^ Jowett, I remember, had said shortly before, in one of his quaint and characteristic Balliol sermons, " The search for truth is one thing ; fluttering after it is another." Here was a man whose
^ 0. W. Holmes, The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. v.
I JOHN I. 7 221
earnestness rebuked all " fluttering," who was plainly in honest and urgent search for truth, and who found it in the Word made Flesh.i
^ In the ages when a pilgrimage to Palestine was held in such esteem, there sprang up a set of idle impostors who wandered about everywhere in the country and sought alms at the hands of the inhabitants under the pretext that they were preparing to go d la sainte terre — to the Holy Land. It was soon discovered that they had never left their native shores ; and such disgust did their vain professions inspire that a new word was coined to reprobate the shameful practice, and they were called " saunterers." With equal truth may the term be applied to all who profess to be Christians without moving forward energetically to the heavenly goal.2
^ As to the character which our work should bear, Browning's teaching is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt. However menial the work itself may be, it must be done with the utmost possible efficiency. He will not countenance any shuffling, any inferior expedients for completing the task allotted, simply with a view to getting through it.
Our best is bad, nor bears Thy test; Still, it should be our very best.
If it be not, then not only will that which is wrought be so far defective, but the possibilities of the future will be marred and spoiled. Our life is a unity. One flaw makes its influence felt everywhere, prevents the perfection of the whole — more than that, hinders any true advancement towards perfection :
If one step's awry, one bulge Calls for correction by a step we thought Got over long since, why, till that is wrought, No progress ! ^
3. Walking in the light, as He is in the light. — What does this mean ? How can it be done ? First let us remember that the Apostle makes no impossible demand when he speaks of our walking in the light. He does not require of us that we should be perfect in the sense in which God is perfect ; but he does demand that we should in all sincerity place ourselves under the influence of the light which is in God, and which streams forth
^ Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canlerbunj, i. 584. * J. P. Lilley, The Pathway of Light, 26. ' J. Flew, Studies in Browning, 193.
222 FELLOWSHIP IN THE LIGHT
from Him. He does not ask perfect holiness, as God is holy; but he demands concentrated zeal. No hindrance must be offered to the light of truth and holiness with which our life is to be penetrated. When he bids us " walk in the light," he means, as already said, that our whole life should be influenced thereby, our thoughts and acts, the outer as well as the inner man ; our life is to be illuminated through that hallowing and transfiguring light which comes from God, and which illuminates us in Christ Jesus.
I/' ^ Everything depends on whether what we do is done in the darkness or in the light. A manufacturer of carmine, who was aware of the superiority of the French colour, went to Lyons and bargained with the most celebrated manufacturer in that city for the acquisition of his secret. He was shown all the process, and saw a beautiful colour produced; but he found not the least difference between the French mode of fabrication and that which had been constantly adopted by himself. He appealed to his instructor, and insisted that he must have concealed something. The man assured him that he had not, and invited him to see the process a second time. He minutely examined the water and the materials, which were in every respect similar to his own ; and then, very much surprised, he said, " I have lost my labour and my money, for the air of England does not permit us to make good carmine." " Stay," said the Frenchman ; " what kind of weather do you manufacture in ? Were I to attempt to manu- facture it on a dark cloudy day, my results would be the same as yours. Let me advise you always to make carmine on bright, sunny days." ^
IL
Fellowship.
1. Walking in the light produces a genuine fellowship. The light in which God dwells becomes the very element in which His true children breathe and move. A communion ensues, which extends to the whole society of believers, and the members are linked each to each, as all are linked in heaven, by the same golden bands that bind them to the community on high and to their common Head, until the last link of the whole disappears from view, lost in the central light that surrounds the "un- approachable " throne of God.
^ L. A. Banks, John aiid his Friends, 21.
I JOHN I. 7 223
Eedeemed by one sacrifice for sins for ever, they share one life, for Christ is their life ; one ambition, for His glory is their highest desire ; one food, for His Word and His Table are their sustenance ; one faith, for all their hope is built on His Blood and righteous- ness, not on their own ; one task, for the evangelization of the world is the work which He has left His Church to do; one heart, for if one member suffers all the members, so far as member- ship is real and vital, and not merely mechanical or even ecclesiastical, suffer with it ; one in hope, for all are, if things are right with them, " looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ " ; and with one rule of life, freely giving what has been freely received.