Bible Discourse 59 Ye cannot serve God and Mammon The use and misuse of wealth

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Discourse 59

Ye cannot serve God and Mammon

The use and misuse of wealth

And he said also unto his disciples, “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.  And he called him, and said unto him, ‘How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.’

“Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

“So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, ‘How much owest thou unto my lord?’ And he said, ‘An hundred measures of oil.’  And he said unto him, ‘Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

“Then said he to another, ‘And how much owest thou?’ And he said, ‘An hundred measures of wheat.’  And he said unto him, ‘Take thy bill, and write fourscore.’

“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

“And I say unto you, make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

“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.”

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

And he said unto them, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed  among men is abomination in the sight of God.”…

 

 “There was certain rich man, which were clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was also buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

“And he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.’

“Then he said, ‘I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: For I have brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

“Abraham saith unto him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

“And he said, ‘Nay, father Abraham: but of one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.’

“And he said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’”

                                                                             Luke 16:1—31

And he said also unto his disciples, “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.  And he called him, and said unto him, ‘How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.’

“Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

“So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, ‘How much owest thou unto my lord?’ And he said, ‘An hundred measures of oil.’  And he said unto him, ‘Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

“Then said he to another, ‘And how much owest thou?’ And he said, ‘An hundred measures of wheat.’  And he said unto him, ‘Take thy bill, and write fourscore.’

“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

“And I say unto you, make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

“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.”

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

And he said unto them, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed  among men is abomination in the sight of God.”…                                              Luke 16:1—15

The dishonest steward make others also dishonest and bribe them in order to get favors from them. The employer admired the shrewdness of his steward. Jesus points out that materially minded i.e. ‘the children of this world’ exhibit more cleverness than about practical affairs than spiritual persons i.e., ‘the children of the light.’  Thus Jesus counsels his followers in this parables.  They should fulfill their dutiful responsibilities and satisfy their material needs apart from spiritual duties.   

Jesus says, ‘that since wealth, unrighteous mammon, is a necessary resource in material affairs. If you are good in spiritual affairs then your good karma will look after you not only in spiritual affairs but also material affairs.

Mammon is a Aramaic word. Its meaning is wealth. If you love God supremely, evil cannot do anything to you. In the modern world love of money is the principal tool of delusion. Jesus told Pharisees if you love wealth you cannot have spirituality and hence will not long for self realization. Addressing Pharisees, Jesus said: You hypocrites, spiritually blind only can trust you. You lovers of material wealth, you will be looked down upon by Heavenly Father.

Money, sex, and intoxication are the three gates to Hell.

“There was certain rich man, which were clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was also buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

“And he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

“But Abraham said, ‘Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.’

“Then he said, ‘I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house: For I have brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

“Abraham saith unto him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

“And he said, ‘Nay, father Abraham: but of one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.’

“And he said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’”                     Luke 16:19—31

In this parable of rich man and beggar, Jesus refers to the different vibratory regions of the astral world to which the virtuous and vice souls are attracted to.  If you are a virtuous beggar, you will be conveyed by Holy Ghost (angels of God) into the higher astral regions of ‘Abraham’s bosom’.

“Gabriel’s trumpet” that resurrects souls after death into their karmically earned abodes in the aastral world and next incarnation on earth.

The sinful man pleads, ‘Father Abraham have mercy and send Lazarus to me. He may comfort me and cool my tongue.  Due to my wrong doings I was brought here. I am tormented by desires and attachments. Abraham replied: Son, you have neglected God by immersing in material desires and attachments. Lazarus, did not forget God in spite of his physical suffering. According to the law of cause and effect, you will not be comforted but Lazarus will be comforted.  It is warning to those who neglect to develop spiritual consciousness. People should not thrive for body-bound sense pleasures.

Persons experience glorified peace and be freed from burdens and afflictions when soul leaves the body at the time of death. The unpleasant karmic lessons await debased individuals.

The soul awakes in another body after the completion of astral suffering or reward.  This incarnation need not be human.  

“If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”  Matthew 6:22

It is by opening the ‘single’ or spiritual eye that one can perceive the luminous pranic forces that compose the astral body and astral cosmos.

Lazarus could not be sent to rich man because of the ‘gulf’ of vibrations that divides them in astral realms. The barrier was created by spiritual karma. “so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”  

The more advanced a soul, the freer its movement within the vast territory of God’s kingdom.  Fully liberated souls have no limits of boundaries. The higher echelon soul can travel in lower echelon territory whereas lower echelon soul cannot travel in higher echelon territory.

The souls must ascend or descend. They cannot remain stationary. Once their astral period is over, the souls must incarnate in another physical body on earth.  Bhavadgita says:

Yajante saatwikaa devaan yaksha rakshaami raajasaah

Pretaan bhootaganaam schaanye yajante taamasaa janaah Gita 17—4

The saattwik people worship Devas, Rajoguna people worship Yakshas and Raakshasaas, and Taamasa guna people worship Bhootaas and Pretas.