IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 394

While it is our intention to discuss these verses from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans in today’s post we are starting out again in the same vein as yesterday and that is on the idea of service as we wish to paint this as the Master intended and n0t as we see it from our carnal perspective. There is a crossover of terms in the New Testament and this crossover is largely dictated by doctrine. There are servants who are deemed to be such in our common understanding and there are those that are deemed to be ministers but these words are at times used rather interchangeably or in the same thought. By example is our saying of note regarding God and mammon; the Master says: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). Here the idea of servant is specifically referred to as the household servant and the latter word serve is regarded as the servant who would be considered a minister. Granted that this is a parabolic saying but the idea that we are trying to reach is that service IS service and this regardless of the cause for which it is done. It is our intent to make an additional point regarding a saying from the last post regarding service and duty; the Master tells us that:

“So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).

In this saying is a depth that we did not reach in previous posts and one that is important in our journey to and on the Path of Life. However, before we get to our central idea here, it is good to understand the idea of serving and the servant. As we discuss above there is some crossover of ideas; above we found the idea of the household servant used as the example for the servant of God so to speak and here in the verses leading up to our saying we find the idea of the servant who is regarded as the minister being referred to as the household servant: “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready where with I may sup, and gird thyself , and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not” (Luke 17:7-9). In each of these uses of the Greek word for the servant who is the minister is used and this is the same use as in the servant of God. Again, our point here is that we are ALL servants of some one or of some thing or in reality of many and, regardless of what it is that we serve we are expected to do our all and to serve to our ability. The Master sets this clear in His comments on the Parable of the Unjust Steward. We can see this in the story from the commendation of the unjust man and in the Master’s remarks to the man of the world that he should “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” and that he should be “faithful in that which is least” as well as that which is greater. He tells us clearly that “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:8-11). Can we see this point?

Now in our saying from the Master above we should understand that there are many facets as well; the Master’s perspective is a statement to ALL servers in ALL situations; He speaks of the worldly man who works all day and then comes home to serve yet again and He talks to the spiritual man who must ever look toward his next opportunity to serve. Most importantly however is His instruction to those who follow Him and keep His words; according to Luke’s writings He is speaking to His disciples and to the apostles although there are apparently others in the area of His speaking. We should KNOW that the Master’s words are for ALL and we should also KNOW that much of what He said was directed toward His disciples and without regard as to whom might hear and this is such an instance. We are carried forward from the previous chapter where the Master speaks to His disciples and to the Pharisees, into this one with Luke’s words saying “Then said he unto the disciples” and a bit further down, right before our saying, we read that “the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Luke 17: 1, 5); we should understand here then that the greater part of our saying above is for us who aspire to discipleship and for disciples themselves. What then is here for us that we did not see or realize before? Simply that in the thoughts of His disciples who follow Him and keep His words there should be a special understanding of the idea that He imparts to us in saying “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you“. We must understand here that this includes ALL His words, ALL His instruction and ALL His commandments and, as we have previously noted, when one can accomplish this he IS a disciple of the Lord and he IS worthy of His Kingdom and the fullness of the Presence of the Christ Within IS his expression in the world of men. Can we understand this from His varied sayings?

We do not want to center our words here on discipleship but we do want to be sure that ALL who seek this High Calling MUST follow Him and keep His words as this is in many ways the very definition of being His disciple. There are also many many others who would become His disciples according their own understanding of doctrine and although we have set a much higher mark for True discipleship, these men are sensing the call of the Soul, the Christ Within, and are responding as their beliefs permit. It is to these that we should direct the words of the Master and not to these only but to ALL men including ourselves as ALL have, as the Apostle Paul paints it for us, “come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). So let us now take on our point which is that the Master tells us here clearly that “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you” and we must KNOW that He is speaking to us who would be His followers and His disciples from whatever perspective including those who believe according to the doctrines. He is telling us that it is expected that we have done ALL the things which He commanded. This is the dividing line, that we “have done all those things which are commanded” and this is the realization; that it falls to us to show to others who believe that they are close to the Lord that they may actually be yet some distance away. However, this is a difficult task to undertake in its entirety as we ourselves have “come short of the glory of God” and we ever have the caution of the Master, another commandment if you will, regarding the mote in one’s brother’s eye. Remember that He says: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke (6:41-42).

Let us not be too dismayed here as there are many parts to this dilemma. We should understand that we are not any longer in this class that “beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye” as we understand where our beams may lie. It is in this understanding that we as aspirants to discipleship can confront ourselves and not try to teach others regarding things that we cannot do ourselves; it is here we must see the hypocrisy in so teaching before we can “cast out first the beam out of thine own eye“. This is a very important lesson for ALL who would try to carry forth the ideas of the Lord to others and much Soul searching as it is called is necessary here. We we must find areas of Truth in our own lives and it is in these that we must teach and not in those where we have not control over ourselves. The Buddha tells us this same thing saying “Love yourself and watch – Today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, Then teach, And so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked You must first do a harder thing – Straighten yourself. You are your only master. Who else? Subdue yourself, And discover your master⁵” (Dhammapada on Yourself).

So do we look at ourselves and realize that we have “come short of the glory of God” and shrink back so as not to appear as hypocrites? or do we take on those things that we do have right and bring them forward in our lives and, as a part of our outward expression, teach others? This is a hard question and one that each must answer individually and it is a hard question for this writer as well. Is there a place in which we can stand as righteous before God? A place were we have straitened ourselves and subdued our lower natures? And, is there a place from which we can start that is of greater importance in the eyes of the Master? The answer here is a resounding YES if we have come to the proper and right perspective on Love, a perspective that is most necessary if we are to even approach the Path to God. Can we see past the learned prejudices and practiced discrimination and into that “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) as it pertains to the TWO COMMANDMENTS that the Master called the GREATEST. Can we Love God and Love our neighbour?

We must start in that place where we are and we must of course start by example. The Master tells us that “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31). How do we see and understand this is a question that each must ask himself.

• First there is Love of God and while this may seem straightforward to some, it is a very complex saying. God IS Love as we are told by the Apostle John and in this we should be able to glimpse the idea that ALL is Love. God is of course on a Cosmic Scale and His very Being far exceeds our meager ability to comprehend Him; so how is one to Love Him? We cannot relegate this Love to that emotional feeling that a man gets regarding something that gives Him pleasure, the Love of which we speak is much deeper than this and, this being said, how can a man Love God? How can one explain this phenomenon?
• The Master gives us a hint here regarding Love of God; He says: “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:42). Without reading too much into this saying, we should see that if a man is to Love God he must Love the Son of God and this because the Son “proceeded forth and came from God“. For us this should speak volumes as we ALL “proceeded forth and came from God” as Souls and as Souls we are ALL Sons of God. From this perspective we Love God as we Love the Son which is the Christ and which are ALL the Sons of God as Souls in form. Can we see this.
• Going further the Master tells us that “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and again He says “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Building upon the last point we see here that if a man says he Loves God then He must Love the Son and the way that one Loves the Son is in keeping His commandments and this brings us full circle to our saying above.
• Can we see further here that this idea of Love of God is the Love of the Son, the Christ and therefore Love of the Christ Within or Love of the Soul or the True Self? Can we see how far from our understanding of this word Love this whole reality must move. Can we see that this is the reality of Love for the self as we see it in the next of the Two commandments where the Master says “love thy neighbour as thyself” and which in a way that suggests that we already KNOW what He means? Can we get a glimpse of Loving the Inner Man, the True Man and the God IN Man as being God insofar as a man is concerned?
• Finally we come to this same part of Love for one’s neighbor which is Love for ALL men. On the level of the Soul this is already a Truth as the Soul is ever in His Presence and in the Kingdom and it is based upon this reality for ALL men that we must be able to see that divinity in each and express to each that same Love which we reserve for ourselves as the God Within.

While this suffices from the perspective of the enlightened man in form, there is yet much depth that we cannot express as all. We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day

• ⁵ The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom