Finding Your Destiny - sermon Oct 26, 2014

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“Finding Your Destiny”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, Oct 26, 2014

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Joshua 24: 1-2a, 14-18; Rev 21: 1-4; HH 402

There’s a gravestone somewhere near London England that reads, “Here lies Jeremy Brown, born a man and died a grocer.”

Now, this is humorous, but it is also a commentary on how one can become so identified with one’s job that one loses the self that one was created to be.

You see, every one of us hungers to live a life of purpose and meaning. But misfortune, setbacks, cynicism, or even societal expectations and pressures can silence that hunger, but it never truly goes away. We long to feel special; we long to feel that there is a reason that we were born. The book stores are full of self-help guides on how to discover our purpose in life—books with titles like: “Finding Your Own North Star,” “Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” “Manifest Your Destiny,” “Just Who Will You Be?” and “Excavating Your Authentic Self,”—and they sell well for a reason.

We are complex beings. We live in the space between responsibility and possibility, between duty and dreams, pulled ever and always between the two. It can be a precarious place to live in this tug of war, faced with daily choices between creative playful risk and the heavy harness of obligation. We cannot simply abandon our spouse or children or work responsibilities to indulge some impractical dream—“I will move to Hollywood and become a famous actress!” (No matter how much appeal that might have some days). Yet it is a terrible shame when we allow ourselves to succumb to the “shoulds” and judgments in our culture, letting our creativity wither and our dreams die.

There is a balance we must strike in life between time in the harness of duty and out of it, yet many of us in adult life let go completely of our ability to play and dream, and it is then that we risk “dying a grocer.”

Let me read to you from Irish poet and priest, John O’Donahue:

“For millions of years, before you arrived here, the dream of your individuality was carefully prepared. You were sent to a shape of destiny in which you would be able to express the special gift you bring to the world.

If you can awaken this sense of destiny, you come into rhythm with your life. You fall out of rhythm when you renege on your potential and talent, when you settle for mediocre as a refuge from the call. When you lose rhythm, your life becomes wearyingly deliberate or anonymously automatic. Rhythm is the secret key to balance and belonging." (Anam Cara, p 84)

O’Donahue speaks a very Swedenborgian truth here: that we all were indeed created with a special purpose in mind—that God made you and me with an eye to eternity and an intention for a unique job in heaven that will fulfill us beyond our wildest dreams. We can begin to awake to that purpose here and now, but the key lies in being willing to be open to finding a sacred rhythm to our life, and being willing to dig deep into our courage and love. Developing this awareness can require some introspection, often in the form of meditation or journaling—undertakings many of us avoid like the dentist. I personally believe in the transformative power of daily journal writing with all my heart, and yet have an amazing ability to postpone it, neglect it, and forget it all together.

You see, the journey of opening up our inner selves is work. It is not easy. But it is immeasurably worth it. Still, building time and space in our lives for our own spiritual development is like trying to convince a budget-challenged school board to keep a full arts and music program. For some reason, spiritual work is always the first to get dropped and forgotten in our busy lives.

And we do lead busy lives. All the time-saving devices we have invented have simply given us permission to cram more activity into our days. We are frightened to miss any opportunity, and even with all the things and activities we have already packed into our ridiculously privileged North American lives, we have a hard time saying no to anything. One of the hardest, hardest things for us to do today in our culture is to slow down. It is as if the speed itself holds the key to our salvation, and taking any time to simply be, can bring up enormous anxiety for souls accustomed to living in top gear.

Listen to this ancient bit of wisdom: Once there was a man exploring Africa. He was in a desperate hurry on a trip through the jungle. He had three or four native Africans helping him carry his equipment. He urged them forward at great speed for about three days. At the end of the third day, the Africans sat down and would not move. He insisted that they get up, telling them of the pressure he was under to reach his destination before a certain date. But they refused to move. He could not understand this. He tried all sorts of persuasions, yet they still refused to move. Finally, he got one of them to admit the reason. This native said, "We have moved too quickly to reach here; now we need to wait to give our spirits a chance to catch up with us."

Many of us chuckle at this quaint-seeming wisdom.  And yet I bet each one of us has experienced the consequences of not “letting our spirits catch up” in one way or another. We can become so disconnected from the rhythm of the spiritual process, that we can no longer sense when we need to stop and care for our souls. And so we get sick, or in some other way are forced to slow down, no matter how outwardly inconvenient. We know that slowing down and looking inward through yoga, or meditation, regular journaling, or perhaps attending a church that feeds our inner life will do us good, but do we let ourselves do it?  Accomplishing one more task can be so compelling….

Believe it or not, our Scripture passage from Joshua today was speaking to a similar dynamic in the spiritual journey. In fact, the more I study the Bible through a Swedenborgian lens, the more I am amazed to see that it is full of the psychology of the human spiritual journey.

The Bible says the same thing, over and over again in all sorts of ways: that this life is a journey with a divine purpose; that there will be challenges, struggles, and tremendous blessings; and that, though we seem to lose Eden, we are destined at the end of the journey for a place even better—the Holy City.

So what did I find in the scripture from Joshua? Well, let’s take a look.

Joshua assembles all the people before God at Shechem. Shechem, says Swedenborg, symbolizes ancient wisdom. He calls it our “first real inner light.” Gathering at Shechem then, is describing a time when we remember or re-collect our early, innocent trust in God. The children of Israel have come a long way by this point. They have travelled through the wilderness and entered Canaan. They have fought many battles, and are now settled in the land with a system of cities and laws, divided into tribes by region. Joshua is coming to the end of his life, and is preparing the people for life without him.

So he brings them before the Lord in a place that reminds them of all the Lord has done for them so far. He reminds them of their history—of what life was like before they began their journey following the Lord. When he says, “beyond the river and in Egypt” this is a metaphor for the time before we begin our spiritual work. Egypt means head-knowledge; it means living an external or relatively shallow life. It also symbolizes times when we think our thinking will be our salvation. Egypt is “beyond the River” because we have not yet started the true spiritual journey. God may be in our head, but is not yet in our heart. Having God in our head can be a foundation for a spiritual life, but it becomes slavery until and unless we allow God to move into our hearts.

Keeping God in our heads is the idolatry that Joshua is warning against. Keeping God in our heads can be sacrificing ourselves on the altar of duty; it can mean hiding behind our careers and our family obligations to avoid the work of excavating our souls. Are we living a role because it is safe? Are we following someone else’s formula for what being a good grown-up looks like, while slowly dying inside? That is idol worship. That is not following a living God. That is the slavery of Egypt. But God offers us the chance to come out of Egypt, from the land of slavery, any time we are ready.

To do so, we need to be willing to make some changes. It can be scary to leave Egypt. In Egypt we have structure, we know our place. Leaving Egypt requires a plunge into the wilderness, where every day we must trust God to take care of us.

We leave Egypt every time we choose to live in our hearts and not just our heads. When Joshua dies, the Children of Israel are facing a whole new journey—life without their fearless, triumphant leader. It is time for them to grow up a little more and step into a greater level of spiritual maturity. That is why Joshua calls them to assemble at Shechem. He is preparing them. “Remember,” he says, “the God that brought you out of Egypt?” He reminds them of all that God has done for them so far, leading them every step of the way. Then he says “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

Why is this story important? Haven’t they already chosen to follow God again and again? This story is here, because a big part of the spiritual journey requires a constant recommitment to the work. Our human nature, which loves safety and security, will face a repeated impulse to run back to known territory, even if “known territory” involves “slavery.”

We all long to live passionately and follow God’s call and find our inner purpose, don’t we? And yet we all long to be safe and stable and secure; and often those two things look mutually exclusive, like duty and dreams.

But stepping into the self that we were made to be, or choosing to “serve the Lord,” will become the deepest security we could ever know, if we are willing to make the journey. It is a different kind of security that trades the external trappings of security for deep spiritual peace. When we choose to pursue and excavate the self that God created us to be, we are choosing to live on a spiritual foundation, not a material one. And choosing that is choosing life.

The spiritual journey is not for the faint of heart. Yet is also invites far greater magic and joy than you will ever know in Egypt.

Who here has seen the Harry Potter movies or read the books? Well, there comes a moment of crisis in one story-line where Harry has a life-or-death task. To be sure he succeeds, he drinks a magic potion that brings incredible good fortune to the one who drinks it. After he swallows it he marches off in the opposite direction from where everyone—viewers, readers, and characters in the story itself—thinks he should go. But he throws off the protesting hands of his friends and follows the deep inner knowing of what he needs to do, following a path that makes no sense, but which ultimately brings him to exactly what he needed to save the day.

All I can say is, that when one steps into the flow of God’s providence, and truly listens to the inner promptings of one’s heart, life begins to feel and act like this. You will drink in God’s promise of abundant life, and find yourself sometimes making choices that make no sense and do not fit anything your head thinks. Yet somehow, the actions taken under this gut-level guidance can bring answers to prayers that were unanswerable. I will attest to this without reservation.

Raise your hand if you have had experiences like this.  One of my best friends bought a house under such circumstances.  It made no sense in so many ways, and yet something in her gut told her—and so many odd signs pointed to—that move being exactly what her family needed to take the next step in their lives. Many years later that move has proved to be a great blessing.  Living in that house has made many things in their life easier and has supported them through some very tough circumstances in ways they could never have anticipated.

She reports that it was terrifying to trust that gut feeling, and yet something told her she had to trust it.  And it brought good outcomes in ways she never could have envisioned.  I believe that this is a manifestation of a spiritual law or dynamic: when we follow that deep inner knowing from God and trust it, no matter how crazy the choice may look on paper, we do indeed find increasing magic and good outcomes in our lives.

First we must align ourselves with God, then we must undertake some spiritual discipline that invites our spiritual growth, and then we open ourselves up to the still small voice. When we can do these things, we will keep a balance between the health of our souls and the responsibilities of our outer life.

And that is when magic happens.  When you can do these things, the person you were created to be will begin to emerge bringing increased joy and happiness and fulfillment.

I will close with this quote from John O’Donahue:

“If someone else could fulfill your destiny, they would be in your place, and you would not be here. It is in the depths of your life that you will discover the invisible necessity that has brought you here. When you begin to decipher this, your gift and giftedness come alive. Your heart quickens and the urgency of living rekindles your creativity.” (Anam Cara, p 84)

Amen.

The Readings

Joshua 24: 1-2a, 14-18 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

Revelation 21:1-4 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with humanity, and God will live among them, and they shall be God’s people. God will be within and among them and be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Heaven and Hell 402. All the delights of heaven are brought together and are present in one’s purpose or form of service, because service, springing from one’s created purpose, is the natural result (good outcome) of the very love and goodwill in which angels dwell. Everyone feels delight according to his or her purpose and according to his or her dedication to that purpose.

Heaven Come Near - a sermon

“The Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near”

Rev Alison Longstaff, October 19, 2014

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Isaiah 9: 1-4; Matthew 4: 12-17; HS 3195 [2]

  

This sermon is in anticipation of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, both of which are drawing near.   In this sermon I play around with the gender of God.  Use the gender you prefer in your own mind.  Here we go:

“The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” 

These were the final words of our Gospel reading today: “The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”  

What feelings does that phrase evoke in you?   

“The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

When I truly sit still with this statement, it evokes a sort of trembling awe.  It is as if my spirit becomes quite still, and my eyes and ears open wide.  There is a kind of inner excitement and anticipation.

But that reaction isn't true every time I see this sentence from scripture.  Sometimes it brings up quite another response.  After all, the full phrase is: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” And on days when I feel like a failure, and when I doubt my worth and lovability, my response might rather be to pull the blankets up over my head and whimper, “Kingdom of Heaven, please go away.” I feel too overwhelmed by my own flaws, and tend think that the “Kingdom of Heaven” drawing near would just make me feel extra unworthy in contrast.

But I’m talking to Swedenborgians, and Swedenborgians in particular are very good at remembering that God is a God of Love and Mercy, not judgment.  Right?  Right? 

          

Well, whatever we feel, I bet we could all agree that God probably doesn't want us cringing and cowering away from His outreaching love.  S/he does NOT want us, when we think of the Divine, to expect a beating.  After all, what loving parent would ever want their child to respond to their approach by cringing away in fear?  When God draws near, God always lifts us up in love.  It is we who judge so harshly, and then we project it onto God.             

So, having said this, why would God say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”? It sounds rather shaming.

I do know that when God draws very near to us, we can get a sense of the overwhelming Divine Love for us all.  And anyone who has felt this great love—this transformative, redemptive, passionate delight in us—cannot help but be changed.  Experience just one close encounter with the Divine Love, and one changes, which is another way of saying one “repents.”  Being changed by God’s love is just as genuine a repentance as any shame-filled, hand-wringing litany of all the ways we've messed up. In fact, self-shaming without any redeeming compassion or sense of God’s love and forgiveness is an incomplete repentance. 

After all, “repent” means “re-think” or even “re-frame.” Repentance means seeing things in a whole new way.  Repentance doesn't have to involve feeling bad or beating ourselves up at all.

 

Yes. Repentance means seeing things in a whole new way.  Why else would Scripture say, “The people who walked in darkness, have seen a great light?”  We see things in a whole new light when God’s great Love enters our life.  That is the effect of God drawing near: new love; new sight.

Who are the people that walk in darkness?  All of us. All of us. You and me and Joe the mechanic down the road....  In fact, most of us most of the time “walk in darkness.”  But eventually there are times in each of our lives, each differently, when the kingdom of heaven draws near, and we feel touched, we feel changed, and things look suddenly much different. Upon each of us, the light does shine. God is near each of us, all the time, and sometimes we can feel this.

Let's each take some time to reflect on if and when such encounters with the divine might have happened in our lives.  Sometimes these experiences are quite profound and sometimes so very gentle that they might be described as a whisper into our consciousness, or a “still, small voice.”  What, if anything, has happened to you in your lifetime, that you felt, or maybe thought you sensed something quite extraordinary and sacred move just beyond the veil of the ordinary?

Just sit with that a moment.

I had such an experience in my hospital training when I witnessed a “Code Blue”.  I stood with the other chaplain just outside a gentleman’s room while the emergency team worked urgently to keep this man’s spirit in his body.  Instead of fear or sadness, I was filled with a sense of overwhelming beauty.  The absolute focus and silent respect of the medical team and the prolonged endurance of their fight to bring this gentleman’s spirit back affected me deeply.  It was rather like an honour guard standing in respect at the passing of a great leader. 

And all the while I had an indescribable sense that the man was somewhere up above, watching the whole show, not the least bit upset, hand in hand with his partner who had been waiting for him.  Call me fanciful.  I don’t know what is true about any of what I sensed that day.  But as I passed through that experience, I got goose bumps. Something, that I choose to call “heaven,” was near. 

It turned out that the gentleman did indeed pass on. The medical team called the time of death. Then it was time for the pastoral team to move in to support of the grieving family.  It was terribly sad, and yet the witness of their grief and the team’s expertise and compassion was terribly ... beautiful.

Celtic spirituality uses the term, “thin places” to describe physical locations where they believe that the veil between the spiritual realm and the physical world are particularly thin.  Pilgrims seek these places out in Scotland, Ireland, and England in search of a spiritual encounter, a new direction, or a new sense of self or mission.  Sedona in Arizona is also considered such a place. 

But I don’t know if we need to go anywhere to seek out the thinning veil, though there is nothing wrong with doing so.  In my experience, it finds us.  Did I sense a thinning of the veil when that man passed through?  I don’t know. I think so. I do believe the thinning veil happens all the time, though we generally don’t have ears to hear or eyes to see it.  Maybe there are places on the earth where it is easier to sense things on the other side. But most people I know have had some experience where they sensed a divine presence, or felt there was something deeper and sacred overlaying a quite ordinary experience, regardless of where they were on the planet.  And I believe this sort of experience is heaven drawing near, no less and no more.  I also believe that God guides even whether we are open or not open to such encounters, so we are not doing something wrong if we don’t have such experiences often.  I don’t think we need to stress about any of it, but just simply to sit in stillness and awe if it happens to us.

In our culture, we tend to dismiss such happenings.  We tend to doubt our own inner experiences, even the most profound.  Why is that?  Well, one reason might be that such spiritual events, such divine encounters leave no evidence, they leave nothing scientifically measurable as proof of their passing.  They leave only a mark on our hearts—not on our physical heart muscle—but on our spiritual heart, on our love. We can’t measure such experiences or record them or photograph them or get a certificate of authenticity for them. Anyone not open to the mystical tends to ignore such things.

Also, when God draws that close, and touches our hearts, it can be so intimate, that we may not want to share it.  We may scarcely dare to acknowledge it to ourselves, let alone anyone else.  We know just how ready the world is to mock stories of such experiences, and scourge them and crucify them. So it is understandable that we tend to keep such experiences quietly to ourselves.

With that said, let me reassure you that nobody needs to raise their hands—just answer quietly inside yourself—in what ways have you ever sensed the kingdom of heaven drawing near?  Perhaps you think you never have, and maybe that is true.  If it is, that is nothing to stress about either. We are all made differently, and God designed each one of us, perfectly formed for the task S/He has in mind for us.  Some of us are particularly sensitive that way, some less so.

I consider myself rather dense to spiritual reality.  Of the few experiences I have had, all but one could be written off as a fanciful imagination.  God protects even my freedom to believe in them or not.  But I do know, that whatever these experiences are—that so many of us have and are afraid even to admit to ourselves—they leave us changed.  We’re never quite the same afterwards.  We may have felt goose bumps, or a racing heart, or felt slightly shaky during the encounter. We may have seen things or heard things a little out of the ordinary.  If it is positive, it is heaven drawing near.

Think about it: if God loves us so much that He was willing to die for us; if God says She is always knocking and all we have to do is open our hearts; then maybe, just maybe, the kingdom of heaven is nearer than we ever imagined, and maybe that little thrill you felt as you watched the candles being lit, or that new baby sleep, or the way the light fell across the fields when you drove in here, wasn't just a nice feeling, but God’s hand, brushing the hair out of your eyes.  Maybe, just maybe, God is very close indeed, just waiting for the day we open your eyes and look Him or Her full in the face and smile.

The kingdom of heaven is drawing nearer all the time and we do not need to be afraid of it.  All we need to do is allow it to be so, and trust that God has our future for good in mind.  Repent?  Of course we repent!  If you are like me, I’m always thinking and rethinking whether I’m good enough or doing the right thing.  I can’t help it.  God might just wish I worried less about whether I’m good enough, not more.  But in any case, I do know our spiritual well-being is always in God’s sight, and we can see it in our glimpses of the light of God’s love for us, and the warm feelings that stir whenever heaven draws near.  And heaven is always nearer than you might think.

And so, as we leave this place of worship today and head out into our lives, let’s see if we can be a little more attentive to the whispers of God’s presence in our lives.  Let’s see if we can notice the brush of His robes, the whir of angels wings, and the warmth of Her steadying hand in our lives over the coming weeks, and be comforted, for the kingdom of heaven is indeed drawing near. Amen.

The Readings

Isaiah 9: 1-4

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.  For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.

Matthew 4: 12-17

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.  Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Heavenly Secrets 3195 [2] 

In the Word frequent mention is made of “light.”  The inner meaning of “light” is right-thinking from a good heart. On the deepest level of the Word “light” means the Lord Himself, because S/He is goodness itself and truth itself.  There actually is light in heaven, yet it is infinitely brighter than the light on earth.  Spirits and angels see one another and all the beauty of heaven by this heavenly light. The light of heaven seems to be just like the light on earth; but it is not like it, for it is spiritual in nature.  It is made out of wisdom; so that it is actually wisdom which illuminates the eyes of the angels.  The wiser the angels are, the brighter is the light in which they are.  This light shines within the understanding of mortals, especially within the minds of mortals who are actively pursuing a heavenly life. 

"Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant" - a sermon

 “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, Oct. 12^th, 2014

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Psalm 19: 7-14; Matt 25:14-30

You are watching a movie.  The hero is a teenage boy, pretty cool, fairly respected, fairly together.  And he comes upon a scene where a younger kid is getting beaten up by some gang members.  The gang has the kid down on the ground and are kicking him.  Our hero looks around but there’s nobody to call for help.  He realizes that if anybody is going to help this kid, it’s got to be him. 

He hesitates.  He knows about this gang.  They have put more than one kid in the hospital.  He knows that if he steps up to defend this one, he will become their next target.  And he’s on his way to a sports practice, and has a big test the next day, and a date to the prom on the weekend.  He doesn't have time to get beat up.  He teeters on the edge of decision.

I’ll warn you, this isn't a Disney movie.  There won’t be some magical solution, and there might not even be a happy ending.  This movie is like real life.  Our hero, who we really like, could end up badly hurt—internal injuries, stab wounds—he could even die.

 

And, as this is a fairly modern movie, I’ll let you choose the ending.

Ending one:  the boy risks his life, his plans, his prom—everything—and steps up, drawing the attention and wrath of the bullies toward him so the younger kid can escape.  And he gets seriously thrashed.  He is punched and kneed, and once he’s down, he’s kicked repeatedly in the face and head.  Yes, the younger kid manages to get away.  But our hero—our hero wakes up a few days later in the hospital in major pain.  He’s missed the big test, he’s missed the sports practice, and he’s going to be missing the prom.  In fact, he’s going to miss the next eighteen months at least, as he’s got a crushed kneecap, a bruised kidney, a cracked vertebrae in his neck with some spinal damage, some missing teeth, a broken nose and a possible brain injury.  He can’t eat real food for a while as his jaw is wired shut.

 

But he is alive.  And he’s a hero.  We see him being tearfully thanked by the boy’s parents.  The gang leaders are finally rounded up and will not harm anyone again for a long time. 

 

And . . . his sports team wins the regional trophy without him, he misses graduating with his class, and his prom date attends with another guy.    Our hero is lucky that the brain damage was minimal, but he’s looking at several years of rehab before life is back to normal.  The boy who escaped has cracked ribs and a bloody nose, but is alive and doing well.  We leave our hero in the hospital bed, bandaged and in pain, looking out the window.

Ending two:  The “hero” walks away, pretending he didn't see.  He gets to a phone (this is before cell phones) and he calls the police to report the incident anonymously.  Then he heads off to his sports practice.  The next day he goes to school and takes his test.  When he gets out, the halls are abuzz with the news:  a boy from the sixth grade died that morning.  He’d been beaten so badly that the doctors weren't able to save him.

 

Our “hero” goes on to win the regional trophy with his team, takes his girl to the prom, and graduates with his class.

But he will be haunted forever by the face of the boy who died, and will feel uneasy for the rest of his life about his choice.

What would you choose in his place?  I don't know what I would choose.

But I do know that one of the best bits of advice I ever heard was, “When you have a decision to make, ask yourself, ‘When I’m on my death-bed looking back, which choice will make me feel the best’?”

Now honestly, I've never had to make a choice like this.  Generally our choices are on a more mundane scale.  I may look back from my death bed and think, “I am so glad I spent the money and visited my friend in Holland, even though I was a bit short for several months after that.  The memories are so worth it!”  Or, “I am glad I chose to let the house-cleaning go this week and chose instead to visit that lonely woman.”   These are not life and death, physically, but they do affect the quality of our lives spiritually.

And that is why I suspect that if our hero had stopped to ask himself which choice he would feel proud of on his death-bed, he would have chosen the first ending.  He would choose to step in front of the bullies to save the younger boy—because by doing so, he gains his own soul; because by doing so, he can look himself in the mirror, and feel no shame or doubt.  His body might become fractured and damaged, but his spirit will have grown in integrity and wisdom.

And that is the deep, underlying message of our parable.

Yes, it is about “talents.”  It is about God giving us gifts that we are to use in service to others.  But it is bigger than that.  It is deeper and richer and much more broadly applicable.

It is about choosing love over fear.  It is about choosing courage over comfort.  It is about choosing spiritual health over spiritual hiding.  It is about taking a risk in aid of another.  This parable is asking us to stretch our awareness and stretch our compassion to cover more ground, no matter where we are on the spiritual journey.  This is the “use it or lose it,” parable.  When we don’t use the life and opportunities and strengths that God gives us, we lose them, just the same way muscle atrophies if it is not exercised.

On the face of it, this isn't a very nice parable.  It seems as though Jesus is saying that it is right if the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.  It even seems to be promoting money-lending with high interest rates. 

But, like a lot of the rest of God’s Word, this is actually an incredibly compacted bundle of wisdom.  And like a lot of the rest of God’s Word it contains a metaphor for the way spiritual life works.

It is saying, if we show up in life and do our best, we will be spiritually enriched.  If we withdraw and hide and make excuses because we are afraid, we are going to “lose our soul,” which means we will lose self-respect.  We will also lose some courage and some strength.  It will be a bit harder to choose well next time.

This parable also tells us that it is fear that stops us from living the life we have been given.  What does the third servant say?  “I knew you were a hard man so I was afraid.  I went and hid my talent.”

He blames God for his cowardice (“I knew you were a hard man”), but then comes the real truth.  “I was afraid.”

It is scary to do the work of spiritual growth.  It takes courage to look into our dark places and admit to the times we have buried our talent—the times and ways we have chosen inactivity in the face of need, because we feared for our own discomfort.  It is rarely (ever?) life-or-death.  We fear making mistakes in front of people, or getting our feelings hurt, or not knowing what to say. But those things don’t kill us.  They are just uncomfortable.  In fact, it can be a little ridiculous how much energy we can put into avoiding something emotionally uncomfortable, as if it really would kill us, rather than be, well, emotionally uncomfortable.  It is rather silly when you think about it.

But also, this parable is not saying that God will punish us when we don’t step fully into using our gifts.  Instead, it is describing a spiritual law—a kind of cause-and-effect.  The law is this: if we do the spiritual work to which we are called, we will enter into joy—actual, vibrant joy and peace.  Life becomes WAY more fun.  (It is a myth that angels don’t have fun.  They experience pure, unmitigated joy.  Belly laughs.  Utter delight!) “Come and enter into your master's joy!”

But if we don’t—if we hide, or look away, and let fear of some unknown, possibly uncomfortable outcome run our lives and choices—we will experience a diminished life.  We will have less of a sense of personal integrity or self-respect.  We will have lost the opportunity to see how good it can feel to serve, and the confidence that comes with it.  We will be behaving “faithlessly” which means we will be acting as if we don’t trust God to bring a good spiritual outcome.   Choosing fear, avoidance, and hiding will result in a more limited, less vibrant, and far less enriched quality of life.  It is a choice for smallness and for “can’t”.  It is not a choice for trusting God. 

In the parable, when God commands that the “faithless servant” be cast into outer darkness, this is a description of the spiritual cause-and-effect we invite when we choose fear.

The truth is, a lot of the time we are already in outer darkness.  We are born fearful and ignorant. It is not our fault.  We start out primarily unconscious of our feelings and motivations; we are primarily reactive rather than mindful, outraged rather than humble, judging rather than compassionate, wounded rather than forgiving. 

Our fault is not that we start out this way, but it is a problem if we choose remaining in ignorance when we could be doing the work of understanding. Our fault lies in being content passing judgment rather than extending the forgiveness we would wish to receive.  Our fault lies in not stepping out in courage to extend forgiveness and go the extra mile.  We even blame God, and hide behind the excuse that God might judge us for not being perfect, and somehow that justifies not trying at all.

“And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (Harsh!)

But let’s be honest.  Life in community, yes, especially in church community sometimes includes weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The work itself is hard, but the work isn't the problem.  It is the interpersonal resentments, miscommunications, and misunderstandings that make it hard.

We seriously mean well, we want to get along, we want our church to succeed, but there we are, weeping; or gnashing our teeth over the one who is weeping; or gnashing our teeth over the one who made him or her weep….  This is life in community.  But when the conflict is going on, it can sometimes feel like outer darkness.

On the other hand, the working together, the job well done, the relationship building, the inside jokes, and the consequent deep affection for each other brings deep contentment and satisfaction.  When we get past the disagreements and disappointments and look at what has been accomplished, there can come a glowing sense of integrity and pride.

When we take the gold we are given (love), and put it to service in the world, it grows and expands. When we hide it, it becomes nothing.  That is what today's parable is saying.  And so, in our lives, our families, our church, and our community, let us take risks for love.  

We all want joy, don’t we?  So let us forgive radically. Let us own our own foibles, and make amends when we can.  We who want joy in our lives will step out of our comfort zones to serve and show kindness.  We will make choices that we will be proud of later.  And we will have as much fun as we can loving each other along the way.

Then we will hear as we each look back over our lives:

 Well done, good and faithful servant!  Come and enter into your master's joy!'

Amen

Originally preached March 29^th, 2009, Fryeburg New Church, Maine

  

The Readings:

Heavenly Secrets 543. Certain spirits wished to understand heavenly joy. And so they were allowed to feel their own deepest joy, even to the point where they could not even bear it.  And this joy didn't even approach angelic joy. It barely resembled the slightest of angelic joys. They were allowed to perceive this through the communication of their joy. Their own joy was so meager that it seemed quite tepid, yet they called it most heavenly since it was the deepest joy they knew. From this it became clear not only that there are degrees of joy but also that the deepest level of one degree comes scarcely anywhere near the moderate or even the shallowest level of the next. It was also clear that when we experience our deepest joy, this for us is heavenly joy. Nor can we tolerate anything deeper in that moment, as it would be so marvelous as to be painful.

Psalm 19: 7-14 (NIV)

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Matt 25:14-30

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.  But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”