I remember hearing Matthew Fox speak at the Episcopal Divinity School in the early 1990’s.  Fox had recently become an Episcopal priest after being expelled from the Dominican Order for his heretical views, such as “original blessing” over “original sin.”

He was expelled from the Dominicans by Cardinal Ratzinger who, in 2005, became Pope.  At that time, Fox traveled to Martin Luther’s church in Wittenberg, Germany, to post 95 modern theses on the door of the church, calling people to a “New Reformation.”

Some years ago, Fox met with the board of Swedenborg School of Religion to share his “creation spirituality,” and they discussed some similarities to Swedenborg’s teachings.

Last week’s sermon explored Swedenborg’s view of “The Lord.”  This week, we’ll look at Fox’s interfaith concept of “The Cosmic Christ,” and consider what they have in common.

So why are we moving from “the Lord” last week to “the Cosmic Christ” this week?

This is part of our plan for worship in 2012!

Convention Yearly Theme

This year [Aug. 2011 – Jul 2012], for the first time, Convention has put forth a theme for all of us to explore in worship and discussion between annual conventions.  That theme is “The Year of the Lord.”

We’ll explore some aspect of this theme each month.  Our focus for January is Finding God.

[See our worship page for the other monthly themes.]

Web Community Monthly Rotation

Those of us involved in worship on the web community, struggle with how to keep our worship in some kind of balance, integrating Swedenborg’s teachings with modern approaches to these concepts, and to our own experiences of the themes. We decided that each month, we’ll explore the topic in four ways.

·        Swedenborg’s  Wisdom

Last week, we looked at how Swedenborg used the term “the Lord,” and how, to him, it meant the one God of all traditions.

·        The World’s Wisdom

In our 2^nd week of the month we are going to explore the theme in the context of the world today.  This approach was especially inspirited by the article of Rev. Jim Lawrence’s article in the October 2011 Messenger:  “ Translating Swedenborg Forward.”

Lawrence explores the question of how relevant Swedenborg’s writings are to the world today.  He says  that he sees 3 different responses to that question in world-wide Swedenborgian ministries today.

Many ministries stick closely to careful renderings of Swedenborg’s teachings, often put forth within traditional doctrinal categories. Some ministries, especially in Convention, are straying from working with Swedenborg’s ideas and are not trying to engage them anymore. Some ministries seek to creatively engage Swedenborg’s spiritual teachings min dialog with the frameworks and questions that people are asking today. I call this third way translating Swedenborg forward and believe it is not only the most exciting way of being Swedenborgian today, but also the most promising for effective outreach.
 

So on the second Sunday of each month, we’ll be trying to “translate Swedenborg forward,” or finding Swedenborg’s ideas in the wisdom of the world.

Today, we’ll be looking at finding “The Lord” in modern context.

·        The World’s Wisdom on The Lord

Matthew Fox  was born in 1940 and became a member of the Dominican order. He received masters degrees in both philosophy and theology from the Aquinas Institute of Theology and later earned a Ph.D. in spirituality (graduating summa cum laude) from the Institut Catholique de Paris. After receiving his Ph.D., Fox began teaching at a series of Catholic universities,

He developed a movement called “Creation Spirituality” that came from places such as:

Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Dante Alighieri, Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa, as well as the wisdom traditions of Christian scriptures.

Creation Spirituality is also a strong advocate of ecological and environmental movements as well as interfaith movements that include Buddhism, Judaism, Sufism, and Native American teachings.

Fox advocated the concept of  the Cosmic Christ that represented the One God of all traditions.

For the New Reformation to take place the West must acknowledge what is now obvious for all to see: There are two Christianities in our midst. One worships a Punitive Father and teaches the doctrine of Original Sin. It is patriarchal in nature, links readily to fascist powers of control, and demonizes women, the earth, other species, science, and gays and lesbians. It builds on fear and supports empire building. The other Christianity recognizes the Original Blessing from which all being derives. It recognizes awe, rather than sin and guilt, as the starting point of true religion.

His book, A New Reformation:  Creation spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity,  includes his 95 theses, such as:     


                                                                                                                                                         

All of this can be seen as part of a “Cosmic Christ” far beyond the “Jesus” of Christianity, to represent all traditions.  Does this seem to you to be a modern perspective on Swedenborg’s “The Lord?”  Do you find that any of Fox’s other 95 theses resonate with Swedenborg?

 

Week Three:  love

So our first two weeks of the month will focus on wisdom:  Swedenborg’s wisdom, and the wisdom of the modern world.  The third week of the month will focus on “love,” and consider how you can experience the month’s theme for yourself.

 

Week Four:  Uses

In our monthly rotation, we will then look at how we can take the concept into everyday life in a way that is useful for others.
 

Week Five?  -- a surprise!!

THE REST OF JANUARY:

In the next two weeks we will consider “finding God” through the experiences of an historic individual:  William Wilberforce.  He was a slave trader, who found God through a dramatic encounter at sea.  After his conversion, he wrote the beloved hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

You are invited to explore the film, “Amazing Grace” this coming week, by:

·         Renting the film.  You can download it from Amazon.com

Visiting the movie's website

Learning about the life of William Wilberforce

 

·

Next week, some scenes from the movie will be included in the message, so you can see the most significant parts of the film right there.

 [Note:  for expanded sermon resources, click HERE.]

CLOSING SONG
"Bring Many Names"

Now extinguish your candle [s]

                    

 

Close your Bible


         

 

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Go in peace, being open to seeing the One God in all things.
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