Blessed Are Those Who Mourn. A Sermon By The Rev. Kenneth J. Alden. 1. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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1 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn A Sermon By The Rev. Kenneth J. Alden 1. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) 2. The Lord to offered hope to those who mourn by saying they shall be comforted, but why did He also call them blessed? A. Why did He not tell those who mourn that they would be blessed when they are comforted? B. What blessing is there for those who mourn? 3. The Heavenly Doctrine does not explain the spiritual meaning of this verse. A. In the Gospel of Luke where we find what is called the sermon on the plain, we find a similar saying recorded: Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. (Luke 6:21) B. The Heavenly Doctrine, however, does not give the spiritual meaning of these words, either. 1 Nor does it explain the contrasting saying from the sermon on the plain: Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. (Luke 6: 25) C. Still, there are several places in the Word where mourning or weeping are mentioned that can help us reflect on the Lord s meaning, here. D. We will take up three such stories. 4. In our second lesson we read of a woman who was a sinner. A. She came to Jesus at a Pharisee s house when she knew He sat at table, and stood at His feet behind Him, weeping. (See Luke 7:36-50) B. It is evident from the story that the tears she shed were on account of her many sins, for Jesus told the Pharisee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. (Luke 7:47) C. Just as the fear of God is in its best sense a fear of doing anything to harm what belongs to the Lord, so the weeping this woman exhibits is a grief on account of harm that has come to what belongs to the Lord. (See Conjugial Love 371; Arcana Coelestia 4060:6, 4779, Apocalypse Explained 401:11) 1 In this, weeping and tears are a testimony to love for the Lord and what belongs to Him. (See Arcana Coelestia 2661, 2689:2, 5480; Apocalypse Explained 890:2)

2 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 2 2 A hypocrite might produce tears in order to feign love, but where love exists, and where that which is loved has been hurt, weeping flows naturally from it. 5. We see, here, two levels of the mind: the exterior level where the mourning occurs, and the interior level where the love exists. A. When the Lord calls those blessed who mourn, He is evidently implying that on an interior level a person has a genuine, heavenly love. 1 Clearly a hypocrite who mourns is not blessed. 2 Someone who loves riches and mourns for the loss of them is not blessed. 3 A criminal whose remorse for his crime goes no deeper than the fact that he has been caught and will spend the rest of his life in prison is not blessed. 4 But someone like this woman who has repented of her sins, who regrets the harm that she has done to others and to the Lord s goodness and truth, and who has determined that she will not repeat her sins, but live a new life, she has an interior love for what is good and true that is blessed and is the means by which blessing will come into her life. a. Her mourning, then, is but the outward sign of the inner love from the Lord by which she is blessed and will be blessed. b. The sorrow she feels over her sins will pass as the Lord gives her success in living a new life. c. She will be comforted as the Lord removes from the center of her life those loves and lusts which plagued her and led her into evil in the past. d. That is the miracle of repentance: that the Lord can reduce our passions for evil, gradually lessen it until we come to feel indifferent toward it, and eventually to hate, loathe and abhor it. e. It takes time for the Lord to exchange our love of something disorderly for a deep love of the opposite, orderly thing, but He can and does do it. 1) We need only repent, for in this way we cultivate our willingness to be forgiven and comforted in this way. 2) The comfort that follows repentance is expressed well in Psalm 30, where it says,

3 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 3 A) You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. (Psalm 30: See Arcana Coelestia 4779:5, 8339, 10416:2; Apocalypse Revealed 492:2) 6. In a second story which follows the Last Supper, Jesus spoke to His disciples about sorrow in a way that parallels what He said about those who mourn being comforted. A. He was preparing them for His departure from this world when He said, 1 Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. (John 16:20-22) B. Here again we see that sorrow testifies to love, for if His disciples had no love for Him, neither would they be sorrowful when He was taken from them. C. Remarkably, the Heavenly Doctrine gives no explanation of the spiritual sense of the verses we just read. 1 In The Book of Revelatation, however, we find mention of the pain suffered by the woman clothed with the sun in giving birth. a. The Heavenly Doctrine says the pain of giving birth means the difficulty there would be in receiving the Heavenly Doctrine, owing to the resistance of those in faith separated from charity. (See Apocalypse Revealed 535; Arcana Coelestia 4918; Doctrine of Faith 59) b. Remarkably, it is the woman clothed with the sun who feels the pain, but it is the dragon who wished to devour her child which represents those in faith alone, who caused the pain. c. In a similar way, Jesus said that when his disciples did not see Him they would weep and lament, but the world would rejoice. (See John 16:20) 1) Such would be the world s hatred for the Lord and all that is from Him. (See John 15:18)

4 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 4 2) They may not have felt the pain of their choice, but it was a cause of sorrow to the Lord as testified by His seeing Jerusalem and weeping over it, saying, A) If you had known, even you, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:42) B) Surely the non-reception of and antagonism toward that which is from the Lord would be a source of sorrow to the Lord s disciples who loved Him and what is from Him. C) That mourning over good and truth that have been destroyed by others would also testify to their love for the Lord and all that belongs to Him. D) When the Lord said, Blessed are those who mourn, surely He was including this kind of love which is and can be blessed. 2 The Lord compared the sorrow that the disciples would feel to that of a woman in labor feels. a. It is possibly the sadness a parent feels when they observe their growing or grown children showing only superficial or no interest in the spiritual values that are deeply inscribed on their own hearts. b. It may include the sorrow we feel when our attempts to share the wonderful truths of the Lord s Second Coming seem to find no resting place in the hearts of those with whom we share them. c. But as the woman clothed with the sun gave birth and her child was caught up to God, so fruit will come of our love, and will be protected by the Lord. 1) It may not happen in the way we expect, but the love we have from the Lord will give birth. 2) And then the Lord s promise is that as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (John 16:21) 3) Those who mourn will be comforted, and their joy no one will take from them. (See John 16:22) 7. If mourning, and weeping are signs of an interior love that is blessed, should we welcome grief, linger with it, or even hold onto it?

5 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 5 A. A notable account of such sorrow is found in our third story. B. Jacob s sons led him to believe that his beloved son, Joseph, had been killed by a wild animal. C. Having mourned in sackcloth for many days, All his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning. Thus his father wept for him. (Genesis 37:35) D. The Heavenly Doctrine explains that what is represented in this story is the mourning for good that has been destroyed or lost. (See Arcana Coelestia 4779, 4780) 1 The attempt of his sons and daughters to comfort him represents those in falsities and evils trying to offer explanations from the literal sense of the Word. (See Arcana Coelestia ) a. Explanations based on the literal sense of the Word that are used to confirm falsity and evil, however, cannot possibly comfort a love for good when that good has been destroyed. (See Arcana Coelestia 4784) b. These explanations come when a church is perishing. (See Arcana Coelestia 4785) c. The Lord, however, comes again and establishes a new church. d. In the prophecy of the New Church given in the Book of Revelation, we find these words of comfort concerning the New Jerusalem: 1) And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4) 2) Clearly, the Lord does not wish for us to remain in or to perpetuate a state of sorrow 3) For sorrow to be taken away, however, there must be a renewal akin to the establishment of a new church. E. Suppose, for example, we have lost a loved one. 1 The appearance is strong that good has been destroyed, for the uses that person performed in this world can no longer be fulfilled in the same way, and certainly not by them.

6 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 6 2 We may feel the strength of our love in the strength of our grief, so we may be loathe to let go of our sorrow for fear of letting go of our love. 3 But as long as our attention is focused on the outward signs of good and use that have been lost and the outward testimony to love that our tears give, we cannot be comforted. 4 If we allow our thoughts and hearts to be lifted by the truths about the Lord s love, His Divine providence, His heavenly kingdom, the uses that are performed there, and many other truths, we will be able to let go of our grief, put away our state of mourning and grow content with what has occurred under the Lord s government. a. Until we are reunited with our loved one after death, of course, there are bound to be times when sorrow returns, but that sorrow can be like the shadow of a passing cloud when Divine truths have lifted our thoughts. 5 As we grow warm toward those internal things that are not damaged by death or separation, we will be comforted by the internal and eternal things from the Lord that belong to the interior love He gives us. 8. We have looked at the state of mourning and sorrow by means of three stories from the Word. A. In each, we have seen that it is an interior love that the Lord blesses and will bless. B. That love shows itself by weeping when we have transgressed the Lord s commandments and are repenting of our sins. C. It shows itself by sorrow when the truths and goods that we love are not received, or worse, are rejected by those we long to help. D. That love shows itself by sadness whenever something or someone that has been of use is lost so that those uses cannot be carried on in this world in the same way. E. These loves for what is good, true and useful are what are blessed, not the state of mourning or weeping apart from these loves. F. If we are to be comforted, we need to allow ourselves to be lifted by the Lord from exterior things to interior, to draw closer to the Lord and the essential goods, truths, and uses that characterize His eternal kingdom. G. It is His will that there be no more sorrow, nor crying.

7 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 7 1 He wills to turn our mourning into dancing. 2 This He can do when our weeping stems from a love that He has given us a love which can be blessed and when we allow Him to increase in us that love for interior things. 3 This is His promise: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. a. Amen. Readings: Genesis 37:23-36; 30:22-24; Luke 7:36-50; AC Arcana Coelestia 'And lifted up her voice and wept' means a further degree of grief. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the voice and weeping' as the utmost extremity of grief, for weeping with a loud voice is nothing else. Described in this verse is a state of desolation of truth and of withdrawal from truths, as experienced by those who are becoming spiritual. What this state is like must be explained briefly: People who are not able to be reformed have no knowledge at all of what it is to grieve on account of being deprived of truths, for they imagine that no one can possibly become distressed for a reason such as that. The only circumstances, they believe, which can lead to such distress exist when someone is deprived of those good gifts to men that are of a bodily and worldly kind, such as health, position, reputation, wealth, and life. But those who are able to be reformed believe altogether differently. They are maintained by the Lord in the affection for good and in the thought of truth, and therefore come to be distressed when deprived of these. [2] It is well known that all distress and grief are the result of a person's being deprived of the things for which he has affection, that is, which he loves. Those whose affection is solely for bodily and worldly things, that is, who love solely these, grieve when deprived of them, whereas those whose affection is for spiritual goods and truths, and who love these, grieve when deprived of them. The life in any person is nothing else than affection or love. From this one may see the nature of the state of those who are desolated as regards the goods and truths for which they have affection, that is, which they love; that is to say, one may see that their state of grief, being more interior, is more severe, and that in being deprived of good and truth it is not death of the body which they are bothered about but eternal death. It is their state which is described here.

8 Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 8 Through The Week Recall the Story A sinner stood at Jesus s feet, weeping, washing His feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The host, a Pharisee, thought that if Jesus were a prophet, He would know that it was a sinner who was touching Him. In answer to which of two debtors would love the creditor who forgave their debts more, the Pharisee supposed the one who was forgiven more would love more. Jesus contrasted the sinner and the Pharisee s and said, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. Reflect on the Message The woman s weeping on account of the sins of which she was repenting, testifies to the great love she had for the Lord and the good and truth from Him. The sorrow Jesus disciples would have when He was no longer with them would show their love for the Lord and the things from Him which were received with difficulty by others. Jacob s grief and refusing to be comforted represented love mourning for good that was lost, and lack of comfort in explanations from the literal sense of the Word, falsified. The Lord wills for us to be lifted up to interior love from Him and be comforted. Take Action Think of a wrong you have done, and be comforted by repentance and living a new life. If non-reception of the truths and goods you love brings sorrow, be comforted by holding fast to that love and its uses, and patiently wait for the Lord to make it bear fruit. If comfort does not relieve grief for something or someone who has been lost, don t substitute grief for love, but allow the Lord to lift your love to interior, eternal uses that go forward. Thank the Lord for blessing interior loves.