A Sermon by the Rev. James P. Cooper

Toronto, July 8, 2012

For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. (Mark 4:22)

When the Lord spoke these words, He was in Galilee, by the sea, preaching to huge crowds and healing the sick. He ended the day’s lessons with the Parable of the Sower. When He finished teaching for the day and the crowds were gone, He returned to shore and went into a house with His disciples. There the disciples asked Him to privately explain the Parable of the Sower, which He did, and the “internal sense” of the parable – or at least an inner meaning – was recorded in the New Testament, and it was read as the second lesson.

Then, while speaking to His disciples in the privacy of the house, having just been speaking about how He has been working to spread the Word throughout the world with varying degrees of reception, He taught a new parable about hiding one’s light under a basket (which was the topic of the children’s talk).

What makes this new parable particularly interesting is that it provides several different levels of meaning, and not only are those meanings on different levels, but they seem to be about different subjects. The usual pattern is for interior meanings to reveal more interior applications of the same concept – but this parable shows us a different face of the Word.

On the natural-historical level, the parable seems to be just like any other story that has a moral, just like any other story used to illustrate some point of human life and interaction. The moral is the message that when we have truth, we are not to hide it, but share it with others in a variety of different ways, either by openly teaching it to others, by living it and thus being a good example, or by amending others when we see that they are not living rightly.

However it is interesting to note that when you look up the various references to this story in the Heavenly Doctrine, it is used to illustrate not this idea but instead it is the basis for several other widely divergent ideas, such as the dangers of the doctrine of faith alone and the state of vastation.

We tend to think of “faith alone” as a doctrine made popular by Martin Luther’s attempt to reform the Christian Church, but we need to remember that the human ability to learn truth and then fail to apply it to life goes back to the origins of human life. It shows up in the earliest histories of the Old Testament where the Philistines, that Canaanite nation that caused the children of Israel so much trouble, represent faith alone.

Faith alone reveals itself in the stories of the Old Testament in that people were able to follow the rituals, but unable to see that there was a moral code behind them. They could follow the letter of the law, but could not see or apply its spirit. The Lord speaks about this quite frequently in the New Testament as He sought to show them the spirit behind the letter.

Of course the value of pointing this out is that it shows us that this has been a human problem for a long time, and it shows itself in our church and in our culture in much the same way. We delight in discussing the Word and the doctrinal principles revealed there, but find it very tough to put them into action in our own lives.

Both the prophets Ezekiel and John spoke about the Word being “sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly” (EZE 3:3, REV 10:10) because while we love to talk about our big plans to regenerate, doing it is hard work. This experience shared by Ezekiel and John calls to mind the way that we love to talk about diets and dieting and how wonderful it would be to loose those extra pounds, but when it comes to actually pushing back from the table after a light meal, day after day, your stomach can actually begin to growl. Making a choice to change the way we live, even on this simple, natural level is “sweet in the mouth, bitter in the belly.” An idea that exists only in theory and is never actually put into action, is faith alone, and it’s been around since laziness was invented.

In the parable of the Sower we have an image of the Lord moving among all people of the world, seeking to give them the truth that they need. We see the Sower scattering the seed, that represents truths from the Word, far and wide. We then hear that there are some who receive it gladly, and the good and truth that the Lord gives them is multiplied a hundredfold. Then, immediately thereafter, the Lord begins to speak of those who hide their light under the a basket. What light is He talking about? The light from the Word that He has just so freely and generously given to them. Why in the world would people who just received enlightenment from the Lord hide it away? Because faith alone has blinded them to the truth, so that they see the Word as if at night, as if the light that it would provide for them is covered over.

The Heavenly Doctrine also uses the idea of a light hidden under a basket to illustrate something completely different – or at least a subject that doesn’t have an immediately obvious and direct link to Faith Alone – the state of “vastation” that all have to pass through after the death of the body, and that is experienced in relation to individual sins from time to time in the world.

Human beings have a tendency to be deceitful – the little boy with chocolate all over his face who states emphatically that he did not eat the candy bar, the little girl with lipstick all over her face who promises that she has not been touching her Mum’s make-up. But as we grow older, we find that while other people are sceptical of our more outrageous statements, we also find there is one person who is always ready to accept our fabrications and lies – our own self.

Why do we find it so easy to deceive ourselves? Probably because we want to believe that we don’t have any evils that need to be removed through temptation and spiritual work. It’s much easier to believe that everything is fine, and we are ready to go just as we are.

But wait! The link to faith alone is coming into focus. When faith alone rules in our lives, we can think about the Doctrine of Charity in the abstract without having to deal with the inconvenience and work of being genuinely charitable. All we have to do is say to ourselves that we are charitable, and we believe that we are without having to dirty ourselves with the actual work. We don’t feel the need to examine our motives and thoughts, and so the things that the Lord had intended to be revealed through honest, charitable work, remain hidden. So, because we never actually think deeply about these things, or confront them through life, the evils in our character remain deeply hidden, but still very much a part of our spiritual life. But, “Nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed.” We keep the truth about our spiritual states safely hidden away.

We may be able to hide them during life in this world, but eventually the natural body wears out and is put off. Once we enter the spiritual world, new rules come into play. We are no longer permitted to hide our true feeling behind faces trained to show no emotion.

The ruling principle is that no evil is permitted in heaven, nor is any good permitted in hell. Therefore, the main purpose of the work in the world of spirits is to expose the ruling love and then remove all things that are not in agreement with that ruling love.

In the short term, this is painful, for we love our evils and the falsities that we wove around them to protect them. Even if we are destined to heaven, still there are things in us that need to be removed so that our spirit can be whole and uncontaminated. The same thing is true for those spirits who have a ruling love of evil. In the short term, it is painful to have the few goods that they may have removed, but in the long term it is better that their spirit be whole and all their loves be related one to another. Because this process is painful and can be devastating to the spirit, it is called “vastation” and every one will go through it.

Those who have learned to examine themselves for evils while still on earth, and have made it a regular practice in preparation for the Holy Supper will find it much less painful and difficult than those who have spent their lives building walls of lies around their evil loves. Those who have practised self-examination will respond with joy and co-operation when the angels point out a sin, because they are willing to acknowledge in their hearts that there are sins present that need to be removed, and they rejoice because there are experts there ready to help them finish up the job. Those who have tried to keep them hidden all their lives will continue to fight and deny and to struggle, but to no avail.

AE 794 [3] …In this world no one can determine whether works are from the Lord or from man, since in external form the two kinds appear alike, but they can be distinguished by the Lord alone, and after man’s life in the world their origin is disclosed (Matt. 10:26, 27; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2, 3, 8, 9). …

AC 7795. [2] That before the evil are condemned and let down into hell they undergo so many states is altogether unknown in the world. It is believed that man is at once either condemned or saved, and that this is effected without any process; but the case is otherwise. Justice reigns there, and no one is condemned until he himself knows, and is inwardly convinced, that he is in evil, and that it is utterly impossible for him to be in heaven. His own evils are also laid open to him, according to the words of the Lord in Luke: There is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; or hidden, that shall not be known. Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in the bed chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (Luke 12:2-3; Matt. 10:26-27; Mark 4:22).

We may hear this teaching from the Word and scoff within ourselves because it is our experience that we are able to put a basket over our light for a while, it is possible for us to hide evil thoughts and acts from other people for a time. And because we can do it for a while, we hope and believe that we can do it for all time.

But for the sake of our spiritual lives, to save us from our own ignorance, the Lord has repeatedly sent prophets to us to tell us so clearly that “nothing can be hidden” from Him. So what are we to do? Seek out those things that do not belong in a spiritual mind, and root them out, now, before they have taken root too deeply. Examine the intentions of your will, reflect on those things that you daydream about doing if you were not prevented by the law and your need to preserve your reputation, and make every effort to bring your life into the spiritual order that has been laid out for us all in the Word.

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (ISA 1:16-20) Amen.

 

First Lesson: Ezek 3:1-14

Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” {2} So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. {3} And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. {4} Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. {5} “For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, {6} “not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. {7} “But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. {8} “Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. {9} “Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” {10} Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. {11} “And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear, or whether they refuse.” {12} Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice: “Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!” {13} I also heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, and a great thunderous noise. {14} So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

Second Lesson: Mark 4:13-20

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? {14} “The sower sows the word. {15} “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. {16} “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; {17} “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. {18} “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, {19} “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. {20} “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Third Lesson: AC 7795:2

That before the evil are condemned and let down into hell they undergo so many states is altogether unknown in the world. It is believed that man is at once either condemned or saved, and that this is effected without any process; but the case is otherwise. Justice reigns there, and no one is condemned until he himself knows, and is inwardly convinced, that he is in evil, and that it is utterly impossible for him to be in heaven. His own evils are also laid open to him, according to the words of the Lord in Luke: There is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; or hidden, that shall not be known. Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in the bed chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (Luke 12:2-3; Matt. 10:26-27; Mark 4:22); and what is more, he is also warned to desist from evil; but when he cannot do this because of the dominion of evil, the power is then taken away from him of doing evil by falsifications of truth and pretenses of good, which is effected successively from one degree to another, and finally condemnation follows and the letting down into hell. This takes place when he comes into the evil of his life.

 

 

 

A Sermon by the Rev. James P. Cooper

“Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.” GEN 44:33

Judah, the 4th son of Jacob, is an extremely interesting character, and at the same time a wonderful illustration of the Doctrine of Regeneration. On the one hand, Judah is associated with the “lion of Judah,” and the kingdom of Judah which represent the power and royalty of the Lord’s Divine Love. On the other hand, his name is the origin of the name “Jew” which was applied to the last and most natural of the Israelitish churches, and he is also linked with Judas the betrayer because they both represent people who are strongly motivated by the love of money.

Judah’s life is closely tied to that of his brother Joseph. When Jacob sent Joseph out to find his brothers, to observe how well they were caring for the flocks, and then to report back to Jacob, the brothers plotted to kill him even as he approached – before he even said anything to him – and threw him into a pit to keep him out of the way while they decided what to do next. It was as they were casually discussing how they were going to kill him that Judah saw a passing caravan. That gave him the idea that they could get rid of him permanently and yet derive some profit from it if they sold him into slavery in Egypt. The brothers agreed to the plan.

Before they could get back to the pit, some passing Midianites found Joseph in the well. They too thought it would be a good idea to sell him into slavery in Egypt – so they did, and the brother’s have to return home empty handed.

The story in Genesis goes on to follow Joseph’s life in Potiphar’s house, and the betrayal that leads to him being unjustly sent to prison. And then the story abruptly returns to Judah. Genesis tells us that Judah is now a widower. His eldest son is married to a woman named Tamar, but he dies leaving her childless. According to the custom of the day, Judah instructed his second son to give her an heir. But he refused to do what was right by her. Because he disobeyed, the Lord struck him dead. The sense of the letter indicates that Judah blames Tamar for the loss of his two sons and, rather than risk giving her to another of his sons, he instead sends her home to her family. This may sound reasonable, and even wise to us, but in those days and in that culture, it was a deadly insult to Tamar and her family.

Tamar still needs a son to protect her and support her in her old age. So she disguises herself as a prostitute and offers herself to Judah. He doesn’t recognize her, and accepts the offer. He doesn’t have any money with him, so he gives her a distinctive staff that he carried as a promise of later payment. Some time later, Tamar is discovered to be pregnant, and there is a huge uproar. Judah is especially upset that she would dishonour his family so – but when he arrives to take part in her punishment, she calmly hands him his staff and all becomes clear. More importantly, we see a different Judah. He admits that he was wrong to send her away, that he had treated her poorly, and he publicly takes responsibility for her situation and makes amends by promising to take care of her in the future.

Having shown us this development in Judah’s character, the story then returns to the main theme, describing the terrible famine that afflicts the land of Canaan. Perhaps the reason for this digression is that we would never understand the contrast between our first view of Judah and what happens next if we hadn’t had this glimpse of Judah’s developing character.

We also see from the sense of the letter that during the famine, Judah has emerged as the leader of the sons. Their first trip to Egypt goes badly. A very powerful Egyptian (who happens to be their own brother Joseph) accuses them of being spies because they brag to him that they are the twelve sons of one man, forgetting that only ten of them are present. The Egyptian takes Simeon hostage and sends them back to Canaan with instructions to return with the missing brother, or they would not get any more food.

Back in Canaan, Jacob decided to let Simeon stay in the Egyptian prison – he wasn’t going to have Benjamin going to that dangerous place. But, eventually the famine was so severe that they had to do something or die. And when Judah simply states that he will be personally responsible for Benjamin on the journey, Jacob relents and allows the brothers to return to Egypt.

Once back in Egypt, however, Joseph’s trap is sprung on Benjamin. After being imprisoned for three days they are brought before the Man again and told that they are free to go and that Benjamin alone will remain in Egypt. The sons are faced with a terrible dilemma – can they return to their father with the news that the other son of his beloved Rachel is lost too?

But [Joseph] said, “…the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”¹

The offer is simple and clear: give me what I want, and the rest of you can go free. If it had been 20 years ago and Joseph was the hostage, they would have abandoned him in a minute. Perhaps, this is what Joseph is expecting. We all have a hard time recognizing that people can change, can grow during the process of time, in spite of the fact that our entire doctrine is centred around the process of people changing for the better over time. We call it “regeneration.”

Judah asserts his role as leader and spokesman of the group and addresses the Man. He begins by setting a respectful tone:

Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.²

Judah then tries to explain the mix-up about the question of whether they were twelve or ten sons.

“My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would Die.’” ³

Judah now gently suggests that this whole thing is Joseph’s fault because he is making unreasonable demands that will be harmful to their elderly father.

“But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’ So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ”⁴

We are pretty sure that Judah does not know that it’s Joseph he’s speaking to, but he sure hits the spot with his next point.

“Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’ ”⁵

He’s given him an emotional connection to the events, and now he simply and clearly says that if this happens, the old man will die. Judah then, to the surprise of Joseph takes responsibility for Benjamin’s safety and his father onto himself.

“Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father Forever.’” ⁶

Now, listen to Judah’s final point and remember that this is the same man who once wanted to murder his brother Joseph, but decided that a life of slavery would both get rid of him and turn a nice profit.

“Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”⁷

Judah offers his own life in the place of Benjamin! This action, this decision, is the event that causes Joseph to be emotionally overcome, and then reveal himself to them.

If we think about these events from the perspective that Judah represents the kind of change of character that we can expect through the lifelong process of regeneration, and if we see that Joseph here, as elsewhere, represents the Lord, we get an very important teaching. It shows that our own view of the Lord can change as our spiritual life matures.

We begin with an arrogant view of the Lord – Joseph as the young dreamer. What he says may in fact be true, but we simply don’t want to listen to it. Later, when we have begun to act from self-discipline and live a life of civil and moral good we see Him as a powerful, but faceless Man who has authority over us but acts in ways that are partly known, and yet partly mysterious. Finally, at the end of the process, when love to the Lord begins to rule in the mind, the Lord reveals Himself to us and we finally recognize the Man, and see Him as someone we can know and love.

The change in Judah during the course of this story also shows the amount of spiritual change that it is possible for a person to undergo during life in the world as sins are discovered and shunned. He begins as a man who casually discusses killing his brother, and then decides it’s better to sell him into slavery because that way a profit can be made while getting rid of him. He ends the series as a man with much to lose who makes a choice to put the needs of others ahead of his own, to actually give up his life for the sake of others. It is this act that makes it possible for us to understand how Judah represents love to the Lord because there is no greater love than the willingness to give up one’s own life for the sake of another.

If Judah can change his character so dramatically during the course of his life, so can each and every one of us. We are able to rise above the basest hereditary desires. Every day can be a step forward. We can become self-disciplined and self-motivated to live according to civil law. We can learn to think rationally and morally and come to love the neighbour as ourselves. And, the Lord has promised that if we continue down the path that the Lord has laid out for us, we can come to that place where our love for the neighbour becomes love to the Lord because we are finally ready to put the welfare of others ahead of our needs and desires simply because the Lord has asked us to.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. (John 15:13-14) Amen.

First Lesson: GEN 44:17-34

(GEN 44:17-34) But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.” {18} Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh. {19} “My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ {20} “And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ {21} “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ {22} “And we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ {23} “But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’ {24} “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord. {25} “And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ {26} “But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ {27} “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; {28} ‘and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since. {29} ‘But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’ {30} “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, {31} “it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. {32} “For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ {33} “Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. {34} “For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?” Amen.

Second Lesson:

The Word cannot be understood without doctrine. This is because the Word in the sense of the letter consists exclusively of correspondences, to the end that things spiritual and celestial may be simultaneous or together therein, and that every word may be their container and support. For this reason, in some places in the sense of the letter the truths are not naked, but clothed, and are then called appearances of truth. Many truths also are accommodated to the capacity of simple folk, who do not uplift their thoughts above such things as they see before their eyes. There are also some things that appear like contradictions, although the Word when viewed in its own light contains no contradiction. And again in certain passages in the Prophets, names of persons and places are gathered together from which, in the letter, no sense can be elicited, as in those passages adduced above (n. 15). Such being the Word in the sense of the letter, it is evident that it cannot be understood without doctrine.

But to illustrate this by examples. It is said,

That Jehovah repents (EXO. 32:12, 14; Jonah 3:9; 4:2); And also That Jehovah does not repent (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29).

Without doctrine these passages cannot be reconciled. It is said

That Jehovah visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation (Num. 14:18); And it is also said that The father shall not die for the son, nor the son for the father, but everyone for his own sin (Deut. 24:16).

Interpreted by doctrine these passages are not discordant, but are in agreement…. [5] The Lord says,

Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgement ye judge ye shall be judged (Matt. 7:1-2; Luke 6:37).

Without doctrine this might be cited to confirm the notion that it is not to be said of what is evil that it is evil, thus that an evil person is not to be judged to be evil; yet according to doctrine it is lawful to judge, but justly; for the Lord says, Judge righteous judgement (John 7:24)….

Other things like these exist in the Word, from which it plainly appears that the Word cannot be understood without doctrine. Amen.