(with Luke 9:49-50)
The Antagonism of Indifference.
I. When we place these two sayings side by side, it seems clear enough from the very fact of its solemn utterance as a maxim universal to all, and even from the critical circumstances which called it forth, that the first of my texts is to be taken as the leading and the governing principle. It was spoken at a time when our Lord's mission, now far advanced, was forcing itself upon its enemies as a terrible reality, and when His miracles were startling into adoration the wondering people. Then the Pharisees spoke out a cavil which, St. Matthew tells us, had been uttered before: "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." The words of the text hardly seem to be addressed to these bitter and determined enemies. It was on the people that the stern incisive words of the text broke in like the sound of a trumpet, warning them that they must not idly accept a suspension of belief that they must make up their mind, and take their side. The other occasion was a very different one. Our Lord accepted what He knew to be a real but an imperfect homage a homage of a true belief, although that belief had not led, as it ought to have led, to the great sacrifice of following the Lord. He would give it at least some crumbs from the table of His blessing; He would cast over it, at least, the skirts of a negative protection. "No man," said He, "who can work a miracle in My Name will lightly speak evil of Me. He that is not against us is on our side."
II. In these divided days, the call to do is louder than ever. We can recognise the true service of God, even if it be not in what we think the most excellent way. Let us hold our own line the more distinctly, the more fervently, the more resolutely, the better; and yet, unless it absolutely cross the path of our duty, we need not forbid, and we need not thwart, it. In that threefold battle for truth, for right, for godliness, there is room enough and there is work enough for all.
Bishop Barry, Penny Pulpit,No. 800.
References: Luke 11:23. Preacher's Monthly,vol. vii., p. 158; J. Keble, Sermons from Lent to Passiontide,p. 213.Luke 11:24-26. E. Cooper, Practical Sermons,vol. ii., p. 96. Luke 11:26. J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons,p. 134.Luke 11:27. J. Keble, Sermons from Lent to Passiontide,p. 233.Luke 11:27; Luke 11:28. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxxii., No. 1920; Ibid., Morning by Morning,p. 176; G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Marlborough College,p. 206; T. C. Finlayson, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 24.Luke 11:28. T. Islip, Ibid.,vol. xiii., p. 110. Luke 11:29. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xv., No. 898. Luke 11:30-32. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. iii., p. 115.Luke 11:31. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxvii., No. 1600; F. W. Robertson, The Human Race and Other Sermons,p. 199. Luke 11:33. S. Cox, Expositor,2nd series, vol. i., p. 252; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. i., p. 354.