we believe in God, it is the kind of God who wants this vision for us, and crucially, wants it for everybody. For if we desire them, we will also find many images, many detailed visions, of exclusion, superiority, violence, and domination. The book of Revelation reveals them to us, as do our newsfeeds. But we do not need to choose them. We do not need to give them any of our precious energy, attention, or life. We can build something better. And we will. So my friends, let us begin, or rather, let us continue. Let us continue to build the holy city stone by stone, adding to each stone laid by those steadfast souls who have come before.

Amen.

Readings:

Revelation 21: 1-6, 10-14, 22:1-5, 12-14, 17

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.


10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.


21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.


22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light…


12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.


17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Secrets of Heaven #5608[9]
As regards the innocence present in young children, this is solely external, not internal; and because it is not internal it cannot be linked to any wisdom and exist together with it. But the innocence in angels, especially in those of the third heaven, is internal, and so exists joined to wisdom. Furthermore the human being has been created in such a way that when he grows old and becomes like a young child, the innocence of wisdom links itself to the innocence of ignorance that had been his when he was a young child, and in this condition, as a true young child, he passes over into the next life.

Readings: Revelation 13:1-8, 10-14, 19:11-16, 19-20,  Apocalypse Revealed #820 (see below)
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Photo by Sam Ferrara on Unsplash

Hello friends, and welcome to the second to last installment in our series on the book of Revelation. We are moving at lightning speed through these last chapters, with a focus today on the figure of the beast, who is handmaiden to the dragon from last week, and the rider on the white horse who will eventually vanquish him.

Last week we spent some time with the woman clothed with the sun and the red dragon. In our tradition, the woman represents a new way of being church that is centered in love, and wisdom drawn from love, while the dragon represents a way of being church that wants to get away with being selfish and justify it through an empty faith.

And so, we left off with the dragon enraged at being unable to destroy the woman and her child, and so he decides to wage war with the people of the earth. He does so by giving his authority to two beasts, one from the sea, and one from the earth. The beasts utter “proud words and blasphemies” and the people of world worship them and follow them. 

If the dragon represents an end-justifies-the-means kind of ideology, whether in religous or secular thinking, the beast represents the tools, the systems of domination, that the dragon employs. The text tells us that: The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. When we are certain that are right, when we are so certain that our chosen belief justifies anything we might do, what are the tools we might choose? How do systems of domination *do* their work of domination? Through propaganda, disinformation, manipulation. Though institutional disenfranchisement of minorities, though scape-goating the vulnerable, to name just a few ways. And most certainly, through violence, and the threat of violence.

Due to current events, I’m sure we may thinking of war today, and the way that war is used as a tool of domination. It is not my place to analyse the geo-politics of war, and I’m not qualified to do so even if it was. And while the question of “Can war ever be just?” *is* a very important question, it is not the question the text is foregrounding for us today. The text is asking us to look at tools of domination when they are employed and to see them for what they are. To see the Beast clearly, to know that human beings will very easily worship anything that tells them they are, or should be, “winning” over and against another.

And, you can’t get to worship of the Beast, without a whole lot of blasphemy. So, let me explain. We are told multiple times in the text of the beast’s blasphemy. Each head had a blasphemous name, he uttered proud words and blasphemy, it opened its mouth to blaspheme God. Blasphemy sounds so archaic as a word to us now, but as an idea, as a human tendency, it couldn’t be more present to us. It simply means to act in a way that is disrespectful towards God, and more specifically, disrespectful towards God’s character. It is a kind of willful misuse and misappropriation of someone else’s —God’s— legacy and ethos to serve our own agenda. It is “using” God to serve our own purposes.

A simple form of blasphemy is taking the Lord’s name in vain. When we do so, we are using, or borrowing in a sense, the import of God’s name to amplify the import of something we are experiencing. We might do so carelessly, and that’s really not such a big deal, we might do so intentionally, and that’s a bit worse. But the key to our understanding here is that true blasphemy is not about saying “Oh my God” in a moment of surprise or consternation, it is the practice of invoking the name of God to justify something that we know God would never support. Using God to justify Christian nationalism, using God to justify demonizing immigrants or disenfranchising the poor, using God to justify war, racism, transphobia, and more.

Nothing could be more disrespectful of God than willfully misunderstanding and ignoring God’s own essential command to love our neighbor, while still using God’s name to justify whatever cruelty we wish. In response to this misappropriation, God isn’t “offended” in the human way we might imagine it; God does not mirror the human ego. God is instead deeply saddened by it. God tells us to love a higher power and to love our neighbor not because God is gratified by telling us what to do and seeing us do it. God tells us this because it is the best way for humanity to be happy. Blasphemy hurts *us* in a two-fold way, not only because it is wrong on the facts of what will ultimately foster human happiness but because of the way we also delude ourselves into thinking that we are right - which puts us two full degrees away from the actual truth. 

This is why we need to be highly skeptical of anyone who claims to know “God’s Divine Plan,” and in particular anyone who uses the Book of Revelation to say that they know what is going to happen in the future, or worse, uses the book as justification for trying to make the events in it happen, to usher in the second coming of Christ. This is a dangerous misuse of the text and it leads to the sanctification of violence.

That is not what the Book of Revelation was written for. It was never about predicting the future but rather revealing the truth about God, humanity and systems of domination. In the words of Benjamin Cremer: “It pulls back the curtain on earthly empires and names them for what they are: beastly.” It spoke powerfully to the people in John of Patmos’ day because they saw the tools of domination being employed by the empire of Rome. The themes will speak to us similarly today because of the ways we might see tools of domination being employed in our circumstances. 

Yet, the book does not only speak of tools of domination. It also speaks to their ultimate emptiness. Which brings us to the second half of our text for today: the rider on the white horse. A rider called Faithful and True and who acts with justice, supported by a heavenly army. They capture the beast and throw him into a lake of fiery sulphur.

This figure of the rider is traditionally understood to represent Jesus Christ, his cloak dipped in his own blood as a sign of his sacrificial love for humanity. Swedenborg sharpens that representation even further. We might remember the figure of God that John encountered in our first week of this series; the rider today *also* has eyes of blazing fire, representing divine love, and a sharp sword coming out of his mouth, representing divine truth. Further, as we heard in our reading, the white horse represents a spiritual (deeper) understanding of God’s Word, which is the complete opposite of the blasphemy of the Beast, which tries to use God’s Word for its own purposes.

This white horse is the animal we must ride, the conveyance we must use to further our own thinking and action in this world. For, a deep understanding of God’s Word will always lead us away from the tools of domination used by the Beast. This is how we will know if we are reading it rightly, this is our compass. Are we being led away from us-vs-them thinking, are we being led away from right-makes-might ideologies, and are we being led towards caring for our neighbor and beloved community for all?

In the words of Cremer again: Victory in Revelation does not come through superior violence. It comes through faithful witness, sacrificial love, and divine judgment enacted by truth itself. The conquering Messiah conquers as the slain Lamb, not as a beast.

Here we encounter echoes of Palm Sunday, which we will celebrate in just a few weeks, with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, rather than a war horse. 

We are currently governed by an administration who sees force and power as the ultimate currency, and seems to care little for the suffering that the use of this power might cause, whether that be civilian casualties in a war of choice, immigrants held in inhuman conditions, citizens killed on the street for trying to protect the vulnerable. Earthly empire is beastly, in all its forms, full stop. 

And any individual heart can be full of empire too. Anytime we have been tempted to say “it's my way or the highway” that is the beast. Anytime we have been tempted to use power and privilege for self-dealing, self-aggrandizement, self-centering, that is the beast. Revelation lifts up these images for us so that we might be vigilant against the Beast’s deceptive siren call in all things. The good news is that God has given us another way. Pictured in the multitude of all nations, pictured in the woman clothed with the sun and her protections, pictured in the rider on the white horse and his angel army, pictured in the New Jerusalem just around the corner, we have been given visions of what a heavenly future in our life and in our world might look like. We can’t choose between options that we can’t fully see. So today we see The Beast and we commit ourselves not to look away. And then, we choose differently. We choose to not to worship empire, or to become like it. We choose the peace that comes through the sacrifice of ego, curiosity around difference, care for our neighbor. These are not always easy choices. But they are the right ones.

Amen.

Readings:

Revelation 13:1-8, 10-14, 19:11-16, 19-20

1 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.
4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 


10b This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.
12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.
14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.


19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.


19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.
20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Apocalypse Revealed #820

19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. This symbolizes the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord and the deeper meaning of the Word thereby disclosed, which is the coming of the Lord.

Seeing heaven opened symbolizes a revelation by the Lord and a disclosure then, which we will take up below. A horse symbolizes an understanding of the Word, and a white horse a deeper understanding (no. 298). And because this is the symbolic meaning of a white horse, and a deeper understanding of the Word is an understanding of the spiritual sense, therefore that sense is here symbolized by the white horse.

Readings: Revelation 12:1-17, Apocalypse Revealed #561 (see below)
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Photo by Emanuela Meli on Unsplash


Welcome, my friends, to our continuing series on the book of Revelation. Today we explore the story of the Woman Clothed with the Sun and the Great Red Dragon. While this may be a somewhat obscure passage for most, it has always been a beloved story in our tradition, for the ways that it speaks of God’s provision for humanity. It explores the power of self-delusion and self-centeredness while also speaking powerfully about God’s protection. It is once again a wonderful text for Lent, prompting us to notice where the red dragon might be showing up in our lives and in our world, while also grounding us in a vision of the way that our own, and humanity’s, spirituality is always growing.

In our text today, we are introduced to a pregnant woman who is “clothed with the sun.” In our tradition, we understand the woman to represent a new spiritual consciousness for human beings that is anchored in the Divine Love of God, pictured by being “clothed with the sun.” The child that this woman gives birth to is all the new thinking that this new consciousness might birth, new ways to honor and embody God’s love in our perspectives and ideas.

And as we have come to see over these weeks, the book of Revelation has many levels of meaning. Swedenborg liked to view it in particular through the lens of the religious institutions of his day and their predominant theologies. Which surprisingly, 270 years later, is still a pretty helpful lens. He likened the dragon to a particular theology known as Faith Alone. This is a Reformation theology about salvation that states that since our motivations will likely always be self-serving, what we “do” cannot and does not contribute to our salvation because our actions can never be pure. Only belief in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross can be pure, and therefore, it is this belief that actually saves us. What we *do* doesn’t really matter. Yes, there is a caveat that if our belief is real, we will act with charity and kindness, but for some that becomes just an afterthought.

Because, as Swedenborg observed, this theological formulation has a loophold so big you can drive a truck through it. What happens when you think faith is the only thing you need? What is the very next step for a self-centering person who thinks they are saved by what they believe, and that only? They jettison charity, kindness, and love, as superfluous. Swedenborg saw this again and again in his own religous context and we still see it in ours. Especially right now, with the rise of Christian nationalism.

It is no surprise that, for people who have stopped going to church, that the number one reason they cite is the hypocrisy of Christians. The fact that Christians claim to believe in the love and grace of Jesus, glorify the life of one who gave such a loving sacrifice, who called us to love our neighbor and showed us how to do that, and then basically ignore everything that Jesus said that doesn’t specificially serve them. I do not blame anyone for rejecting Christianity in the face of such hypocrisy.

For we are constantly seeing evangelical church leaders and political figures proclaiming faith and then supporting cruelty towards the most vulnerable in our society. In Swedenborg’s phrasing, they are practicing “faith divorced from charity” and this is pictured in the red dragon. The red dragon who wants to devour and destroy all the goodness that comes from seeing God as love rather than judgment, believing in a God who loves everyone, not just Christians, standing for a God who is in everyone’s corner, especially the least, the lost, and the left behind.

Because, as Swedenborg repeatedly wrote, there really isn’t any point to belief divorced from caring about others. There is no other reason for religious “belief” apart from caring about others. God doesn’t want us to have an abstracted faith. That’s just playing around with ideas. And look, I love to play around with ideas. It’s so fun. But faith is not actually supposed to be like a game. It is supposed to be for the purpose of helping us become more loving. That’s what religious belief of any kind is actually for. Not for getting us to heaven, not for letting us feel superior to others, definitely not for letting us demonize others, and not for manipulating others. 

And so, now we can fully appreciate the danger of the dragon, and the way that that kind of faith just wants to devour a spiritual consciousness oriented around love and caring for our neighbor. But today, I want to pivot away from the dragon for a moment. Never fear, we hear plenty of the dragon’s pernicousness with its handmaiden, the beast, next week. Today I want to rest in the elements of protection that we hear in the story. 

In the woman clothed with the sun, we have a beautiful and powerful depiction of what Swedenborg calls “the new church,” a way to be spiritual that centers love, practicing wisdom drawn from love. Our tradition is named after this “new church” but that doesn’t mean this way of being spiritual can definitley or only be found with us. It really can be found anywhere, because it is a provision of God for all humanity. We will hear more about the way this provision will be embodied on earth in our final sermon in this series, when we encounter the Holy City New Jerusalem. For right now, the woman depicts this “new church” in heaven, a potentiality that will always exist for human beings in God’s spiritual reality, what the bible called God’s kingdom. I think of it this way, that the new church has to actually exist first in heaven, so that we can draw from its power and make it real here on earth.

And so, our restfulness and hope can first be found in the image of the woman, and the way that God believes in our spiritual potential to grow and learn. God has provided us a spiritual power bank to draw from, a heaven full of angels cheering us on, and a vision of human community that is worth striving for.

Then, as we all work to birth our small piece of humanity’s new spiritual consciousness, we will encounter personal challenges, as depicted in the seven trumpets of last week. Birthing is hard work, as is spiritual growth. But as we persevere we will bring forth newness into our lives, precious new ways of thinking and loving. The dragon, all the cynical, power-hungry, self-centering aspects of our world wants to devour our precious new insights and transformations. Well, the dragon cannot have them. Because the story tells us that the woman’s child is “caught up to God.” If our new insights and transformations are anchored in the Divine Love and Wisdom of God, they are safe, because God is inexhaustible and utterly steadfast.

Next, the woman is given the wings of an eagle, which, as we heard in our readings, represents protection, insight, and foresight, from a higher place. When anchored in God’s divine love we will always be coming from a higher vision, a higher purpose, than the world can offer. When we let Divine Love guide our reflections, and our discernment, it will lead us more truly than the dragon ever could. Perhaps we could even call Lent our season of the eagle’s wings as we devote these pre-easter weeks to seeing the bigger picture of our lives and where we can adjust, improve, or heal.

Finally, as the dragon spews out a flood of water, a flood of false ideas, justifications, and disinformation, we find that the earth swallows the water, and once again the woman is protected. The falsity of the dragon comes to nothing when it is viewed according to its outcomes. The dragon will try everything to make us look away from the fruit of its pernicious ideology. It says: believe me and look at the power you will have, look at the superiority you will have, look at the freedom you will have.” But instead, if we look at the ends of the dragon’s work, it will always be full of cruelty, arrogance, incompetence and self-delusion. We are seeing this in our newsfeeds everyday. Instead, if we look to the outcomes guided by Divine Love and effected by Divine Wisdom, what do we see? We see all people cherished, held in dignity and love, and we see concrete actions designed to embody that truth. Actions that love and serve our neighbor have a concrete reality and goodness that make the dragon look pitiful and small, and shows its self-serving ideology to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. We know what is real, and we know what is truly powerful: mutual love practiced in community.

So, what will protect us from the dragon? Being caught up to God, being given wings of an eagle, and the earth swallowing the water. Which is: God’s Divine Love, intentional reflective practices, concrete loving action. Love, wisdom, and usefulness, the blessed trinity of God’s nature, and our own. This is what will protect us, and it is the most enduring and inviolable thing there is.

Amen.

Readings:

Revelation 12:1-17

1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.
4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.
15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.
16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.


Apocalypse Revealed #561

But the woman was given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place. (12:14) This symbolizes the Divine vigilance for the New Church and protection while it was still among a few.

The woman symbolizes the New Church (no. 533). Wings symbolize power and protection (no. 245). An eagle symbolizes intellectual sight and the resulting thought (no. 245). To fly means, symbolically, to perceive and be watchful (no. 245). The wilderness symbolizes the church desolate and thus existing among a few (no. 546). Her place symbolizes its state there. It follows from this that the woman's being given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, symbolizes the Divine vigilance for the New Church and protection while it was still among a few.

Readings: Revelation 8:2, 6-13, 9:1-4, 13-16, 20, 11:15-19, Apocalypse Revealed #529 (see below)
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Photo by Wim van 't Einde on Unsplash

Welcome, friends, to our continuing series on the book of Revelation. Today we jump around a bit in the text to trace the story of the Angels with the Seven Trumpets. This is now the third series of seven we have seen: seven churches, seven seals on the scroll, and now the seven trumpets. And lets be totally honest. This is a weird and disturbing revelation. We remind ourselves that it is not meant to seem real. Revelation is a spiritual experience, sharing the kind of logic and symbolism that we might see in dreams. Yet it has the potential to speak deeply to our emotions and our imagination.

Last week we saw the great multitude of every nation, tribe, people, and language, gathering to praise the Lamb, the risen Jesus Christ. A blessed, inspiring vision. Now though, we return to a contemplation on how we get to that vision, and what it is that keeps humanity from embodying that vision. The story of the seven trumpets is story of transformation through spiritual and personal challenge. It is a very appropriate text for the beginning of Lent, in fact, because spiritual and personal challenges are often the only way that we truly grow as people. Inside of such challenges, depending on their intensity, we may well hate them and resent them. They might feel unfair, terrifying to our ego, and we resist. They feel like so many kinds of destruction. But, if we are willing to let God lead us, to let harmful or maladaptive patterns within us be destroyed or released by these experiences, large and small, then we can more fully inhabit the life God wants to us have. This reality is one that the season of Lent understands. In Lent, we intentionally disrupt our everyday through some chosen practice, we intentionally create a little bit of challenge, and we pay attention to what it teaches us. 

So, let us begin our journey with the trumpets. In our text today, we hear that the first trumpet sends hail and fire down to the earth which burns up a third of the trees and green grass. Swedenborg writes that green living things like leaves and plants represent things that we put our faith in, and grass in particular, our external ideas and perspectives that we perhaps haven’t examined before.(1) They can be ones that have sprung up on their own within us due to various influences, or perhaps ones that we have purposefully cultivated. But the ones that no longer serve us, the ones that harm others intentionally or not, they need to be scorched, they need to be burned away. This practice of examination is an important starting point.

Next, the second trumpet sends a huge fiery mountain into the sea. A mountain represents affections, good things we love and bad things we love. In this case, the burning signifies not the good fire of mutual love but a kind of fire that destroys.(3) We are prompted to ask ourselves: What emotions burn inside of us that need to be cast aside? Resentment, shame, self-centering, or others? This is the point in which we take accountability for our emotional narratives and start to the do the work to heal the emotional habits that no longer serve mutual love.

Now, we go even deeper with the third trumpet, which sends down a star from the sky that makes the waters bitter. In the Swedenborgian worldview, water signifies truth, which our minds need just a much as our bodies need water. It is all well and good to say we need to let go of harmful perspectives and emotions, as the first and second trumpets declare. But sometimes, it is not as simple as all that. What happens when the water itself is bitter? What happens when the we must start to question truths that we had previously relied on? When we question the authorities, the elders, the institutions that might have provided these harmful perspectives, encouraged maladaptive patterns. We receive all kinds of bitter, poisonous information masquerading as truth from culture, from peers, from social media, from family, from religious institutions, and many other places. It is a difficult and sad process to untangle from these narratives, to recognize where they are preventing us from thriving. 

Which leads then to the fourth trumpet, depicting an even deeper questioning, and the darkness and emptiness that we encounter when we have to let go of patterns and perspectives we used to rely on. The sun, moon, and stars represent love, faith and truth. (4)Many times, this process will cause us to have to redefine how we love, what we believe and trust, what we know to be true, especially if the way we used to view those things was harming ourselves and others. It may feel like certain lights are going out, that the sky is darkened, and we don’t yet have anything to replace them. But as dark as that night sky may be, this is the moment when the story turns, this is the moment when something new can be born. It might not feel like it yet, as there are still trumpets to come, but this dark empty moment is about to become the compost for growing an entirely new way of being.

But there is still more work to do. The 5th trumpet brings one more star to earth, one that opens an abyss. This is where we face off with our deepest challenge: our need to be the smartest and the best, the need to be right. The need to be right is not actually the same thing as having some measure of clarity for ourselves. The need to be right —what Swedenborg calls the conceit of self-intelligence— is the need to be right over and against others. The need to be superior over others. This is a deep dark abyss that can never be filled, can never actually be satiated because it originates in fear rather than an actual desire to know truth. A fear that doesn’t feel safe without self-centering. It is fear we all share and it deserves some pity, for it is so very human. But when indulged, it is uniquely dangerous, and can lead to the worst of humanity’s atrocities. The smoke issued from this pit of self-centeredness obscures any truth of another person’s dignity, their human rights, their precious personhood.(5)

And so the 6th trumpet is the true moment of choice: will we let go of this self-centering, will we let go of ego? The sixth trumpet releases four angels who will kill a third of humankind. This symbolizes the death of our selfhood, the selfhood that wants to be central all the time, that resists this whole process because it cannot bear the reality of God’s love and the reality of God’s kingdom, that faith must be lived, that we exist for each other, that we are all a part of the beautiful multitude of mutual love from last week, part of the beloved community in the phrasing of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In this last pivotal moment, some will continue to resist. In verse 20 we are told that some of humankind “still did not repent of the work of their hands, they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.”

They continue worshiping idols that are not even alive, and that cannot possibly provide life. We could contrast these idols with the living God who provides life for everything. We could contrast these idols with actual human beings in front of us, who are living breathing beings. We are invited to question ourselves: What do we hold up in front of us that obscures our vision of the suffering of human beings right in front of us? Daily our newsfeed tell us of the suffering that our adminstration is purposefully perpetrating upon those in immigration detention centers, as just one example. The conditions are appalling and inhumane. What idols of ideology, what idols of power and control, what idols of tribalism and white supremacy, keep those policies in place, keep so many unable to see what is right in front of us all. This is the work of this last trumpet, to commit to consistently brushing those idols aside so that we might keep our eyes trained on God and our fellow human beings. Sometimes those idols distract us, sometimes for a moment, sometimes for a lifetime. The work remains to try to see them and then put them aside, so that we can repent of their pernicious and diverting influence.

If we do, we reach the seventh trumpet “the kingdom of our world has become the kingdom of our Lord.” This is the moment of integration. We have come through the challenge, the growth period that has rid us of the obstacles that prevent us from accepting and cherishing the reality of God’s kingdom. We hear that God’s temple in heaven is opened and we are able to see the ark of the covenant. This ark holds the ten commandments: simple promises to embody love for our God and each other.

We live this process again and again in our lives in large and small ways. Let us rejoice for every time we have managed to hear the herald of the seventh trumpet, to know the freedom and relief of having worked our way through some challenge that has led us to become a better person.

And let us also have compassion for the ways in which we are still at the first trumpet, needing to begin once again. For even at the end, with the open temple and the ark, there remains lightning and earthquakes, a sign that there is always more we can pay attention to. This is the work of Lent that we return to every year, this is the path we are seeking to walk with intention and courage. May God guide our journeys, and we always support each other in them. Amen.

(1) Secrets of Heaven #57, Apocalypse Revealed #936
(2) Apocalypse Revealed #401
(3) Ibid #403
(4) Ibid #413
(5) Ibid #422


Readings:

Revelation 8:2, 6-13, 9:1-4, 13-16, 20, 11:15-19
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,
9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--
11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”


9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.


13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God.
14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.
16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.


20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.


11:15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Apocalypse Revealed #529

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. (11:19) This symbolizes the New Heaven, in which the Lord is worshiped in His Divine humanity, and where people live in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which constitute the two essential elements of the New Church that are the means of conjunction.

Readings: Revelation 7:1-4, 9-17, Heaven & Hell 56 (see below)
See also on Youtube 
Photo by Chris Linnett on Unsplash


Today we continue our journey with the Book of Revelation, a vision of the spirit that explores themes of faithful witness, suffering, human failing, and God’s vision for humanity. This morning we are considering chapter seven and John’s description of a great multitude praising the Lamb, who represents the risen Jesus Christ. This chapter is a little island of calm in between the story of the seven seals and the angels with the seven trumpets, which we will look at next week. The sever seals showed us where negative human tendencies like domination, violence, and judgment lead, and the trumpets will tell us something similar. But in between, we have the great multitude in white robes, from every nation, tribe, people, and language. A beautiful vision of shared purpose and inclusion.

For those looking to the bible for an excuse to exclude and despise, to build walls, to separate to expel to shun, to uphold a sense of superiority, and to try to say that God wants any of that - this passage of the great multitude lifts up the exact opposite. 

White supremacy, xenophobia, racism, nationalism all are dismantled in this one short verse, which is a powerful depiction of humanity coming together around a common cause. In this vision, all in the multitude are praising the Lamb, but we don’t have to understand that to mean we all have to believe in Jesus, but rather that we can all be bonded by the kind of sacrificial love that the lamb exemplifies, a love that truly cares about each other.

We note that this vision is not about assimilation but the joy of diversity. The text doesn’t say a multitude who used to be from every nation, tribe, people and language, they are from every nation, tribe, people, and language. Diversity is maintained. We will hear this again when we finally get to the vision of the New Jerusalem at the end of the Book of Revelation. The end game isn’t tolerating each other, the end game isn’t some majority giving some minority permission to be there. The end game is cherishing each other, as we are, in all our inherent uniqueness.

Now, I’m as surprised as anyone that I’m about to mention sports in my sermon two weeks running, but we have to talk about the Super Bowl Half-time show from this past Sunday. Bad Bunny provided the performance, and he is an American artist from Puerto Rico who sings primarily in Spanish, and who recently won the Grammy award for best album. As you might imagine, those dedicated to white supremacy and white nationalism were outraged by the notion of a performer singing in Spanish at the half time show, so outraged that they mounted their own alternative programming. Yet, Bad Bunny provided a joyful and meaningful show that alllowed Latin American communities to feel genuinely seen, and asked powerful and important questions about the harmful legacy of colonialism, while still also making a heartfelt statement about togetherness, solidarity, and inclusion. It ended with the statement that the only thing more powerful than hate is love.

And while some continued to complain, I also saw an overwhelming number of people connect with joy to the deeper meaning of the performance, even if they couldn’t understand the words themselves. They found delight and connection in the specific depiction of someone else’s culture and someone else’s language, and they did not feel threatened but rather, curious. That is a choice. We recall a quote from Swedenborg: 

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.(1)

Feeling the joy of someone else as joy in ourselves, that is loving. When we can connect with the fullness of someone else’s joy, without feeling like we need to own it or control it, that is loving. When we can connect with the fullness of someone else’s joy, a joy we may not fully even understand, without defensiveness or fear, that is loving. The reality is, with everyone, there will be things that connect us and things that set us apart, and that is a good thing. This is the best of both worlds. For people viewing this half-time show, we can know that we are connected by the universal statement that the only thing more powerful than hate is love, while also getting to experience the full gift and blessing of human diversity.

And this is exactly how Swedenborg talks about heaven, as we heard in our reading today. He tells us that true heavenly unity is a function of diversity. Sameness may seem like a unity on the surface, but what is there actually to Unite together from sameness? There is no uniting in sameness. It is simply sameness. The joy, the goal, the purpose of unity is that it incorporates things that are different. Which of course, takes work, so much painstaking and steadfast work. And crucially, it demands the divestment of power and privilege. Unity does not occur when those with power deign to simply allow the existance or the presence of those who are different. Unity occurs when all those who are different to each other are made to fully belong in a spirit of shared curiosity, worthiness, and love. Swedenborg writes:

…the whole society in heaven becomes a unity, and that all the societies of heaven together become a unity, and this from the Lord alone by means of love.(2)

And where there is love, there is also delight, as also heard in our reading: variety gives delight. If we are unable to feel delight when we encounter the diversity within humanity, it is worth considering what we are feeling instead. Fear of being left out, defensiveness about our own worthiness, an addiction to feeling superior to others, a need to control everything around us. As we continue in this list, it begins to sound remarkably similar to the four horsemen of last week, who road forth to conquer, kill, and judge, and they don’t lead anywhere good. Being fearful is human indeed, but it is also an expression of our divinely given freedom to choose not to be.

We can see in Bad Bunny’s half-time show a modern depiction of the themes found in our text for today. A shared vision for the common good, and the joy that occurs when people come together in service to that. In principle, if not always in practice, the United States was a country founded in the shared principles of freedom, equality, and self-determination, welcoming those who shared that view, rather than only those who shared the same culture, linage, or religion. And as as country, we have failed to uphold those principles in full many many times, and there are ways that we still fail. But our continued failure, does not erase the power of the original intent as something to continue to strive for, that disparate people can be drawn together by a mutual commitment to human freedom, dignity, and thriving.

When the mulitude looks to the Lamb, they are looking to the ways that Jesus embodied these principles, living a life for others, being willing to sacrifice for others, guiding people to become the fullest version of themselves in whatever context they inhabit. This is a goal worth working and striving for, even as we fail, even as we become discouraged, because we know that is the best way to be human together.

As we look at the multitude praising the Lamb and waiving those palm branches, they probably didn’t speak each other’s language. They were connecting with each other because of a shared commitment to the Lamb’s values, again not a unanimity of faith, but unanimity of the principle of love. The only thing more powerful than hate is love. Whenever people unite under that banner, it is an re-enactment of the multitude in our text.  

The final verses in our text today provide a powerful vision of what unity and common purpose actually looks like. We have to “come out of the great tribulation” to get there, we have to surmount great difficulties both personally and universally, to get there. But we read:

Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be there shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This is what we are working towards, for everyone. These verses are often read at funerals, to help us rejoice that those who have passed on will finally feel the reality and the fullness of these words. But they are not only words for the afterlife; they are words for now. They are a call to action, a call to create a world that fulfills these words for all, and a call to dismantle any structures that prevent that fulfilment, including both in our hearts and in the world around us. 

The only thing more powerful than hate is love. Let us live this, my friends, with our whole hearts. Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Divine Love & Wisdom #47
2. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Heaven & Hell #405

Readings:

Revelation 7:1-4, 9-17

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:
3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.


9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’


Heaven and Hell #56
 …Every unity has its existence from diversity, for a unity that is not the result of diversity is not anything; it has no form and therefore no quality. When, on the other hand, a unity comes into existence from various parts, and these various parts are in a perfect form in which each attaches itself in series, like a congenial friend to another, then the quality is perfect. So heaven is a unity resulting from the arrangements of various parts in the most perfect form, for the heavenly form is the most perfect of all forms. That this is the origin of all perfection is evident from all the beauty, pleasantness and delight that affect the senses as well as the mind. For these exist and flow from no other source than the concert and harmony of many concordant and harmonious parts, either co-existing in order or following in order, and not from a unity apart from plurality. From this comes the saying that variety gives delight, and it is known that it is the nature of the variety which determines the delight.

Readings: Revelation 5:1-7, 6:1-17, 8:1-5, Secrets of Heaven #2959 (see below)
See also on Youtube
Photo by Niko Manuelides on Unsplash


Welcome to our continuing series on the Book of Revelation. We recall that what we find in this book, a recounting of a powerful spiritual experience, will not tell us about what is going to happen in human history. It is not the story of the end of the world. It is a vision that speaks symbolically about forces that we observe in each human heart, about forces that we can see play out around us in the patterns of human behavior. It is a mirror, reflecting to us our greatest flaws but also our deepest hopes.

Today we trace the story of the Seven Seals and are introduced to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Since we left John last week, the seven letters were written to the seven congregations. Then, John travels further into the spirit, and sees a vision of a beautiful throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it, and elders and creatures singing praises to the one on the throne. 

Then, we catch up with our text for today, as John notices a sealed scroll in the hand of the one on the throne, that no one could open. We feel the depth of John’s faith and longing as he weeps and weeps that no one was worthy to open it. 

And yet, he is consoled, for the Lamb who was slain can open the scroll. Already we have some potent symbols to guide of explorations. The image of a throne has traditionally represented power and judgment, and I think we also get some sense of God’s omnipotence and transcendance. There are times when the vastness of God can feel somewhat remote, like a scroll that we cannot open or read. Who was it then, who could open the scroll? It is the Lamb, representing Jesus Christ, the one who came to be human with us, who was slain and resurrected. Why is it significant that it is the Lamb who is able to open the scroll? Our humanness might wish to say: Surely it is power and force that gets us what we want, that will mediate the awesomeness of the throne? No, it is in fact, sacrifice, as exemplified in the life of Jesus. This is what opens our understanding of God, and our relationship to God. Jesus lived a life for others, did not grasp for power or dominion, saw those on the margins and had compassion for them, called out corruption and hypocrisy, put his very life on the line for all of humanity. This kind of courageous love is what can open the life of the spirit to us.

Then, as the seals are opened, things get even weirder. Perhaps you have heard the phrase the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? This is where they are from. As the first seal is opened, John sees a white horse with a crowned rider, like a conquerer. As the second seal is opened, John sees a red horse and a rider who has the power to make people kill each other. As the third seal is opened, John sees a black horse with a rider who carries scales for measuring. As the fourth seal is opened, John sees pale horse with a rider named Death. As the fifth seal is opened, John sees souls who had been slain due to their testimony about God. As the sixth seal is opened, John witnesses an enormous earthquake. Finally, as the seventh seal is opened there silence in heaven for about half an hour. 

What is this scroll with its seven seals communicating to us? It is telling us about different ways of being human, different basic impulses and experiences that are part of the human condition. Perhaps we can see them in the world around us, perhaps we can see them in ourselves. 

They feel familiar though, don’t they, in a sad and foreboding kind of way. The first horse wishes to conquer, the second to kill, the third to judge, and the fourth represents where all those impulses will ultimately lead us, to a kind of death, the extinguishing of our spiritual life. These are deep and disturbing images; disturbing because perhaps we do to want to really see what human beings are capable of.

Yet, haven’t we already seen the four horsemen throughout history? Haven’t marginalized and oppressed communities been telling us about them this whole time? Are we not seeing a form of them in our news today? A president threatening to conquer the countries of our allies, a federal force killing with impunity, taking peace from our cities, a justice department whose measures are entirely off; judging without integrity or honesty, the full weight of prosecution or detention for the powerless where there is little to no infraction, a shrug of the shoulders about far worse for the powerful. And where is this all taking us? We can feel it in the pit of our stomach. It is taking us towards the death of our democracy, the death of decency, dignity, and the rule of law, the death of compassion, rationality, and principle. 

And so, in the fifth and sixth seals we see an image of our own horror and disorientation at what humanity can do, our aversion to the idea that any of this can be what God wants. Swedenborg speaks of an earthquake signifying a change in state of being(1), and other times speaks of the concept of vastation or devastation(2) as we heard in our reading - that sometimes our understandings and perspectives need to be stripped away before we can truly learn what God needs us to learn. The challenge is to say stay grounded and faithful in the midst of that process of reorientation and growth.

Yet, we find in the text that the symbolic kings of the earth, princes, generals, and all who cling to earthliness, or as we would call it love of self and the world, love of wealth, power, reputation, domination, control, in large and small ways, they hide from what they call the “wrath” of the Lamb. But the Lamb has done nothing but open the scroll. The Lamb has done nothing but reveal to us, to humanity, where our worse impulses are going to take us. The kings of the earth want nothing to do with that insight, with that transparency. They would rather the rocks fall on them. Perhaps this also rhymes with what we see in our newsfeed today. Perhaps we can also track it in ourselves? Are there things that we cling to: ego, rightness, material things, nostalgia, shame, apathy, that we are loathe to give up? That feel like we cannot give up? The “wrath” of the Lamb is God’s intention to help us let go, to bring us into experiences that shake us up, that convince us of the effectiveness of the Lamb’s way, that bring us to the silence and peace and spaciousness of the seventh seal. 

Now, those who know Swedenborg will recognize, that while he espouses a similar interpretation of horses two through four, as I have mentioned here, he sees the first horse, the white horse, differently. His interpretation of Revelation is through a religious lens, with particular application to people’s practice of religion. He sees the horses as approaches to scripture; the red horse reading scripture without love, the black horse reading scripture without wisdom, and the pale horse the result of both deficits - that we won’t live a life that cares at all about God or other people, and that means our spiritual death. To him, the white horse represents engaging with scripture in the right way, seeking deep principles of love and wisdom, and actually applying them to our lives in a way that helps us to become free of selfishness and more loving towards others, to actually live the life of the Lamb.

There is space enough for all these interpretations, for they layer upon each other quite effectively, like a painting, providing more and more clarity and detail with each layer. For, the purpose of a vision such as Revelation is to engage us, to make us think, to make us feel, to make us ask questions of ourselves and each other, and so to connect us more deeply with divine realities.

I began by saying this vision in Revelation reflects our deepest flaws and our deepest hopes. We would be forgiven if we feel we are seeing more flaws and darkness than hope in the seven seals today. And there will be plenty more darkness in the chapters to come. So I want to take a moment to speak of the hope, and that I find it in the number seven. Bear with me friends. We will see the number seven cycle through again and again in this book. Seven angels, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven heads on the great red dragon, and many more. 

Humanity has always held the number seven as a important and auspicious number, often symbolizing perfecton, completeness, or wholeness, and Swedenborg agrees with that meaning (3). God is dedicated to our wholeness. More than even our happiness or our goodness, God wants us to be able to experience the fullness of what it means to be God’s creation, to grow and bloom in wisdom, love, and heavenly connection. Which means engaging in the wholeness of the process that takes us there, the insights that guide us there, the earthquakes that move us there, and the sadness and longing that means our hearts are still open to the journey. Trust the process might have recently become a basketball term, but it is also happens to be a wise spiritual one. God, the First and the Last, is with us all the way, and this is pictured in the number seven everywhere in this book. God will give us everything God has, and everything we need, to become whole in God’s love and God’s presence. It won’t always look pretty, and it won’t always feel good, but it is God’s steadfast committment to the process, and to us, that gives me hope. Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #3355
2. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #2959
3. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Apocalypse Revealed #10

Readings:

Revelation 5:1-7, 6:1-17, 8:1-5

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep!  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.


6:1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?


8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Secrets of Heaven #2959

The definition [of devastation] is twofold. One kind occurs when the church is completely destroyed-that is, when there is no longer any charity or faith. At that point it is said to be devastated, or laid waste. The other occurs when people in the church are reduced to a condition of ignorance and also of tribulation in order that the evils and falsities in them can be detached from them and seemingly dispelled. People who emerge from this kind of devastation are the ones who are specifically said to be redeemed, because they then learn about the good urged and the truth taught by faith, and the Lord reforms and regenerates them…

Readings: Revelation 1:1-20, Apocalypse Revealed #43 (see below)
See also on Youtube

Photo by Arnau Soler on Unsplash


Today we begin a seven week series on the book of Revelation. This book has captured the imagination of bible readers like no other. It is evocative, scary, hopeful, and remarkably strange. And for this reason, is perhaps not preached on very often. But, it holds a very special place in our tradition, for the ways that it metaphorically describes a vision of God’s presence and the beautiful future that God wants for all of humanity. 

The book of Revelation is often described as an “apocalypse” which is a particular genre of writing. Contrary to how we might understand the word apocalypse today, as having something to do with “the end of the world,” an apocalypse was an ancient style of writing that was pretty common in the time of the Old and New Testaments. The literal meaning of the word is “an unveiling.” The purpose of the apocalypse genre was to take a deeper look at reality, to sweep aside the curtain of the everyday and see divine action and divine presence differently. And in this way, the function of the apocalypse is much like the parable, in that both aim to make us feel uncertain and uncomfortable enough to ask useful questions of ourselves and our world. The main difference, I believe, is that a parable engages us intellectually, while the apocalypse engages us emotionally and imaginatively.

One thing that is important to say though, is that the book of Revelation is not a prediction of the future, it is not a literal projection of things or events that are to come. Many have interpreted it that way, mining the text for a secret code that will tell us what is going to happen in the future. This however, is a pretty superficial way of engaging the text, and even can be harmful. When reading the symbols and themes of this book in this way there is a temptation to try to make sure we are on the “right” or “winning” team by grasping for power or manipulating events, there is a temptation to judge or condemn others, to stoke fear, or to dismiss the importance of the real world because we think we “know” how it is all going to end. It is vital to avoid falling into the trap of viewing the book this way. 

What the book of Revelation *is* though, is someone’s spiritual experience, and the writer of this experience calls himself John. The bible is actually full of people’s spiritual experiences which is part of what makes it such a powerful, inspiring, and interesting collection of documents. Human beings are spiritual creatures, and something important happens when we are able to share our spiritual experiences with each other, whether through scripture or otherwise - we recognize both what we share and what is beyond us all. We recognize that we are all part of this human condition, and that there is something divine that holds us. We recognize that we are all searching in some way, and that we can take the journey towards transformation together. In the book of Revelation, we are invited to engage the text in a way that moves us forward towards that transformation, towards the beautiful image of the New Jerusalem that is found at the very end.

So, let’s jump in to the text.

We start with a prologue that tells us what we are about to read. Firstly, we can find it somewhat understandable if people do take this to be a literal prediction of the future, with phrases such as “what must soon take place” “this prophecy” and “because the time is near.” Yet we recognize that “prophecy” in the biblical context has never been about predicting the future, but rather about telling the truth, and in particular, speaking truth to power.

This spiritual experience that we call the book of Revelation is trying to tell us something true about divine reality, something true about where human fallability can lead us, and about how God continues to work for our redemption and transformation even so. These truths are urgent ones; they provide insight into our spiritual journeys and insight into the human condition. Where do human beings go wrong? What happens when we do? Where is God in all of that? These are not questions that we can or should put off, no matter how comfortable our own circumstances might be. Thus, the language of the book of Revelation is urgent and pressing, because that’s what kind of questions these are.

Next we are treated to a doxology that was likely used in early Christian circles, with connection to earlier apocalypses in the bible, such as in the book of Daniel. The spiritual experience of this person known as John is colored by his own context, his own spiritual tradition and formation. 

John eventually receives a commission: to write a message to seven real historical early Christian churches of his day. And then, he finally sees who the message is from: the risen Jesus Christ, standing in the middle of seven golden lampstands. 

Swedenborg writes that these seven golden lampstands represent the enlightenment that comes from engaging with spirituality in a new way, a path he would call “the new church.” This invitation to be a part of a new and revitalized way of being church is issued to all of us, for the seven lampstands mirror the seven real churches that John was writing to, an image of their potential for connection with the divine, an image of the way God’s light and love can power our earthly expression of spirituality in this life. 

And these seven letters that will make up Chapter Two, each of them is both personal and prophetic. They are honest appraisals to real communities. They say: here is what you are doing well, and here is what you need to work on. For example, for the church of Ephesus, they are praised for their perseverance but advised to try to reconnect with what inspired them in the first place, and so forth.

More important than the specifics is the form. In order to access the enlightenment of God’s seven lampstands, more than anything we need to engage in honesty. We need to be able to recognize where we are off the mark, where we need to re-evaluate, where we need to step up, where we need to step back.

And boy, that is hard work, this staying accountable without defensiveness, without avoidance, without blame. But it is necessary work, and it is why Jesus Christ appears as he does in John’s vision with a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and a voice like that of rushing water. Both are images of the power of truth: a sword to cut away harmful, false, self-serving perspectives, and rushing water to wash these perspectives away. We cannot transform if don’t know what needs to change. We cannot transform if we are not willing to be accountable. Without either of these things, our spiritual journey, our human journey, is in jeopardy. We see this in our country right now, with an administration completely unwilling to be reflective or accountable, so convinced of their rightness that they think the rule of law does not apply to them. They have deluded themselves into thinking that *they* somehow wield Jesus Christ’s double-edged sword on behalf of God, and they are drunk on the power of it. But it is a sword of their own making. God would never ever condone the cruelty of their actions.

The double-edged sword is not for others, it is only ever for ourselves, and only for the purpose of helping us become more free and more loving. It is an awesome and somewhat frightening sight, this God with a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth but we recognize it is because God tells us the truth. And because of this, perhaps we might want to play full possom in the face of reality today, to fall down as dead like John in the face of the enormity of the call of how to be people of faith in trying circumstances. I know I do. Many days I feel paralysed and stuck, not knowing how to make a difference, not knowing how to do good. Then the old patterns come up - endless equivocation about the “best” thing to do, being afraid of what people will think, or whatever variation our own roadblocks might be. The temptation to choose apathy in the face of the challenge of our moment is real. But, as awful as it might feel, the tension is actually our guide. Engaging the tension, engaging the questions the tension brings, will makes us braver and more accountable, and it is that process that will always tell us the truth. 

In this complex post-truth world, it is harder than ever to know that is true and real. But this question can guide us: does something make myself, or this community, this institution, this country, braver and more accountable? Or does it lead us into greater comfort, greater distraction, greater avoidance? Because it is only the former that will lead us into loving and caring for our neighbor and our world more effectively. 

But even as we encounter this double-edged sword, this voice of rushing water, what else do we see in the text today? An image of Jesus Christ with eyes like blazing fire and a face shining with brillance. An image of Jesus Christ picking us up off the floor and saying do not fear. Our Lord God Jesus Christ saying “I am the first and the last, I am the living one.” This is the center of our faith, an image of the divine love that is available to each of us, a brilliant unquenchable fire. Do not fear, says the Lord, engaging the tension is painful but I’ve got you, from start to finish. I’ve shown you that death is not the end, whether it is the death of your bodies, or the death of your egos, your ideologies, your perspectives, your excuses. I am the living one, and I will show you how to live, if you will let me. 

This is the beginning, and the book of Revelation is a wild ride. I’m so glad you are taking it with me. There are not many books of the bible that make me cry, but this one does over and over again because of the way it gets right to the heart of things, right to our deepest fears and our deepest hopes. As we walk through the chapters to come, we will likely see much that resonates with our times, much that tells us the truth about how human beings have always been. And, we will also see a divine love that accompanies our challenges, that is guiding us, that is imploring us forward into the New Jerusalem that awaits, if only we are willing to partner with God in building it. Let’s walk together, my friends. Amen.



Readings:

Revelation 1:1-20
Prologue
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Greetings and Doxology
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of Christ
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Apocalypse Revealed #43

And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands. This symbolizes a new church, which will have an enlightenment from the Lord from the Word.
The seven lampstands mean a new church because the Lord is in it and in the midst of it…The lampstands appeared golden, because gold symbolizes goodness, and every church is a church by virtue of the goodness that is formed through truths.

Readings: Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, True Christianity 684 (see below)
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Let’s talk about baptism. How many of us remember our baptisms? Any of us baptized as babies very likely do not. Any of us baptized as adults probably do. Perhaps some of us participated in rituals that “confirmed” our infant baptisms. For those have not been baptized at all, from a Swedenborgian point of view there is no need to panic! Baptism is simply a sign, a representation, that the ongoing work of regeneration is being attempted in partnership with the Lord. Such spiritual work absolutely can and does occur without baptism happening. However, for many people, there is a lot of power in the experience of baptism, and in any spiritual experience that demarcates a new space in time, a new day, a new way of thinking or living.

We ourselves right now, by simply by living in January, are baptizing for ourselves a new year. Our calendar is somewhat arbitrary, after all. Time flows pretty uniformly, at least at the Newtonian level at which we exist in our day to day. But on January 1st, we declare the year is new. We declare that the previous year is over. We draw a line in the sand and step out into possibility. We may have many feelings about such threshold times. We might be glad to let go of a difficult year. We might be sad to leave a year that once held something or someone we have lost. We might be excited and curious to see what a new year holds for us. Or we might feel overwhelmed at all the open space and uncertainty ahead.

To me, that jumble of feelings is captured in part by this poem by Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet and philosopher. He wrote:

Faith
is the bird
that feels the light
And sings 
when the dawn
is still dark.

All of our futures are uncertain, we are all in the dark on that point. Yet, faith, that beautiful bird, “feels” the light, anticipates that the light is coming, and sings anyway.

Our text today pictures Jesus in one of those threshold moments. The people, responding to John the Baptist’s preaching, were filled with that bird-faith singing, filled with expectation for a bright and liberated future. And they wondered what that future looked like? Did it have within it a Messiah? Was John that Messiah? No, I’m not, says John, as he points them even further forward towards Jesus. John’s particular gift was shaking people awake, revealing the truth to them, opening them up. This is represented by his baptism of water, the water providing a metphor for the process of spiritual washing, of purifying ourselves from evil and falsity. While the language of religious purification, and words like “evil” and “falsity” can sound kind of austere or fantastical, all that really means is identifying and removing self-serving desires and ways of thinking that prevent us from loving others. Hence John’s baptism is also called the baptism of repentance. Repentance as a process involves a revealing of truth which causes us to change our minds, to turn around in our perspective. And this ability, this willingness to really entertain personal accountability, is a cornerstone of our spiritual growth. But even so, there is one step more. There was one coming, said John, who would give them baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. After the turning around, we actually need to embark on a new way of living. As we heard in our reading, Swedenborg writes of this baptism of holy spirit and fire: 

The Holy Spirit here means divine truth that is related to faith; the fire means divine goodness that is related to love and goodwill. Both emanate from the Lord. It is through these two things that the Lord carries out the entire process of regeneration. 

The Holy Spirit unfolds its wings of truth within our minds, and the divine fire of love burns within our hearts, and these two things *together* propel us forward again and again into our new life, singing for the dawn even when it is dark. And this baptism of spirit and fire requires engagement, it requires work, and thus is pictured by the winnowing fork. Our old ideas, our old identities and habits of being are winnowed; the lies and the half-truths and the justifications fall away down to the threshing floor, and hopefullly only that which is nourishing to our spiritual lives remains. Thus, through the work of the winnowing fork, we are left with the grain, ready to grow a new plant, or ready to be transformed into bread that will nourish our body, and our souls. 

So in church, at whatever time of life it comes to us, we might share a baptism of water with our family and friends, and they witness the newness and the holy possibility. It is a ritual that signifies the beginning of a process. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire that is still to come is the rest of our life. Our baptism of water is like a spiritual January 1st, full of bright opportunity and invention. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is like the rest of the year, full of ups and downs and winnowing and learning and working.

Jesus also receives a baptism. We heard from our reading: 

The Lord himself was baptized by John, not only so as to institute baptism for the future and set the example, but also because he glorified his human nature and made it divine in the same way that he regenerates us and makes us spiritual. 

Jesus’ experience was to be analogous to ours; a partnership with God, which in his case was a partnership with his own divine soul. This partnership initiated a spiritual blossoming and necessitated spiritual trial, but also culminated in a union of humanity and the divine. At Christmastime, we just celebrated the fact of God being born into the world. What is just as miraculous is that throughout his life, Jesus was reborn again and again into truth and love, just as we are.

Thus, we read in Swedenborg’s Secrets of Heaven(2) that a “dove” represents the truth and goodness of faith in one who is being reborn. Jesus didn’t know exactly what his future would be but that dove was a representation of feeling that faith-light and singing in the dark before the dawn, a representation of the divinely ordained work to come. There was much that was dark in Jesus’ time, as in ours. But he believed in the dawn that was coming because he knew who God was, and what God was doing.

So here we are in the bright open space of the beginning of the year. We don’t know what will happen with this year. It certainly doesn’t feel like it is starting off well, and I know I am holding, as you may be, a foreboding sense that things might get worse, in our country and in our world. But to enter into uncertainty is also to enter into possibility, and to enter into new possiblity with faith is one of the holiest acts of worship. For me, I can only conjure up that faith because of how God speaks to Jesus in that baptism moment: This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. When uncertainty and overwhelm and fear makes us feel small and powerless, we can remember that God’s possibility for us is held within an unceasing love. From Isaiah we read: …you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, says the Lord. The future might be uncertain, but we are always enfolded and cherished within God’s arms. All our all striving and trying will always be held within the context of God’s love, purposes, and promises. 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire asks much of us, it asks that we give up our precious ego and our precious pride, it asks us to transform ourselves, and to have faith in newness and love when it is so much easier to have faith in self-regard, material things, and being right. We might be afraid to step out into what God calls us toward, but we can try and fail and begin again, we can stretch and reach and leap, because we *always* have those divine arms to come back to.

So today, I have filled the baptismal font with water. If you like, during the reflection time, or after the service during the postlude, you are welcome to come forward to anoint yourself with the water in remembrance of all the moments we are called to newness, in remembrance of your baptism or some other occasion. We feel the water and we remember; we remember our Lord, praying under the wings of the Holy Spirit, we remember the faith-bird that sings, sings when the dawn is still dark. 

Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #869

Readings:

Isaiah 43:1-7

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6 I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”


Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 


True Christianity 684

The Third Function of Baptism, and Its Ultimate Purpose, Is to Lead Us to Be Regenerated…

This is the same as the point made about the Lord that "He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The Holy Spirit here means divine truth that is related to faith; the fire means divine goodness that is related to love and goodwill. Both emanate from the Lord. It is through these two things that the Lord carries out the entire process of regenerating us. 

The Lord himself was baptized by John, not only so as to institute baptism for the future and set the example, but also because he glorified his human nature and made it divine in the same way that he regenerates us and makes us spiritual.