Put it is rat la T (he whole tendency of the teach- ing anil e\aiii|ih' oi .le-ii-, than any explicit state- ment, thai in ( Ini-I iiiiily assigns to common life a dignity which it reeei\es in no other religion.
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COMMON LIFE
COMMON LIFE
That CJiristianity so early developed monkish asceticism cannot be adduced as an argument against Christ's teaching. The life of Jesus is throughout a clear admission of the value of that probation which God the Father and Creator has allotted to mankind. Jesus as the universal Man, the Example for all the world, assumed for Him- self the most universal experience. For thirty years He lived the common life of a labouring man, working like any one of His brethren in tlie carpenter's shop at Nazareth. We have Him described as a carpenter, as one well known to His fellow-townsmen, as one but little distinguished from His brothers and sisters (Mt 13=«'-, Mk 6^). Commonplace daily toil and family intercourse, and that throughout a period of thirty years, were thus the training Avhich the Heavenly Father ac- counted the best for His Son who was to be the Saviour of the world. In this lowly spliere the Son of God grew ' in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man' (Lk 2^*-). Than tliis tliere could be no stronger argument for the value and the nobleness of common life in tlie eyes of the Father and the Son. It is impossible to conceive that He who thus lionoured the common lot could desire any renunciation of it on the part of those wlio wished to be His followers. Tliose wlio were called to be His missionaries must of necessity give up all to do a higher work, but not to attain a higher life. It is to be noted tliat when for a time that work is in abeyance. His chief disciples return to their old calling (Jn 2P).
The whole attitude of Jesus towards the world of nature and of man is in accordance with His claim to be the Son of the Creator. He clearly recognized the wisdom and the beauty and the love that shine forth in Creation and Providence. The lilies of the field and the fowls of the air, the sunshine and the rain, are used by Him as evi- dences of the goodness of the Father. His teach- ing is bound up in closest harmony with the things of earth and time. For Him the family ties are types of Heaven. His kingdom is far more a family than a nation. The names of father, motlier," brother, sister, wife, are ennobled by His use of them. From all the callings of men He draws images of Divine things. The physician, the sower, the reaper, tlie fisherman, the vine- dresser, the shepherd, the king at war, the house- wife at her bakinn;, the connnonest incidents of daily life, the simplest phenomena of nature,— all liave a place in His doctrine ; all are used to illustrate the character and development of His kingdom. He did not, it is true, enlarge upon tlie relations of life. That was not His mission. His reformation was to proceed from within, not from without. But everywhere tiiere is the mani- fest acceptance of the order, alike social and natural, which (ioil lias ordained. Even the civil order, with which He came into contact in no ideal form in the Roman domination, receives His sanction. ' Render unto Ctt'sar,' He says, ' the things which are Ctesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's' (Mt 22"s-=, Mk 12"-", Lk 20^"-°). There is duty to God and duty to civil order, and these must not conflict in religion's name : the former should include the latter. Marriage is recognized by Him as a holy tie, an indissoluble Divine institution, and thus obtains a position more honourable than it had ever held before (Mt 19'-», Mk lO^""). His presence and first miracle at the wedding at Cana of Galilee (Jn 2'-")— 11 mira<:le which shows His deep sym- pathy with even trivial human needs— is in it'splf a consecr.ation of marriage. Th.at e|ii?oilc ^iriKi the keynote of His life, — a life lived :uiiiil Hi- fellows, sharing their joys and sorrows, their irr.i\> and temptations, their feastings and their iiiourii-
ings. The Son of man came eating and drinking, with no ascetic gloom ; came to live in, and thus to sanctify, the whole round of common life.
Yet in the view of our Lord all these things had but a transitory value. They were but means to something higher. They were the temporal and seen, from wliich the unseen and eternal was to l)e extracted. In so far, then, as they conflicted witli that higher good, that eternal treasure, ( 'lirist demanded renunciation in regard to them. His treatment of tlie young ruler (Mt ig'"-'-, Mk 10''-^, Lk 18'«--'') illustrates well this attitude. Wealth is not in itself an evil, but it is a great danger, and in certain cases it may destroy the life of the soul. For some, therefore, it is wiser and safer to discard it. It has an engrossing power tliat deprives the soul of its proper nourishment (cf. the parable of the Rich Fool, Lk 12"'-2'). It tends to harden the heart against compassion and charity, to make the man self-sufficient, to give a physical delight so great as to close the eyes to tliat which is spiritual (cf. the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Lk 16"""^"). But there are other blessings far more innocent that possess a like danger. Things as precious and as natural as the hand and eye and foot may yet lead to sin and obstruct the passage to the higher life (Mt 5™'-, Mk 9^-''*). In such cases, too, these must be renounced. Even the family ties, if they become so binding as to come between the soul and its true weal— the service of God in Christ— must be broken ; for the kingdom of God is the one aim and purpose of the spiritual man, and nought must be permitted to interfere therewith (Mt 10" II Lk 14=^ Mt 6*"). Even life itself must be laid down for the sake of Christ (Mt W^, Lk 17", Jn 12=5).