Sunday Sermons

Hour of Power Preacher: Bobby Schuller

In a previous post, I wrote:

Beauty takes on a mature happiness, a joyful engagement in the world around us, a desire to live in it, to improve on it, to share it, and to exalt in it. It is what God gave us, after all, albeit having sent us out of paradise. Our earth is not a "lost paradise" but a distorted paradise, where we can see bits of the real thing around us... [T]his drives us to find those "real" moments, and interject them into our world.

A couple of days ago, I was watching a silly movie - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - where the Norah says:

There's this part of Judaism that I like. Tikkun Olam. It said that the world is broken into pieces and everyone has to find them and put them back together.

I think this fits into what I was trying to say about beauty: that we live in a broken world, but we still have glimpses of the glory and beauty of the paradise we all intuitively know, and, in many ways, it is our task to try to reform that world, and return it to its original beauty through our own talents and abilities.

Most of the online sources explaining Tikkun Olam see it in societal terms, and eventually take on socialist connotations. But this rabbi's (Rabbi Paul Steinberg) explanation seems closest to what I'm trying to say:

The term tikkun olam is a deeply important Jewish concept and yet also commonly misunderstood. Tikkun olam is not a mitzvah to fulfill, but a term that generally refers to the Jewish impulse and commitment to perfect the world in accordance with God’s will through our own behavior, attitude, and action. Many scholarly critics point out that the term has been done an injustice by being flattened to simply refer to positive social involvement...

Another early Rabbinic reference appears in the Aleinu prayer, which originated in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, but became a daily prayer around 1300 CE. In the second paragraph, it says: “We therefore place our hope in You, that we might see Your glorious power, sweeping the world of detestable things... l’takein olam b’malchut shaddai – often translated as, “perfecting the world by Your sovereignty.” Here we see by way of context and grammar that the repairing of the world is done by God rather than our own powers.

Here's another explanation at the website The Temple Isaiah:

The phrase "Tikkun Olam" literally means "world repair." It is commonly used to refer to the pursuit of social action and social justice. However, few realize that the phrase and the concept behind it originate in kabbalah, in the teachings of the 16th century mystic Isaac Luria.

According to Luria, in order to make room for the world to be created, God needed to contract. That contraction is called tzimtzum. Kabbalists consider tzimtzum to be a great act of love. Think about the times in your life you've "held back" to make room for someone else to grow. God then created special vessels to contain the Divine light God would use to create the world. However, God's light was so vast, many of the vessels shattered, scattering shards all over creation. While most of the light returned to its Divine source, some attached itself to the broken shards. Kabbalists believe that these shards are all that is bad in the world, these broken pieces in which sparks of light are trapped.

Our purpose, therefore, is to help gather the lost light. That is the entire purpose of the mitzvot, commandments. Whenever we perform a mitzvah, we separate what is holy from what is profane and release the light within. Every day we have an opportunity to collect shards and release their light. [More at Temple Isaiah]

Of course, it is God who gives us the "power" to sweep the world of detestable things, but we have to first recognize, and be repelled by, those detestable things before we can even start to act and consequently receive that power.

I watch on Sundays the televised sermons of a couple of preachers: Charles Stanely and the Bobby Shculler.

This week, Dr. Stanley briefly mentioned the various "gifts" of personalities we are given as individuals. He listed them as:
- Service
- Teaching
- Exhortation
- Giving
- Organization
- Mercy

He has full sermons on each of these, and he got the list from Romans 12:6-8:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I'm sure each of us can immediately recognize which he has received. Mine is Prophecy, and here is the succinct list to explain the prophetic soul that the "Teacher" Stanely (I'm sure his gift is teaching) provided:

A strong need to express himself verbally
A strong ability to discern the character and motives of other people
Wholehearted involvement in whatever he is doing
Very open to correction
Extremely loyal
Willingness to suffer for what is right
Persuasive in defining truth

The quest for "Reclaiming Beauty" is in a sense a phrophetic quest. In his detailed list of nine elements to define the prophetic soul, Dr. Stanley writes this for point #7:

7. Those with the gift of prophecy are persuasive in defining truth.

I hope that I am persuasive in defining the truth of beauty (and its nemesis, ugliness). I also like his eighth point, which describes the "problems" I face with this personality of mine:

8. What are some common misunderstandings about the gift of prophecy? Those with the gift of prophecy are often seen as being intolerant because of their strong sense of right and wrong. They are thought to be poor listeners because they are eager to proclaim the truth. Their frankness may be viewed as harshness, and their interest in the whole group may be misinterpreted as lack of interest in a particular individual. Because they find new methods of accomplishment, they are accused of using gimmicks. These believers focus on their personal decision, and others accuse them of neglecting spiritual growth. Finally, their public boldness and strict standards can hinder them from experiencing intimate personal relationships.

"Intimate personal relationships" of course also means friends. And I think that is true, boldness in truth-seeking doesn't set the stage for easy friendships.

Stanely continues that we use our gifts with the spirit of God. Walking with them alone corrupts them, and us.

In conjunction with this almost arrogant boldness that our spiritual natures give us, the Schuller sermon was about humility. Schuller says:

Living humbly, in the shadow of the cross of Christ...is a reflection of God's great love for you...God has called us into the easy yoke of Jesus, which means very simply we don't have to prove anything, and we can live humbly in this life...

The full sermon is available here.

Humbly performing our "gifts" is the most effective way to achieve the results we want.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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