When
Zechariah, the father of John, who later became
known as "John the Baptist", witnessed
the naming of his son and had his speech
restored to him, he uttered the sayings which
are known today as the "Benedictus",
so called from the first word
"blessed" in the Latin translation.
About his own son he said: "You, child,
will be called the prophet of the Most High; for
you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in
the forgiveness of their sins, through the
tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn
upon us from on high to give light to those who
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace."
(Luke 1.76-79)
John
was the Prophet of the first advent of the Lord.
He prepared the world for the coming of the Lord
and the development of the Christian Church. We
can see further on in the Gospel of Luke the way
in which he convinced others of the validity of
the coming of the Messiah and the reality that
Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Lord who would
save us from destroying ourselves.
As
members of the New Church we wonder what special
meaning these words and the whole nativity story
have for us. Perhaps we can see the very reason
for our existence as a church as well as the
mission of our church within Zechariah's
statement. The situation has its parallels to
our situation. The New Church could readily be
"The prophet of the Most High", as it
prepares the world for the second advent of the
Lord. Are not the writings of the New Church the
Prophesy of the future of the Christian church,
indeed of all religion in the world? Is it not
part of our responsibility to, "give
knowledge of salvation" to God's people, so
that all may feel there is hope for their
eternal life and that salvation is not just for
a few select individuals? Is it not our job to
"give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death"? This we cannot
do if we continue to "hide our light under
a bushel"! Can we help to guide all people
into the paths of peace?
What
impact have the Writings of the Church of the
New Jerusalem had on Christianity and other
world religions? I am optimistic that the
influence has been quite significant as I hear
ministers in other churches letting go of long
held dogmas and ideas of the Trinity and
salvation by faith alone and speak of the
fellowship of all mankind and of the
acceptability of other faiths as having
legitimacy. I am also encouraged by the work of
some ministries within the New Church that have
ceased being so exclusivist and are working
along side of other churches in their
communities. Reverend Ray Silverman through his
seminars and book "Rise Above It" is
just one example as well as recent Publications
by George Dole, including "Freedom &
Evil" and "A Thoughtful Soul".
But the most influential book in my opinion has
been Helen Keller's "Light In My
Darkness", formerly published as "My
Religion." What can we do, as we are not
all gifted with the ability to write? We can
SHARE. We can share the Writings and ideas of
Swedenborg and other New Church authors with our
families and friends and churches.
The
world in which the Lord of the second advent is
struggling for recognition is not the same as
the world that Jesus was born into as an infant
child. It is a world that has had centuries to
develop other false gods to worship. Gods of
wealth and ownership. Gods of science and
technology. Gods of ICBM warfare and Gods of
space and quantum physics. Gods of medicine and
pharmacology with their promises of keeping us
alive indefinitely. The Gods of instant
communication and cyberspace and lastly the gods
of media communications. And the gods of
capitalism economics and GROSS national profit.
All these combine to lead us away from the One
God who can give us eternal life and happiness.
Whenever
I contemplate the reason for the existence of
the New Church, I am always conscious of the
description of the Holy City New Jerusalem
described as not having a temple in its midst as
the Lord is the temple of it. (Rev. 21:22). I
think I understand the need for New Church
people to be organized, but I feel that that
does not mean that we should emulate the
organization of the first Christian church by
burying ourselves in small enclaves and spending
the bulk of our time and energy preaching to the
converted. It is through spreading the teachings
of the New Christian Church by sharing them with
others, and living lives of charity and caring
for others, that this church will grow, not in
wealth and property but in enlightening souls
and opening them up to the life of True
Christian Religion. I believe that many people
avoid our organized New Churches because they do
not want to join yet another club.
Let
me return again to the preparations for the
first advent of the Lord and how it can be a
guide for us in the work of preparation for the
second advent. What is the "Peace"
that Zachariah was talking about? The book,
Apocalypse Revealed indicates that "Peace
means all things from the Lord in their
aggregate, and so all things of heaven and the
church, and the happiness of life in them: these
belong to peace in the highest or inmost sense.
It follows that "peace is charity,
spiritual confidence, and internal rest; for
when man is in the Lord, he is in peace with his
neighbor, which is charity; and in protection
against the hells, which is spiritual security;
and when he is in such states, he is in internal
rest from evils and falsities. Since therefore
all these are from the Lord, it is clear what is
meant in general and in particular by
"peace" in the following statements
from Scripture:
For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called God, Hero, the
Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of His government and peace there shall
be no end (Isaiah 9.6,7).
Jehovah
will bless His people with peace (Ps 29.11).
AR 306
If
we keep in mind "spiritual peace" we
can clearly perceive what is meant by peace. We
tend to relate peace with idleness or doing
nothing, or to quietness, but this is not what
is meant with "spiritual peace".
Spiritual peace is "internal rest from
evils and falsities." What a concept!!! We
know that we cannot escape the daily impact of
worldly activity that abounds with selfishness,
greed, deceit, and a host of other evils, short
of completely withdrawing from society and
becoming ascetic, so it is comforting to know
that there is an internal peace that we can
really experience in our lives that will protect
us from the outward onslaught and keep us safe.
Given this protection we can be confident in
facing all that happens in the world around us.
We can be active and effective in our peaceful
state. Our mind and soul can be at rest while
our body goes about its daily chores. We can do
this with "spiritual confidence" which
gives us a feeling of security far beyond any
physical security we may have. It is the
confidence of knowing that no matter what
happens we will be "OK".
How
could we as individuals guide the feet of others
into the way of peace? That is into the safety
and security of spiritual confidence and
internal rest. First of all we must look to
those who are immediately near to us; our family
members, relatives and friends, and we must
share with them our understanding about the
peace that can come into their lives if they
will spend but a little time and effort to find
it. We can talk to them about the real story and
meaning of Advent to show them that there is
more to it than buying presents and having a big
feast. It can help if they come to understand
that God so loves and cares for mankind that He
would come into the world as an innocent,
vulnerable child, and subject Himself to all the
dangers of human life just for the purpose of
showing us the way to eternal life and peace.
So
this Christmas let us think on these things and
share with others the joy and security that we
have in our lives as the Lord comes once again
to us in His Divine Humanity. Amen