It is quite true that religion gives a man something he cannot sacrifice to what some call patriotism — meaning by patriotism national pride or material advantage. But this is not patriotism. Unless a man loves something higher than these he cannot love his country wisely and worthily. He must do for his country what he would do for himself, love truth and justice most, seeking these for his country and himself at the cost of lower and passing interests.2
1 Letters of James Russell Lowell, ii. 497.
8 John Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Lift, 115.
33 THE CALL OF LIFE
3. This heroic identification of himself with the interests of a faulty people marks out Jeremiah as a prototype of Jesus. When our Lord was on earth, some of His contemporaries were reminded of Jeremiah. " Whom do men say that I am ? Some say, Jeremiah." Why, we are not told. But for us Jesus resembles Jeremiah in this at least, that He did identify Himself, though in a far deeper degree, with the interests of a self-willed and rebellious people. He. too, shared their reproach and put up with their misunderstandings and ingratitude, in order to carry out God's purpose. He, too, had to meet and master the tempta- tion to decline further association with their unfaithfulness. " 0 faithless and perverse generation," He once broke out, " how long shall I be with you ? how long shall I bear with you ? " There were moments when the incredulity and obstinacy of men were almost too much even for His great patience. But He triumphed over all such inclinations to disavow responsibility for His race.
When Jesus set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, He knew that He was going to be betrayed and crucified there, and He was speaking to His disciples about it all. And Peter said to Him, u Be it far from thee, Lord : this shall not be unto thee." And Jesus, in a flash, turned upon Peter — " Get thee behind me, Satan." Why that intensity, that burning word as if from a heart stirred to its very centre ? Why, but because Christ had been tempted like Jeremiah to throw the burden down and flee away : and the intensity and strength of the rebuke, which broke like a sea wave on Simon's heart tells how the temptation to escape was crushed.
But thou would'st not alone Be saved, my father ! alone Conquer and come to thy goal, Therefore to thee it was given Many to save with thyself: And, at the end of thy day, 0 faithful shepherd ! to come, Bringing thy sheep in thy hand
Literature.
Black (EL), Edinburgh Sermons, 267.
Chapman (J. W.), And Judas Iscariot, 67.
Dawson (G.), Sermons on Daily Life and Duty, 313.
Edmunds (J.), Fifteen Sermons, 49.
Guthrie (T.), The Way to Life, 313.
Hyde (T. D.), Sermon Pictures, ii. 297.
Leach (C.), Old yet ever New, 177.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Isaiah and Jeremiah, 272.
Meyer (F. B.), Jeremiah : Priest and Prophet, 58.
Thomas (J.), Myrtle Street Pulpit, iii. 116.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), vi., No. 591.
Watkinson (W. L.), Themes for Hours of Meditation, 107.
Christian Age, xxxi. 180 (T. de W. Talmage).
Christian Commonwealth, xxxiv. (1913) 57 (R. J. Camphell).
Christian World Pulpit, xiv. 312 (B. J. Snell) ; xl. 204 (C. Leach).
Church of England Magazine, x. 384 (W. Battersby) ; xxxiv. 384 (R. L.
Joyce) ; lix. 80 (D. Ace). Marylebom Presbyterian Church Pulpit, ii., No. 8 (G. C. Loriiaer).
The Pride of Jordan.
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the pride of Jordan ?— Jer. xii. 5.
The prophet Jeremiah occupies a unique position in Israelitish history from the fact that to him fell the bitter and ungrateful task of contending in vain against the main currents of his time, religiously and politically, and finally perishing in consequence of his faithfulness to his mission. Of no other prophet of the first rank can the same thing be said. The prophets were often severe and scathing critics of their age and their contemporaries, but none of them was so tragically situated as Jeremiah. He had to see the nation drifting straight to ruin, ruin that overtook it within a few short years of the beginning of his ministry, and he knew himself helpless to avert it. With the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the disaster he had foreseen came to pass, and he shared in the misery of it, being afterwards slain, it is said, by some of the Jewish refugees themselves in their flight from the scenes of horror that ensued. But long before that he had been maltreated and imprisoned for his supposed unpatriotic conduct in prophesying the humiliation of his own people.
His fellow-townsmen, even his brethren and the house of his father, even they dealt treacherously with him. The sacred tie of kindred was too weak to restrain the outbreak of fanatical hate. The priestly houses had winced beneath the vehement denuncia- tions of their young relative, and could bear it no longer. A plot was therefore set on foot, and under the show of fair words they conspired to take the prophet's life. He had not known of his danger but for Divine illumination : " The Lord gave me know- ledge of it, and I knew it : then thou shewedst me their doings." Stunned with the sudden discovery, Jeremiah turned to God with