An Update

Hey Folks!

Its been awhile since I've written you to give you an update on the book, church life, and everything that makes us tick out here in the Sower's Chapel.

First the Church - We've been continuing our work on the Ten Commandments using a campaign based on the book "Rise Above It" by Ray and Star Silverman (www.riseaboveit.org). This campaign material has been updated on our church website (www.sowerschapel.org). We continue to see a rise in attendance, participation, and energy for true Chrsitian living in the congregation. Stay tuned to this and our other websites for updates.

Next, the book. We are also developing a Podcast of our local sermons and "Be of Good Cheer" book content to be rolled out later this year. For updates, please visit: www.sowerschapel.com. We are truly blessed by the work our Lord, Jesus Christ is doing to grow His church from the inside out in the North Pittsburgh area. Come out and visit us this fall - its a wonderful time of year in God's country of Western Pennsylvania. (Of course, I'm biased). I have sent out many a postcard recently to local book distributors letting them know of the existence of Be of Good Cheer, and gathering interest in local stores hosting signings. The thing is: we've gotten some real response to this effort. So, check back soon on this website to see a listing of possible local appearances.

And as for this moment - we just finished our first outdoor family service covering what the Commandment to "Honor Father and Mother" means for our spiritual lives. (Check out www.sowerschapel.org to hear an audio posting of the sermon later this week. Have iPod, will travel.) Anyway, during this sermon I was reminded of a talk I gave on a similar subject, outlining what it meant for Moses to remove his sandals at the burning bush because he was on holy ground. This made me think you might enjoy seeing a further application of that sometimes confusing text to how we prioritize our daily decisions - putting God and heaven's life first.

Check it out - and may God bless you this day, every day, and for the rest of your life.

Your Friend,
Pastor Ethan

Take the Shoe From Off Your Feet
A Sermon By: Rev. Ethan D. McCardell


Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." (Exodus 3:3-5)

Often, when God commanded prophets and sages in visions, or in drawing special attention to the holiness of His presence, He would demand that shoes be removed. There are examples that immediately come to mind. In this story is the most famous example, where Moses is commanded by Jehovah God to remove his shoes because he was on holy ground. Then the commander of the Army of Jehovah told Joshua to take his shoes off because “the place on which you stand is holy”. And finally, one of the most powerful images of all, when John the Baptist spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ: “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” (John 1:27)
The sandal itself seems like a pretty important image in Scripture, doesn’t it? But why? Why would almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of the world and all in it, be concerned with the removal of foot wear? In the time of Israel, people treated the sandal much like we might treat a car. A way to get from here to there, protecting yourself for the journey. Something you took care of, so that it would take care of you. In fact, in the book of Ruth we’re told the cultural value of the sandal:
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel. (Ruth 4:7)

As with all things, however, its not historical or cultural value of the sandal that the Lord’s pointing us to in this story, its His investment in our personal spiritual growth and development. It’s a message for our spiritual lives which was emphasized by Moses removing his sandals before Jehovah God. See, sandals mean the basest natural tendencies we have – from the love of dominion, to character assassination, to the political pole positioning we succumb to at times for the sake of our own honor or reputation. The internal need to be “built up” is part of our message this morning. But the other part is what needs to be “broken down” in us in order to sense the Lord’s leading.
'The place which you are standing on' means the state in which he is up to this point; and ‘holy ground' means the holiness which goes forth from the Lord. Thus a state of the holy influence from the Lord's Divine Human is what these words are used to mean. This meaning - that otherwise the Divine cannot come in - follows from what is said immediately before, namely that if a person were not removed from the powers of the senses, which form the external levels of the natural, that is, if he were not raised from them to more internal levels, the Divine could not flow in. The reason why the Divine cannot flow in as long as the person's thought remains on the level of the senses is that influx from the Divine extends right through to things that are last in order, thus right through to the powers of the senses which form the external levels of a person's natural. If those levels consist solely of bodily and earthly interests the Divine influences coming in are reduced to nothing since they are incompatible with what is there. Consequently when a person is about to receive the Divine, that is, matters of faith and love, he is raised from the powers of the senses; and once he has been raised from them, the Divine no longer flows in there, into the external level of the senses, but into the more internal level to which the person has been raised. (AC 6845)

What do you suppose was the biggest challenge facing Moses when the Angel Of Jehovah (meaning the Lord’s Divine Humanity) called him to action? Was it his stammer? His lack of self confidence? His feeling overwhelmed at the immensity of the mission that was in front of him – to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt? Were there these kind of questions nagging at him? Almost definitely. But what God was saying to Moses was something deeper than all of this. “MOSES, I AM.” I Am Your Creator, Redeemer, Savior. I Am the Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself – available, accessible to your every need. But you have to remove your sandals from off your feet.
You think the challenges of being a parent are overwhelming? Recognize that the Ten Commandments are not just a list of rules and regulations – they are the map to the love of God (that’s what they mean in the internal sense). In order to help our children see that, we need to connect them to the reason for the rules – the love they come from. Show them they are, because I AM.
You think the environment at work is morally or ethically challenging? Connect the job you do to the love you have for being a useful human being, putting a product or a service out there into the world that helps to make it a better place. And you’ll start to notice the atmosphere you’re working in beginning to change. Show others they work for the One who Always Is. Not for temporary and selfish goals – that may fatten your paycheck but will shrink your heart. Quality always leads to quantity – spiritually.
Is your marriage facing real struggle? Are you praying together, asking the Lord to place words in your mouth that honor rather than degrade, trust rather than suspect, build up rather than tear at your spouse and their perspective. God ordained marriage. He says you are a marriage because I AM.
Is there contention in your dealings with a neighbor because of a different system of belief? Have you stopped and considered the two great unifiers in True Christian Religion: a belief in God and a life according to the Ten Commandments? Have you considered the love He has for all people dedicated to living a good life? The relationship between others and God is just that – between them and God. He tells us we don’t have the monopoly on Him – I AM is not a denomination.
Have you signed off or given up on relationships with coworkers, acquaintances, friends, or family members because they seem “past the point of no return?” Have you stepped back and looked at your own tendencies, speech, and behaviors with these people and taken the shoes from off your feet? Because 'the shoe' meant the lowest natural, shedding, that is, 'taking off the shoe' meant that the lowest things of nature were to be shed. (AC 1748:4) So we have to take off our shoes, that lowest part of us which seeks temporary glory, preeminence, and dominance instead of humility, repentance and service - in short to glory God above self. There’s a great passage in the Apocalypse Explained which shows us what happens when we remove the sandals of earthly life:
That the Lord is called "holy" because charity is from Him, and consequently that "holy" in the Word is predicated of charity and of faith from this. …There is spiritual faith, and there is faith merely natural. Spiritual faith is wholly from charity, and in its essence is charity. Charity, or love towards the neighbor, is to love truth, sincerity, and what is just, and to do them from willing them. For the neighbor in the spiritual sense is not every man, but it is that which is with man; if this be truth, sincerity, and what is just, and the man is loved on account of these, then the neighbor is loved. That this is what charity means, in the spiritual sense, anyone may know if he will but reflect. Everyone loves another, not for the sake of his person, but for the sake of what is with him; this is the ground of all friendship, all favor, and all honor. From this it follows, that to love men for the sake of what is true, sincere, and just in them is spiritual love; for what is true, sincere, and just are spiritual things, because they are out of heaven from the Lord. For no man thinks, wills, and does any good thing that is good in itself, but it is all from the Lord; and what is true, sincere, and just are good things that are good in themselves when they are from the Lord. (AE 204)

We cannot have true charity friends, in fact we cannot even have a rudimentary understanding of the truths of faith without self-examination and repentance – two actions that engage the love of God in rooting out the love of self. In order to have true faith, in fact – in order to even have an accurate perception of what the truth is: we have to begin by realizing that what the body tells us and what the world tells us are only a piece of the picture, a sliver of what the true reality is. They can be illusions that obscure a true picture of God from even entering our minds and hearts –so we have to take our sandals from off our feet – just like Moses did – to hear the voice of God calling us to new life.
What the Lord is trying to tell us in this story is strikingly simple: if we are to build a healthy work environment, home environment, or school environment, if we are to build healthy relationships, if we are to build the church inside of ourselves, and if the Sower’s Chapel will come to embody all that the church should be – in service to the Lord Jesus Christ and eachother. We have to start with us. We have to take the sandals from off our feet. We have to move away from pandering to personal agenda, societal mindset, or cultural trend. We have to set our mind on the Word of God, our heart on the life of heaven, and our bare feet firmly upon the holy ground of a relationship with the Lord God Jesus Christ. Then we will know God and love Him. We won’t have to hide our face from Him as Moses did. We’ll be facing Him in a new life – knowing who sent us.
And God said to Moses: “I Am that I Am. Tell the Children of Israel, I AM has sent you.” (Exodus 3:14)

AMEN.