Great Themes of Life/The Oneness of Mankind

THE ONENESS OF MANKIND

“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the Law? How readest thou? And . he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among ‘ thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came

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where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likeW156.

—St. Luke 10: 25-39

V V E HAVE talked of the broad plan of God’s Covenant with the whole of mankind—a kind of “blanket cover” protecting every soul on the earth. We learned, too, What God required of mankind in return for this protection, that man should walk humbly with his God. N ow we come to a more detailed consideration of what is required of the individual.

Jesus’ ministry was spent amongst the most bigoted race of people on earth. By religious tradition the Jews regarded themselves as a

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chosen race, so much so, that in every human aspect they considered themselves the elect of God and would not touch, much less associate with, a non—Iew. Christ’s life was spent in trying to break down this opposition.

From His life—work two things stand out in sharp relief—like a silhouette of two lovely trees against a dark skyline—they are the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Prayer. In the Lord’s Supper He gave us a remembrance of Himself, and in the Lord’s Prayer 3. remembrance of His work and teaching. It shows us how Jesus wished us always to approach His Gospel, to meditate on His work, to understand His purpose.

In the Lord’s Prayer He gathers together and sets in their right order, all the major thoughts which He wishes Christians ever to keep in mind as characteristic of His work. He points us to the essentials—the essentials for which we are to pray, and for which we should labor While here on earth.

Like the Ten Commandments of Moses, our Lord’s Prayer is also divided into two parts, first, the spiritual things and second those things dealing with human affairs. But the Prayer, being much later and more advanced than the

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thinking and understanding of Moses’ time, enshrines the vision of an advanced state in man’s spiritual evolution—it foresees social changes for the betterment of mankind. Whenever Jesus speaks, He speaks from the point of View of God. So is He doing in this prayer.

Jesus was looking 1900 years ahead and seeing the very problems which are facing modern civilization today. He taught men to look forward to a wonderful change, a complete reorientation of their social, economic and religious life. He called on them to prepare for, and expect, something which He called the Kingdom of The Father on Earth.

Nothing that Jesus ever taught or did could cause us to arrive at the conclusion that His Gospel was purely spiritual and metaphysical. Instead, it was completely related to daily existence. He did not condemn this earth-life but He did point the way it should be lived, which was to be in such a manner as to attract the Kingdom of God on earth. He proclaimed man’s life as being a glorious privilege to work with his Creator, and endeavored to impress upon all that human wickedness and misery were of man’s own wilful, or stupid, act. His teaching high-lighted the love of God. God so loved His

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mankind that He sent His Son to teach and uplift them.

Strangely enough, this was one of the principal objections of the Jews; they didn’t like the type of company He frequently kept. He was drawing the crowds around Himself, visiting their homes, and even, in the words of His accusers: “. . . Dined with a gluttonous man and a winebibher.” He made friends with “publicans and sinners”, and, worse still, was gracious to an harlot. But what was so frightfully annoying He rebuked, in no uncertain manner, the Scribes and Pharisees for their social iniquities, their robbing of widows and their abuse of the poor. He verbally thrashed them for their professions of righteousness when inwardly they were unclean. Jesus taught that no man could live to himself; he must live in relation to others. Christ refused to condone the sanctimonious exclusiveness of the Jews. His first sermon, recorded in Luke, was against their national and religious exclusiveness. Right from the beginning, Jesus spoke against prejudice towards the so-called foreigners.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, He teaches the lesson that in the New Dispensation the duty of being kind to a neighbor means

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answering the need of every human being within reach regardless of race, tradition, religion or national patriotism. His Gospel was to be preached to every creature, God’s love embraced every creature; both men and women equally, He likened to the branches of one tree with God as the central trunk.

That is why Iesus flung back the question put to Him by the arrogant lawyer. “What is written in the Law?” Jesus asked him, “How do you read it?”

And when the lawyer answered correctly, Jesus agreed with him. So what was his question all about? Jesus knew full well what it was all leading to; He was quite prepared for the lawyer’s “comeback”, for Jesus knew the man would try to justify himself. And the lawyer “willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, ‘and who is my neighbor?’ ”

Then comes that classical story. One must appreciate the characters of the story—a Priest, a Levite and a Samaritan—otherwise we miss much of the charm of the story.

The Priests were the highest class religiously; they ministered in the Temple, theirs was the work of mediation and atonement. The Priests were to be especially pure, not even were they

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permitted any bodily blemish or defect. They were considered the personification of all the virtues.

The Levites were of a different order, although possibly next in line to the Priests. They, too, served in the Temple, but they owned land —about one-twelfth of all the land—and this they leased. From the income they derived they lived very well, after allowing the Priests onetenth of their receipts. The Levites were not only a landed gentry, but they considered themselves a kind of literary aristocracy. And so we find the first two characters to step into Jesus’ story are really “high class.” Then Jesus patiently relates what happened—the Priest, seeing the man, passed by on the other side. Unfortunately, there are still some people inclined the same way. Then, He says, a Levite came along. He wasn’t quite so bad; he did pause and look at the poor chap. But he, too, passed by on the other side. Really, he couldn’t be mixed up in such vulgarity! The Jewish Lawyer, no doubt, could fully appreciate their point of view. He, too, was of a haughty class.

Now comes the delightful irony of the story. A Samaritan! The Lawyer probably winced at mention of such a name, for the Samaritans

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were roundly despised. They didn’t worship Jehovah, they were heathens—complete outcasts. One needn’t say “black and white”; one need simply mention Jews and Samaritans for it to be known that you meant the extremes of good and bad. “Yes,” says Jesus, “a Samaritan came along and he stopped, he bound up the man’s wounds, pouring in oil and wine. And not that alone, but he took the poor fellow to the Inn and paid for him to be cared for.” “Tell me,” challenged Jesus, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him who fell among thieves?”

With true legal dexterity the Lawyer sidestepped having to mention the hated name and contented himself by saying: “He that shewed mercy on him.”

Jesus had won His point. Sharply He came back with: “Co thou and do likewise!”

Spiritual kinship was to over-bridge any of these despicable boundaries. To Christ’s followers, as there was but one God and one heaven, so there was but one earth, a single home for all the F ather’s spiritual children. All human beings everywhere were to be regarded as members of one and the same universal, spiritual society.

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In another of His comparisons, Jesus likened people to sheep who, He said, would one day become of one flock. Again He said, they were like the leaves and branches of a single tree with God as the central trunk of it.

This age in which we live is the age in which the oneness of mankind is to be practiced, not preached only. All humanity shares in common the intellectual and spiritual faculties of 21 created endowment. From the viewpoint of creation, human beings stand upon the same footing in every respect. Therefore, the things humanity shares in common are numerous.

Nevertheless, consider the discord and dissension that have existed in the great human family for thousands of years. Man has ever been engaged in war and bloodshed. Up to this present hour we’ve never attained or enjoyed a lasting peace. History is one long story of warfare brought about by religious, sectarian, racial, patriotic and political causes. We’ve no conception of what the cost has been in human lives and human suffering. Just think for a moment of the tragedy in a single family when love is ousted by dissension and discord; then multiply that by the teeming millions of people on the earth! Do we wonder that Jesus begged

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His followers to not only work for, but expect the day to come, when God’s will would prevail and mankind would be governed under a true theocracyl And true theocracy does not mean rule by the Church or Pope.

In the Bahá’í Faith we find today the germ of that New Age. The Bahá’í Faith upholds and enlarges the spiritual teachings of the Lord Jesus; it has within it, the detailed principles by which mankind can become one family, inhabiting one planet, worshippmg One God through the knowledge gained from all the previous Prophets and T eachers.

When men rejected or ignored Bahá’u’lláh’s message, He wrote that humanity would have to be purged in the crucible of fire and suffering before men would turn to God and finally establish peace on earth. He warned that, “at the appointed hour there will appear that which will cause the limbs of mankind to quake.” That Day is swiftly coming upon us!

Dr. Benjamin Iowett of Oxford, one of the foremost thinkers of today, has this to say: “This Bahá’í movement is the greatest light that has come into the world since the time of Jesus Christ. You must watch it and never let it out of your sight. It is too great and too near

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for this generation to comprehend. The future alone will reveal its import.”

Speaking in All Souls Unitarian Church in New York, in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, made these points concerning the oneness of mankind.

“The first form of dissension [amongst mankind] arises from religious differences. Bahá’u’lláh has given full teachings to the world Which are conducive to fellowship and unity in religion. Throughout past centuries each system of religious belief has boasted of its own superiority and excellence, abasing and scorning the validity of others. The greatest cause of human alienation has been religion. The teachings specialized by Bahá’u’lláh are addressed to humanity, saying: ‘Ye are leaves of one tree~’ He does not say . . . ‘two trees—one divine, the other satanicl’

“Another cause of dissension and disagreement is the fact that religion has been pronounced at variance with science . Bahá’u’lláh declared that religion is in complete harmony with science and reason. If religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited mind of man and not from God; therefore it is un [Page 48]48 GREAT THEMES OF LIFE

worthy of belief . . . the heart finds no rest in it and real faith is impossible. How can man believe that Which he knows to be opposed to reason? Can the heart accept that which reason denies?

“Still another cause of disagreement and dissension has been the formation of religious sects . . . God has sent religion for the purpose of establishing fellowship . . . not to create strife and discord, for all religion is founded upon

love of humanity . . . Abraham promulgated this principle . . . Moses summoned all mankind to its recognition . . . Christ established it,

and Muhammad directed mankind to its standard. If we abandon heresay and investigate the reality and inner significance of the heavenly teachings, we will find the same divine foundation of love for humanity.”

Just one other of the many sources of human dissension that are answered fully in Bahá’u’lláh, are the political, racial and patriotic prejudices. These have been removed by Bahá’u’lláh. He has proved a guarded statement by rational proofs from all the Holy Books that the world of humanity is one race, the surface of the earth one place of residence, and that these imaginary barriers of racial and

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political boundaries are without right or foundation. Man is degraded in becoming the captive of his own illusions and suppositions.

Let us not question the practicability of God’s plan for the oneness of mankind and the reconciliation of religious differences, nor be astonished, for it has been made abundantly clear in the Holy Scriptures that this is God’s Will and will prevail. Rather, let us try to do the Will of God, so that we may be rescued from these things of darkness and come forth into the boundless illumination of heaven, shunning division and welcoming the divine oneness of mankind. F mm the light and semblance of God in us, may it be indeed proved and witnessed that God has created man after His own image and in His own likeness.

The decision to act rests with each one of us. God has sent this new Manifestation of Himself into the world, because the time has come for His Will to prevail. N othing but confusion and stark terror confront us, but God has answered our call before we were aware of our own need. In accepting Bahá’u’lláh we do not detract from, nor do we forsake Jesus, but we do accept the fullest content of the Lord’s teaching and move on to do His Will, for the Father has sent

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the Spirit of Truth into our midst. There is no longer any place for Priest, Levite or Samaritan, but in the universal love of God we must become one, eliminating antagonistic divisions of race, nation or religion. May we pray in all sincerity:

“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever.”