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Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008

EASTER SUNDAY
March 23, 2008

WELCOME                                                                                                                                                                         Good morning!  Whoever you are; wherever you are-- whatever is happening in your life; IT IS A GREAT DAY!  It is Easter morning, and we celebrate rebirth! 

OPENING SONG:
Our opening song is Morning Has Broken.  Below is a UTube audio of Cat Stevens singing with UTube video of beautiful photos.  To start, press the "play" button in the center of the screen.  Be sure to adjust the audio button at the bottom of the screen and on your computer.  The words are beneath the song.

Music:  Morning has broken



 

 

Lyrics:  [Cat Stevens lyrics]
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day.---------------
http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/stevens/morning_has_broken/
 
READINGS
from the Bible
Matthew 28:  1-10  N.I.V.
The Resurrection
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

from Swedenborg
Suffering on the cross was the final trial the Lord underwent as the greatest prophet.It was a means of glorifying his human nature, that is, of uniting that to his Father's divine nature. It was not redemption TC 114:6


SONG: Amazing Grace  [double-click in the center of the screen below.]

Lyrics:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I  see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my Fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
We have already come;
'Twas grace hath brought us safe thus far,
And grace will lead us home.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now can see.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now can see.

Message:  Everyday Resurrections

Today we celebrate the joy of rebirth and resurrection. Swedenborg saw the spiritual life as filled with resurrections as part of daily living. I’ll share several true stories with you of people whose lives illustrate the meaning of resurrection in daily life for all of us. The first person is John Newton, author of the song Amazing Grace that we just heard. He was the captain of a slave ship for many years, until, in 1748, he underwent a dramatic religious conversion while trying to keep his ship afloat in a storm. Through a series of experiences, he came to feel deep shame for the work he had been doing; transporting slaves to England. He wanted to serve God, and in 1780 became an Anglican priest and rector. His congregation grew rapidly, and included a young man just elected as a Member of Parliament: William Wilberforce.

Wilberforce had been raised by a rich family, and he had greatly enjoyed the advantages of wealth. A school friend at Cambridge said of him: "When he [Wilberforce] returned late in the evening to his rooms, he would summon me to join him…. He was so winning and amusing that I often sat up half the night with him, much to the detriment of my attendance at lectures the next day.”

Yet Wilberforce had political ambitions and, with his connections, managed to win election to Parliament in 1780, when he was only 21. He later admitted, "The first years in Parliament I did nothing—nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object."

Over the next few years, Wilberforce was challenged in many ways by friends, books, life experiences. His old friend William Pitt became Prime Minister and wanted Wilberforce to work in parliament for abolition of the slave trade. The barriers he had to God began to evaporate, and he found himself in a new, intense relationship with the Divine. In the movie, we see this busy Member of Parliament literally smelling the flowers in his own garden, and plopping down on the wet grass. He prays: “Dear God, I know this is utterly absurd, but I feel I have to meet you in secret.”

He says to his servant, “I know that lying on wet grass is not normal.”
The servant responds: “None of my business.”
Wilberforce continues. “But I’ve been even more strange that usual. All I can think about is God.”
“Sounds like you found God, Sir?”
Wilberforce responds, “I think he found me. Do you have any idea how inconvenient that is? I have ten thousands engagements of state today, but I’d rather spend the day in wet grass studying dandelions.”

Wilberforce feels that he must devote his life to God, and can only think of becoming an Anglican priest or a monk in a monastery. He shares his dilemma with his friend William Pitt, who needs his help in Parliament to end the slave trade. Pitt says, “I need an answer from you. Will you use your voice to praise the Lord or change the world?” Wilberforce was afraid to live his life in politics, because of the temptations in that life, such as dinner parties filled with vain and useless conversation: "[They] disqualify me for every useful purpose in life, waste my time, impair my health, fill my mind with thoughts of resistance before and self-condemnation afterwards."

In the midst of his spiritual dilemma he decided to search out John Newton, his former rector; now 60 years old. Wilberforce told Newton that to serve God, he had to withdraw from the world.

“Why can’t you serve God within the world?” Newton asked. “Why do you think it is either-or? Can’t you serve God as a Member of Parliament working to abolish the slave trade?” This was a major transition for Wilberforce, who then dedicated his life to working for social change – esp. the abolition of slavery – as a Member of Parliament.

Newton and Wilberforce both had dramatic transformations in their lives through their encounters with the Divine. They both considered themselves to have had conversion experiences that led them to an acceptance of Christ as their savior. Many interpretations of Christianity would see such conversions as the Easter story in people’s lives. Because Jesus died for our sins, we can be saved from our sinfulness if we accept Jesus as our savior.

Swedenborg offers us a different interpretation of the Easter story, and we can see how his interpretation plays out in the lives of these two men. Each of them had a greatly transformed life. Newton went from being a slave ship captain to be being a priest who worked to end the slave trade. Wilberforce changed from a wealthy, self-absorbed young man to a passionate champion of social change.

But Swedenborg would not see that change as being a part of a redemption that Jesus offered on the cross. Swedenborg said that God came to the earth as Jesus to help affirm love and make angels more accessible to humans. Jesus was born fully human, with the inner Divine potential we all have. Every time he overcame temptation, his human was more fully transformed into the Divine. The 40 days in the desert, the pleas in the garden of Gethsemane, and then his crucifixion on the cross were all temptations to walk away from his Divine potential; to choose to live by his ego desires. When he said on the cross, “Father, why have you abandoned me?” he was facing his last temptation – to see this horrible pain as an abandonment by God. Then when he said, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit," he became fully glorified. He came into union with God. Thus was created what Swedenborg called the Divine Human: the complete union of divinity and humanity. The resurrection shows us that we all are on a path to union with the Divine. Each temptation we overcome helps us move closer.

It’s important to remember that Swedenborg’s Easter is not about the death of the human ego or about the salvation of the sinful soul. It’s about allowing our humanity to become transformed in the presence of the Divine. Wilberforce was not a different person after his conversion; nor was John Newton. But they brought the wholeness of their human potential into integration with Spirit. Many traditions talk about the death of the ego, and Swedenborg understood that to be a transformation rather than a death.

Both these lives demonstrate this. Wilberforce felt that once he found God, he would have to give up the dirty business of politics and strive for purity apart from the life of the world. Newton helped him understand that it wasn't either-or. It was both-and: bringing his transformed self into the rough and tumble world to transform it. Wilson Van Dusen explained the Swedenborgian perspective this way: "In a real sense self-discovery is always a part of the experience of God. You need to be changed to have the experience, and the experience will further change you. One simple way of describing this is that the experience of God sets a new center to our being.”

The Swedenborgian message of Easter is not just about people’s selfish lives being transformed. It is also about people leading loving lives who encounter great tragedy. This was the situation with Horatio Spafford, a man who was born in the States 5 years before Wilberforce died in England. Spafford was a deeply religious man who lived a life of great service; working against slavery in Chicago in the 1800’s. Yet he encountered great tragedy; he went from being a wealthy attorney to being destitute as all of his wealth was destroyed in a fire. He took solace in his loving family, but then he lost all four of his children in a tragic accident a few years later. He faced tragedy few of us have to endure. He had the choice to use his tragedy as an excuse to shut the door on God's light. Instead, he went deep within himself, to find the deepest places where his most authentic self resided with God. He brought a resurrected self into the world to do yet more service. He wrote a hymn after the death of his daughters that remains a deeply-moving song in the lives of many.

So we have 3 examples of the way the Divine is present in our lives, and helps us become more than we could alone. We’ve looked at John Newton, William Wilberforce, and Horatio Spafford. Each man shows us a life in which Spirit transformed the very center of their beings. There is actually a fourth example of how this happens. That is YOU! We are each examples of the story of human and divine coming into oneness, with many times of renewed awareness of our union. Let the Easter season be a time for you to see all the ways that Spirit renews and reshapes you everyday. And also consider all the ways that you renew all of creation through living the expression of you most authentic self. We truly are all part of the web of creation, and we each change that web every moment. The web, after all, is God. It is Divine Love and Wisdom, of which we all are apart. Let his Easter season be a time to celebrate our glorious union – with the Divine, with each other, and with all of nature.

Now we will hear the hymn that Spafford wrote in the midst of great tragedy: It is Well with My Soul.  Press the flashing button below.  It will take you to the "songs of praise" website, where you will see a list of songs.  Click on It is Well with My Soul, the 4th song on the left.  It will open a video window.  Double click on "click to play."


 Music:  It is Well with my Soul
 

Lyrics:

(First Verse)
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, You have taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
(Chorus)
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
(Last Verse)
And Lord, haste my day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall appear,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Chorus)
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

BENEDICTION:  May you be filled with the mystery of the oneness of creation.  May you recognize that all is well is well with your soul.  As you see spring time's renewed growth, may you be reminded of the deep growth inside of you,that brings us all into the universal web.
 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Website for the movie Amazing Grace
Community movie page with discussion on Amazing Grace
William Wilberforce
John Newton
Horatio Spafford

Downloads

Title Date
Everyday Resurrections
03/23/2008
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