The Non-Appropriation of Evil
A Sermon by the Rev. Geoffrey H. Howard
Lessons: Psalm 141:1-4; Matthew 15:10-20; Arcana Coelestia 6206
When [Jesus] had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and
understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a person; but what comes out of the
mouth, this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15: 10,11)
T
he Lord, in His parables and teachings, frequently used images familiar to
people living in this natural world to illustrate truths of a higher degree.
He used the symbolic language of correspondences to raise our minds and
help us think on a higher plane; to uplift us into the realm of spiritual thought.
Our text is a case in point. There He speaks of the mouth, comparing what
goes into it, and what proceeds out of it.
The Writings tell us that “the mouth corresponds to the thought, as do all
things that belong to the mouth, the lips, the tongue and the throat.” (Arcana
Coelestia 8910) All of these component organs are necessary in making human
speech possible. But what does our speech convey? Through our speech we
convey thoughts that flow into the mind and bring them to the ears of our
listeners.
Many thoughts come into our minds daily. But have we ever questioned
where those thoughts come from? In order to answer that question we first
need to begin from a fundamental revealed in the Word. That premise is the
truth that we have all been created by the Lord. We live from Him. He is the
giver and the sustainer of all life. Without the influx of His Divine life flowing
into our soul, into our mind, and into our body we could not live. Everything
of life flows in from Him.
But this creative and sustaining life from the Lord flows into us through
two distinct channels. One is directly into the soul and then into the cerebellum
of the brain. This, the Writings call “immediate influx.” It directs all the
involuntary functions that take place in the human body – the beating of the
heart, the respiration of the lungs. It vivifies every living cell in the human
body. None of these life-sustaining functions is dependent upon human
thought or control.
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