Rev. Jared Buss
Pittsburgh New Church; June 1, 2025
Readings: Revelation 4 (children’s talk); Apocalypse Revealed §231
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Today’s sermon is about the idea that the teachings of the Word are like clear stones, or translucent stones. Most clear stones are considered precious or semi-precious—in other words, they’re generally held to be valuable. The teachings of the Word are valuable too, but that isn’t the main reason why they’re like precious stones. They’re like precious stones because of their translucence, or their ability to let light shine through them. There is a light within the teachings of the Word, and we don’t really understand the Word until we see that light. So today’s sermon is about two things: first, the idea that that light exists, and that we can find it in the text of the Word. Second, today’s sermon is about how we come to see that light.
The reading from Revelation spoke of One sitting on a throne who was like two different precious stones in appearance: jasper and sardius (4:3). Clearly this is a description of the Lord (cf. AR §230; AE §267). The Lord is said to resemble precious stone because precious stones symbolize the teachings of the Word, and the teachings of the Word are from the Lord and have the Lord in them (cf. John 1:1). Our next reading is from the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Church, from the book Apocalypse Revealed, and it explains the symbolism or the spiritual meaning of those jasper and sardius stones [read §231].
We already talked about the whiteness of jasper and the redness of sardius, and how those colors symbolizes spiritual light, which is wisdom, and heavenly fire, which is love. The Word is filled with love and wisdom from the Lord. He is the love and the wisdom that fill His Word. All of these ideas are held within that image of the One sitting on the throne.
By the way, if you have an interest in stones or minerology you might be thinking, “hang on, jasper is a red stone.” But that passage made it pretty clear that we’re supposed to visualize jasper as a white stone. The short explanation for that is that the names we use for minerals and the ways we differentiate one mineral from another have changed a lot over the millennia. In modern English “jasper” refers to a stone that is predominantly red, but the Latin word jaspis (and the Greek ἰασπις, iaspis), which is etymologically related to the English word jasper, apparently refers to a white stone. It’s confusing, but that’s language for you. In any case, the reading from Apocalypse Revealed makes it clear that we’re supposed to be visualizing a white stone and a red stone.
But the stones aren’t just red and white: they’re translucent. They’re precious stones. The reading said that stones [present river stone] represent truths. Specifically, they represent the “outmost expressions” of truth. They represent hard, cold facts—truth that’s “set in stone.” But precious stones, according to the read, [present quartz] symbolize “truth that is made translucent by the presence of good” (AR §231). When truth is joined to good it becomes clear—it obtains the ability to transmit light (cf. SH §9863; SS §44; AE §268; AR §915). Clear or precious stones also represent truths in the literal sense of the Word. The reading said that precious stones in heaven, “draw their origin from the outmost expressions of the Word, and they owe their translucence to the spiritual meaning of those outmost expressions” (AR §231). In other words, precious stones in heaven are pictures of the truths that are written in the Word—and precious stones on earth are likewise pictures of the character and the quality of the teachings that are written in the Word. Precious stones are translucent, and the teachings of the Word are translucent also, because there is a spiritual meaning within them—a spiritual light that is able to shine through them.
We’ll say more about that light in a moment. Today’s sermon is really about how we come to see that light. But for now I want to make the simple point that there are two different kinds of stones: stones that can transmit light, and stones that can’t. Likewise there are ideas, or truths, that are able to hold spiritual light, and ideas that are unable. And here’s a visualization: [shine light into both stones]. The thing about this stone [quartz] is that it always has the ability to transmit light. Whether there’s light shining into it or not, this stone is translucent. But there isn’t always light shining into it.
It’s important to understand that all of the truths in the letter of the Word—the things that are written in this book—are precious stones. Everything written in this book has a spiritual meaning. It holds light within it. We may or may not see that light. We may see it in some teachings or not in others. But all of these teachings are able to transmit spiritual light. They retain that capacity, no matter what we do with them or how poorly we understand them. Later in the book of Revelation there’s a description of a great red dragon with seven heads, and the dragon is said to have seven jewels on its heads (12:3). The dragon symbolizes a total falsification of basic truths about God and salvation, and the jewels symbolize the teachings of the Word (AR §540; cf. SS §44.4). The truths of the Word are still jewels, still precious, even when they appear on the heads of the dragon. They have the capacity to transmit spiritual light, no matter who holds them. But when we misunderstand them—and especially when we abuse them—we don’t see the light within them.
Earlier it was mentioned that good, or love, is what makes truth translucent. But then we started talking about how the truths of the letter of the Word are translucent truths. Both ideas are true. All of the teachings that appear in this book are joined to good. They hold heavenly goodness within them. That goodness is what clarifies them and gives them the capacity to transmit spiritual light. And that’s true whether or not we see how these teachings are joined to good. The teachings of the Word are precious stones, no matter who holds them or how we hold them.
But at this point we should say out loud what many of you have probably already been thinking—that there are a lot of the things in the letter of the Word that sure seem pretty opaque. There are statements that feel harsh, statements that don’t seem fair, and a lot of statements that are simply hard to understand. For these reasons, and maybe other reasons too, people sometimes struggle with the assertions that the Word is from the Lord, that it’s Holy, and that the teachings of the Word hold the Lord’s love within them. There are a lot of reasons why the letter of the Word is the way it is—too many to get into today. What I want to put before you right now is the idea that it’s okay for us to look at a teaching from the Word, or a specific statement from the Word [present quartz] and say, “I don’t see the light within this.” But if we believe that the Word is the Word of God, then we mustn’t take it upon ourselves to decide that some of its teachings are precious stones, and some are not [present river stone]. They are all precious stones. If we hold on to that idea, we’re holding open the possibility that we might see the light within the difficult teachings someday. That light will reorder the difficult ideas from within and make them seem good—even though the external form of the idea will not change.
So how do we come to see that light? First of all, what is that light? The simple answer is that it’s the Lord’s light. It’s the light that fills the spiritual world and reveals everything there for what it really is. In other words, it’s the light of truth. In that light there are no lies, no illusions. There’s no decision paralysis. We simply see what the Lord wants us to do. And it’s so important to understand that His light is inseparable from His love. That’s why He’s like a jasper and a sardius stone (Rev. 4:3) Light and love radiate from Him together. In His light we see what it means to love.
And how do we come to see this light? Well, the unsurprising and maybe unsatisfactory answer is that the Lord gives it to us. In the reading from Revelation John says that he saw a throne, and One sitting on the throne who was like a jasper and a sardius (4:3). And then we’re told that lightnings, thunderings and voices proceeded from the throne (v. 5). These things symbolize insights given to us by God. In Apocalypse Revealed we read:
“And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.” This symbolizes enlightenment, perception, and instruction from the Lord.
Because of the flash of light that strikes the eyes, lightnings symbolize enlightenment, and because of the crash that strikes the ears, thunderings symbolize perception. And since these two together symbolize enlightenment and perception, voices then symbolize instruction.
…. all enlightenment, perception and instruction comes from the Lord by means of the Word. (§236)
It’s possible for us to see the truth within the Word—to see it as though in a flash of lightning. But that illumination is the Lord’s to give. We can’t find it on our own, no matter how smart we are. We certainly can’t find it by trying really hard to make the Word say what we think it should say. Illumination is the Lord’s to give, and He gives it to people who are trying to use His Word the way He means for it to be used.
In the book Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture we read:
Genuine truth… is apparent in the Word’s literal sense only to people who are enlightened by the Lord. Enlightenment comes from the Lord alone, and it is found in people who love truths because they are true and apply them to the uses of life. (§57)
The light within the Word is revealed to people who love the truth because it’s true. In other words, that light is revealed to people who want to see the world that the Lord has made as it really is. People who are willing to be shown new things, because what matters to them isn’t that the ideas they already have are proven to be correct—what matters to them is the pursuit of truth. But pursuing truth isn’t enough on its own: enlightenment is given to people who apply truths to the uses of life. The Lord gave us the Word to show us the way to heaven. He gave it to show us how to refuse evil and choose what is good (cf. Is. 7:15). We can’t understand it if we don’t use it the way it’s meant to be used. When we listen to the Word we’re meant to ask ourselves, “What is the Lord saying to me—right here, in this teaching—about what it means to live a heavenly life?”
It’s easy to see how some teachings show us the way to heaven. The Lord says:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… [And] you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
We know how we’re meant to use those teachings. Other teachings are harder to “apply to the uses of life.” It’s okay for us to admit that we don’t see the light of heaven within certain teachings. But we need to hold on to the idea that they are all precious stones. They are all the Word of God. If we get into the habit of accepting some teachings from the Word and dismissing others, we’re making ourselves the teachers when we’re meant to be the students. Only the Lord can illuminate our minds.
And illumination, or enlightenment, isn’t an on or off sort of thing. Our ability to see the light within the Word will grow gradually but also continually, as long as we continue to allow the Lord to teach us. We’ll have a flash of insight, and we’ll be amazed because we see a truth in the Word that we’ve never seen before—we see more clearly than we’ve ever seen. And later on we’ll see more clearly still, more clearly than we thought was possible [visualization—increase brightness].
The Lord has so much to show us—and He wants to teach us. He will illuminate us, as long as we’re willing to let Him open our eyes, instead of deciding for ourselves what the truth should be. He says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Amen.