Part 20 (1/2)

And again, we are, just as much as the Jews were, in danger of spiritual pride; in danger of fancying that because we are religious, and have, or fancy we have, deep experiences and beautiful thoughts about G.o.d and Christ and our own souls, therefore we can afford to despise those who do not know as much as ourselves; to despise the common pleasures and petty sorrows of poor creatures, whose souls and bodies are grovelling in the dust, busied with the cares of this world, at their wits' end to get their daily bread; to despise the merriment of young people, the play of children, and all those everyday happinesses which, though we may turn from them with a sneer, are precious in the sight of Him who made heaven and earth.

All such proud thoughts, all such contempt of those who do not seem as spiritual as we fancy ourselves, is evil. It is from the devil, and not from G.o.d. It is the same vile spirit which made the Pharisees of old say: ”This people--these poor worldly drudging wretches--who know not the law, are accursed.” And mind, this is not a sin of rich, and learned, and highborn men only. They may be more tempted to it than others; but poor men, when they become, by the grace of G.o.d, wiser, more spiritual, more holy than others, are tempted, just as much as the rich, to despise their poor neighbours to whom G.o.d has not given the same light as themselves; and surely in them it shows ugliest of all. A learned and high-born man may be excused for looking down upon the sinful poor, because he does not understand their temptations, because he never has been ignorant and struggling as they are. But a poor man who despises the poor--he has no excuse. He ought above all men to feel for them, for he has been tempted even as they are. He knows their sorrows; he has been through their dark valley of bad food, bad lodging, want of work, want of teaching, low cares which drag the soul to earth. Surely a poor man who has tasted G.o.d's love and Christ's light, ought, above all others, instead of turning his back on his cla.s.s, to pity them, to make common cause with them, to teach them, guide them, comfort them, in a way no rich man can. Yes; after all, it is the poor must help the poor; the poor must comfort the poor; the poor must teach and convert the poor.

See, in the epistle for this day, St. Paul makes no distinction between rich and poor. This epistle is joined with the gospel for the day, to show us what ought to be the conduct of Christians, who believe in the miracle of Cana; what men should do who believe that they have a Lord in heaven, by whose command suns s.h.i.+ne, fruits ripen, men enjoy the blessings of harvest, of marriage, of the comforts which the heathen and the savage, as well as the Christian man, partake; what men should do who believe that they have a Lord in heaven who entered into the common joys and sorrows of lowly men, who was once Himself a poor villager, who ate with publicans and sinners, who condescended to join in a wedding feast, and increase the mere animal enjoyment of the guests. And what is St. Paul's command to poor as well as rich? Read the epistle for this day and see.

You see at once that this epistle is written in the same spirit as our Lord's words: by G.o.d's Spirit, in short; the Spirit which brought the Lord Jesus so condescendingly to the wedding feast; the Spirit which made Him care so heartily for the common pleasures of those around Him. My friends, these are not commands to one cla.s.s, but to all. Poor as well as rich may show mercy with cheerfulness, and love without dissimulation. Poor as well as rich may minister to others with earnestness, and condescend to those of low estate. Not a word in this whole epistle which does not apply equally to every rank, and s.e.x, and age.

Neither are these commands to each of us by ourselves, but to all of us together, as members of a family. If you will look through them they are not things to be done to ourselves, but to our neighbours; not experiences to be felt about our own souls: but rules of conduct to our fellow-men. They are all different branches and flowers from that one root: ”Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”

Do we live thus, rich or poor? Can we look each other in the face this afternoon and say, each man to his neighbour: ”I have behaved like a brother to you. I have rejoiced at your good fortune, and grieved at your sorrow. I have preferred you to myself. I have loved you without dissimulation. I have been earnest in my place and duty in the parish for the sake of the common good of all. I have condescended to those of lower rank than myself. I have--” Ah, my dear friends, I had better not go on with the list. G.o.d forgive us all! The less we try to justify ourselves on this score the better.

Some of us do indeed try to behave like brothers and sisters to their neighbours; but how few of us; and those few how little! And yet we are brothers. We are members of one family, sons of one Father, joint-heirs with one Lord, the poor Man who sat eating and drinking at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, and mixed freely in the joys and the sorrows of the poorest and meanest. Joint-heirs with Christ; yet how unlike Him! My friends, we need to repent and amend our ways; we need to confess, every one of us, rich and poor, the pride, the selfishness, the carelessness about each other, which keeps us so much apart, knowing so little of each other, feeling so little for each other. Oh confess this sin to G.o.d, every one of you. Those who have behaved most like brothers, will be most ready to confess how little they have behaved like brothers. Confess: ”Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son, for I have not loved, cared for, helped my brothers and sisters round, who are just as much thy children as I am.” Pray for the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of condescension, love, fellow- feeling; that spirit which rejoices simply and heartily with those who are happy, and feels for another's sorrows as if they were its own. Pray for it; for till it comes, there will be no peace on earth. Pray for it; for when it comes and takes possession of your hearts, and you all really love and live like brothers, children of one Father, the kingdom of G.o.d will be come indeed, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

XLVIII--PARABLE OF THE LOWEST PLACE

And He put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have wors.h.i.+p in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.--LUKE xiv. 7-11.

We heard in the gospel for to-day how the Lord Jesus put forth a parable to those who were invited to a dinner with Him at the Pharisee's house. A parable means an example of any rules or laws; a story about some rule, by hearing which people may see how the rule works in practice, and understand it. Now, our Lord's parables were about the kingdom of G.o.d. They were examples of the rules and laws by which the kingdom of G.o.d is governed and carried on. Therefore He begins many of His parables by saying, The kingdom of G.o.d is like something--something which people see daily, and understand more or less. ”The kingdom of G.o.d is like a field;” ”The kingdom of G.o.d is like a net;” ”The kingdom of G.o.d is like a grain of mustard seed;”

and so forth. And even where He did not begin one of His parables by speaking of the kingdom of G.o.d, we may be still certain that it has to do with the kingdom of G.o.d. For the one great reason why the Lord was made flesh and dwelt among us, was to preach the kingdom of G.o.d, His Father and our Father, and to prove to men that G.o.d was their King, even at the price of his most precious blood. And, therefore, everything which He ever did, and everything which He ever spoke, had to do with this one great work of His. This parable, therefore, which you heard read in the gospel for to-day, has to do with the kingdom of G.o.d, and is an example of the laws of it.

Now, what is the kingdom of G.o.d? It is worth our while to consider.

For at baptism we were declared members of the kingdom of G.o.d; we were to renounce the world, and to live according to the kingdom of G.o.d. The kingdom of G.o.d is simply the way in which G.o.d governs men; and the world is the way in which men try to manage without G.o.d's help or leave. That is the difference between them; and a most awful difference it is. Men fancy that they can get on well enough without G.o.d; that the ways of the world are very reasonable, and useful, and profitable, and quite good enough to live by, if not to die by. But all the while G.o.d is King, let them fancy what they like; and this earth, and everything on it, from the king on his throne to the gnat in the sunbeam, is under His government, and must obey His laws or die. We are in G.o.d's kingdom, my good friends, every one of us, whether we like it or not, and we shall be there for ever and ever.

And our business is, therefore, simply to find out what are the laws of that kingdom, and obey those laws as speedily as possible, and live for ever thereby, lest, if we break them, and get in their way, they should grind us to powder.

Now, here is one of the laws of G.o.d's kingdom: ”Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and whosoever abaseth himself shall be exalted.” That is, whosoever, in any way whatsoever, sets himself up, will be pulled down again: while he who is contented to keep low, and think little of himself, will be raised up and set on high.

Now the world's rule is the exact opposite of this. The world says, Every man for himself. The way of the world is to struggle and strive for the highest place; to be a pus.h.i.+ng man, and a rising man, and a man who will stand stiffly by his rights, and give his enemy as good as he brings, and beat his neighbour out of the market, and show off himself to the best advantage, and try to make the most of whatever wit or money he has to look well in the world, that people may look up to him and flatter him and obey him; and so the world has no objection to people's pretending to be better than they are.

Every man must do the best he can for himself, the world says, and never mind his neighbours: they must take care of themselves; and if they are foolish enough to be taken in, so much the worse for them.

So the world thinks that there is no harm in a man, when he has anything to sell, making it out better than it really is, and hiding the fault in it as far as he can. When a tradesman or manufacturer sends about ”puffs” of his goods, and pretends that they are better and cheaper than other people's, just to get custom by it, the world does not call that what it is--boasting and lying. It says: ”Of course a man must do the best he can for himself. If a man does not praise himself, n.o.body else will praise him; he cannot expect his neighbours to take him for better than his own words.” So again, if a man wants a place or situation, the world thinks it no harm if he gives the most showy character of himself, and gets his friends to say all the good of him they can, and a great deal more, and to say none of the harm--in short, to make himself out a much better, or shrewder, or worthier man than he really is. The world does not call that either what it is--boasting, and lying, and thrusting oneself into callings to which G.o.d has not called us. The world says: ”Of course a man must turn his best side outwards. You cannot expect a man to tell tales on himself.”

And, my friends, the world would be quite right, and reasonable, and prudent, in telling us to push, and boast, and lie, and puff ourselves and our goods, if it were not for one thing which the foolish blind world is always forgetting, and that is, that there is a G.o.d who judges the earth. If G.o.d were not our King; if He took no care of us men and our doings; if mankind had it all their own way on earth, and were forced to s.h.i.+ft for themselves without any laws of G.o.d to guide them, then the best thing every man could do would be to fight for himself; to get all he could for himself, and leave as little as he could for his neighbours; to make himself out as great, and wise, and strong, as he could, and try to make his neighbours buy him at his own price. That would be the best plan for every man, if G.o.d was not King; and therefore the world says that that is the best plan for every man, because the world does not believe that G.o.d is King, and hates the notion that G.o.d is King, and laughs at and persecutes, as Jesus Christ said it would, those who preach the kingdom of G.o.d, and tell men, as I tell you in G.o.d's name: ”You were not made to be selfish; you were not meant to rise in the world by boasting and pus.h.i.+ng down and deceiving your neighbours. For you are subjects of G.o.d's kingdom; and to do so is to break his laws, and to put yourselves under His curse; and however worldly-wise all this selfishness and boasting may seem, it is sin, whose wages are death and ruin.”

For, my friends, let the world try to forget G.o.d as it will, He does not forget the world. Let men try to make rules and laws for themselves, rules about religion, rules about government, rules about trade, rules about morals and what they fancy is just and fair; let them make as many rules as they like, they are only wasting their time; for G.o.d has made His rules already, and revealed them to us in the Bible, and told us that the earth and mankind are governed in His way, and not in ours, and that He will not alter His everlasting rules to suit our new ones. As David says: ”Let the people be never so unquiet, still the Lord is King.”