new church life: march/april 2015
by threats of punishment if not obeyed, but a prayer. A prayer that our oneness
in Him might inspire the world to believe more deeply in His oneness with the
Divine.
It is a prayer for us, and through us for the whole world. The success of
our church’s mission depends upon the fulfillment of this prayer that the Lord
prayed for us. We, now, must turn to Him and pray for His help in finding
peace among ourselves if we are to serve as instruments of peace to the world.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” The truths which the Lord has revealed
in His Word are the greatest “peacemakers” of all. We and our church can be
peacemakers, and know the blessing of peace ourselves, only insofar as we are
ruled by the Prince of Peace; that is, freely consent to live by the truths He has
taught us.
The Lord’s truth comes to us from without as commandments to be
obeyed, and from within as a quiet prayer that touches our hearts and draws us
closer to Him and to one anothe r. Orders from without, some of which we may
perceive as “hard sayings,” when obeyed become the means for establishing a
new spiritual order of life within; the life and peace of heaven.
Then – when we are gathered together and made one in Him, and He is
there in the midst of us – the New Church on earth, as in heaven, will live up
to its name, the New Jerusalem, the “home of peace.” And the Lord’s Prayer,
and ours for His Church, will be answered.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
(WEO)
hard sayings: homosexuality and gay marriage
There was a memorable series of editorials in New Church Life in 1964 by
the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson on “Hard Sayings” in the Church. These are
teachings that are not always easy to accept and live by. They included: Dead
Churches; Marriage in the Church; Divorce; Slow Growth of the Church; The
Nature of Regeneration; and Earths in the Universe.
When Jesus was telling His disciples what they had to do to follow Him
and to lead people to His heavenly kingdom, He challenged them: “Verily, I
say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye
shall have no life in you.” (John 6: 53)
When the disciples heard this they grumbled among themselves and said:
“This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” (v. 60) Well, many could not. “From
this time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” (v.
66)
Such “hard sayings” can be a crossroads of faith: what are followers willing
or unwilling to accept of their church’s teachings? At times, as we have seen
120