“Christ has Risen!” The response comes from one and all, “The Lord has risen indeed! Alleluia”
THE EPISTLE. (1 S. PETER ii. 11.) LIFE IN THE WORLD.
A.
Separation from the World.
Christians
must look upon the world as strangers in it.
They must regard it as from the outside.
They may not imagine that whatever is done there is right. They are also pilgrims or sojourners whose
position is temporary, for "they have no continuing city, but seek one to
come" (cf. Heb. xi. 13-16). They
must cultivate a life of detachment from much of its business and pleasure, at
least in heart. Especially must they
"abstain from fleshly lusts."
Many things are allowable, some thing indifferent, but these are
directly contrary to the Christian life, for they "war against the
soul."
B.
Duty before the World.
But
this separation must not be the separation of pride and contempt, which is no
less un-Christian than worldliness.
The Christ is to remember--
(1)
His Duty of Example.
He
is only to condemn the world by showing it something better, not by abuse of
it. He will best show what is wrong by
doing what is right. Christianity works
not by revolution, but revelation, and the Christian is so to live that the
world shall confess that the Christian life is truly beautiful (honest), and a
sure comfort and stay in times of sorrow and anxiety--"in a day of
visitation."
(2)
The Duty of Submission.
Though
the particular form of any government is "a creation of man," yet the
authority of government is of God, and obedience a Christian duty to be done
for "the Lord's sake." The
laws, so far as they are wise, express the wisdom of God, and human justice, so
far as it is just, is based on the justice of God. Obedience to these lies at the foundation of
society, itself an ordinance of God, and is the only security for order,
liberty, confidence, and prosperity. The
Christian cannot regard States as "an affair of one world," for
though this world may end them it will not see the end of their good and evil.
(3)
The Duty of Service.
The
Christian owns no man master upon earth, and can say to the world, "Thou
are not my master," but he must not forget to say, "Self is not my master,"
otherwise he will "use his liberty for a cloak of his wickedness,"
and be like the barons who desired the Pope to absolve them from their
allegiance to the king that they might serve neither.
The
world need not suspect Christian liberty, for it is only endangered by those
who, pretending to serve it, are really seeking their own ease or
advancement. "Let princes and
States choose such ministers as are more sensible of duty than of rising, and
such as love business upon conscience."
(Bacon. Of Ambition.)
If
the Church and God come first and men and kings second, let them be content to
be second; for if self comes first they will be nowhere.
It
is to be noticed that we are to honour both the king and all men, and are,
therefore, to a large extent, to have the same feelings towards them as towards
the king on his throne. We learn,
therefore, the duty of universal reverence and politeness; to have the same
manner to the poor as to the rich; to consider men as men, and regard with
interest their feelings, necessities, burdens, and sorrows.
THE GOSPEL. (S. JOHN xvi. 16.) A LITTLE WHILE.
A.
A Lesson for the First Disciples.
(1) Christ gently warns His Disciples that a
separation was imminent. They had hoped
for a future like the past, and that Christ would be ever with them for
guidance, teaching, and protection. They
could not realize that the present was but for a little while.
(2)
Christ kindly comforts His Disciples.
The
coming change was not loss, but gain.
The approaching grief was also only for "a little while." This second "little while" must be
their comfort in thinking of the first, for if sorrow was soon to come it would
soon pass by.
The
joy of reunion would surpass the joy they had enjoyed, for it would be the joy
of a clearer vision and a closer intimacy, and "their heart would
rejoice," for this joy should never pass away. All grief should be swallowed up, and no more
remembered, even as the pangs of birth are forgotten in the rapture of
motherhood.
B.
A Lesson for All Christians.
The
experience of the first disciples is a lesson for all.
(1)
Of Warning.
As
strangers and pilgrims, "a little while" is written on the whole of
our earthly life. The whole history of
the world, human life at its longest, human effort at its strongest, is all for
a little while. There is an acceleration
of apparent velocity as the years pass, and the years in youth loiter but run
apace in age.
We
must never fall into the error of thinking that to be permanent which can only
be transient, and become so entangled in cares, riches, and pleasures as to
forget that they must end.
This
lesson is conveyed by the first "little while."
(2)
Of Encouragement.
The
importance of life is not measured by its brevity, and consists both in what we
leave behind us and in what we shall take with us--our example and influence,
which we leave, and our character, which we shall retain. While the "little while" lasts let
us do our utmost. Our three great
enemies know their time is short, but we know it too. The stress of conflict and the tension of
endurance will not be for ever.
THE COLLECT.
The
Collects for all the Sundays connected with Easter are eminently practical, and
point to various aspects of the Risen life.
It is to be a life not only of good desires, but of good actions;
purified from the leaven of error and sin; fashioned after Christ's example,
and, to-day, marked by careful consistency.
A.
Christianity.
Our
very Christianity is due to God Who, by the light of His truth, revealed to our
wandering footsteps the way of righteousness.
By the fall we lost our way; by conversion and baptism we return into
the right path. We ask that God, Who has
done so much for us, would do yet more, and keep us in the right path.
B.
Consistent Christianity.
Having
been admitted into Christ's Church, which is clearly defined as "the
fellowship (or society) of Christ's religion," we pray for consistency, to
cast off all that is inconsistent and to pursue all such things which a
Christian ought to do. We are to be
Christian in what we avoid and in what we aim at, otherwise we shall both hurt
the Christian name and bring disgrace upon our fellows in Christ's religion.
The Lord has risen!
The
lord has risen indeed!, Alleluia
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and
the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in
the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou
art exalted as head above all. 1 Chron.
xxix. 11.