The Divine in the Humble
’ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brothei of James, and Joses, and of Judah, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him.” — Mark vi. 3.
This is the earliest offence given by the Gospel; and to my mind it is deeply suggestive, because I think it is still the earliest offence taken by each individual soul. What is the ground of complaint here spoken of? Briefly stated, it is the homeliness of Christianity. Men refused to recognise a thing which grew amid such mean surroundings. Had Jesus claimed anything less than a Divine message there would have been no objection to His mean surroundings. Had He claimed merely the inspiration of human genius no one would have seen any contradiction in the poverty of His environment. For all human conditions the Jew prescribed toil; he desired that every man should learn a trade, should live as if he had to earn his bread. But when he came to speak of man’s relation to God, then changed the spirit of his dream. To him the attitude of God was e or one
H3 of rest. His God lay in the secret place of His pavilion, with the curtains drawn, and the doors shut, and the windows deafened; He could only work through His angels; He must not soil His hands with mundane things. He who professed to be a Son of God must be a child of mystery. He must have nothing homely about Him. He must be all soul, no body; all wings, no feet; all poetry, no prose; all heaven, no earth. And is not this also our first ideal of the Divine Life. In our moments of religious awakening we deny that morality is evangelical. We are offended when a preacher cries, “Salvation is goodness, work is worship, integrity is the service of God!” We say, “These are common things, homely things, things for the exchange and the market-place; you will see them in Nazareth every day.” Happy Nazareth! — I would, then, that all the cities were like thee! Know ye not that God’s mountain is man’s valley! What did Christ bless on the mount? It was earth’s homehest flowers — humblemindedness, sorrow for another’s fall, good temper, wish to do right, slowness to revenge, imputing of pure motives, power to throw oil on troubled waters. These are the seven valley flowers which the Lord has blessed.
Be not offended at their lowliness, O my soul!
I have heard thee say, “Oh, these were only the virtues for beginners!” Not thus did thy Lord mean them. These valley flowers are carried to the top of the hill; it is there they are displayed. Why did He carry them up; why did He not bring thee down to the vale and show them as they grew? Just because He would have thee to know they were not beginner’s flowers. Thinkest thou it is easy to be good in common things! There is no task for thee so arduous. It is easy to feel poor in spirit when thou art under the stars of God; but it is hard to feel so under the rebuke of man. It is easy to be meek in the presence of the wise; but it is hard to suppress thyself in the streets of Nazareth. It is easy to think charitably of those who walk on a plain above thee; but it is hard to think so in the rivalries of the exchange. It is easy for thy pride to make its peace with heaven; but it is hard to throw oil on the waters if thou art insulted by an earthly worm. Gather thy valley flowers! Take them up tenderly; care for them constantly; watch them right warily! Water them lest they wither; protect them lest they perish; fan them with heaven’s air lest they fade and die! The flowers of Galilee shall be the flowers of Paradise; magnify thy Nazareth, O my soul!
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