were everything, as if the body only existed to be fed and dressed and pampered. And lest they should be distrustful, He bids them consider the ravens, birds common in that country. They had neither crops, nor barns to store them in, like the rich fool He had spoken of; yet "God feedeth them." Much more will He provide for His servants. No good too can come of this over-anxiety and carefulness. No man by so doing can prolong his days even a trifling space beyond their appointed term.1 And as the ravens may read us a lesson on that head, so He bids us consider again those lilies which grow wild in that land to warn us against overcarefulness in the article of dress, to lead us to trust in God. That care which was characteristic of "the nations of the world," the heathen which have not known God, is surely out of place in those who profess to have a Father. He will provide for his children. If they seek the things which concern the kingdom of God, the Church of Christ, and give their minds to these, God will supply all their need. He will not only give them the things of heaven, but will add to these what He knows they need of things of earth.3

2

CC.

TREASURE IN HEAVEN.

St. Luke xii. 32-34.

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither

1 Job. vii. 1; Ps. cxxvii. 2. It has been already shown (Lect. CXXV.) that our Lord is referring to length of life, not of stature.

2 "When inordinate cares prevail over us, we should think, What am

I? a Christian or a heathen? If a Christian, if baptized, shall I rank myself with Gentiles, and join with them in their pursuits? -Henry. Phil. iii. 19.

3 1 Tim. iv. 8.

moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

It might occur to the disciples, thus exhorted, that in so doing they would become singular. Few would be found ready to obey. Those who followed such a Shepherd would be few. So the Lord throws in this encouragement. What if you are but a little flock? Think not of the smallness of your number, but of the kingdom which your Father, of His sovereign will and pleasure, delights to give you. It is your Father who is your King. Look up, lift your hearts above earth to heaven. The words which follow sound like His invitation afterwards to the young Ruler,2 whom He would have admitted into the little band of the Disciples who had left all to follow Him, had he been content to make a temporal sacrifice for an eternal gain. Their general meaning seems to be, Rather than suffer others to want, part with some of your superfluities for their sakes. Give to them. that need of what God has given you more than your daily bread. There seems a glancing at the case of the rich fool, who thought to lay up in store for his own entertainment, instead of parting with his superfluous produce for the poor. We read on the other hand in Church history of an ancient Bishop who even sold the vessels of the Church, when nothing else was forthcoming, to redeem captives out of slavery. Our Lord graphically notes the casualties that often befall such stores as those like the rich fool in the parable think to provide for years to come,-age, and robbery, and decay; and he contrasts with these an eternal treasure in the heavens. He does not press the charge literally upon all. He Himself had with His Disciples a common purse, out of which, poor as they were, they yet gave to the poor. But even that bag was borne by one who was a thief." Nor did our Lord approve of his proposal to sell the precious ointment to give to the poor. It is a Hebrew mode of speech,

The question in St. Luke xiii. 23, betrays a suspicion of this.

2 St. Matt. xix. 21; St. Mark x. 21.

3 Bp. Wilson, Sacra Privata.

The story is told by Socrates

(Hist. Eccl. VII. xxi.) of Acacius of Amida.

5 St. James v. 1–5.

6 St. John xiii. 29.

7 St. John xii. 4-8.

teaching us that in any case we must be ready, if need be, to part with our possessions.' It refers to preparation of heart. Those who are really laying up treasure in heaven will not set their affections on things of earth.

CCI.

WATCHFULNESS.

St. Luke xii. 35-40.

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Our Lord had been warning His hearers one and all 2 against covetousness, and now He urges them in like manner to watchfulness; clothing His teaching in brief parables and proverbial sayings, as His manner was, and according to the custom of that country. In the East the people wear long, loose, flowing robes; so that before setting to any active work they need to gird up or bind these tight around them. This represents what should be the attitude of the servants of Christ, always ready to do Him service. The lights too 1 Maldonatus. xxii. 36.

Compare St. Luke

? He seems to have addressed the band of Disciples first of all (vv. 1, 4, 32 above) and the people through

them; which accounts for the question below, v. 41. The passage, vv. 35-38, forms the Holy Gospel in the Making of Deacons.

must be kept burning, and not allowed to go out, in that house which expects its Master's return. In that country the weddings were at night. Now in a brief parable, as afterwards in a touching figure,' He shows forth the recompense of His faithful servants. As once He girded Himself and washed their feet, taking upon Him the form of a servant and doing for them the humblest offices, so will He feast and wait upon them Himself. At the last they shall enjoy for their watchfulness a singular and unexpected reward. His return is uncertain, as signified by His mention of the watches, or periods of four hours each, into which the night was divided. Blessed are those servants who do not give up at the second watch, but wait even to a third. Now the parable of the master and servants merges into another of the householder and the thief. The burglar or housebreaker gives no notice of his approach. Secrecy is with him the soul of his nefarious business. "Behold," says the Lord, "I come as a thief;" that is in respect of the uncertainty of His coming. "Blessed is he that watcheth." Of both the brief parables the lesson is the same, "Be ye therefore ready." The Son of God, who for our sakes became man, shall so return, suddenly, in the destruction of Jerusalem, in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment.

CCII.

THE SAME SUBJECT-continued.

St. Luke xii. 41-46.

Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make

1 St. John xiii. 4, 5.

2 Rev. iii. 3; xvi. 15; 1 Thess. v. 2; 2 St. Pet. iii. 10.

him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

St. Peter seems to have been much impressed with the parable of the vigilant servants. It seems to have been working in his mind during the delivery of the brief parable which followed it; and when the Lord paused, he asks respectfully, on behalf of his fellow-Apostles, whether the call to watchfulness was meant for them in particular, or whether it was of general application. To his question however our Lord returns no direct answer. He seems to be going on with what He was before saying, to take up His parable again and to exclaim, in effect, How rare the qualities required in the steward of a large household! Where shall such an one be found? The steward of the ancients held a difficult and responsible post. As in the case of Joseph in the house of Potiphar, the master often left all that he had in his hand. The application is plain, and "St. Peter's question, though not formally answered, was virtually replied to." It applies evidently, in its highest sense, to the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God;2 but it applies likewise to all professed soldiers and servants of Christ. All at Holy Baptism enter His household, and some in Ordination are "called to be stewards of the Lord; to feed and provide for the Lord's family. Watchfulness + and obedience are required in all; but the qualities of fidelity and prudence seem especially looked for in the Steward or Head. "Faithfulness is prudence, and faithlessness is folly." "It is a great part of pastoral prudence to give the proper portion, and to do it in due season."8 "A

2

1

5

1 A Plain Commentary.

1 Cor. iv. 1, 3; Tit. 1. 7.

3 Ordering of Priests.

6

xiii. 37.