The following readings were presented at our 2005 Annual Emergence Conference in Tempe, AZ:
Good Morning!
LET US OPEN OUR SERVICE WITH THE SINGING OF HYMN # 161
THE SCRIPTURAL SELECTION IS FROM JEREMIAH:
Jeremiah 29:11-14
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will
hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall
search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith
the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you
from all the nations, and from all the places…
LET US SING HYMN # 179 I shall read the 3rd verse:
Love now is dawning over every nation;
Showing true brotherhood, publishing salvation,
Love bids all discord cease.
Conquering hate, enthroning peace,
Love, Love alone is power.
I SHALL READ from the Manual of the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass. by Mary Baker Eddy:
p. 40) A RULE FOR MOTIVES AND ACTS
Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the
motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine
Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet
amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness,
charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should
daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying,
judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced
erroneously.
WE SHALL NOW READ SCRIPTURAL TEXTS AND CORRELATIVE PASSAGES TAKEN
FROM BOOKS BY STUDENTS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. THESE COMPRISE OUR SERMON.
THE SUBJECT OF TODAY'S LESSON IS LOVE .
Golden Text
I Thessalonians 5: 5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Responsive Reading
I Corinthians 13:1-8
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have
not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that
I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies,
they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
THE FOLLOWING CITATIONS COMPRISE OUR SERMON:
Section I
I SHALL READ FROM The Bible
(1) Daniel 8:1,15,16,17
In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared
unto me, even unto me Daniel. And it came to pass, when I had seen the
vision, and sought for the meaning, behold, there stood before me as
the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice which called and
said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he came near
where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face:
but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the
end shall be the vision.
(2) Daniel 9:21-23
Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, Gabriel, whom I had seen in
the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me
about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked
with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and
understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment
came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved:
therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
(3) Ezekiel 1:28
As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of
rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the
appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it,
I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
(4) I Corinthians 13: 9,10,12
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know
in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
(5) Isaiah 64:4
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor
perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
(6) Psalms 36: 7
How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
(7) Psalms 119: 18
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law!
(8) Psalms 9,10
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see
light. O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy
righteousness to the upright in heart.
I shall now read correlative passages from The Christian Science Revolution in Thought, by John Hargreaves, C.S.
… In "Pond and Purpose" Mrs. Eddy writes that Divine Science
gives mortals " new motives, new purposes, new affections, all pointing
upward. … It brings with it wonderful foresight, wisdom, and power;
it unselfs the mortal purpose, gives steadiness to resolve, and success
to endeavor."
"… our Leader's summary of this passage is 'This practical
Christian Science is the divine Mind, the incorporeal Truth and Love,
shining through the mists of materiality and melting away the shadows
called sin, disease, and death. '
p. 1) Science brings nothing into being, but exposes, or brings to
light, what already exists. … Understanding is the discernment of
what is already present. This is what the word "dis-covery" means:
taking off the covers, a lifting of the veil or curtain, a disclosure.
Mrs. Eddy writes, "Divine Science demonstrates Mind as dispelling a
false sense and giving the true sense of itself, God, and the
universe…." Light shines, dispelling darkness while remaining light.
Through many experiences that led her into the tunnel of
materiality, only to find no light in it, and through her recognition
that the cloud of mortal mind had, and could hace, no silver lining,
our Leader was being prepared to receive the bridegroom. In the darkest
hour, she writes, the "character of the Christ was illuminated by the
midnight torches of Spirit." The "One 'altogether lovely'" was
revealed, and Being was found to be beautiful, because "its substance,
cause, and currents were God and His idea."
p. 71)… In the order of Science, "the last shall be first…"
(Matt. 20: 16) Material history and gradations of thought are reversed.
This is the real overturning, or revolution, inaugurated by Science,
for, in its light, that which human sense presents as inverted is found
to be upright and untouched.
… The only reality is the spiritual; all else is the spiritual
fact seen through a glass, more or less darkly. Science does not remove
the fact, but only the dark glass. Thus is the underlying perfection of
being discovered.
In Science, everything is interpreted correctly.
Section II
The Bible
(9) Ruth 1:1,3-5,7-9,16,22
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there
was a famine in the land. And a certain man went to sojourn in the
country of Moab, (Elimelech) and his wife, and his two sons. Elimelech
Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took
them wives Orpah and Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And
Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of
her two sons and her husband. Wherefore she went forth out of the place
where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on
the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two
daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal
kindly with you, The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you.
Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And
Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following
after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest,
I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: So
Naomi returned, and Ruth, her daughter in law, with her, and they came
to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
(10) Ruth 2:1,8,11,12
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth,
and his name was Boaz. (who said) unto Ruth, It hath fully been shewed
me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of
thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and
the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest
not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come
to trust.
(11) Ruth 3: 10,11
Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more
kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, And now, my daughter,
fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city
of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
(12) Ruth 4:13-15,17
So Boaz took Ruth (as) his wife: and she bare a son. And the women
said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day
without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall
be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age:
for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee
than seven sons, hath born him. And the women her neighbours gave it a
name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name
Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
(13) Psalms 138:8
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
(14) Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?
Addresses and Other Writings on Christian Science
by Doris Henty, C.S.
published by Mulberry Press, copyright 1990
pg. 223) Incidental to every divine fact, wonderful harmony becomes evident as one's everyday experience.
pg. 231) Divine Love is at all times enjoying its own loveliness,
gentleness, tenderness,- enjoying the fearless certainty of good. This
is your loveliness.
pg. 139) The true substance of everything that Love could cherish
is forever safely included with the one I Am. Your very being is
included. Your entire universe is embraced within it. The allness of I
Am- Father, Mother, and child, noumenon and phenomena, Cause and
effect- is the infinite whole of pure joy, limitless freedom, perpetual
harmony. All of this divine state is your own perpetual experience.
This eternal All permits nothing but itself. It permits nothing but
good for you. It permits no lack, no pain, no sorrow, no discord of any
sort. Your inclusion within the one I Am guarantees your harmony, your
complete freedom from any mistaken sense of existence- freedom from
fear, pain, suffering, confusion and limitation. There can be nothing
in addition to divine Allness. There can be nothing contrary to Divine
Allness. This means that no mortal sense, no misconception, no discord
can exist. Thus all suggestions of pain, fear, sorrow, tension or lack
have no option but to dissolve into native nothingness. I quote from
"Unity of Good" [p.60]: "This false sense of substance must yield to
His eternal presence and so dissolve."
pg. 297) Love is practical, charitable, unquenchable. You are the
awareness and experience of Love's active benevolence, good will,
tenderness, kindliness, peace, joy and harmony. Your experience of
Love's bounty can never decrease or diminish. It is forever.
pg. 299) Now is the tenderness of Love, ineffable, incomparable,
everpresent; now, at this present moment, man is the experience of
boundless, inexhaustible, tireless Love — the feeling of its warmth,
its glow, its changeless certainty in which fear and anguish have no
place. The allness of tender, gentle, patient Love, which alone is
Life, is enthroned forever as your own being — is enthroned in its
fullness of beauty, efficiency, loveliness, blessedness, restfulness,
all forever fully sustained. Who could ever again identify himself as a
mortal trying to demonstrate a little more of Love? Infinite Love
itself, loving infinitely, constitutes the fulness of your being.
Section III
The Bible
(15) I Samuel 17:55,58
And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, Saul said
to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am
the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.
(16) I Samuel 18:1-3,14-16,28,29
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul,
that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan
loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let
him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made
a covenant, because he love him as his own soul. And David behaved
himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. Wherefore
when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of
him. But all Israel and Judah loved David …
And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, And Saul was yet
the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually.
(17) I Samuel 19:1,2,4,9,10
And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that
they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in
David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill
thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the
morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said
unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David;
because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have
been to thee-ward very good: And the evil spirit … was upon Saul, And
Saul sought to smite David
(18) I Samuel 20:1,9,17,23
And David fled …, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I
done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that
he seeketh my life? And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I
knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon
thee, then would not I tell it thee? And Jonathan caused David to swear
again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the
Lord be between thee and me for ever.
(19) I Samuel 24:1,3, 4, 6-9,11,15-18,20
And it came to pass, when Saul was returned it was told him, David
is in the wilderness of Engedi. And he came to the sheepcotes by the
way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David
and his men remained in the sides of the cave. And the men of David
said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, …, I
will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as
it shall seem good unto thee. And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid
that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to
stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the
Lord. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them
not to rise against Saul. (And) Saul rose up out of the cave, and went
on his way. David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and
cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind
him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
And David said to Saul, … I have not sinned against thee; yet
thou huntest my soul to take it. The Lord therefore be judge, and judge
between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of
thine hand.
And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these
words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And
Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more
righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have
rewarded thee evil And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast
dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into
thine hand, thou killedst me not. And now, behold, I know well that
thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be
established in thine hand.
(20) II Samuel 22:1-3,33,36
And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day
that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and
out of the hand of Saul: And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he
is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my
refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. God is my strength
and power: and he maketh my way perfect. … and thy gentleness hath
made me great.
(21) Acts 17: 28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being…
Selected Addresses of Clarence Steves, C.S.B.
published by Healing Unlimited, Seattle, WA 1999
pg. 244) Man lives in and as divine Love. Man moves in and as
divine Love. Man has being in and as divine Love. … Man is not
something outside, contemplating Love. We can acknowledge here and now
that man is the universe of Love.
pg 163) True prayer is seeing there are no persons to know or to be
known. No persons to act or react. We are not persons with persons.
There is only Love, Life, joy experiencing itself, so sweet, so gently.
Not persons trying to get along with persons. Not persons trying to
understand persons. Live your prayer. Just be the presence of God to
everything.
pg. 244-245) … the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, shows us that we never
have been part of a universe of time and personal sense, that only
infinite Mind is infinitely manifesting itself, is All. So we …
acknowledge that this universe of Love is body, is home, is government,
is church, is man, is All. Therefore, let us get used to being the
universe of Love — not something that wants to be loved, not something
that is trying to find something or someone to love — but that man is
the loveliness of Love! Our Leader saw that this synonym Love also embraces the intrinsic value of the quality Principle
within it. In this concept of the divine Principle, Love, we find the
Love that never faileth, the Love that is impersonal, the Love that is
universal. There is no personal sense to love or to be loved. If we
refuse to accept the world belief that we are persons, then we will not
be trying to love. God is Love, and man is the expression of God's
loving. Man does not love; man is God loving, God being, Man is the
embodiment of God, Principle, Love itself.
pg. 163) Prayer is shutting the door on the possibility of [a]
problem. Become so conscious of the oneness , the allness of divine
Love that the problem, the patient, the practitioner, all disappear,
and leave only the Love of God experiencing its own loveliness.
Section IV
The Bible
(21) Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
(22) Malachi 4:2
unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…
(23) Matthew 5:14-16
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot
be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but
on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
(24) Luke 10: 1, 2,9,17,21,24,25,27,29,37
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy, also…
Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the
labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
would send forth labourers into his harvest. And heal the sick that are
therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the
devils are subject unto us through thy name. In that hour Jesus
rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes:… For I tell you, that many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have
not heard them.
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he answering said,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy
neighbour as thyself. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto
Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And he said, He that shewed mercy…
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
(25) I Corinthians 13:13
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Science and Heatlh
I shall now read correlative passages from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy:
p. 225) Love is the liberator.
Watches, Prayers, and Arguments
compiled by Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr., C.S.B., reportedly
given to students by MARY BAKER EDDY, Discoverer and Founder of
Christian Science and Author of its Textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
p. 63) PRAYER FOR ONESELF
…I am the blessed legal child of God, spiritual, immortal,
all-harmonious, perfect, happy, healthy, pure, sinless, free, and
fearless and diseaseless, and deathless, expressing the substance of
all good.
Hold yourself constantly and consciously under God's eternal law of
blessing, of happiness, harmony, health, peace, joy, power, progress,
protection, abundance; there is no other law, — only a contrary mortal
mind lie which you are awake and alert to, and not under.
Miscellaneous Writings,
by Mary Baker Eddy
A poem by Thomas Moore quoted by Mrs. Eddy:
"When from the lips of Truth one mighty breath
Shall, like a whirlwind, scatter in its breeze
The whole dark pile of human mockeries;
Then shall the reign of Mind commence on earth,
And starting fresh, as from a second birth,
Man in the sunshine of the world's new spring,
Shall walk transparent like some holy thing."
And, from a letter to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Scranton:
… Ye are a chosen people, whose God is — what? Even All.
May mercy and truth go before you: may the lamp of your life
continually be full of oil, and you be wedded to the spiritual idea,
Christ; then will you heal, and teach, and preach, on the ascending
scale of everlasting Life and Love.
Affectionately yours in Christ,
Mary Baker Eddy
LET US SING HYMN # 66, I SHALL READ VERSE 2:
O perfect Life, in Thy completeness held,
None can beyond Thy omnipresence stray;
Safe in Thy Love, we live and sing alway
Alleluia! Alleluia!
I SHALL READ THE SCIENTIFIC STATEMENT OF BEING FROM OUR TEXTBOOK SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES,
BY MARY BAKER EDDY:
p. 468: 9) There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in
matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is
All-in-All. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is
the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God,
and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is
spiritual.
… AND THE CORRELATIVE SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO I JOHN 3: 1-3
1. BELOVED, WHAT MANNER OF LOVE THE FATER HATH BESTOWED UPON US,
THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED THE SONS OF GOD: THEREFORE THE WORLD KNOWETH
US NOT, BECAUSE IT KNEW HIM NOT.
2. BELOVED, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR
WHAT WE SHALL BE: BUT WE KNOW THAT, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE
LIKE HIM; FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS.
3. AND EVERY MAN THAT HATH THIS HOPE IN HIM PURIFIETH HIMSELF, EVEN AS HE IS PURE.
Benediction
Isaiah 66:12,13
For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall
ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her
knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye
shall be comforted. Amen