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PHILANTHROPY
PHILANTHROPY
new coimnandmeiit ' which He had therein given them (Jn 13^^- ^^). He called upon those who would follow Him to be ready to sell all and follow Him (jNIt 19'-2^). The gift that won the approval of Heaven was not that which came out of the super- fluity of the rich, but the widow's mite, for that was ' all that she had ' (Mk 12^^) L^^g^ ^f all, He declared that He Himself would give unto the uttermost, for as Good Shepherd He was ready to lay down His life for His sheep (Jn lO^M- There was thus added to the length and breadth of universal love the height and depth of sacrifice, and these two elements wrought poAverfully in the instinctive love of man until the neediness of each became the common burden of all, and philan- thropy became a part of the spiritual equipment of men.
2. The exjjression of that spiritual equipment will develop from age to age. The forms of its expression in the early days of the Christian era are well known. Christ instructed His disciples to heal the sick, and generallj'^ to minister to the physically distressed. The relief of the poor seems to have been another marked form of Christian philanthropy from the first, and thej" Avere in addition to minister in spiritual things, and to seek to admit men into the Kingdom of God. It may at first sight appear as if this was a strictly limited form of i>hilanthropy, but it is obvious that the form of expression was accommodated to the capacities of the agents chosen and to the sim- plicity of the life which they were accustomed to live. Such forms of sympathetic relief, we may be assured, existed long before Christ sent forth His disciples ; that which He added was the twofold vitalizing principle which made the charity of the age a living reality. It became real {dXrjdei, 1 Jn 2^) in them, as it was already in Him. The uni- versality and the intensity which were His contri- bution to the common love, the old commandment of mankind, were also notes of life. Love without limit in range or in intensitj', — such was the new commandment illustrated in the washing of the disciples' feet. It was now dydwr) eis reXos, it was love unto the uttermost (Jn 13'). And having dropped into the human instinct the vitalizing germ of a new princiijle, Christ was content to leave the new law to find wider and fuller expres- sion as the years moved on. With the developing powers of man, that vitalized law would be certain to find a far more extended application than lay within the comjiass of His earliest followers. In that age the manumission of the slave, the educa- tion of the poor, tlie enforcement of laws of .sani- tation— such tilings as are tiie commonplaces of philanthropic measures in our time — were not within the power of the disciples of Christ. But we can see that that which gives them the sanction of law, that which comes into every social reform that has any promise of permanence or of helpful- ness, is just that with which Christ filled the hearts of His followers as He sent them forth on their simpler mission : — all endowment is but a trust ; 'freely ye have received, freely give' (Mt 10^); there is no limit in love ; tiie neediness of each is the common burden of all. All social re- form, happily increasingly recognized, advocated, accepted, in our age, is but the working out in the larger life of to-day of the vital principle contrib- uted by Christ Avhen He made love's range con- terminous with the universe of God, and at the same moment made it instinct with His own passion and sacrifice.
But philanthropy as Christ has taught it in the Gospel story goes further than this. It not only is the spring of all true social reform, but it possesses the power to enfoi-ce observance. It gives the sanction of duty to all such observance. It be-
comes not merely an added quality in human intercourse, but a positive compelling force. It is a new commandment. Neglect to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner and the sick, or to translate these special terms into the general terms for which they stand, — to meet all human need as it arises, — such neglect is not in the eyes of Christ a venial ofience, a trifle of iuditt'erence ; it is clear He took a far more serious view of it : He taught His disciples that it meant rejection in the judgment of God ; it excludes him who so neglects from the Kingdom. Philanthropy was thus invested with the august jiOAvers of a moral law. If we consider philanthropy to be the common human instinct endowed with the range given to it by Christ, the els r^Xos of His OAvn showing, we can see how this binding quality, this sanction, is imparted. For such a quality in love strikes at the root of that which is de- structive of all morality, and that is briefly the calculating spirit. The immoral compromises which Ave so often make A^■ith ourselves become impossible Avhen love unto the uttermost is the rule of our regard for our fellow-men. It opposes every tendency to evade law where i^ossible. It adds strength and loyalty to obedience, and im- parts to scrupulous observance the gladness of enthusiasm. This operation so refines and enlarges duty, that by the side of it all other duty seems the merest travesty of duty, and to fail to reach this height of moral observance becomes a positive failure, a moral ofience, a breach of laAV. Christ accomplished this by striking clear and strong that personal note Avhich is the key to all His influence. He attached men to Himself, and then exhibited in Himself the very law which He promulgated, until in after days the apjieal might be made to the ChrLstian Church that its members should bear one another's burdens, since only thus couid they fulfil that Law which Christ was (ovtQs dva- irX-qpijaaTe top vo/xov tov Xpiarov, Gal 6^). This love unto the uttermost was lived ; and lived by Him who by His own loveliness has drawn all men to Himself. It is for this reason that words which might easily have become the rules of another futile Utopia, or the striking maxims of an original teacher, have become instinct Avith the spiritual ; and Avith the neAv laAV of love the poAver to realize it Avas given. When to His setting forth of the ncAv philanthropy Christ added the Avords, ' Ye have done it unto me' (Mt 25*), He endowed His Avords Avith spirit and life.