© 2014 Olga López
© 2014 Urantia Association of Spain
| Michael's Bestowal | Luz y Vida — No. 37 — June 2014 — Index | The parable of the owner of the vineyards |
This is the first of the two speeches on which we are going to reflect and deepen. It’s in Document 155, “The Flight Through the North of Galilee.”
To put this speech in its context, it is necessary to talk briefly about the circumstances in which Jesus delivered it.
Jesus and his apostles were going through a major crisis. The religious authorities in Jerusalem were determined to arrest Jesus, considering him a subversive element for their interests. A few days before, the supposed “miracle” of the loaves and fishes had taken place, after which the crowd wanted to crown him as king of the Jews. That was more than the Jewish political and religious authorities could tolerate.
That time was a test of faith for the followers of Jesus. Many were those who abandoned the Master in those days. Even almost all of his family members turned away from him, unable to understand that Jesus had to take care of his Father’s business and get away from Galilee to prevent the preaching period from ending prematurely.
On the way to Phoenicia, where they were going to cool the spirits of the Jewish authorities, Jesus was accompanied only by twelve evangelists and the twelve apostles. His companions were concerned about the attitude of Jesus’ enemies, and Thomas, in a break they took for lunch, expressed that concern with the following question:
“Master, I should really like to know just what is wrong with the religion of our enemies at Jerusalem. What is the real difference between their religion and ours? Why is it we are at such diversity of belief when we all profess to serve the same God?” (UB 155:4.2)
The discourse on true religion, which is the one we are considering here, is Jesus’ answer to those questions from Thomas.
I would like to comment now why this speech was chosen to “break it down” among all, and highlight the great validity that these words of the Master have in current times.
This speech tells us about a personal religion, first hand, which even today is still not the predominant one. In today’s world, just like two thousand years ago, there are still intellectually and spiritually lazy people who prefer to follow the dictates of religious authorities instead of daring to live their spirituality in freedom. Still stop clinging to the rocks. And when they returned to there are many people who do not understand that you have to look up, he had disappeared, and they were left to risk sailing in the open sea, straying from the sea alone, weaving legends about a Savior." apparently safe shore of religious authority , to obtain even greater treasures in deeper and unknown waters.
As I read this speech, a story from Richard Bach’s “Illusions” came to mind, and it goes like this:
Once upon a time there lived a town in the bed of a great crystalline river.
The river’s current slipped silently over all its inhabitants: young and old, rich and poor, good and bad, and the current went its way, oblivious to everything but its own crystal essence.
Each creature clung as best it could to the twigs and rocks in the river bed, because clinging was their way of life, and because from the cradle they had all learned to resist the current.
But at last a creature said: I’m sick of holding on. Even if I don’t see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I’ll loosen up and let it take me where it wants to go. If I continue immobilized I will die of boredom.
The other creatures laughed and exclaimed: Fool! Let go and the current you revere will throw you, tumbled and smashed against the rocks, and you will die faster than boredom!
But the one who had spoken first ignored them, and after taking a deep breath she let go; immediately the current tossed her over and threw her against the rocks.
But the creature was determined not to cling again, and then the current lifted her from the bottom and she was not bruised or injured again.
And the creatures that were downstream that did not know her cried out: See a miracle! A creature like us and yet it flies! See the Messiah who has come to save us all!
And the one that had been dragged by the current answered: I am not more messiah than you. The river is pleased to lift us up, provided we dare to let go. Our true task is this journey, this adventure.
But they kept shouting, even louder: Saviour!, without ceasing to cling to the rocks. And when they looked up again, it had disappeared, and they were left alone, weaving legends about a Savior.
How many people today live clinging to the rocks of institutionalized religion, who do not dare to let go for fear of what might happen to them! Yes, it is true that they can get hurt if they try to let go and thus experience personal religion, but it is also true that, once they rise up, there will be nothing to fear.
So, we could very well ask ourselves the questions that Jesus asked his apostles at the end of this speech:
Are you fearful, soft, and ease-seeking? Are you afraid to trust your future in the hands of the God of truth, whose sons you are? Are you distrustful of the Father, whose children you are? Will you go back to the easy path of the certainty and intellectual settledness of the religion of traditional authority, or will you gird yourselves to go forward with me into that uncertain and troublous future of proclaiming the new truths of the religion of the spirit, the kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men? (UB 155:5.13)
Our sovereign of the universe, Michael of Nebadon, came to this world to teach us that we only need the unconditional faith of a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, and that therefore intermediaries are not necessary. Back then, his message did not sink deep enough, and later Christianity forgot that fundamental teaching, even though it remains dormant within it.
Throughout history, we can see that ideas that are too advanced for the time in which they appeared have emerged. History is full of people who were ahead of their time, who often paid with misunderstanding and oblivion, if not with death, for defending their revolutionary ideas.
Could we say that those people failed? Could we say that ideas that are too advanced are destined to die forever? At first glance we could answer affirmatively to these two questions, but let’s think a little. The fact that these visionaries are remembered and that they serve as an inspiration to others leads me to say that they ended up succeeding with the success that really matters: that of having contributed to the progress of humanity.
We could say the same about the figure of Jesus of Nazareth. He expressed ideas that were very advanced for his time, but although they were not fully grasped by his apostles, they passed on enough so that much of Jesus’ teaching was not totally lost over the centuries. The Master’s message was powerful enough for twelve ignorant Galileans to go forth to proclaim the gospel of Jesus and thereby change the course of history.
The words of Jesus in this discourse are so relevant that, with the adaptation made by the revelators into modern language, they are addressed directly to the readers of the book. Reading it, we might ask ourselves: is everything the same as it was two thousand years ago? Let’s see.
Plan A was to spread personal religion throughout the civilized world, with the Jews as the main drivers. But this plan failed when the Jewish leaders so outright rejected the religion of Jesus.
Faced with this setback, plan B was put into action: the Greeks embraced the religion “about” Jesus, imposed it with their cultural influence on the Romans, and, once elements of other pagan cults were incorporated, it became the religion official word that so successfully spread throughout the civilized world. But that wasn’t exactly the personal religion that Jesus preached, either.
Two thousand years later, we have a new opportunity for the world to know that personal religion. The world needs people ahead of their time who dare to live religion as Jesus lived it. If we are to heed what is said in the Publication Mandate, the teachings of The Urantia Book are not for this time but for a later time, in which humanity embarks in earnest in the search for truth and of a religion firsthand. But visionaries are always needed, people who are ahead of their time who show the way and who, when they are numerous enough, will be able to change the course of the rest.
I don’t know if we, the readers of the book, can qualify as visionaries, but it is true that the content of the book has captivated us, we have made it our own in such a profound way that what we want is to spread it so that all humanity meet him one day. Remember that personal religion is not a new idea; Jesus tried to instill it in his apostles. Two thousand years later, the idea is presented to us again in a book. Has your time come? Only time will tell. Personally, I prefer to think that the situation is more propitious now than two thousand years ago. And I have no doubt that, two thousand years from now, humanity will live its relationship with God in the way that the book exhorts us to experience it.
Until now, religion has not been widely practiced first hand by the world, so after Plan A and Plan B, we fifth revelation believers are part of Plan C. We are the next resource (and, for now, the last one). It depends on us, therefore, that there is no plan D.
¶ Feedback from attendees about this speech
- The religion of Jesus frees from fear.
- Faith drives action, and belief is the platform on which faith acts. It is not enough to have beliefs.
- Today’s religions are too focused on fear, and yet many people are comfortable in them. We must insist on the concept of God-Father to abandon fear.
- What should be the definition of a religious person? For example, can one claim to be an atheist and be religious?
- This is how we live personal religion: we are seekers, we have gone through different religions and philosophies and the book has taken us out of ignorance. We have known and accepted each other and that has made us know and accept others. It has made us dedicate ourselves to different forms of service to others.
- Would we admit that someone wants to convince us “of his”? We must also have an open mind to other teachings.
- A useful simile related to this subject is that of the radio set: we try to tune in with the Spirit. The hand that moves the dial is the will. The station is noisy and we don’t always like what we hear, which sometimes causes us to change the station.
- Will the new religion be something that links institutionalized relationships with atheism?
- Jesus did not despise the followers of the Jewish religion, but he regretted that he subjected his followers to such slavery.
¶ References
- Light and Life Magazine (all old issues): https://aue.urantia-association.org/numeros-antiguos-del-lyv/
| Michael's Bestowal | Luz y Vida — No. 37 — June 2014 — Index | The parable of the owner of the vineyards |