A Sermon by the Rev. James P. Cooper

Mitchellville, December 14, 2003

And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47)

During most of the history of the Jewish Church the people were in nearly constant contact with Jehovah through a series of prophets. The prophets reminded them of the Covenant, gave them directions, and, when necessary, gave them dire warnings. It must have been a great comfort to them to know that Jehovah was watching over them so closely and personally. But after king Solomon, the kingdom divided again and fell into idolatry and many other sins. The second book of Kings documents their fall away from power as king after king turned away from the path set for them by Jehovah, as king after king ignores the words of the prophets, until finally the kingdom was gone, the people scattered, and there was no one to hear Jehovah’s voice. Even the beautiful temple, built by Solomon, had been destroyed.

After hundreds of years the silence is suddenly and dramatically broken when an elderly priest named Zacharias is chosen to burn incense in the temple in Jerusalem, rebuilt by Herod in an attempt to appease the difficult people he’d been sent to govern. While alone in the temple, Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and told him that he and Elisabeth, in their old age, will become parents. He further told them that they are to name the child “John.” Because Zacharias is unable to respond to this announcement, the angel caused him to be mute until the child is born.

Zacharias finished his duties at the temple, and returned home with Elisabeth. There, in due course, the prophecy was fulfilled and she conceived in her old age. In the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy, Gabriel made another appearance, this time to Mary, and young woman preparing for her upcoming marriage to Joseph. Unlike Zacharias, Mary seemed composed – even prepared – when she is suddenly confronted by an angel. She asked a few questions to clarify things in her own mind, and then humbly responded, behold the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be unto me according to your word. (LUK 1:38) Gabriel, in explaining what was going to happen, had told Mary about her cousin Elisabeth’s miraculous pregnancy. The gospel of Luke tells us that after speaking to Gabriel, Mary arose … with haste (LUK 1:39) and went to visit Elisabeth and Zacharias in their home.

At that moment, Mary too was pregnant, carrying the child of the Holy Spirit. When she arrived and greeted Elizabeth, the special bond between these two as yet unborn infants was demonstrated. We read in AE 710:31,

It is said of John the Baptist: That he was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb; and that the babe leaped in the womb at the salutation of Mary (Luke 1:15, 41, 44). This signified that he was to represent the Lord in relation to the Word, as Elijah did; for in the Word, which is Divine truth, there is everywhere the marriage of Divine good and Divine truth, and Divine good united with Divine truth is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called the Holy Spirit. The leaping in the womb at the salutation of Mary represented the joy arising from the love of the conjunction of good and truth, thus the joy of celestial conjugial love, which is in every particular of the Word.

Elisabeth greeted Mary joyfully and told her how her unborn child had leapt for joy at her coming. Luke records that Mary responded with a prophecy of her own, the speech that is usually called “the Magnificat” because it begins with the phrase, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord (LUK 1:46)

In this context, the word “magnifies” means to “make great” or to “praise.” The reason for saying this was, of course, that Mary was becoming aware of the implications of what was happening to her and to Elisabeth. On the one hand there was the normal excitement and joy that would accompany the news of a pregnancy. On the other hand, there is reason to believe that both Mary and Elisabeth would have been well aware of the various prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. It may be that their excitement and joy was not just for themselves and each other, but a dawning awareness of what these events might mean for their own people.

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. (1:47-50)

When Mary said that His mercy is on those who fear Him, in the literal sense it meant just the children of Israel. Since the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry is still more than 30 years in the future when she says this, it is safe to assume that for herself, in the literal sense, she is thinking about what all this will mean to her own people. But in addition to being a statement of her own understanding and hopes for the future, it is also a prophecy that contains within it a message that applies representatively to all people who fear and obey the Lord. Those who do will enjoy the blessings of His compassion, and will be preserved as to their spirits by Him.

This is so because the fear mentioned here is “holy fear.” We read concerning “holy fear” in the Apocalypse Explained,

AE 696:21 “The fear of Jehovah” signifies worship in which there is holiness through truths, in the following passages also. In Luke: The mercy of God is unto generation of generations to them that fear Him (Luke 1:50).

Mary’s prophecy continues, He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. (1:51-52)

Again, in the literal sense, when a woman living in that place at that time said that the Messiah would “put down the mighty from their thrones” we have to believe that she was referring to the Romans. However, we can also know that in the representative sense the passage is speaking about those people who are like the Romans in their spiritual qualities, that is, people led by the loves of self and the world. This is confirmed by the fact that the “thrones” that these people are ruling from represent hell in respect to all falsity (See AE 253).

Mary said again, He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. (1:53)

In the sense of the letter, she is once again thinking about the sad state of the Jewish people under the cruel and harsh government of Herod the Great. It was the hope of everyone in those days that when the Messiah came He would give them all kinds of material gifts.

Representatively, the prophecy is speaking about how the Messiah will restore the doctrine of the church into the world. Those who are hungry are those without good and truth, and who desire to have both good and truth. The “rich” represent those who have good and truth, but do not desire to use them. AC 4744:3 says,

‘The rich’ stands for those who know a great deal, for in the spiritual sense factual knowledge, matters of doctrine, and cognitions of good and truth are meant by ‘riches’ .People are called ‘rich’ but ‘empty’ if they know these things but do not carry them out; for with them truths are not truths because these are devoid of good.

She continues with her prophecy, He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.” (1:54-55)

As is the case with so many of the prophecies in the Old Testament, Mary’s contained a reference to the Covenant that existed between Jehovah and the Jewish Church. First established with Noah and symbolized by the rainbow, the Covenant is a recurrent theme throughout the Old Testament. In the literal sense, the Covenant meant to them that Jehovah had promised to Abraham that his descendants would rule the natural world.

One of the many reasons for the Lord to come into the natural world and take on the Human was to open this Covenant up and show that it was not intended to be just for the children of Israel, but that the Lord was making the promise that all His children, that is everyone who loved and obeyed Him, would inherit His heavenly kingdom.

The prophecy ends with the reminder that Jehovah is a loving father, calling to mind His mercy, that is, His compassion and willingness to preserve them as a nation (see AC 9849:2). And the phrase, “as He spoke to our fathers” reminds us that everything that was happening to Zacharias and Elisabeth, and to Mary and Joseph was a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

The passage from Luke ends with the words, And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. (1:56) Gabriel told Mary that Elisabeth was in her sixth month (1:36), and here we are told that she stayed with Elisabeth for about three months. Adding in the time Mary needed to travel from her home to Elisabeth’s, this passage strongly suggests that Mary stayed on to help with the birth, and perhaps was even present at the christening when Zacharias named the child John, only returning home when she was certain that all was well with Elisabeth and the child.

In summary then, we can see that Mary’s prophecy is a powerful and beautiful statement of the spiritual state of the church at that time, and the Lord’s promise to come and restore order. We know from other sources that the state of the church on earth was caused by the states of disorder in the world of spirits. In order to bring the longed-for states of peace to the church on earth, He had to first present Himself in a lowly human form and submit to their attacks. Then, through victories over the hells, He would restore spiritual order, not just for the Jewish Church, but for all people in the whole world.

The evil spirits who, in their pride and love of self, were trying to rule in the world of spirits, would indeed be cast down from their imaginary thrones built on falsities when the truth was revealed. The good people who had hungered and thirsted for the goods and truths that the Church should have been providing them, would now be filled. All would know that the Covenant between Jehovah and His people would be kept in a much more complete way than any of the people alive at that time could have imagined.

As we continue our celebration of the miracles of Christmas, let us reflect on how something that seemed so personal and limited to just the Jewish Church at the time was in fact a miracle above all others, and one that would effect the spiritual freedom of every person alive, in every generation. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. (Luke 1:49-50) Amen.

First Lesson: Gen 9:8-17

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: {9} “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, {10} “and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. {11} “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” {12} And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: {13} “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. {14} “It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; {15} “and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. {16} “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” {17} And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Amen.

Second Lesson: Luke 1:46-56

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, {47} And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. {48} For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. {49} For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. {50} And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. {51} He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. {52} He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. {53} He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. {54} He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, {55} As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.” {56} And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. Amen.

Third Lesson: AE 710:31

It is said of John the Baptist: That he was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb; and that the babe leaped in the womb at the salutation of Mary (Luke 1:15, 41, 44). This signified that he was to represent the Lord in relation to the Word, as Elijah did; for in the Word, which is Divine truth, there is everywhere the marriage of Divine good and Divine truth, and Divine good united with Divine truth is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is called the Holy Spirit. The leaping in the womb at the salutation of Mary represented the joy arising from the love of the conjunction of good and truth, thus the joy of celestial conjugial love, which is in every particular of the Word. Amen.

Copyright © 1982 – 2005 General Church of the New Jerusalem.
Page constructed by James P. Cooper
Page last modified September 27, 2009

A Sermon by the Rev. James P. Cooper

Mitchellville, Sept. 7, 2003

Each year as summer gives way to autumn our collective attention turns to the resumption of formal schooling. Of course, part of the excitement comes from the delight we feel from the process of getting new pencils and notebooks and lunch boxes for the kids, and part of it comes from the delicious anxiety about the new friendships that will be formed, and new routines to be learned. But we know that these are not the reasons for the education of our children – these are just the icing on the cake.

All education, not just New Church education, is a response to an essential human need, the need to prepare helpless infants to become useful members of adult society – and eventually angels in heaven – in just 20 years. But in New Church education, we take on the additional burden of preparing children for a useful life in the natural and spiritual worlds while at the same time protecting and preserving their innocence.

We need to be clear what we mean by innocence. Generally we think of it as a “willingness to be led by the Lord.” On the natural level, we see it in a child’s willingness to be led by the teacher or the parent. One might expect that if a single adult took a large group of small children outdoors on a beautiful day the children would immediately scatter to pursue whatever caught their attention – some looking at the butterflies, some seeking a companion to talk to, and some wrestling in the grass or chasing each other. But for some reason, they don’t. They seem eager for direction. They stand in (almost) straight lines, and mostly try to do what they’re told, to be like the others, to be a part of the group. It’s possible to teach Physical Education to little children outside on a sunny day because the Lord has gifted them with natural innocence, a desire to be a part of the group, to gain approval.

While that natural innocence is something that is essential for education to take place, it is not in itself the kind of innocence we are trying to develop and protect. The innocence of little children is not true innocence, because true innocence dwells in wisdom, something that little children don’t have. Hear the following teaching from the Arcana Coelestia:

As regards the innocence possessed by young children, because as yet it is devoid of intelligence and wisdom, it is merely a kind of plane for receiving genuine innocence, which they do receive gradually as they become wise. The nature of young children’s innocence has been represented to me by something wooden and practically devoid of life, but which is made living as they are perfected by means of cognitions of truth and affections for good. The nature of genuine innocence was afterwards represented by a very beautiful young child, full of life, and naked. For the truly innocent, who dwell in the inmost heaven and so nearest to the Lord, appear before the eyes of other angels as none other than small children, and indeed as naked; for innocence is represented by ‘the nakedness of which they are not ashamed’, as one reads of the first man and his wife in paradise. In short, the wiser angels are the more innocent they are; and the more innocent they are the more they appear to themselves as young children. This is why in the Word innocence is meant by early childhood…. (AC 2306).

True innocence is not ignorance, nor is it a life shielded from the experiences of life in the world. True innocence is not the cause of wisdom, but rather it is a result of it. When a person has tried things their own way, and then tried to do things the Lord’s way, when they have acquired enough experience in different kinds of situations to begin to draw meaningful conclusions, then for the first time they start to become truly wise. Age and experience count for something. And they are even more valuable when the person is using the Lord’s Word as his primary guide. One of the great challenges we face as we grow older is learning to trust people younger than ourselves to make important decisions that affect us because during our formative years we learned to trust those who were older because they were wiser. It’s quite a mental adjustment to realize that people younger than ourselves could have acquired enough wisdom of life for us to go to them as a source. That explains why it’s often said that congregations want a pastor who’s 20 years old but had 40 years experience. Youth suggests energy, but experience teaches important lessons.

The mind is a spiritual thing, but the information it requires as a foundation can only be acquired in the world through the senses. So we must be born into the world before we can be born into heaven. The purpose is not to hide from the world, because that’s where we find the experiences and tests that hone the mind and sharpen the wit. But the Word reminds us that while we are to be in the world, we must be careful to preserve our innocence and not become a part of the world. Even while we live and work in society, we must constantly seek the Lord’s constant presence by testing our thoughts and actions against the standards we learned in the Word. If we let Him lead us, we can become wise, while still remaining innocent because we are willingly following Him.

To affirm the power and use of New Church Education is not to say that other education is valueless. It is, however, useful to remind ourselves of our goals, and what we are able to do particularly well. There are indeed many schools that can effectively teach reading and writing and arithmetic, but we are living in a world where the public barriers to immorality are everywhere under attack and can no longer be depended on to protect our children. For as long as most of us can remember, we have been able to depend on civil law to provide the foundation of a basic code of behavior. Anyone with “common sense” would know that certain things were just “wrong” whether or not they heard about it in church on Sunday, or whether or not there was a rule about it in school.

Today, the word “family” has come to mean different things to different people, as does the word “marriage.” We can no longer assume that when we speak of such basic things that others will automatically know what we mean. The basic assumptions, the underlying structure of our culture and way of life are being removed at an ever increasing rate. With every change the job of raising children becomes that much more difficult, because more of the burden has moved from the surrounding culture to the parents and the community in which the family lives.

When there was a generally accepted moral code it was convenient for the churches too, for then the preachers did not have to deal with the details of certain unseemly behaviors from the pulpit because those things were against the law. Not any more. More than ever before, it will be the responsibility of the church, unassisted by the civil government, to teach and preserve God’s law. Today, when it has become illegal to display and respect the Ten Commandments, the Divine Law that is the basis of all civilized behavior, in a courthouse, we can know that another barrier has been breached, and the protection of the innocence of our children becomes more fully our own responsibility than ever before.

There is much that can be said in favor of those educators who work in the public schools. The do the best they can in the face of tremendous challenges, but how do you teach a child the difference between right and wrong if you aren’t allowed to talk about God or the Ten Commandments? How do you give a child a sense of his place in the order of the world when you are required to teach opposing theories in a subject and give each of them equal weight in order to show respect to some segment of the population. When you have to give Creationism and Evolution the same weight, it’s no wonder that we have a generation of kids who use the word “random” to describe so many aspects of their life. Of course everything seems to be random when no one is allowed to show you the order that underlies it all. And since none of the order and structure that the young minds crave are permitted because they might offend someone, somewhere, we are left with trying to give the children “self-esteem” instead of awareness of their place in the overall order of the universe.

New Church Education is ideally suited, then, to provide more than just facts and skills, but to provide the context to understand the world around them, and a safe place to explore ideas and fit them into a philosophy of life that looks to an eternity of usefulness. A place where a child can ask a teacher questions about God and Heaven and Right and Wrong, and be able to trust the answer.

But in our enthusiasm for New Church Education, let us not fall into the same false premise that is seen so often in the world, the idea that it is the responsibility of schools by themselves to educate children. The way to protect the innocence of children, the way to help them be prepared for a life in the world that leads to a life in heaven, is for there to be an effective partnership between the parents and the school. The most important aspect of the partnership is that the school and the parents share a common vision of what they are trying to accomplish. One of the strengths of a small private school is that it can have a specific and well-defined vision. And all those who share that vision can work together to bring it to life.

New Church Education is designed on every level to be a partnership with the parents, to be an “extension of the home” because there is inherent in our system our recognition of the principle that it is the responsibility of the parents to care for and educate their children in the light of the Lord’s Word. It is the part of the school only to assist them in this endeavor by providing expert assistance in certain academic areas, and by forming a covenant with the parents that the protection of the child’s true innocence is foremost in everything that is taught. Amen.

First Lesson: Gen. 2:15-25

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. {16} And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; {17} “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” {18} And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” {19} Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. {20} So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. {21} And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. {22} Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. {23} And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” {24} Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. {25} And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Amen.

Second Lesson: Mat 18:1-14

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” {2} Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, {3} and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. {4} “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. {5} “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. {6} “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. {7} “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! {8} “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. {9} “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. {10} “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. {11} “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. {12} “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? {13} “And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. {14} “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Amen.

Third Lesson: AC 2305.

There are certain people who identify innocence with early childhood, for the reason that the Lord, when speaking about young children, said that heaven consisted of such, and that those who do not become as young children cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. But those who think in this fashion do not know the internal sense of the Word, nor thus what is meant by early childhood. ‘Early childhood’ is used to mean the innocence that belongs to intelligence and wisdom, the nature of which is such that they acknowledge that they possess life solely from the Lord and that the Lord is their one and only Father; for a person is human because of intelligence and wisdom – essentially truth and good respectively – which people have solely from the Lord. Innocence itself, which in the Word is called early childhood, exists and resides nowhere else than within wisdom, so much so that the wiser anyone is the more innocent he is. Consequently the Lord is Innocence itself, because He is Wisdom itself. Amen.

Copyright © 1982 – 2005 General Church of the New Jerusalem.
Page constructed by James P. Cooper
Page last modified September 27, 2009