Fear Not - sermon for June 14

Today we welcomed new members, celebrated communion, celebrated "New Church" day, and celebrated the end of the Sunday School year with a pageant.  It took a few minutes extra, but we managed it!

This comes to you with blessings and love.

“Fear Not”

Rev. Alison Longstaff, June 14, 2015

Bath Church of the New Jerusalem

Psalm 27:1-5; Revelation 1:12-19; Apocalypse Explained 431:6

Apocalypse Explained 431:6

“The New Jerusalem” does not mean a new earthly city called “Jerusalem,” nor does its “wall and gates” mean a physical wall and gates, nor do “the twelve tribes and apostles” mean the actual original twelve tribes and apostles. Something completely different is meant by each one of these things. “The New Jerusalem” means a new spirituality with a new understanding; “angels,” “tribes,” and “apostles” mean all the ways humanity will increase in benevolence and mutual understanding, and live from principles that are both deeply wise and deeply compassionate.

Today we will be welcoming two new people into this congregation—two terrific people who are choosing to walk beside us and with us here at Bath Church of the New Jerusalem. Robin and Rick are honoring us by making this commitment.

One reason so many people no longer attend any church is because they have been hurt or disappointed by a religious community in the past. To choose to try again when one has been hurt in the past takes courage, and I stand in honor of anyone who makes such a choice.

Robin and Rick, I cannot promise you that you will never feel hurt or disappointed at some point as you walk with us here. I can only pray that we as a community can walk with courage and compassion through the hurts together, so that we may keep healing and growing as a spiritual family.

To quote (the fictional) Father Timothy Cavanaugh (from At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon), “My friend, if you keep your eyes on Christians, you will be disappointed every day of your life. Your hope is to keep your eyes on Christ.”

We sometimes mistakenly expect perfection from each other just because we are a church. At such times I implore us all to remember that we are a community bounded by our need for God in our lives, not because in any way we have already arrived at some kind of special status.

It takes courage to break into a long-standing tradition such as this congregation represents.  And it takes courage on the part of those who have been running things for many years to step aside and allow new energies in, because new energies mean change.  So I commend all of us for not allowing fear to run the show.

           

Today we are also celebrating “June 19^th” or “The New Church’s birthday.”  We typically have a pageant featuring some story from the Book of Revelation, because Swedenborgians see the book of Revelation as a metaphor about the spiritual temptations that we go through on the way to heaven. A whole lot of people find the Book of Revelation scary. So today, I am going to talk about fear. I am especially going to talk about fear in relation to religion and God.

Looking in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, one important thing to notice is that every time an angel of the Lord shows up with a message for someone, the very, very first thing he or she says is . . .

“Fear Not.”

The first thing said is: “Fear Not.” Sometimes it is worded “Do Not be Afraid,” but the message is the same. “Fear Not.” The angel brings these opening words of comfort to Hagar, to Isaac, to Rachel, to Jacob, to the People of Israel, to Moses, to Joshua, to Gideon, to Daniel, to Joseph, to Mary, to Zacharias, to the women at the tomb, and last but not least, to John on the isle of Patmos. As well as these 14 direct words of comfort, the followers of the Lord frequently say it to each other; Moses, Joshua, and the prophets say it to the children of Israel; and Jesus speaks these words of reassurance to the disciples and to the man whose daughter was dying.

In the Word, the first thing said is pivotal. It sets the tone. It shapes the entire rest of the message. Maybe we should pay attention to this, “Fear not.”

Why would “Fear not” be the first thing God would communicate to us? After all, won’t we all become lazy, selfish lumps if we’re not afraid? If we get too relaxed about our salvation, isn’t it possible we might miss the boat? Didn’t God also say in Psalm 111, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”? ( vs.10).

Well, yes and no.

You see, the fear of the Lord, spoken of in the Psalms is not the anxious, grovelling uneasiness we often think of when we hear the word, “fear.” The “fear” in the Psalms isn’t fear at all in that sense of the word. The “fear of the Lord” spoken of in Psalm 111 is a deep respect and reverence for the Lord born of deep love. And that sort of “fear” we do indeed want.

When the Word says, “Fear not,” it is calling us to release any grovelling, cowering, “please don’t hit me!” kind of fear. The Lord is not the angry, judgmental God we “fear” He is. He doesn’t want us to be cowering and grovelling and afraid of the Divine. He says, “Fear Not!” And, coming from the Lord, these words say a thousand more things too.

God speaks to us the words, “Fear Not,” but knows that we will often still feel afraid anyway, or at least mildly uneasy. We can’t change our feelings on demand simply by force of will. We might change feelings over time by changing our perspective, but mostly, feelings just are. Therefore, maybe these words from the Lord are not a command, “Thou shalt not fear! (and if you do, I will judge you)” but a reminder. God is reminding us that, though we may still experience fear, we do well to remember that the omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent God of the whole universe has things well in hand, all the way down to the hairs of our head.

It is a reminder to hold before our eyes: “Fear Not,” because God is in charge!

“Fear Not” can also be a promise. When God says, “Fear Not,” He is giving us a promise that some day, if we persevere along the path of spiritual growth, we will stop being afraid. Eventually, when we reach the spiritual state described as the Holy City, we will never truly fear anything again. We will know all is well, and feel only immense love.

So then the words “Fear Not” are a reminder and a promise. And there’s more.

           

The dragon and the harlot of Babylon in Revelation symbolize two unhealthy ways of doing religion. We all tend toward one or the other by nature, and these show what they can do to our lives if we let them get out of hand. These two unhealthy ways are the “Ideas Alone” approach (dragon) and the “sheer self-determination, I’ll just try hard enough” approach (works).  It is no coincidence that the tower of Babel (Babylon) is a story about humans trying to climb up to heaven by their own power.

These two unbalanced approaches are actually two sides of the same coin found within each of us. Where you find one, the other is not far away. They don’t actually compete with each other, they mirror and balance each other in a dysfunctional sort of way. In fact, in Rev. 19, the harlot of Babylon is seen riding the dragon. But the answer is not to find a middle ground between them, we need a shift to a higher order of unity in ourselves. We don’t want a dragon and whore married inside us (arrogance and control)—we want a bridegroom and bride (wisdom and love.)

A recent poll discerned whether people in any given congregation believed salvation was due more to our personal effort (works-based) or due to believing the right stuff regardless of effort (belief-based). What they discovered was that in any given congregation, no matter what denomination, the people tended to fall along a 50/50 or 60/40 split in their view of salvation. This study did not ask people directly what they thought they believed about salvation.  Instead it asked people to judge and assign responsibility or merit given certain hypothetical scenarios—a much more accurate way to measure what they actually believed. 

It looks as though all of us have a tendency to lean one way or the other in our approach to religion no matter what our denomination may teach.  We worry a lot and can’t do enough and feel a lot of guilt OR we live in our heads and rationalize everything and hold an aloofness from the feeling and doing side (response-ability) of life. (They sound a bit like Virginia Satir's coping mechanisms.)

This also reminds me that just because Swedenborg said the “new church” will have a perfect balance (represented by the Holy City), people who like to call themselves “New Church” (lots of Swedenborgians identify this way) are mistaken to think they automatically have that internal marriage by virtue of joining the external club. Every one of us on this planet has the same path to walk, and the Lord doesn’t play favorites. No one is a Navy Seal by virtue of calling themselves “a Navy Seal.” And no one is “New Church” just because they might call themselves “New Church.” You have to let yourself be changed.  You have to wake up and “do the work” which involves learning and humility and honesty.  It involves letting God work in your spirit while letting go—which often feels like hard work and sometimes feels too easy.

Now, having said that we all lean toward one spiritual imbalance or another, should it worry us that we tend subconsciously to lean more towards “ideas will get me there” or towards “sheer determination will get me there”? Not at all. In fact, the process described in Revelation through all the scary imagery is the process of how this imbalance gets corrected for us (and how apocalyptic this process can sometimes look and feel). The things that die or are cast down in the story aren’t you and me or anyone we love, they are broken and dysfunctional parts of us. Those things will be cast down as we are ready to be lifted up.

The Lord can and does and always will do everything He can to help you and me and every one of us rise up from our divided internal state into the heavenly marriage. He knows how we are made! He formed each one of us in the womb. He doesn’t expect perfection today or even any time soon. He doesn’t judge us for being tiny, imperfect, stumbling newbies at this whole regeneration thing. In fact, in His eyes, we are precious beyond compare. And He knows just how to lead each one of us. We need to be open to Him.

The Book of Revelation is written the way it is, not as a warning, but as a reassuring description of what the final stages of personal regeneration can look like. Yes, this process can look and feel like the stars are falling and everything we rely on and trust in are in flaming ruins. But God says, “Fear Not.” Perhaps this is why the birth process for our race looks so messy, dramatic, and well, frightening to the uninitiated. If you ask a new father, he might talk of blood and screaming, and the woman in labor might talk of pain and even sometimes wanting to die. But if you ask a midwife, she will tell you that the birth of a child is the most beautiful thing on the whole earth.

So, which one is telling the truth about the birth of a new human being?

The Book of Revelation describes the last final push—the moment of transition from a previous, incomplete spiritual state to a whole new, triumphant reality. And just about anyone associated with the human birth process will tell you that the phase called “transition” is the hardest and most apparently “out of control” or “chaotic” phase there is. The Last Judgement in the Word is describing a final transition in our spiritual rebirth.

And any spiritual midwife worth his or her salt will tell you, “Fear Not,” no matter how melodramatic the process feels to us. The spiritual soul in labor might not feel so sure at that moment, but that’s okay. All of it, ALL OF IT, is okay. This is simply what the process looks like for us messy beings—cataclysmic, earth-shattering, and beautiful beyond our wildest dreams.

So, “Fear Not.”

After all, we were born to become angels, so what have we to fear? And if you think about it, fear is the actual opposite of love. It isn’t hatred, it is fear that closes us off from loving others. “Hate” is simply one face of fear—fear of pain, fear of lost love, fear of all things that have hurt us in the past. So “Fear Not” is another way of saying “remember love.”

“Fear not,” says God. “Trust me.” “Choose love,” says God. “I’ve got you.” “Fear Not.”

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)  Amen

Revised from a sermon originally preached November 4^th, 2007 Pretty Prairie Kansas

Readings:

Psalm 27: 1-5

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me, I will be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

Revelation 1:12-18

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.