^ Listen to the parable of the earth, as it lies far down
beneath the blue heaven, or as in the cold night it looks up at
the silver stars, "Here am I," it mutters, "so far away from
Him who made me. The grass blades and the flowers lift up
their heads and whisper to the breeze, the trees go far up into the
golden sunshine, the birds fly up against the very heaven, the
clouds are touched sometimes with glory as if they caught the
splendour of the King, the stars are bright as if they shone with
the light of His presence. And I am down here ! How can I
ever climb up to Him who made me ? " And then the poor earth
sighs again : " And that is not all — not even the worst of it. I
am only dull soil, without any beauty of form, or richness of
colour, or sweetness of smell ! All things seem full of loveliness
but me. How can I ever be turned into worth and blessedness ? "
And now there comes the seed, and it is hidden in the earth. " Earth," whispers the seed, " wilt thou give me thy strength ? "
" No, indeed," replies the earth ; " why should I give thee my strength ? It is all I have got, and I will keep it for myself."
" Then," saith the seed, " thou shalt be earth, and only earth, for ever and ever. But if thou wilt give me thy strength thou shalt be lifted into another life."
ROMANS XII. I 211
So the earth yields and gives up its strength to the seed. And the seed takes hold of it and lifts it up and begins to turn it into a hundred forms of beauty ; it rises with wondrous stem ; it drinks in sunshine and rain and air, mingling them with the earth's strength and changing all to toughened branch or dainty leaf, to rich flower or ripened fruit. Then its work is done as it ends in the seed. And it cries to the earth : " Spake I not truly ? Thou art not lost, but by sacrifice transformed to higher life, to worth and beauty." ^
All the winter-time the wine gives joy
To those who else were dismal in the cold;
But the vine standeth out amid the frost;
And after all, hath only this grace left,
That it endures in long, lone steadfastness
The winter through: — and next year blooms again;
Not bitter for the torment undergone,
Not barren for the fulness yielded up;
As fair and fruitful towards the sacrifice
As if no touch had ever come to it
But the soft airs of heaven and dews of earth; —
And so fulfils itself in love once more.^
3. The permanent value of sacrifice. — Here lies the test by
which we may try the fabric of our own actions. We have —
1 have now and for ever — only that which we have offered to
' others and to God. Wherever the thought of self dominates in
*&'
our schemes ; wherever we identify the success of a cause, how- ever noble, with our own success ; wherever we determine for our own pleasure, as far as we can, the course of events great or small — there is the seed of ultimate corruption and decay and failure. The fatal harvest may be early or it may be late, but it is prolific and it is certain. That which is marked with the Cross has the pledge of permanence ; that which bears the impress of self must perish.
^ Sacrifice hallows what it touches. And under its hallowing touch values increase by long leaps and big bounds. Here is a fine opportunity for those who would increase the value of gifts that seem small in amount. Without stopping now for the philosophy of it, this is the tremendous fact. Perhaps the annual foreign missionary offering is being taken up in your church. The pastor has preached a special sermon, and it has caught fire
1 M. G. Pcarse. 2 Harriet E. H. King.
212 THE BODY FOR GOD
within you. You find yourself thinking as he preaches, and during the prayer following, "I believe I can easily make it fifty dollars this year. I gave thirty-five last time." You want to be careful not to make it fifty dollars, because you can do that easily. If you are shrewd to have your money count the most, you will pinch a bit somewhere and make it sixty-two fifty. For the extra amount that you pinch to give will hallow the original sum and increase its practical value enormously. Sacrifice hallows what it touches, and the hallowing touch acts in geo- metrical proportion upon the value of the gift.^
ii. The Sacrifice of the Body.
"Present your bodies," says the Apostle. He does not say your " souls." We are very ready at times to say that we serve God in the spirit, though our deeds are somewhat mixed; and sometimes a man will do a wrong thing and admit that it is not quite right, but " my heart is right," he will say, " and God looks upon the heart." That is a kind of service that has no part or lot in Christ. A man who is trying to sever his body from his spirit, a man who thinks religion is merely a thing of the spirit and not of the outward life, a thing of the soul and not a thing of the body, is misreading the Gospel.