Pittsburgh New Church Rev. Amos Glenn

Blessed arehellip;

hellip;the poor in spirit
Humblemdash;ldquo;Do I acknowledge my need for the Lordrsquo;s help? Do I recognize Irsquo;m not better than other people?rdquo;
hellip;those who mourn
Repentantmdash;ldquo;Do I admit mistakes I have made? Am I willing to learn from my mistakes?ldquo;
hellip;the meek
Submissivemdash;ldquo;Am I willing to ask for help? Do I trust in the Lordrsquo;s help? ldquo;
...those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Virtuousmdash;ldquo;Do I try to behave in ways that are fair, just, and true? Am I seeking these things for the sake of good things in my life and the lives of others?rdquo;
hellip;the merciful
Compassionatemdash;ldquo;Am I willing to put myself in other peoplersquo;s shoes? Do I consider how I effect other people?
hellip;the pure in heart
Faithfulmdash;ldquo;Do I recognize the need to work on cleaning up my life? Am I willing to use the Lordrsquo;s truth to change for the sake of others?rdquo;
hellip;the peacemakers
Respectfulmdash;ldquo;Am I willing to listen and seek to understand people? Do I look for common ground with people who are different from me?rdquo;
hellip;those who are persecuted for righteousnessrsquo; sake
Courageousmdash;ldquo;Am I willing to make difficult changes? Am I patient with others when they are making difficult changes in their own lives?
I am indebted to Rev. Peter Buss (Glenview New Church) for assistance in developing these questions useful for self-examiniation.

In the stories of the Word, worship can seem almost magical. When the Israelites bow before Moses' bronze serpent, they are healed. Blind men who believe that the Lord can heal them are given their sight with a simple touch. We have a liturgy that defines every single piece of our worshipmdash;allowing us to simply read through the right words and actions.
Is that worship? The New Revelation teaches that true worship is living the life of religionmdash;charity and service. So why do our forms of worship seems so importantmdash;important enough for the Lord to dictate a prayer to us? External forms of worship are important, but not the essential part of worship. It is words and actions that people use to remind themselves of and support themselves in the life of religionmdash;true worship. Forms of worship can be different while the internal worship remains constant.

After the Children of Israel conquered Canaan, they and the Philistines were almost constantly at warmdash;alternately subjugating but never conquering. Because the Philistines correspond to evil spirits who know truths but to not apply them to life, we do read stories of people sojourning with the Philistines to represent the learning of truth. But there is always grave danger of succumbing to their separation of faith and life. Thus, the Lord did not lead the newly freed Israelites into Philistia even though it was the shortest route to Cannan but led them through the harsh wilderness. The spiritual Philistines attack when we begin to learn new truths. We get excited about them and want to learn more. It is tempting to spend our time learning instead of living. The wilderness represents a life without good or truth, but where spiritual struggles allow the Lord to give us truth that will bond with good in our lives, and thus ultimately lead successfully to the Promised Land.

The Rephaim are a nation of giants. Their height corresponds to how great they think of themselves. Their size and strength correspond to their power over the minds of others. Related to Nephilimmdash;the giants living before the representational ldquo;floodrdquo; who are now prevented from influencing anyonemdash;the Rephaim are dangerous evil spirits who have the ability to convince us that evil is good and falsity is truth. The result of this persuasion is the selfish desire to posses the authority and power of God, that is, to become a spiritual giant yourself.
When reduced to such confusion, however, we sort of revert back to the innocence of ignorancemdash;the state of childhood. In such a state, we are unable to do anything that is genuinely good, but we are able to do what is apparently goodmdash;represented by Chedorlaomer. We can behave like good children, being obedient to the literal teachings of the Lord in His Wordmdash;the appearances of truth. In this way, children practice being good adults and confused adults maintain their position on the path to heaven. When the child grows up or the angels drive the Rephaim away, the adult is able to understand what is genuinely good and begin moving forward on the path to heaven.

The evil spirits that correspond to the Assyrians are those who would use our rational minds to pervert the doctrines drawn from the Word into false ideas. Unlike the Moabite-like spirits, who attempt to lead into falsity from our experiences in the world through our senses, The Assyrian-like spirits attempt to look like pious and learned scholars of the Word, shunning worldly interests. But inwardly they are using the literal sense of the Lord's Word to justify falsity and evil.
Our defense lies with the internal sense of the Word. The king of Israel orders his soldiers not to answer the blaspheming words of Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Likewise, the Lord would have us not use our rational minds to justify or argue for or against the higher teachings of the Word. Instead, we are called to first listen to the voice of the Lord in His Word as it really is, and then to use our rational minds to confirm those teachings from the literal sense of the Word.