APRIL The Fifteenth

_DEGRADING HOLY THINGS_

1 SAMUEL vi. 1-15.

I must remember that a holy thing can be the minister of a plague. Things that were purposed to be benedictions can be changed into blights. The very ark of G.o.d must be in its appointed place or it becomes the means of sickness and destruction. So it is with all the holy things of G.o.d: if I dethrone them they will uncrown me.

It is even so with music. Unless I give it its holy sovereignty it will become a minister of the pa.s.sions, and the angel within me is mastered by a beast. Let me read again Tennyson's "Palace of Sin," and let me heedfully note how music becomes the instrument of ign.o.ble sensationalism, and aids in man's degradation. "But exalt her, and she shall exalt thee."

It is even so with art. It is purposed to be the holy dwelling-place of G.o.d, but I can so abuse it as to make it the agent of degradation. Instead of hallowing the life it will debase and impoverish it.

I will therefore remember that, if I infringe the Divine order, I can turn the sacramental cup into a vehicle of moral poison and spiritual blight.

"They must be holy who bear the vessels of the Lord."

APRIL The Sixteenth

_PRIESTS OF THE LORD_

"_None ought to carry the ark of G.o.d but the Levites._"

--1 CHRONICLES xv. 1-3, 11-15.

There are prepared people for prepared offices. The Lord will fit the man to the function, the anointed and consecrated priest for the consecrated and consecrating ministry.

But now, in the larger purpose of the Lord, and in "the exceeding riches of His grace," everybody may be a priest of the Lord. "He hath made us to be priests and kings unto G.o.d." And He will prepare us to carry our ark, and to "minister in holy things."

I can be His priest in the home. He will anoint me as one who is to engage in holy ministries, and I shall be serving at the altar even while engaged in the lowly duties of the house. The humble meal will be sacramental, and common work will be heavenly sacrifice.

I can be His priest in my cla.s.s. The Lord will clothe me in "linen clean and white," and in my consecrated spirit my scholars shall discern the incense of sacrifice. And woe is me if I attempt to fill the G.o.dly office without my G.o.d.

And I can be His priest in my workshop. Yes, in the carpenter's shop I may wear the radiant robe of the sanctified. And I, too, as one of the priests of the Lord, can "bear the sin of many, and make intercession for the transgressor."

APRIL The Seventeenth

_GREAT PRAISE_

1 CHRONICLES xvi. 7-36.

"Great is the Lord!" So many people have such a little G.o.d! There is nothing about Him august and sublime. And so He is not greatly praised.

The worship is thin, the thanksgivings are scanty, the supplications are indifferent.

All great saints have a great G.o.d. He fills their universe. Therefore do they move about in a fruitful awe, and everywhere there is only a thin veil between them and His appearing. Everywhere they discern His holy presence, as the face of a bride is dimly seen beneath her bridal veil.

And so even the common scrub of the wilderness is aflame with sacred fire: the humble "primrose on the rock" becomes "the court of Deity": and the "strength of the hills is His also"!

Yes, a great G.o.d inspires great praise, and in great praise small cares and small meannesses are utterly consumed away. When praise is mean, anxieties multiply. Therefore let me contemplate the greatness of G.o.d in nature and in providence, in His power, and His holiness, and His love.

Let me "stand in awe" before His glory: and in the fruitful reverence the soul will be moved in acceptable praise.

APRIL The Eighteenth

_MECHANICAL PIETY_

PHILEMON 10-18.

The Apostle Paul declares that benefits may be given in one of two ways--"_of necessity_" and "_willingly_." One is mechanical, the other is spontaneous. I once saw a little table-fountain playing in a drawing-room, but I heard the click of its machinery, and the charm was gone! It had to be wound up before it would play, and at frequent periods it "ran down." A little later I saw another fountain playing on a green lawn, and it was fed from the deep secret resources of the hills!

There is a generosity which is like the drawing-room fountain. If you listen you can hear the mechanical click, and a sound of friction, arising from murmuring and complaint. And there is a generosity which is like the fountain that is the child of the hills. It is clear, and sweet, and musical, and flows on through every season! One is "of necessity"; the other is "willingly." And "G.o.d loveth a cheerful giver."

And prayer can be of the same two contrary orders. One prayer is mechanical, it is hard, formal, metallic. The other is spontaneous, forceful, and irresistible. Listen to the Pharisee--"Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are." It is the click of the machine! Listen to the publican--"G.o.d be merciful to me, a sinner!" It is the voice of the deeps.

APRIL The Ninteenth

_UNION IN HARMONY_

"_Be ye all of one mind._"

--1 PETER iii. 8-17.

But this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance: each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. "By love serve one another." It is love that converts membership into fraternity: it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family.

Look at a field of wild-flowers. What a harmony of colour! And yet what a variety of colours! Nothing out of place, but no sameness! All drawing resource from the same soil, and breathing the vitalizing substance from the same air!

"And ye, being rooted and grounded in love," will grow up, a holy family in the Lord. If love be the common ground the varieties in G.o.d's family may be infinite!

And so the unity which the apostle seeks is a unity of mood and disposition. It is not a unity which repeats the exact syllables of a common creed, but a unity which is built of common trust, and love, and hope. It is not sameness upon the outer lips, but fellowship in the secret place.

APRIL The Twentieth