Preparing For Advent in 2002
 Bible
Readings
Isaiah 24
Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste,
devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. And the
people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her
mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the
creditor like the debtor. The earth shall be completely laid waste and
completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word.
The earth mourns and withers, the
world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The
earth is also polluted by its inhabitants for they transgressed laws, violated
statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse devours the earth,
and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the
earth are burned, and few men are left.
The new wine mourns, the vine decays,
all the merry-hearted sigh. The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of
revelers stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases….. For thus it will be in the
midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the
gleanings when the grape harvest is over. They raise their voices, they shout
for joy. They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord.
Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, the name of the Lord, the God of
Israel in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear songs,
“Glory to the Righteous One,” But I say, “Woe to me! Woe to me! Alas for me!
The treacherous deal treacherously, and the treacherous deal very
treacherously.”….
So it will happen in that day, that
the Lord will punish the host of heaven, on high, and the kings of the earth
on earth. And they will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon,
and will be confined in prison; and after many days shall they be punished.
Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will
reign on mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and His glory will be before His
elders.
Matthew 24:29-31
But immediately after the tribulation
of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light,
and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be
shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven: and then
all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send
forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Revelation 12:1-12
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in
labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: and
behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his
heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of
heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who
was about to give birth, so that when she was about to give birth he might
devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule
all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to
His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place
prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels
waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war. And they
were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in
heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the
earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in
heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has
been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of
their testimony; and they did not love their life even to death. For this
reason rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.”
 Sermon
The 24th Chapter of Isaiah is the
beginning of what is referred to as, “The Isaiah Apocalypse”. It also includes
chapters 25, 26 and 27. These four chapters are basically unrelated to the
rest of the Isaiah text. They are a prophesy of the end of the world and the
beginning of a new world which includes “The Lord coming forth out of His
place.” Isaiah 26:21. It describes the state of the earth in many terms that
we can relate to today: “The earth mourns and withers…The earth is also
polluted by its inhabitants…Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are
burned, and few are left.” As we debate the validity of the Kyoto Accord, with
regard to global warming and become more conscience of the pollution that lies
under our feet and in our air, we can heed Isaiah’s words that, we have
polluted our earth and suffer because of it. The reduction of the ozone layer
threatens to heat up and scorch our earth. It is now unsafe to sunbathe
without skin protection. The incidence of skin cancer is ever increasing.
The reading from Matthew 24 also
records an apocalyptic prophesy. And the Book of Revelation Chapter 12
presents a further prophesy of change. So let us see what these three
prophesies tell us when they are considered as a connected series. Can we
learn something from them about preparing for advent this year? I know they are
presenting pictures of gloom and doom, but keep in mind that there is good
news of an optimistic future inherent in each of them, and that is what we
seek to unveil.
The prophesy of Isaiah was indeed
fulfilled when Jesus came into the world, but it did not include the cosmic
upheaval and destruction of the human race that Isaiah had described. What
Christ's presence here in this world did was to bring an end to a very
negative, world wide condition of religion, which can be considered as being,
“the church in the world” and to introduce a whole new religion that
reinstated the truths, teachings and values that had existed in it before it
was corrupted by mankind. Christ added a new dimension of spirituality that
was not previously present in the church. He added the element of active
neighborly love, or what is commonly known as charity, to the element of
obedience, that was so prevalent in the Hebrew religion laid out in the Old
Testament. He added the element of active faith to the element of knowledge
about the laws of God. The Lord God Jesus Christ also predicted that the
church in the world would, again, eventually corrupt the new religious
paradigm embodied in the early form of Christianity. It to would eventually
have to be brought to an end. Its principles would have to be renewed and a
New Church with increased knowledge of the Word and an advanced understanding
and practice of the elements of love and charity would have to be introduced.
After the affliction of those days the
sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and
then shall all the tribes of the earth wail (Matt. 24:29-30).
These things are said about the end of
the first age of the Christian church; "the sun shall be darkened," indicates
that there will be a waning of the love and charity ideals that Christ and His
Disciples and the early Christians taught and practiced. That, "The moon shall
not give her light," indicates that there will be little if any intelligence
and faith in the church; and that, "The stars shall fall from heaven"
indicates that there is no longer any real knowledge of good and truth left in
it. That, "all the tribes of the earth shall wail," signifies that there are
no longer any goods and truths being practiced or realized. The condition of
the church is therefore in a state of "affliction", very sick indeed, and in
great need of healing and renewal.
In the Book of Revelation we read
about the sign from heaven in which a woman is clothed with the sun, and has
the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown with twelve stars. This is an
image of the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesy. She represents a New Church in
the heavens, which is the New Heaven, and is the Lord’s New Church which is
about to become a reality in the world. Which is also called, “The New
Jerusalem.”
In the book Apocalypse Revealed,
Swedenborg writes:
“The Lord’s New Church is meant by
the ‘A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet’ as is
evident from the particulars in this chapter understood spiritually. ‘A
woman’, in other parts of the Word also signified the church because the
church is called the Bride and Wife of the Lord. She was seen ‘clothed with
the sun’ because the church is in love to the Lord, for it acknowledges Him
and keeps His commandments, and this is to love Him. The reason why ‘the
moon’ was seen under the woman’s feet is because the church on earth, which
was not yet conjoined with the church in the heavens is meant. By ‘the moon’
is signified intelligence in the natural man, and faith; and by being seen
‘under the feet’, is signified that it is about to be upon earth. It should
to be known that there is a church in the heavens as well as on earth, for
the Word is there also. There are temples to, and preaching in them, and
there are ministerial and priestly offices. For all angels there were once
human, and their departure out of the world was only a continuation of their
life. They are constantly perfected in love and wisdom, every one of them
according to the degree of the affection of truth and good, which they took
with them from the world. The church among them is meant here by ‘the woman
clothed with the sun, who had upon her head a crown of twelve stars’; but
because the church in the heavens cannot be maintained unless there is also
a church on earth which is in concordant love and wisdom. As this was about
to be realized, therefore, ‘the moon was seen under the feet of the woman,’
which here specifically signifies the faith, which, as it is today (1766),
has no conjunction. The reason why the church cannot subsist in the heavens
unless there is a church on earth in conjunction with it, is because heaven
where angels are, and the church where human’s are, act as one, like the
internal and the external with man; and the internal with man cannot subsist
in its state unless an external is conjoined with it; for an internal
without an external is like a house without a foundation, or like seed upon
the ground and not in the ground, thus like anything without a root; in a
word, like a cause without an effect in which it may exist. From these
things, it may be seen how absolutely necessary it is that there should be a
church somewhere in the world where the Word is read, and where the Lord is
known through the Word”. AR #533
It is a bit difficult to determine in
what ways the church on earth is has been conjoined with the church in heaven
in this year 2002, some 244 years since this process began. But we can assume
that some progress has been made in the area of an increase in neighborly love
and toleration among the various races, cultures and religions. It is likely
that it is also in the aspect of the development of our faith in the Lord. In
the New Church such conjunction does not come about by blind faith but by
faith developed through understanding and action. It takes time for us to
develop from believing in God just because we were told as children do so; and
then to believe in Him outwardly, because He actually came down to us in
person and died for us so that we can be saved; to a state where we believe in
him because inwardly we know He exists. This is a knowing born of experience
and rational thinking. When we have faith based on understanding we know that
everything we do is important. The way we do our jobs, the way we relate to
other people must be done with a sense of love and charity. This is what is
referred to as, “love of the neighbor”. When we involve ourselves knowingly in
love to the neighbor we open ourselves to receive more knowledge and
understanding about the nature of God and thus increase our faith with
understanding. It is this kind of charity or love that makes the connection
between the church in the world and the church in heaven.
In this year’s advent season let us
consider the importance of viewing the birth of the Lord into the world as the
influx of love from God coming into our lives. And let us think in the light
of new understanding that is now available to us. “For the Lord of hosts will
reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before the elders he will manifest
His glory.” Let us concentrate on using, for good, the love the Lord gives us,
and practice loving our neighbors more than ourselves. Let us trust the Lord
to provide the things we need in order to grow spiritually and become more
truly human in all of our relationships. Amen.
Have a very Joyous Christmas
Dave
 
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