Minister's Message
Dear Friends,
We celebrate the second Sunday of Advent this Sunday as we commit to opening our hearts again to Jesus. We remember him coming into the world and this Sunday remembers the miracle of his birth.
Why Don't We Experience Miracles Like the Ones We See in the Bible?
In continuing with my series of sermons that you’ve never heard preached on, I had a request to answer the question about miracles. This Sunday we celebrate the miracle of Jesus coming into the world. During his life, he did many miracles. After his death his disciples also did miracles. Today, we don't see the miracles like the ones Jesus and the disciples provided.
What happened? Why don’t we see miracles like the ones we read in the gospels? Are they still happening today?
I’ll try to address this topic Sunday as we try to understand miracles. Thanks, James, for the suggestion of this topic.
Addiction Sermon
I'm grateful for the deeply honest discussion on the topic of addiction last week. You'll see my sermon on that topic below.
Communion This Sunday
We will have a short communion service this Sunday, so if you can have a cracker or bread with you and also a glass of something, that will be great. It won’t be a problem if not.
Moment to Laugh
Following my sermon on prayer and resilience, many of you have been offering suggestions for ways that you find peace and get a laugh. This week I share Helen’s suggestion of watching the dancing cat. Another suggestion was watching these puppies be read a book. This clip and this clip of students reacting to their teacher dropping of a zoom call will give you a laugh as well. Send me funny videos you want to share.
Benevolence Fund
During this time when many are suffering financially, the church established an emergency fund for anyone in our community in need. The maximum, one-time gift is $500. There is no application. You just have to ask me. This will be done confidentially. Let me know if you’d like to make your own special donation to this fund. I’m happy to report that it is being used. If you need help, let me know.
Hope to see you Sunday!
Rich
What are Spiritual Tools to Battle Addiction?
November 29th, 2020 Sermon
Addiction in America is at an all-time high. We tend to think of addiction in terms of drugs or alcohol, but when we look closer addictions come in different ways.
Frustrated when your technology doesn’t work or can’t find an internet connection? Are you eating what you need each day or too much? Finding yourself online from the moment you wake up until bed? Working long hours and can’t stop? These could all be signs of compulsive cravings.
I would argue that in America today we are all addicts.
We are fighting cravings that get in the way of our living the life we know we should.
The good news of that message is it should reduce the stigma around addiction. When we recognize that we are all wrestling with addiction, it reduces shame. Shame has a way of hiding addiction and making it worse.
Very often people come to me with some addiction in their life that they think will shock me. I assure them that one of the advantages of having a gay minister is it takes a lot to shock me. They usually laugh when I say that, then share. To date, no one has ever shocked me. If you ever need to talk, don’t be afraid of stigma or judgment.
Addiction has been with us forever. In the gospel reading today a rich man tells Jesus how great he is and asks what else is left for him to do. Jesus tells him to give up his money. The rich man walks away sad because he loves money more than anything else.
Addiction to money and status still hold power in our culture today. We give respect to the wealthy and powerful and that attention is something many of us crave.
Today, we scratch our heads when we remember that over one hundred years ago Americans, led by women, launched an ambitious campaign to amend the Constitution to prohibit alcohol. What were they thinking? Was our nation in the grips of a fundamentalist period?
When we study it more closely we recognize that the women leading that campaign were often being beaten by drunk men using alcohol as they adjusting to the inhuman factory life of the industrial era. Historically, water quality was often so poor that people were encouraged to drink alcohol to avoid getting sick. Alcoholism was widespread and undiagnosed.
Alcohol and drugs in terms of addiction often have the greatest visible impact. I just watch Hillbilly Elegy last night which tells the JD Vance story of the hidden drug epidemic in middle America where people lost meaning and purpose as the industrial age fizzled.
Addiction is when some activity becomes your greatest love. You’ll do almost anything to get it and you’ll be incredibly angry and frustrated when you can’t. This love can be anything in our tradition we learn that we are what we love.
The greater our freedom, the greater our opportunity for these activities. In the same way, the adjustment from farming culture to factory work increased freedom and temptations to medicate the stress of the workplace, so too has the information age.
The ability to be tempted by anything we desire is at the push of a button on our phones. Our freedom has never been greater and our vulnerability to temptation has never been greater. When we pray the old phrase, lead us not into temptation we are asking for greater and greater protection.
Marketers know the biology of addiction. With every food option, the addiction to salt and sugar and food activates brain chemistry. Food processors now test to see which chemical they can add to a nacho for us to stick our hand in the bag for the third time.
Addiction in modern America is at the touch of a screen.
Another relatively new object of addiction is the use of online platforms. What do I check each morning when I get up and what do look at during the evening? Screens. And these wonderful screens give me access to incredible cravings. Want to buy something? Click a button and it is delivered. Want some fast food? It is at your door. Sex, the drive that has been the most powerful through history, can be accessed by any number of the 1000’s of phone apps with photos, distance, and desires.
Pornography has emerged as such an addiction among, particularly young men, that they are finding sex life in the real world just doesn’t compare. Also, online gaming platforms can pull in young men for days. And I don’t need to go to a casino for my gambling addiction.
The use of technology has married up to our desires for drugs, sex, shopping, status, and escape from the reality in ways we have not come to terms with. I am very worried about the rising generation because they have been raised in this addictive matrix on hyper speed and are the least likely to have any spiritual tools to fight back.
My friend Tristan Harris who was the ethicist at google just completed an amazing documentary you can see on Netflix called the Social Dilemma. He shows how social media companies have wired online apps in such a way as to produce to dopamine hits in the brain to keep us all hooked and coming back. I encourage you to watch the documentary where the leading tech leaders explain why they never let their kids use screens.
Our secular culture will look at this issue through the means of biology and manipulative marketing, but they are missing the most profound battle going on within addiction—the spiritual warfare. We are spiritual beings in a material body and until we understand the spiritual battles we won’t be able to address the deeper addiction.
Jesus says to the rich man to give it up he’s giving him the gift of self-awareness. You think you are great, but you can’t see your shadow side. We need others to tell us the truth about ourselves.
Swedenborg gives us the most complete spiritual 3-D view of addictions that he refers to as cravings. Looking through a spiritual lens he suggests that there are spiritual communities of evil spirits who thrive off of our addictive behavior. He describes spirits trying to impact what we drink, eat, and even wear. They favor cravings that are thrilling to start, but difficult to stop.
Addiction is the ultimate strategy for the dark forces trying to impact our lives. Freedom is our greatest spiritual gift. But when we get addicted our freedom is diminished. Our world view focuses on ourselves and that thing we crave. Our ability to love others, be there for others, and serve others is lost. We need to focus on ourselves and what we want. That’s the strategy of the dark forces.
During the COVID crisis, I’ve heard the rationalization that if I deserved chips, cookies, and ice cream because to comfort me. I ended up gaining over ten pounds. The more I indulge in bad behaviors that become habits, the less able I can serve others. I’ll need to focus only on myself.
Swedenborg describes dark forces whispering our ear to do one more thing to push us into addiction. We rationalize it, the way I did my eating. There are good reasons why we can do just this one more thing and one more thing won’t hurt us.
Then, as he describes it, slowly these voices of temptation ramp this up until they achieve their goal. When we no longer can choose what we do we’ve lost freedom. When we’ve lost freedom, we’ve lost our most profound spiritual gift. They can move on to the next victim.
What spiritual tools are there to break this cycle?
Swedenborg suggested a twelve-step process toward wisdom as we read in today’s text. This process is what he calls regeneration. He describes it often as a three-step, five-step or 12 step process.
Here’s my quick summary:
We become aware of the problem.
We acknowledge we can’t solve the problem alone.
We seek God’s help to change it.
We take actions with God’s help to change it.
We change behavior and we try to repeat it.
Bill Wilson who founded Alcoholics Anonymous the most successful recovery program in the world. I’d argue that it is also the most successful spiritual community in the world. As addiction becomes everyone's challenge, it might be the new church. It succeeds because it gets results. Those in recovery programs may just the honest ones who are self-aware enough or have crashed enough to say they have a problem. Those not in a program might be kidding us to imagine that addiction lies with them over there.
If we are all addicts, the only difference is between those working on recovery and those in denial.
Wilson worked toward his sobriety with his wife Lois Burnham and came to Swedenborg through his wife Lois who went on to create Al-Anon for families. Her grandfather N.C. was a Swedenborgian minister who was one of the twelve founders of the New Church Academy in PA with my great grandfather. Bill and Lois were married by her grandfather at the Brooklyn Swedenborgian Church. Lois often referred to her Swedenborgian background impacting her work with addiction.
This passage from Swedenborg likely influenced their naming their program 12 step, “ as a person climbs these steps, he perceives that no one is wise from himself but from the Lord…The twelve steps into the palace of wisdom signify love in union with faith and faith in union with love.” -Swedenborg
The twelves steps are a a beautiful summary of Swedenborg’s teaching on regeneration and strategy for when we need to fight our own addictions. I believe the founders of AA were smart not call these steps Swedenborgian so they could be more accepted by a wider audience.
Reviewing the 12 steps, we can see how it applies to spiritual growth for any addiction or challenge.
Lets’ review the twelve steps of AA through the lens of regeneration.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
The first step and often the most difficult is admitting we have a problem. The applies to any craving or sin beyond alcohol. In the life of an addict, this often means hitting the bottom, but in our lives, it doesn’t have to. We can pray for the Lord’s help to even be honest about what we need to change.
We must pray constantly for self-awareness. I noticed in my case when I recorded what I ate, I ate less.
In my coaching business, I often use a program developed by Marshall Goldsmith where the client commits to finding changing one behavior over a year. They are required to ask those around them how they are doing in changing that behavior and do they have any advice. Humility and self-awareness bring amazing results.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
This means we have to realize we are powerless without God’s help which is a hard pill to swallow in a culture that honors the concept of the self-made man who pulls himself up to his bootstraps. This may be the hardest in our secular culture.
3.Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
This represents Swedenborg’s teaching that all faith paths are good and has also opened AA to criticism form fundamentalists.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
This reinforces to me the self-awareness mentioned in number one. Awareness is like peeling away an onion as we begin to see ourselves honestly for the first time.
5. Admitted to God, to us, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Confession of our sins and seeking forgiveness is possible when we are self-aware. All of us have offended others and have been offended-only confession that we do every Sunday and on a daily basis breaks that cycle.
6. We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
We are faced with the question do we really want to change? I’m reminded of Jesus healing the man at the waters of the temple asking, “Do you want to be healed?” We must want this.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Humility comes when we understand ourselves at a deeper level. We see our faults and that makes us less judgmental a key sign of a spiritually developed person. The more I’ve become aware of my own shortcomings or sins, the less judgmental I can be of others. People often come to be shy about sharing some secret only to assured that there’s really nothing you can tell them that will surprise me. Great therapists normalize the clients issue.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
It is not enough to do this in your head, we must take concrete action to address our sins.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Similar to number 8. It’s not enough to say we’re sorry to God, we need to try to set thing right with those we’ve harmed including ourselves.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
This is the path of any spiritual person. Regeneration takes place in an ongoing matter. We come to church each week because we are working on ourselves in community. We are never done.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
We engage in ongoing prayer to fight temptations.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
This is another word for evangelism. One reason why the recovery community grows is people are transformed. When you’ve experienced something that has changed your life you want to share it with others.
Note that all of these happen better in the community than trying to do it alone.
These steps of regeneration are the ongoing process by which we grow spiritually. Some cravings and bad behaviors may be small. Some heavy addiction may be great. These steps work in both situations.
We are in an unprecedented time of temptation and access to things that don’t help us grow spiritually. Addictions knock us off our spiritual path.
Through the process of spiritual development, we can all chart out a spiritual path with others to become aware of and uproot our addictions. Only when we move beyond our addictions can we live the life of service to humanity that we were created for. Let’s make that our goal.
Amen
Sunday Service Order
Second Sunday of Advent
December 6, 2020
Light a Candle
Open the Word
Greetings and Check-In
Invocation
Gracious, God, as we enter into the Second Sunday of Advent, we remember the promise of a miracle that Jesus would come into the world. Open our hearts this Sunday to welcome the miracle of Jesus in our lives today. We ask that you make each of us an instrument of your grace. Weave us into a community showing forth your power and tenderness. Bless us and our differences and under gird our courage to stand together. We call on you today to gather us in your love. Lead us to better know you and glorify you on each step of the journey of our lives. Amen.
Confession
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Christ the Lord. Amen.
First Reading
For to Us a Child Is Born
Isaiah 9
2 [c] The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder,
and his name shall be called[e]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Gospel Lesson
John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Swedenborg Insights
The divine miracles which take place today are not manifest, but hidden. In the course of their occurrence there are many happenings which, because they do not appear as miracles, are ascribed to chance, to prudence, or to nature, except by those who acknowledge the divine providence in every single event. They are hidden, for the reason already stated, in order that those minds should not be influenced inopportunely, whose interiors the Lord is preparing for receiving good and truth; but that they should be in freedom, that is, that they should receive their faith from an interior affection. That is why the Lord said to Thomas: ‘Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe.’ (Miracles and Signs §18)
Offering
Please give generously to our ministry
(Be Careful to Remove the Tip Feature)
Communion Open to All
Invitation: All are welcome, to participate and to receive this communion, which has been given to us by the Lord!
We gather with prayerful hearts, remembering, that our prayers are not from the mouth, but from the heart, by the mouth, and all worship that is from the heart, is from our desire to good toward others
Let us all pray.
Most gracious Lord, we prepare to receive this sacrament remembering that You came into the world to be our savior. May we never forget that when You came, many rejected You. If we have done this in any way, we seek forgiveness. And having received it, help us to sense a renewal of Your presence within our lives.
May these elements remind us of our dependence upon You, for all good things. May we taste the bread in its wholeness, and know that You seek to make our lives complete. May we taste the cup in its sweetness, and feel Your love within our hearts.
We take part in this sacrament knowing that it is good for us to be here. We come thankful for this wonderful opportunity. For this and Your many Blessings toward us, We give You thanks!
Holy and merciful Lord, conscious of our need of You we come to this Your Holy table, that You may feed us with the bread of life. We come, not trusting in our own goodness, but in Your kindness and steadfast Love. In obedience to Your word we present ourselves to You, to keep in the way of Your own appointment the blessed memorial of our redemption.
Sanctify, O Lord, with Your Divine presence, and bless with Your heavenly grace, that which we are about to do; and, as of old You blessed the bread and the cup which You gave to Your disciples, bless now the bread to be broken and the cup to be given in Your name.
Grant that we may receive them in the Spirit of Love and Faith toward You and in peace one with another; that we may be truly fed at Your table with the spiritual food of Your divine body and blood. May this Holy Supper be to us the sign and seal that we are Your children. Open to us the mansions of Heaven, conjoining us with You forevermore! Amen.
Blessing of the Elements:
We Bless You oh Lord our God, for through Your goodness we have this bread to eat and this wine to drink, which You have given and which human hands have made, it shall become for us our Spiritual food. As You have given in Love, so shall we receive in gratitude. Amen
Summary of the Law:
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your Soul, and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment! And the second is like unto it, you shall Love your neighbor as yourself! On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets!”
Consecration:
On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them saying, TAKE AND EAT THIS, GIVEN FOR YOU IN LOVE, DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.
Sanctus
Holy Holy Holy Lord, God of Power and Might,
Heaven and Earth are full of Your Glory.
Hosanna in the Highest. Rev. 4:8
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the Highest. Mt 21:9
Bread
And so we come gracious Lord, remembering that You are the bread of life, the living bread that came down from heaven, the bread which You gave for the life of the whole world. In remembrance of this, we take into ourselves the nourishing bread of Your great Love for us. Amen.
Jesus said, Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.
Wine
And when the supper had ended, our Lord took a cup of Wine and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, DRINK THIS ALL OF YOU, THIS CUP WHICH IS GIVEN AND POURED OUT FOR YOU, FLOWS AS FREELY AS GOD’S FORGIVENESS, FOR YOU!
And so, gracious Lord, we come, remembering Your words, that You are the vine, and we are the branches. By remembrance of the sharing of this cup, we take into our selves the transformation of the wine, and receive the forgiveness, which endures through all eternity! Transform the substance of our consciousness into the Wine of Spiritual Joy, so that we may feast with You at the Heavenly banquet forever more! Amen
Jesus said, Whoever believes in me shall not thirst.
Closing Words:
As we prepare to leave this table, let us remember the Words of the Lord, when He said to us, “Abide in me and I in you, for apart from me, you cannot do Good!”
Let us pray.(unison)
We have been nourished at Your table oh Lord, and we give You thanks and bless Your Holy name, for the gifts of this communion, and for the gifts of Regeneration and Eternal life! Amen.
Benediction
Now may the peace that passes all understanding be with you all this day and forevermore.
AMEN
Question Time
This time is for those who would like to remain after the service to ask questions and hear the questions of others.
Guidelines:
Participate by asking questions only.
Be curious and open-minded in your participation to the views of others.
Keep your questions brief.
Listen deeply to the questions of others.
