YES, HE is Talking to YOU! (continued)
Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
Noticed this morning that I had been confusing these two brothers referring to the first as the second. Since we did spell out the role of each however this should not have caused a problem and I apologize if I have caused any confusion. From our perspective we should see these two sons as interchangeable, as in the fluid nature of Life in form, one can become one and then the other and then back again. It is, as you know, all a matter of focus and to this we added yesterday persistence and consistency. The point made by the Master to the chief priests and the elders is still to be uncovered here and we will continue with this today. It is not the simple morality found in the behavior of the two sons but we will see that it is connected to our thoughts from yesterday and our statement above concerning our ability to change our minds when we discover that we had not chosen correctly.
Before we get back to this however we should discuss the idea that we left off with in the last post and that is the idea of mind. The mind of man is a very complex affair and we will not here attempt to analyze this at all; we will look only at the use of the mind by the man in form. As we discussed yesterday and in other previous posts the mind, as well as the emotions, is formed as we grow and become mature persons. Both are built up by what we learn, and how we learn it, from the world around us plus the working out of our predispositions and our proclivity, through which we are both attracted to a thing and are able to readily absorb it. This is the man in form and his mind set is such as is built up by the above. At some point in time if the form life is so suited and the form equipment capable the Soul will make itself known to the man and this will register in his consciousness, his mind and his emotions. Again we must remember that there is an infinite range of possible combinations of mind and emotion in both their nature and capability and the approach of the Soul will be based on its own view of this; the Soul is the real self and is going to try to work through the equipment that he has established and to which he gives Life. This is a hard thing to visualize but this becomes clearer as we recognize that we are not this body nor its workings but are the Life that enlivens it.
The form life, over the years up to our registering some form of Soul contact, has had a tremendous head start. Over many years we have slowly become identified with this form nature and it is all that we really know; this is a hard thing to change and this idea can go far in our understanding of the fluid nature alluded to by Jesus in the subject parable; how we can be one son and then the other. At such time as one can register the prompting of the Soul in his life and the recognition of this as something good, is the beginning of his conversion into a more spiritual being; there is an infinite range to be seen in this as well and a man can find himself to be at any point, from the beginning of conversion to the Kingdom of God depending on his focus. This now all becomes the role of the mind and the relative power of the lure of the carnal nature and the existing Life in form versus the prompting of the Soul.
We left yesterday with some of the sayings of the Apostle Paul regarding the mind and the comparison of the carnal versus the spiritual life. The end result of all is, according to the Master, to be born again, and we should see Paul as talking to those who are on their way to this destination; the Kingdom of God. As we have explored through these many posts, this final destination is only accomplished through that radical change of ones Life that Jesus points us to through all of His teachings. Let us go back through the sayings that we listed from Paul with our comments on the working out of these things in Life.
- “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). This, of course, is the end result of it all; the final destination and the Kingdom of God. Paul holds this out to ‘believers’ in the church at Philippi as his instruction on what they should be striving for. Not to have the mind of men in its lusts and its thoughts of oneself and of others but to think of the spiritual things with the outlook of the Master.
- “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. (Romans 12:2). This is the more practical instruction and the way to attain to the first point here. This is the required step to enter into a truly spiritual Life. This is the mind being changed from looking at Life as one had been doing, to looking at life in the light of the Soul. Something is feeding the mind and here is the choosing of what it will be; it is either the same old Life that one has been going on with or it is living Life in the word of God. It is doing things as we have and focusing on the things of the flesh and the life of our little selves or it is focusing on the things of God and living our lives as Souls in form and following the teachings of the Master which is essentially a Life of Love and Truth.
- “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8). This is, in much more words, the same idea that we get from the Master in few: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13). There is no good or evil in this statement as some may believe, Paul is just speaking of the world of men focusing on either the carnal life or the spiritual life. Enmity here should not be viewed as hatred but as opposition, the opposite of friendship1. The message for us here is again the mind; carnally minded or spiritually minded is a matter of where we will focus our attention and our daily pursuits.
- “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:23-25). This is Paul’s own story about himself and we should be able to see ourselves in it as well. It goes a bit beyond the sole thought of the mind in that Paul, like ourselves if we are aspiring disciples, has his mind on the things of God and the Light of his Soul is impressing his mind. He shows us some of the depth of the conflict here in that the lure of the world of flesh is still present and, while his mind is on spiritual things and pursuits, the temptations of life in this world still abound. What Paul is telling us is that so long as these temptations are still getting his attention he is not free.
It is, as we should see above, the renewing of your mind that holds the key to life; the overcoming of the tendencies formed over the many years of living in the world of men and up until that time that we are impressed by and responding to the call of the Soul, the call of the Christ Within. This too is part of this story of these two sons who can hear and obey or who can ignore the call and after heeding can still return to the old ‘comfortable’ life.
Our final thoughts now on the Parable of the Two Sons:
“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented , and went. And he came to the second, and said like wise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him” (Matthew 21:28-32).
As we said, we can most all see the moral story here in obeying ones father and in obeying the Father. If we say we will, we should, and if we refuse we should repent and change our minds. Remember that the idea of repent here is different that the normal word that is translated as repent. The normal one includes the idea of wrongdoing and the need for forgiveness and also that change of heart that sets one right. This repent is not concerned with wrongdoing or with sin but us more of a change of mind based on thinking better of it and realizing that we should have done otherwise. And so it is with the son who at first says no but then thinks better of it, he repents and goes to the work of the father or Father. The same lesson is given here to the chief priests and rulers and the admonition to them is that they should have thought better of it and repented regarding John the Baptist. This is a direct saying against them and, for today, a direct saying against all who have a position and refuse to see the validity of some new position because it is against what they know and do and teach. Let us explore this.
John the Baptist came to the Jews preaching and teaching a new doctrine of repentance which word should here be looked at in the normal sense regarding wrongdoing or sin and then change. The Jewish religion had become largely ceremonial and had lost its zeal for God; we can see this in the many condemnations of the scribes and Pharisees actions spoken against by Christ. It became religion in the colder sense of the word. The Baptist came and taught repentance and the Kingdom of God and if we look at the few words that we have from him, he taught the better way to live. What we have is this: “And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not” (Luke 3:10-15). Now this is not unlike the teachings of the Christ; John’s message is not quite as exquisite but it is much the same and, much like now, men must and do see in this the overall goodness and Godliness of the message.
The priests and the scribes and the Pharisees, at least for the most part, surely did see this and did see what was happening with John’s following. But, because of their selfish attitudes and their desire to continue in their own ways, they shut him out and did not listen. This is Jesus point in the parable; they did know or should have known the nature of the teaching of John and they did not repent, they did not think better of it, and they did not change and follow or at least acknowledge John the Baptist and, as we know, they did the same with the Master. Much the same can be said of the world of men today and throughout our post Christ history. Over the last 2000 years little has changed from the time of Christ. Those who lead and have led societies and religions have, most all of them, found more reason to stay with what they had developed as a philosophy or a theology than to change to the new and the better way that was presented. This has resulted, on the societal side, in revolution and revolt because the people saw the future that the leaders refused to see. This has resulted, on the religious side, in the morass of current theology and the disintegration of the One Church of Christ into so many different parts.
The message from Jesus to those He spoke this parable to and His message to us is simple and plain. We see in His words the way that we should be and we should act and we do not do so, We can only see it in our way, in our theology or in our philosophy because to change is to give up some part of our own self that we have grown to love and to rely upon. We interpret His simple language into the verbose wranglings of religion and still hardly do even the most simple sayings of John the Baptist.
This is the Parable of the Two Sons.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment. If you have not seen this before, this should be viewed as, like John and Jesus to the Jews, something new and different.
The Quote of the Day for today is called The Great Invocation. It is a world prayer given to us by The Christ. We will leave this up and go through it in parts over the coming days. This prayer should be to us today what the Lord’s Prayer was yesterday.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
- 1 Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
