The Key to Practical Service

‘Then the Spirit took me up ... and the Lord said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.” — Ezuk. iii, 12, 22.

HE words seem an anti-climax; it is the

rapturous for the sake of the commonplace. The Spirit takes Ezekiel up just for the purpose of sending him down. He is lifted, first of all, into a state of ecstasy. He is put on a height — far above the dust and din of the common way; he is brought into the immediate presence of God. But God says to him, “TI have brought you up here just to tell you that this is not the place for our communion, just to bid you go down into the plain and seek My Presence there.” One asks, “Why bring him up at all! Was he not in the plain originally! Why tell him to ascend the hill for the

mere purpose of resuming the spot where he had first stood!” But do you not see the extreme beauty of the thought. No one can do the duties of the plain till he has had a breath of the mountain. It is not by commonplace thought that we perform commonplace duties; it is by high and noble aspirations. Do you think God calls Moses up to the mount that he may live on the mount. No; He calls him up that He may fit him for level ground. He gives him a breath of heaven that he may be able to teach the common things of earth — to say, “Honour your father and mother, do not swear, do not lie nor cheat nor kill.” It seems a lame and impotent conclusion for the sublimities of Sinai; but it is not. We need morning light for our afternoon labour. It is by the height we serve the plain; it is by the love of heaven we do the work of earth; it is by the inspiration of beauty from the Promised Land that we tread the sands of the desert with unstained feet.

Ye whose work is pre-eminently on the plain, get a preliminary glimpse of God! Come up and see the sunrise ere you go down into the toils of the wilderness! Ye who labour among the sick, come first to the top of the hill ! — gaze on the mountain glory ere you seek the burdens of the day! Ye who labour among the poor, come first to the top of the hill! — take a deep draught of hope ere you traverse the dens and alleys! Ye who labour among the lapsed, come first to the top of the hill! — get a sight of human possibilities ere you tread the path of tears! For it is not despair that nerves you, ye workers in waste and wilderness. They among whom you sojourn may be sunk in depravity, dead in trespasses and sin; yet it is not despair that nerves you. Paul says we are saved by hope; yes, and we save others by hope. Ye that nurse in the hospitals, what is it you see? Is it the dilapidated form on the bed? No, it is the resurrection body — the body as God designed it. Ye that toil in the penitentiaries, what is it you see? Is it the depraved soul walking amid the tombs? No, it is the soul set free — the soul as God painted it. Never lose sight of the Christ when you stand in Bethlehem’s manger! never lose sound of the music when you watch in Bethlehem’s night! for it is the Christ that makes the manger bearable, it is the music that makes the night tolerable. Beside the cradle of present impotence, behold the treasures laid! through the night of lonely watching, hear the angels sing! And your helpfulness will be greater by reason of the glory; your watchfulness will be deeper by reason of the song. Hope, and you will help; be bright, and you will bear; enjoy the vision of triumph, and you will endure the vale of tears. They who have mounted up as eagles in the morning, shall in the afternoon walk and not faint.