How to “Get Real!”- A Lesson Sermon Met on the Subject: “Reality”
by Gary Duke, C.S. September 22-28, 2003
Golden Text (Filled Up Full): Remember the book, “Filled Up Full?” It’s a Christian Science children’s classic, where the animals and children are so full of God’s goodness there’s no room for error. Psalm 33:5 states, “… the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,” which eliminates error for us big kids too!
Resp. Rdg. (Praise The Lord): When we sow the seed of praise for our many blessings, how many seeds are returned? Just like wheat, plant one seed and we get hundreds back. The law of sowing and reaping works equally with the tares of criticism and despair where we also reap manyfold. What do you want to harvest, wheat or tares? “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps. 107:8)
Section 1 (Beginning? No!): Does universal truth have a beginning or end? No. Mrs. Eddy defines man as God’s highest ideas. Can we as ideas, ever have a beginning or end? No. We’ve always been and always will be, as Jesus stated and proved with his resurrection and ascension. “Genesis i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only, – that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe.” (S&H 502:22-27)
Section 2 (Foggy Errors): We’re in the thick of the baseball season so it’s easy to picture a thick fog or mist settling down over the ball park. Think about how many errors would be committed by the fielders with their limited visibility! Every day we have the opportunity to field the “fly balls” of sin, the “ground balls” of sickness and “line drives” of death in some form. With poor visibility, caused by foggy thinking that there’s a power opposed to God, the triad opponent may reach base, advance and eventually score, sending us to temporary defeat. As we recognize and praise the radiance of God’s allness, the fog melts, we see clearly, start fielding cleanly and throwing out the opponent before reaching base. “Befogged in error (the error of believing that matter can be intelligent for good or evil), we can catch clear glimpses of God only as the mists disperse, or as they melt into such thinness that we perceive the divine image in some word or deed which indicates the true idea, – the supremacy and reality of good, the nothingness and unreality of evil.” (S&H 205:15)
Section 3 (Perfection): To whom or what are we looking to make our day or way perfect? Is it a person (friend, spouse, teacher, boss), place (location, status), thing (healing, sports event, top grade, job or sum of money)? “God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way perfect.” (II Samuel 22:33) The symbols of authority in our life will be placed into proper perspective as we look to the divine for our identity. Then we’re operating from the standpoint of God-given perfection, instead of as a flawed original trying to claw our way to grace and wholeness. “The great truth in the Science of being, that the real man was, is, and ever shall be perfect, is incontrovertible; for if man is the image, reflection, of God, he is neither inverted nor subverted, but upright and Godlike.” (S&H 200:16)
Section 4 (Eternity): Recently a great deal of media coverage has been given to the human heart, as it’s failure was cited as the cause of death of a famous, middle-aged actor. The world believes the heart is a material organ acting involuntarily, becoming clogged, weak, diseased and causing death. Metaphysical understanding “resolves things into thoughts” by realizing the world view of heart is mortal thought objectified, with fear being the obstruction, disease and killer. Metaphysics “exchanges the object of sense” (this limited view of heart) for the “ideas of Soul,” whereby Mind is acknowledged as the eternal creator and regulator of all ideas including heart. “Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul. These ideas are perfectly real and tangible to spiritual consciousness, and they have this advantage over the objects and thoughts of material sense, – they are good and eternal. The testimony of the material senses is neither absolute nor divine.” (S&H 269:14-22) “…there must be a change from the belief that the heart is matter and sustains life, to the understanding that God is our Life, that we exist in Mind, live thereby, and have being. This change of heart would deliver man from heart-disease, and advance Christianity a hundredfold.” (Mis. 50:22-27)
Section 5 (Jesus’ Healings): This section of the Bible begins with, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing…” (Acts 10:38) After recounting Jesus’ healing of the sick servant and raising the dead son, the section ends with, “…a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.” (Luke 7:16) The general world view is Jesus could perform these healings because he was the anointed one, but we can’t because we don’t have that “great prophet” status. Christian Science refutes that view with the promise, “We can, and ultimately shall, so rise as to avail ourselves in every direction of the supremacy of Truth over error, Life over death, and good over evil, and this growth will go on until we arrive at the fulness of God’s idea, and no more fear that we shall be sick and die.” (S&H 406:20-25)
Section 6 (Children): Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” According to one commentary, the word “blessed” means happy. And to be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of oneself; it is opposed to pride, vanity and ambition. (Barnes’ New Testament Commentary) Then Jesus goes on to say, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” and “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:8; 18:3) Doesn’t that sense of humility and purity define children who are in heavenly harmony even amongst the “hurricanes” of daily living? “Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, – this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.'” (S&H 323:32)
Section Summary Benediction: this week let’s get “real” by being filled up full with praise of the Lord knowing there is no beginning or end to the infinite. Let’s eliminate foggy errors with the authority of perfection recognizing the eternal nature of Jesus’ healings, which we too can demonstrate as children of God.
