Church of the Holy City

What Is Innocence?

What Is Innocence?
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
September 22, 2013

Jeremiah 11:18-20 Mark 9:33-37 Psalm 54

In our Mark reading, it looks like there are several unconnected thoughts that are mashed together. But they actually connect very well when one looks at them from an internal point of view. Our reading begins with the disciples arguing about which of them would be the greatest. Jesus says the curious line, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Then he takes a little child in His arms and says, “Whoever welcome one of these little children in my name, welcomes me” (9:37). Then Jesus says that, “Whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” The greatest, the first and last, children, and then God–not a very clearly connected group of ideas. But they all do connect when we consider one idea. That idea is innocence.
Again and again, Swedenborg states that there is no love and charity without innocence. He says that innocence is the essence of the highest angels. And he says that God is innocence itself.
But the quality of innocence is a very elusive quality. I think we can recognize it when we see it, but just what it is, is hard to describe. Jesus used an apt image when he took a child and pointed to him, saying that we need to welcome the child in Jesus’ name. I take this passage to mean that we need to be childlike in order to be godly. And the child was used by Jesus as an image of innocence.
We see children as innocent due to several characteristics. One characteristic is described by Swedenborg quite accurately. Swedenborg writes that, “The affections are conspicuously presented in the face with those who are in innocence” (AC 5102). This means that innocent children show what they are feeling in their faces. Young children let you know what they think, feel, and want without any pretence. When a young child is happy, we all know it–in fact, their innocence is so touching that we become happy with them. And when a child is unhappy and sad, we all know it, too. Children cry openly, they laugh spontaneously, and they squeal with delight unabashedly. Children are spontaneous, and they are transparent with their feelings.
We adults learn social propriety, which often means stifling our emotions. We learn to smile instead of squealing with delight. We learn to frown when we are sad, instead of breaking down in tears. Sometimes, we learn to conceal our feelings altogether because we do not want others to know what we are truly feeling or thinking. I have moved around quite a bit in my life. And what I find is that it often takes years to learn how to read what a person feels in different cultures. The way people show their emotions depends on the culture they live in. And how to express oneself is a learned behavior that depends on the society around them. But children act quite the same in whatever culture we find them. That is because they haven’t learned how to mask or filter their emotional responses according to their culture.
I know only a few people who have enough self-confidence to show their true feelings and who are open with them. There is a childlike simplicity about these people that is delightful and precious. I don’t think that our society rewards this kind of character. We prize shrewd, cunning individuals who know how to work the system and get ahead. We prize successful and rich people who demonstrate social graces. We prize intelligence which often carries with it sarcasm or worse still, cutting wit.
So we return to the precious innocence of children. That childlike openness is requires a level of self-confidence that is rare in this world. But here I need to add a qualifier. There is a history of Christian literature that interprets this idea in a problematic way. They think that being childlike means to be foolish. Stulti-Christo is the Latin term for this belief, and it means to be a fool for Christ. This idea is found in 1 Corinthians 4:10, “So we are fools because of Christ.” Some Christians did unconventional things like walking around half naked, living homeless, speaking in riddles, or flouting social conventions to the point of appearing rude or even immoral. But I don’t think we need to do such behaviors to follow Christ or to be childlike.
Swedenborg describes innocence in a way that allows the individual still to function in ordinary society. In fact, for Swedenborg, the more innocent a person is, the wiser the person is. What shall we say that the essence of wisdom is? Let’s think about a person thought to be the wisest person to walk the world. I mean Socrates. He became a real pest to his society because he annoyed people with his persistent questioning. To anyone with presumed authority, Socrates submitted a rigorous drill of philosophical questions. The individual usually felt embarrassed because Socrates had poked holes in his thought and made the person look ridiculous. But Socrates defended himself by saying that he, himself, knew nothing. He asked those questions to learn, as he fully acknowledged that he didn’t know anything. Swedenborg’s idea of innocence is similar.
For Swedenborg, true innocence is the acknowledgement that all good is from the Lord, and that a person wants to be led by God. Maybe Swedenborg goes too far in saying how depraved humanity is when left to their own devices. But his basic teaching is that of ourselves, we are not capable of true good. It is only when we turn to God that we do good. This is what it means for the first to be the last. Self, which we often put in the first place, must become last. And God must be put first. Then we are like children who depend on their parents for love, support, and the things they need in this life.
In all good, that it may be good, there must be innocence. . . . For this reason innocence is the very essential of love and charity, and accordingly of good. The proprium of innocence consists in knowing, acknowledging, and believing, not with the mouth but with the heart, that nothing but evil is from one’s self, and that all good is from the Lord. . . . When a person is in this confession and belief from the heart, the Lord flows in with good and truth, and insinuates into him a heavenly proprium [self]. . . (AC 3994).
Letting God into our hearts does not mean we give up the idea of self altogether. Swedenborg tells us that we get a new self. We get a heavenly self. So we still think and decide on things as we always had. The only difference is that we think what is true and we decide on things for the good and out of heavenly love. This is what putting the first last means. It means annihilating selfishness and letting heavenly selflessness fill our lives. This is true humility. This is being innocent. This is being like a child.
No one can ever be in true humility, unless he or she is in this acknowledgement and belief from the heart; for he or she is then in annihilation of himself . . . and thus absence from himself; and in this manner he is then in a state for receiving the Divine of the Lord. It is by this means that the Lord flows in with good into a humble and contrite heart (AC 3994).
This is why Swedenborg is called a mystic. Mysticism means that a person has a personal relationship with God. And in Swedenborg’s theology, we let God fill our souls with Divine Love and Wisdom. We let God into us so that our self is God-in-us. God-in-us is a new personality that we are gifted with.
True good must be innocent. What that means is that we do not take credit for the good that we do. Some religions are very afraid of humans taking credit for the good that we do. They are so afraid that they say we are incapable of doing good. They are so afraid that they say that good deeds are not important for salvation–but rather faith alone is what is important for salvation. But it is plain to common sense that we need to do good and not to do bad. The only way to do good in a manner that saves is to do good without taking credit for it. And the only way to do good without taking credit for it is by admitting that God alone does good. Then, we do not get puffed with pride when we look at all the good we do. Then, we do not think we are better than others. Then, we see that without God, we are helpless. But when we admit from our heart that God alone is good; that God alone does good–then we can do good in a way that saves.
This is the innocence that children stand for in the Bible. This is the essence of innocence–the admission that God alone is good; that God alone does good. This is putting the first last and the last first. This is the humility that God can and does flow into with blessings of happiness, joy, and peace.

PRAYER

Lord, we thank you this morning for the opportunities you give us to serve our fellows. For you have taught us that the first shall be last and the last first. Even you, when you came to earth, did not come as an imperial ruler, but as a servant to all. Give us to see opportunities to serve every day. And fill us with your love for fulfilling uses. May we not take credit for the good we do, for it is given by you, and the capacity to do good is also from you. Strengthen our faith by the works we do by you, and in your name. May our faith and our good will always work together to bring heaven to earth.

And Lord, we pray that you bring peace to this troubled world. May those who harbor ill will for their neighbors learn to understand and see the fellow humanity that they share. May those who strive against each other see that they are like in their wishes and in what they want for their land and nation. Lord, we especially ask that you be with the people of Egypt and of Syria. May the way of peace and diplomacy prevail over force. May all warring factions find their way to peace.

Lord, we ask for you to heal those who are sick. As you worked miracles of healing when you were on earth, how much more can you work healing miracles now that you have risen and have all authority in heaven and on earth. Grant all who are in need your healing love and power.