New Church Westville Weekly Sermon Podcast

Often when we hear stories from the Word about the powerful enemies that conquered the Children of Israel and we read in the Heavenly Doctrine about the hatred of the devils in hell, we can think that our enemies and hell are formidable foes. But the reality is that hell has NO power at all. Come and learn why we do not need to fear the hells.

At the Last Supper, having shared bread and wine with His disciples, the Lord commanded, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Holy Supper is an opportunity to remember the Lord: to remember what He did for us in giving His life; to remember the Divine Love that He shares with us; to remember the Divine Wisdom that inspires us. But remembering the Lord is not just a matter of thought; it is a matter of doing what He commands us. The best way to “remember” the Lord is to actively follow His teachings.

The Word is written in such a way that every word and concept has a deeper spiritual meaning. These meanings are threaded through the entirety of the Word, tying together disparate and varied stories into one story with one message. This Sunday we will follow one of these threads by exploring sleep and wakefulness. In this theme we learn about the need to be vigilant and awake spiritually, as well as the need to rest and sleep in the Lord.

Psalm 121 speaks of the Lord protecting your going out and your coming in. This speaks to times of transition, times in which it is especially crucial that we remain in the Lord’s care. A prominent example is the Children of Israel coming out of slavery in Egypt and going in to possess the Promised Land. But this story also illustrates the struggle of times of transition: between coming out of Egypt and going into the Land there was forty years of wandering the wilderness. As much as we would like to directly leave hardship and enter good times, more often than not there is an intermediate stage of trial and growth that the Lord must lead us through.

There are moments when something so unlikely and unexpected, and yet so wonderful, occurs, that we cannot help but see is as the hand of God at work in the world. But if God intervenes so forcefully in the world sometimes, it serves to highlight the many times when He does not (apparently) intervene. Why is one person miraculously spared from cancer, while thousands of others are condemned to die? The truth is that God’s Providence is not just at work in the unlikely and the obvious ways we see. His Providence extends to each and every moment of our lives, even down to the most mundane. He is never absent.

The central element of the baptism service is water. Water in general represents truth, and that is what it represents in baptism: just as water quenches thirst, the truth that is learned from the Lord and His Word quenches our desire for guidance; just as water washes away dirt, truth is the tool by which we wash away sin and evil. Conversely water represents falsity: just as a person needs to be lifted up and saved from drowning, the Lord leads us away from what is false and guides us to live based on His truth.

The wisdom of God seems like foolishness to the world, and so following God's wisdom inevitably leads to us feeling foolish. The pressure to give in and embrace the "wisdom" of the world can be strong. Resisting takes sacrifice, from passing on a promotion, to ending a relationship, to letting go of ego, and beyond. But until we are willing to be seen as fools by the world, we are not able to fully follow the Lord.

There is not just one “Christmas Story:” Matthew recounts Joseph’s dilemma, the arrival of the wise men, and the threat of Herod, while Luke recounts the annunciation to Mary, the infant Jesus being placed in a manger, and the shepherds coming to see Him. Keeping these stories separate in our minds helps us understand the spiritual significance of each one: Matthew has a lot to say about how we receive the Lord in our minds through truth, faith, and understanding. Luke on the other hand tells us more about how we receive the Lord in our hearts, in goodness, charity, and our will. On Christmas Day we will explore how Luke can help us be more accepting, trusting, and loving in how we receive the Lord.

We often talk about "The Christmas Story" as if it were one contained story. But really there are two: one in the Gospel of Matthew, the other in the Gospel of Luke. In the first, the danger of Herod looms large, Joseph has to work hard to keep the family safe, and wise men from the East bring gifts. In the second, Mary is central, there is no room for them in the inn, and shepherds come to adore the little infant. These two different versions tell us a lot about the two distinct ways we receive the Lord into our own lives.

The Christmas story begins with Zacharias receiving the astonishing news that his elderly, barren wife would give birth to a special child. Yet in the moment of his prayers being answered, Zechariah doubted; and so was made mute until the time of the child’s birth. How often do we do the same, doubting just when our prayers might be answered? It’s as if it’s too good to be true, and to protect ourselves from disappointment we refuse to let ourselves give in to false hope. But the Lord does not give false hope: His promises are sure and He brings to pass something greater even then our wildest dreams.

Christmas is a time of joy and happiness, or at least we try to make it so. Singing Christmas songs can be one of those fun ways to celebrate. But what makes the season truly joyful is when we look to the Lord and live His teaching. When we do those two things then the fun of all the other aspects can be deepened and enriched spiritually.

Part of living a good spiritual life is looking for the Truth that will guide you. The problem is that “truth” is a lot harder to come by then we might imagine. Every true thing we know, or think we know, has endless layers that remain obscure to us and countless nuances that are beyond our current comprehension. We never find the Truth itself in all its complexity. In spite of this, and in fact, because of this, the never-ending pursuit of truth is a crucial part of our spiritual growth.

We know that the Lord has created us to love others; but what about ourselves? Can that love also be from the Lord? All of us have needs that must be met but it can be hard to ask for help. We worry about putting a burden on others or opening ourselves up to criticism. Yet the Lord is clear that we are to love ourselves. If we cannot love ourselves enough to get the help that we need, we lose the ability to help others. When we ask for help we are not being selfish, but rather are taking the first steps towards helping others.

Whenever something goes wrong in the world, there seems to be an outpouring of compassion. We almost get excited at the chance to leap into action and help. But as time passes the energy wanes. We can become fatigued; not just fatigued physically, but fatigued emotionally. It is impossible to keep up that initial level of care and energy. Above even the emotional there is the spiritual fatigue: we face exhaustion with ourselves and our own spiritual growth, and can push ourselves to the breaking point. We need to be able to truly address the issues, but to do so in a way that is sustainable.

Religious life is all about resisting sins. But what actually counts as a sin? We have to be able to know what we are looking for if we are going to be able to resist it. Thankfully the Lord gives us guidance in identifying sins, especially through the Ten Commandments. Although there are only Ten, if we look deeper we can find that they guide us to see whatever vice or sin we might be struggling with.

Fear is really not our favourite thing to feel. We would usually ask the Lord to remove our fears, and He tells us not to be afraid. And yet there are other parts of the Word that talk about "the fear of the Lord" as a good thing! It turns out that there is something like fear, that even feels like fear, and yet that is also a good thing that comes from love. Even as the Lord removes our fears, He inspires us with holy fear, a fear that relates not to danger but to love.

These two concepts aren't often paired, but they are actually intrinsically linked. Everything good that we have is a free gift from the Lord, regardless of how much we have worked for it. When we realize just how much we have been blessed we are filled with a feeling of gratitude. But it also brings a sense responsibility: if we have been so freely blessed, then there is an obligation to freely bless others. As the Lord says, "Freely you have received, freely give."

Everything in creation relates back to a kind of marriage: that between love and wisdom, or between goodness and truth. This spiritual union also defines our relationship with the Lord. When we accept truths into our mind and allow the Lord to fill them with goodness, we are conjoined with the Lord. This is why the Word over and over again uses the image of a marriage to describe the relationship between the Lord and the Church.