The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 31

their Father, in subjects that have been disloyal to their King; and when he sees it he is pn'pared to pardon and to restore. If we humble ourselves before him and plead hie pr,,ume of hie in Jesus Christ, he will exalt us; he will treat us as his children• he will make us his heirs; he will raise us up to" heavenly places in Christ Jesus."-C'. Yers. 12-14.-Modet·ation; disinterestedness; patience. We find in these words of our Lord- I. THE connEcTro~ OF A COMMON FAULT. Jesus Christ did not, indeed intend to condemn outright all family or social gatherings of a festive character. He had already sanctioned these by his own presence. The idiomatic lancruage, "do not but" sicrnifies not a positive interdiction of the one thing, but the ;uperiority of the dther: Yet may we not find here a correction of social, festive extravagance; the expenditure of an undue measure_ of our reso~1rc~s on mutu~l indulgences? It is a very easy and a very common thmg for hospitality to pass mto extravagance, and even into selfish indulgence. Those who invite neighbours to their house in the full expectation ol being invited in return m~y seem to themselves to be open-handed and generous.. when they are only pursuing a system of well-understood. mutual ministry to tbfl lower tastes and gratifications. And it is a fact that both then and now both there and here, men are under a great temptation to expend upon mere enjoyn'..ent of this kind a degree of time and of income which seriously cripples and enfeebles them. Thue that is given to display and indulgence which mi~ht be reserved for benevolence and for piety; thus life is lowered, aud its whole service is reduced; thus we fail to reach the stature to which we might attain, and to render to. our Master and his cause the serdce we might bring. In the matter of indulgence, direct or (as here) indirect, while we should keep away from asceticism, it is of still greater consequence that we do not approach a faulty and incapacitating selfishness. IL AN Th'"VITATION To A NOBLE HABIT. "Call the poor .. , and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee." An act of disinterested kindness carries its blessing with it. 1. It is an intrinsically excellent thing. "To do good and to commu- nicate" is honourable and admirable; and to do this with no thought of return from those who are benefited, is an act of peculiar and exceptional worth. It takes very high rank in the scale of spiritual nobleness. 2. It allies us with the highest and the best in all the universe; with the noblest men and women that ever lived in any land or age; with the angels of God (Heb. i. 14); with our Divine Exemplar (Mark x. 45); with the eternal Father himself (Matt. v. 45). 3. It leaves a benign and elevating influence on our own spirit. Every man is something the better, is so much the worthier and more Chril't-like, for every humblest deed of disinterested benevolence. IIL THE PROMISE OF A PUBE BEWABD. If the idea of recompense is admitted, everything turns upon the character of the reward, so far as the virtue of the action is concerned. To do something for an immediate and sensible reward is unmeritorious; to act in the hope of some pure and distant recompense is an estimable because a spiritual procedure. Our life is, then, based upon faith, upon hope, and especially npon patience. To do good and to be content to wait for our recompense until " the resurrection of the just," when we shall reap the approval of the Divine Master and the gratitude of those whom we have served below,-thie is conduct which our Lord approves; it bears the best mark it can bear-that of hie Divine benediction.-C. Ver. 18.-E=using ourselves. There are two things which seem as if they could not exist together, but which we C?ntinually confront. One is the felt _o~ligation and value of religion, and the other 1s the mournful commonness of 1rrehg1on. Where shall we find an explanation of the coexistence of these twQ things? We find it in the habit of self-excuse. With one consent men excuse themselves. Now, an excuse is one of two things. I. A PRETEXT which men invent, so as to shun, without self-reproach, a plain but painful duty. A tradesman is not prospering in business; he is aware that he is losin"' money• he feels sure that an examination of his books will show a serious deficit at tl.1~ end of' the year; he knows that he ought to acqu~int hi_mself with his actual financial position; but be is reluctant to see how far he 1s behmd; he would much rather escape that scrutiny, and he consequently looks about for a reason that he can on. xrv. 1-36.] 'fHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 33