KNOWLEDGE FROM OBEDIENCE
‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’
Mary, the mother of our Lord, speaks only on three occasions (in the sacred records), and those three utterances of hers are like three clear notes of a bell—of metal sound, and rich. ‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’ Here her words reveal the disciple’s perfect loyalty.
I. Mary struck there the note of all the best Christian experience that has come down through all the ages since. How familiar has become the simple attitude of the puzzled soul which cries: ‘Lord, reveal Thyself in dealing with me; I will not hinder Thee; I will obey Thee. Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, I will do it.’ In submissive acceptance of God’s Will we shall understand that which no mere study of His words could teach us. But yet the words of Mary here do not allow us to forget that all true waiting for Christ’s self-revelation is of an active and not merely of a passive sort. ‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’
II. There is something to be done, in order that Jesus may show out completely what He is trying to make manifest.—(This is His will in His dealings with us.) And acts become little or great only according to the degree in which God manifests Himself and works through them. It was not because she knew that they would have wine or something better, it was because her Son would surely show Himself through their obedience, if they obeyed, that Mary cared what these servants did. Our Lord, then, will not perfectly reveal Himself except in His action on and through obedient men.
III. But another question comes.—‘Intelligence comes by obedience; but can I obey Him till I first know what He has to say? Can I admit the right of another to bid me obey?’ Now here it is necessary to distinguish clearly between ‘faith’ and ‘sight.’ Faith is the knowledge of a person; sight is the perception of a thing. To believe any one on faith is to believe it because that person is trustworthy. To believe anything on sight is to believe it because we ourselves perceive it to be true. We see then what a perfect right one has—one who knows Christ by a true experience, as Mary here—to bid others obey Him, even though they know not what orders He may give.
But it is not often that a man who seriously desires to know His Will can be in doubt about it. If Jesus were at hand, you would go out and ask Him: ‘Is it Thy Will, O Lord, that I should do this or that?’ Can you not ask Him now? Is that act right? Would He do it? Would He have it done? Will it help my soul? If the answer to these and such like questions is ‘Yes,’ and if the heart and conscience be clearly convinced, it is His bidding; it is His command as clearly as if His gracious Form stood visibly before you, and His Finger pointed to the task; and when, perhaps, the act is of itself obviously right, it is more than ever His command, just because it is the reassertion, the enforcement of essential duty. He does not make righteousness; He reveals it; and when the loving soul obeys it is conscious that it is doing at His command what it was bound to do.
Bishop Phillips Brooks.
Illustration
‘We live before the open eye of God, we die at the beckoning of His hand, and our conscience will tell us whether we fail or whether we succeed. I could take you to some little homes where the great men of the world would write failure over the cottage door, but the Judge Supreme would write success. Why? Because that little life has been lived in faith—not any great financial success, not any great climbing up the ladder of human fame. No K.C.B. has been written after that Christian name, but the word ‘Faithful unto death’ is written in the Book of Heaven about that life, and that is success—Faithful unto death.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
WHATSOEVER
That word ‘whatsoever’ lies very near the heart of Christianity.
I. There is the whatsoever of promise.—‘Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’
II. There is the whatsoever of single-mindedness and self-forgetfulness.—‘Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’
III. There is the whatsoever of holy contentment.—‘I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
IV. There is the whatsoever of earnestness.—‘Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily.’ Or ‘do it from the very soul,’ as we might translate the Apostle’s phrase.
V. There is the whatsoever of brotherliness.—‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them.’
VI. There is the whatsoever of obedience.—‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’ Christ Himself is the centre of our loyalty; for Christ ‘is the Head of the Church.’ How complete an example of obedience is wrapped up in that title! My head issues its commands to every member of my body. In obedience to its authority my hands work, my feet walk, my tongue speaks, and even my ears listen. There is no mutiny among the members of my body, unless they are injured or diseased, against the commands of my head. Their response to its authority is willing and immediate. Even so should it be between Christ and His Church: ‘Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.’
Illustration
‘Christ only changed the water into wine when the pots had been filled to the very brim, and He has only promised to bless us “in due season, if we faint not.” Missionaries worked for twelve years in Sierra Leone without seeing any results, but in the thirteenth year they had filled their waterpots up to the brim, and the Lord began to give His blessing. In New Zealand, Samuel Marsden worked for nine years without a single convert, but at the end of that time he had filled his waterpot, and the ingathering of souls commenced. Are you halting to-day in your obedience? You may be halting on the very threshold of success. Your waterpot may be nearly full. Another effort and the command may be changed; the Master will no longer say, “Fill the waterpots,” but “Draw out now.” And your water of service will be transmuted into the wine of blessing.’