Part 11 (1/2)

He tells us that The Word made all things, that we may be sure that He is a G.o.d of order, because all things which He has made are full of order; a G.o.d who acts by rules and laws which we may trust. He tells us that The Word made all things, that we may be sure that all things, being His handy-work, will bear witness of Him and teach us about Him, and shew forth His glory.

But he tells us moreover--Oh gospel, and good news for blind and weak humanity!--that The Word's glory is full of grace; gracious; ready to condescend; ready to teach us, and give us light to see our way through this world which He has made.

He tells us that The Word's glory is full of truth; that He is truthful, accurate, and to be depended on; and will tell us nothing but what is true. That He is a true Word of G.o.d, and when He speaks to us of His Father and of our Father, He tells the truth.

And so do St John and the Psalmist agree in the same gospel, and good news, of the mystery of Christ The Word.

There is an eternal Being in heaven, who is called The Word of G.o.d; because He speaks of, and reveals--that is, unveils and shews--to men, and angels, and archangels, and all created beings, that G.o.d whom no man hath seen, or can see; a Word who dwells for ever in the bosom of The Father, in the light which no man can approach unto: but who for ever comes forth from thence to proclaim to all created beings--There is a G.o.d, and The Word is His likeness; the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person. None hath seen the Father at any time: but the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. None cometh to the Father, but through Him. But he who hath seen Him, hath seen the Father; and He is none other than Jesus Christ our Lord.

He is The Word of G.o.d, who speaks to men G.o.d's words, because He speaks not His own words but His Father's, and does not His own will but His Father's who sends Him.

He speaks to us and to all men, in many ways; and to each according to his needs. To all men, Christ speaks through their consciences, shewing them what is good, and warning them of what is evil; for He is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. To Christians Christ speaks in many ways--to which, alas, too few give heed--through the Bible, through the sacraments, through sermons, through the thoughts and words of all wise and holy men. To the good He speaks with gracious encouragement; to the wicked with awful severity. To the hypocrites He says at times, ”Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the d.a.m.nation of h.e.l.l?” To the self-satisfied and bigoted He says, ”If ye had been blind, ye had had no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” To the careless and worldly He says, ”I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, I have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

To those who are ruining themselves by their own folly He says, ”Why will ye die? I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord: but rather that he should be converted, and live.” To those who are tormented by their own pa.s.sions He says, ”Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” To those who are wearied with the burden of their own sins He says, ”Come unto Me, all ye that are weary, and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

To those who are struggling, however weakly, to do what is right He says, ”I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and none can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name. Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.”

And to those who mourn for those whom they have loved and lost He says, ”Fear not, I am the first and the last, I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of h.e.l.l and of death. He that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”

For every one of us, according to his character and his needs, Christ speaks a fitting word from G.o.d, because He is The Word of G.o.d; and every word which He speaks to us is true, and sure, and eternal, according to the laws of G.o.d His Father. For He is The Word who endures for ever in heaven; and though heaven and earth may pa.s.s away, His words cannot pa.s.s away.

Yes; Christ The Word speaks to all: but most of all to children: to the children, of whom He said--”Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not;”--of whom He said to grown-up people, not--Except these children be converted and become as you--He left that message for the Pharisees of His own time, and of every age and creed: but--Except you grown people be converted and become as little children, you, and not they, shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Let us tell children that--that Christ Himself is speaking to them. That The Word of G.o.d is educating them. That the Light who lightens every man who comes into the world is labouring to enlighten them, their intellect and memory, their emotions and their consciences. Let that be the ground of all our education of children. Then it will matter little to us who teaches them what is miscalled secular knowledge. For we shall tell our children--In it, too, Christ is teaching you. The understanding by which you understand the world about you is Christ's gift. The world which you are to understand is Christ's world; for He laid the foundation of the earth, and it abideth. The physical laws of the universe are Christ's laws; for all things serve Him, and continue this day according to His ordinance. Every natural object is a result of Christ's will, and its organization a product of Christ's mind; for without Him was not anything made that was made. The whole course of events, great and small, is Christ's providence; for to Him all power is given in heaven and earth.

So far, therefore, from being afraid to teach our children Natural Science, we shall hold it a sacred duty to teach it; for it is the will and mind of Christ, The Word of G.o.d.

And as for morality--we shall be ready to teach that, as far as the prudential and paying virtues are concerned, as boldly and on the very same grounds as the merest Utilitarian. For we shall teach honesty, courtesy, decency, self-restraint, patience, foresight, on the warrant of the Bible; which is, that Christ has made the world so well, that sooner or later every wise and just act rewards itself, every foolish and unjust act punishes itself, by the very const.i.tution of nature and society, which again are laid down by Christ. But what of the n.o.bler, the non- prudential, and non-paying virtues?--call them rather graces.--Them we shall teach our children--as I believe we can only teach them rationally and logically, either to children or to grown-up people--by pointing them to Christ upon His cross, and saying to them, ”Behold your G.o.d!”

For so we shall be able to train them in the orthodox doctrine of morals, which is--

That there is nothing good in man which is not first in G.o.d.

We shall be able to make them comprehend what we mean when we tell them that they are members of Christ, and must live the Life of Christ; that they are children of G.o.d, and as such must imitate their Father, and become perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect.

For we shall say--The pure and perfect graces, the disinterested virtues, the unselfish virtues--obedience, mercy, chivalry, beneficence, magnanimity, heroism,--in one word, self-sacrifice--beautiful these are: but are they necessary? are they mere ornaments? or are they sacred duties? The duty which dares and suffers for the thing it ought to do; the love which dares and suffers for the thing it loves; the unselfish spirit which looks for no reward:--why should these dwell in man? To that we shall answer--Because they dwell for ever in G.o.d. If we are asked--Why are they beautiful in man? we shall answer--Because they are the very beauty and glory of G.o.d; the glory which the Incarnate Word of G.o.d manifested to men, when He hung on the cross of Calvary; and was more utterly then, if possible, than ever, The Word of G.o.d: because He then declared most utterly to men the character and essence of G.o.d. Love which is not content--as what true love is?--to be a pa.s.sive sentiment, a self-contained possibility, but which must go out of itself, pitying, yearning, agonizing, to seek, to struggle, to suffer, and, if need be, to die for the creature which it loves, even if that creature love it not again.

We need not say this to children. We need only point them to Christ upon His cross, and trust Christ to say it to them, in their heart of hearts, through instincts too deep for words. All we need say to our children is--”Behold your G.o.d! He it is who inspires you with every dutiful, generous, and unselfish impulse you have ever felt; for they are the fruits of His Spirit. By that Spirit He was once unselfish even to the death. By that Spirit He will enable you to carry out in action, as He did, the unselfish instincts which He has given you; and to live the n.o.ble life, the heroic life, the life of self-sacrifice; the life of G.o.d; the life of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and therefore the only life fit for those who are baptized into that Holy Name.”

This is the ground and method on which we should educate our children; for it is the ground and method on which The Word of G.o.d is educating us.

SERMON XV. I.

PSALM CXIX. 94.

I am Thine, oh save me.

Let us think seriously this afternoon of one word; the word which is the key-note of this psalm. A very short word; for in our language there is but one letter in it. A very common word; for we are using it all day long when we are awake, and even at night in our dreams; and yet a very wonderful word, for though we know well whom it means, yet what it means we do not know, and cannot understand, no, nor can the wisest philosopher who ever lived; and a most important word too; for we cannot get rid of it, we cannot help thinking of it, cannot help saying it all our life long from childhood to the grave. After death, too, we shall probably be saying that word to ourselves, each of us, for ever and ever. If the whole universe, sun, moon, and stars, and all that we ever thought of, or can think of, were destroyed and became nothing, that word would probably be left; and we should be left alone with it; and on what we meant by that little word would depend our everlasting happiness or misery. And what is this wonderful little word? What but the word I? Each one of us says I--I think, I know, I feel, I ought, I ought not, I did that, and cannot undo it: and why? Because we are not things, nor mere animals, but persons, living souls, though our bodies are like the bodies of animals, only more perfect, that they may be fit dwelling-places for more perfect souls. The animals, as far as we know, do not think of themselves each as I. Little children do not at first. They call themselves by names by which they hear others call them: not in the first but in the third person. After a while there grows up in them the wonderful thought that they are persons, different from any other person round them, and they begin to say--I want this, I like that. I trust that I shall not seem to you as one who dreams when I say that I believe that is a revelation from G.o.d to each child, and just what makes the difference between him and an animal; that G.o.d teaches each child to say I; to know that it is not a mere thing, but a person, a living soul, with a will of its own, and a duty of its own; responsible for itself; which ought to do some things, and ought not to do other things. And what a solemn and awful revelation that is, we shall see more clearly, the more we think of it.

It may be a very dreadful and tormenting thought. It does not torment the mere savage, who has no sense of right and wrong; who follows his own appet.i.tes and pa.s.sions, and has never learnt to say, ”I ought,” and ”I ought not.” But it does torment the heathen when they begin to be civilized, and to think; it has tormented them in all ages. It tormented the old Greeks and Romans; it torments some Eastern peoples still--that terrible thought--I am I myself, and cannot be any one else. I am answerable for all that I ever did, or shall do; and no one can be answerable for me. All the bad deeds I ever did, the bad thoughts I ever thought, are mine, parts of me, and will be for ever. I can no more escape from them than I can spring off my own shadow. But men have been always trying to escape; to escape from the burden of their own self, and the dread of an evil conscience; and have invented religion after religion, often fantastic enough, often pathetic enough likewise, in hopes of hiding from themselves the secret thought--I am I, and must be myself for ever. But I am not what I ought to be, and therefore I may be wrong, and miserable for ever. And how many people, in this Christian land, are saying at this very moment to themselves, ”Oh that I could get rid of this I myself in me, which is so discontented and unhappy! Oh that I had no conscience! Oh that I could forget myself!” And they try to forget themselves by dissipation, by gaming, by drinking, by taking narcotic drugs, even sometimes by suicide, as a last desperate attempt to escape from themselves, they know not and care not whither. It is all in vain. There is no escape from self. As the pious poet whose bust stands beneath yonder tower has said: