|
Sermon: God With Us by the Rev. Lee
Woofenden
Bridgewater,
Massachusetts, September 10,
2006
Isaiah
7:10-17 The sign of Immanuel
"Again
the Lord spoke to Ahaz, "Ask the Lord your God for
a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest
heights." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I
will not put the Lord to the test." Then Isaiah
said: "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too
little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God
also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Look, the young woman will conceive and bear a son, and
will name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by
the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the
good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil
and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you
are in dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring on
you and on your people and on the house of your father a
time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah--he
will bring the king of Assyria."
Matthew
1:18-23 The birth of Jesus the Messiah
Now
the birth of Jesus the messiah took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but
before they lived together, she was found to be with
child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a
righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public
disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when
he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins." All this
took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord
through the prophet: "Look, the virgin will
conceive and bear a son, and they will name him
Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
True
Christianity #2 The faith of the new church
The
faith of the new heaven and the new church in universal
form is this: The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah,
came into the world to gain control over the hells and
to glorify his own human nature. If he had not done
this, not one mortal could have been saved; those who
believe in him are saved.
Note:
This sermon begins a series that will be published as a
book on the teachings of the New Church about the Lord
God Jesus Christ. The first one, below, will serve as
the Introduction to the book.
All
this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the
Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin will
conceive and bear a son, and they will name him
Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
(Matthew 1:22-23)
Central
to the universe, and central to our own souls--whether
we recognize it or not--is the Divine Being whom we call
God.
Who
is God? There are as many different views of this as
there are different faiths in our world. There are as
many varieties in those views as there are sects and
movements within those many faiths. And there are as
many particular versions as there are individuals
walking the face of the earth.
Our
view of who God is and what God is like form an
invisible but real force determining who we ourselves
are, and what our lives will be. Our view of God is our
view of what reality is all about, and what it means for
us personally. Whoever or whatever we believe is the
supreme reality, force, and meaning of the
universe--that is our God.
This
takes as many forms as there are people. For some,
nature and science are the supreme reality, and their
lives are devoted to understanding and living in that
reality. For some, the highest value is human society,
and their lives are devoted to understanding and serving
society. Some think of money and possessions as the
greatest value, and their lives are devoted to acquiring
as much material wealth and pleasure as possible. Others
see personal power as the highest value, and their lives
are devoted to thrusting themselves into the most
powerful positions they are able to attain. Each has a
god that he or she believes in and worships as the
highest good.
But
when we use the word "God" with a capital
"G," we are speaking of a Being who is above
all the gods of the earth that vie for our attention and
loyalty. We are speaking of a Being who is above all of
them because this Being is the source of them all.
Not
all people believe that such a Supreme Being exists. And
of those who do, not all believe that this Being is
conscious, loving, wise, and powerful. In other words,
not all believe that God is personal and human.
Yet
many millions do believe in a God who is both personal
and present--a God who not only created us, but is there
for us every moment of every day.
This
is the God I believe in. I believe in a God who is not
only infinitely above us, transcending all our highest
ideals and feelings, with power vastly beyond anything
we can imagine, but who is also personally present with
us every day, every hour, every minute, every second,
feeling our feelings with us, sharing our thoughts and
goals and ideals with us, and giving us the ability to
move forward not only in our times of happiness and joy,
but also in our times of pain, sorrow, and despair.
In
these pages I will offer you a picture of God that is
the highest and best I have been able to conceive of.
And I do believe that if there is a God, that God must
be the best God there could possibly be. This universe
is too incredibly beautiful and intricate, and we humans
ourselves are too astounding and amazing, to have come
from anything but the best of all possible Gods!
Whatever is the best Divine Being we humans can imagine,
God must be at least that good. And I believe God is
far, far better than even the most enlightened
and the most loving people among us can conceive.
Of
course, none of what I will present to you is original
to me. Everything I know of God is indelibly imprinted
on me first and foremost from the words of Sacred
Scripture, which have surrounded me from birth. I have
also been indelibly imprinted with a beautiful, loving,
and wise concept of God from my upbringing in the New
Christianity, which draws inspiration from the writings
of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), scientist, statesman,
and seer. Those writings focus on and draw from the
Scriptures themselves--and that is what I will also be
focusing on and drawing from as we move forward.
Everything we need to know about God is present in the
pages of God痴
Holy
Word.
The
Bible is all about who God is and what God does in
relationship with the universe, with the earth, and
especially with the humans living on the earth.
We
will look into the words of the Torah, the Law of the
Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures, to gain an
understanding of who the infinite, transcendent, Creator
God is, from whom all else comes.
We
will look into the words of the Hebrew Prophets to gain
an understanding of how God thinks, feels, and acts
toward all the created human beings that ever have lived
and ever will live on this earth.
We
will look to the Gospels in the New Testament, or Greek
Scriptures, to gain not only an understanding, but, I
hope, a sense of joy in having a God who does not stay
aloof from us in heaven, but comes to us personally to
share with us our struggles and our triumphs, our griefs
and our joys.
And
we will look to the Book of Revelation, that final
prophetic book of the Bible, to gain an understanding of
God as one who continues to be with us personally while
also being the infinitely loving, wise, and powerful
Being who is the Creator and Ruler of all the galaxies,
and of our own souls.
I
hope you will join me for this wonderful journey through
that wonderful, sacred volume. In it, we can learn of
the still more wonderful Divine Being who created us,
who loves us, who understands us more fully and deeply
than we can possibly imagine, and who desires to give
each one of us all the joy and happiness that we can
possibly receive, not only here on earth, but to all
eternity in the heaven of angels.
Artwork:
© Greg Olson -
I Feel My Savior's Love
Used with Permission
Music: In
the Garden
© 2003 Bruce De
Boer
Used with Permission
No Right Click and
Color Scroll Bar Scripts Courtesy of:
Graphics
by Judy
|
