We Are Able
Hen Jesus asked his two ambitious disciples if they were able to drink the cup he was about to drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which he was baptized, they said promptly, “We are able.” Their heroic answer furnishes a noble motto for every phase of life. Whatever call comes to us, whether it be to sorrow or to joy, we should say in quiet confidence, “I am able.”
This is a good motto for life in general. Too many people shrink from anything that is hard. They want only easy tasks. They fear to grapple with difficulties. They run away from hard battles. They attempt nothing they know they cannot do easily. They never grow into strength, for only in attempting hard things can one gain the ability to do fintiine tle Waig
things noble and beautiful. The habit of giving up easily is a fatal one. It weakens the will, paralyzes the energy, and stunts the growth of the life. What a man thinks he cannot do, he cannot do; but what he thinks he can do, he can do. The true man is he who can do things that are impossible — anybody can do possible things.
Our answer to every call of duty should be, “I am able.” Whatever we ought to do, we can do. “I cannot” is a stunting, dwarfing word. Besides, it is a cowardly word. When we say it we do not know what we are missing. We allow magnificent possibilities to pass by and pass out of our reach, because we think we cannot achieve them. One of Emerson’s poems pictures the days marching on in endless file, bringing gifts in their hands for us who miss them because of our poor timidity and indolence.
“Daughters of time, the hypocritic Days, Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes, And marching single in an endless file. Bring diadems and fagots in their hands, [124]
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To each they ojjcr gifts after his will,
Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds them
all. I, in my pleached garden, watched the pompf Forgot my morning wishes, hastily Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day Turned and departed silent. I, too late, Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn.”
The poet’s picture Is true of too many. The days come with great gifts in their hands — kingdoms, stars, sky, and diadems; we take a few herbs and apples, and let the messengers move on and vanish, still holding in their hands the splendid gifts which might have been ours. Many go through life missing countless opportunities for noble deeds and worthy achievements, only answering to their call, “I cannot.”
“I am able” is the only fit reply to make to every command and requirement of Christ. James and John did not know what they were saying, but they faltered not. Their answer showed courage, the courage of the soldier. Soldiers never say, “I cannot.” They know [125] fintiing tie Wav
only to obey. The answer of these men also implied love for their Master. They were ready to suffer anything for his sake. What it would cost them to stand close to him they did not know, but whatever the cost would be they were ready to pay it. It was also the answer of faith. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah. What Messiahship meant they did not know. They had indeed most confused ideas upon the subject. Yet they believed in him. There always are those who have their difficulties with Christian doctrine. They cannot understand the teachings concerning the person and work of Christ. Yet they may cling to him and follow him ignorantly, loyal to the uttermost, as James and John did. Some day all will become clear. One of our poets makes an Oriental who had been listening to Jesus of Nazareth, utter these strong words, —
“// Jesus Christ is a man]
And only a man — / say
That of all mankind I will cleave to him
And to him will I cleave alway.
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“If Jesus Christ is a god —
And the only God — / swear I will follow him through heaven and hell, The earth, the sea, and the air.”
“I am able“* is always the motto for Christian faith. Faith deals with the unseen and invisible. We never know what we are engaging to do when we pledge ourselves to follow Christ unto the end. “When Abraham was called, he went out, not knowing whither he went. In every life there are experiences of darkness. When we come up to the edge of things we dread, the Master asks, “Are ye able to drink my cup?” That is, “Are you able to follow me through this trial, this sorrow, this mystery of pain, this great sacrifice.?” We must remember that the richest blessings of grace lie beyond experiences of pain. The question of the measure of blessing and good we are to receive is ofttimes another way of putting the question, whether we can pay the price or not. “Can you drink the cup which I am about to drink .?” If we [127] finDing tle Wav
cannot, the blessing is beyond our reach. If these two men had said, “No; we are not able to drink the cup with thee,” what would they have missed? There are many who do miss life’s highest and best blessings because they cannot accept the condition. It should help our faith and courage in time of sore questioning to remember that it is the Master’s cup we are to drink, and that we are to drink it not alone, but with him. Surely we can drink any cup with him.
“But if himself he come to thee, and stand Beside thee, gazing down on thee with eyes That smile, and suffer; that will smite thy heart With their own pity to a passionate peace; And reach to thee himself the holy cup (With all its wreathen stems of passion flowers And quivering sparkles of the ruby stars), Pallid and royal, saying, ‘Drink with me, ‘Wilt thou refuse f Nay, not for Paradise! The pale brow will compel thee, the pure hands Will minister unto thee; thou shall take Of that communion through the solemn depths Of the dark waters of thine agony, [ 128]
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With heart that praises him, that yearns to him The closer through that hour. Hold fast his hand Though the nails pierce thine too! take only care Lest one drop of the sacramental wine Be spilled, of that which ever shall unite Thee, soul and body, to thy living Lord.”
“I am able” is the motto also for service. Christian life is a continual call to heroic deeds. It is not easy to be the kind of Christian Christ wants us to be. We can make life easy for ourselves if we will, but this will not please Christ. The two disciples wanted first places, and first places are never easy to fill. Jesus showed them that in his kingdom rank meant service. “He that would be first among you, must be servant of all.” That is what it is to be a Christian. The mission of the Church is to bless men, to lift up the fallen, to succor the tempted, to relieve the distressed, to be a friend to the weary, the desolate and the lonely. “Are you able.?” There is no other way to the high places. There Is no other way to become a true minister of Christ. Four years in a college and three years in a [129]
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theological seminary will make no young man a minister. A Presbytery may license and ordain him to preach the gospel after he has finished his course, but that will not make him a minister. Nothing will make anyone a minister but drinking Christ’s cup and being baptized with Christ’s baptism. Nor will anything else make one a Christian of the kind the Master wants. Uniting with the church will not do it. “Are you able to drink of my cup? Are you able to put your life into the service of men alongside your Master?”
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‘Labor and rest,
These are the best
Blessings that heaven gives;
And happy he
Who makes them be
His gladness while he lives.”
“You must live each day at your very best. The work of the world is done by few; God asks that a part be done by you.”