First part of Sermon XXV. for the
Fourth Sunday in Lent.
Gal. iv. 21-31. St. John vi. 1-14.
To comfort all
that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness.—ISA.
lxi, 2, 3.
WHAT is the one great lesson which
the Church teaches us on this Sunday in the middle of Lent? Shall we not
say it is of rest with God amidst the sufferings of this world; of his brethren
being received by the true Joseph? who was “dead and is alive again?” who was
“lost and is found?” and eating bread with him in Egypt; of the children of God
being fed by Christ with the true bread from Heaven in the wilderness of this
world; of the freedom from earthly troubles and bondage, of those who belong to
the heavenly Jerusalem? who are “born after the Spirit?” and are “the children
of promise;” in short, as the Collect expresses it, amidst the evils which we
worthily deserve, being “mercifully relieved by the comfort of” God’s “grace.”
Now with regard to works of
mortification and fasting, these are practised by many who are not Christians,
by Jews and heretics, by Hindoos and Mahometans; in what respect, therefore, is
the Christian to differ from these? not in omitting those duties which nature
itself teaches, and Scripture and the Church enjoins, but in that he is relieved
under them, by having his heart in Heaven, and the free Spirit of adoption.
This the Epistle for to-day sets before us.
Tell me,
says St. Paul to the Galatians, who were falling back into Judaism, Tell me,
ye that desire to be, under the law, do ye not hear the law? Ye think it
necessary to fulfil all those Jewish ordinances, because the law enjoins them;
attend to me, and I will show you the better and higher wisdom which the law
itself contained, if rightly understood. For it is written, that Abraham had
two sons, the one by a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman. But he who was of
the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise.
He had told them that they were the true children of Abraham by faith, and now
he shows how this was set forth in the very history of Abraham itself. For
Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the Egyptian bond-woman, was born according to
nature, with nothing appertaining to grace and faith in that birth; but he that
was of Sarah the free-woman, was born beyond and above nature, when the parents
were past the age of having children,—was born by miracle, in consequence of a
remarkable faith in God's promises. Which things are an allegory, i.e. a
history which contains within it a mystical meaning. For these are the two
covenants; these two mothers represent the old and the new covenant, the Law and
the Gospel; the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. The Hagarenes are a people
of Arabia, to whom Mount Sinai belonged. Hagar, their mother, represents the
law given from thence, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, that earthly
Jerusalem that still exists, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem
which is above, the heavenly Jerusalem which walketh on high, the Christian
Church which is above the world, the true spouse of Christ:—as "the Son of Man"
while on earth was "in Heaven," [St. John iii. 13.] so now, with her Divine
Lord, "Jerusalem," while suffering below, is spoken of as being "above:"—she is
free; which is the Mother of us all, by whom we are all born unto Christ, having
the "free Spirit" of adoption. And this will explain the allusions throughout
the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, to that mystery of the fruitfulness of
the "barren woman" made "to keep house," and to be "a joyful mother of
children." For it is written by the Prophet Isaiah, when describing the
Church and the inflowing of the Gentiles, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest
not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many
more children than she which hath an husband. To which St. Paul adds,
taking up this spiritual mystery, of a woman by nature childless having by grace
children unto God. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of
promise. “As it was not nature,” says St. Chrysostom, “but the promise of
God which rendered Sarah a mother, so in our regeneration it is not nature, but
the Word of God spoken at our Baptism, which makes us His children.” But as
then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit; even so it is now. That history of Abraham still continues to speak
in mystery; they that are born after the flesh persecute them that were born
after the Spirit. The Jew and the natural man will persecute Christ in His
members. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? what is that end to
which all these things are tending, as Scripture itself declares? Cast out
the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with
the son of the free-woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the
bond-woman, but of the free. As our Lord Himself, speaking on the same
subject, said to the Jews, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever; but
the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall, be
free indeed." [St. John viii. 35, 36]
Now this very beautiful lesson, is
most suitable to us in this season of Lent, teaching us that we have not to
mourn as they that have no hope: not to be cast down towards the earth as they
who have not a Heaven to look up to: not as they who have a servile yoke upon
the neck; but rather, as they that bear the Cross after Christ, and are able to
fix: their eyes upon Him going before; and thus, by the love of Him constraining
them, have ever in tribulation a joy of which the world knoweth not. And what
is the true liberty of the children of God? It consists in so denying
themselves as to be masters of their own will, and thus to find that perfect
freedom in the service of Christ, which can only be when our will is lost in His
will. Our will is the will of the flesh “which gendereth to bondage,” which
mocks and persecutes that which is of God; this must be cast out; the will of
Christ is the Spirit of adoption, which is from above, which cometh by faith,
and must rule and abide in us forever.
Christian mortification is of the
very greatest moment when it thus deadens our own will; when it is united with
devotion; when it quickens our repentance; when it is one with humiliation of
ourselves, and partakes in all ways of the sacrifice of Christ. Then the fruit
of it are blessed indeed, but not otherwise. “Keeping a fast,” says Chrysostom,
“does not consist in mere passing the time, but in fulfilling it with good
deeds. Let us ask ourselves, have we become more diligent, have we corrected
any defect, have we washed out crimes? What advantage is it to have completed
the fast, if you have done so without works of good? If another should say, I
have fasted the whole forty days; be thou able to say, I had an enemy and I am
reconciled; I had a habit of detraction, I have left it off; I was used to
profane swearing, but that wicked custom has been corrected by me. It is no
profit to merchants to have passed over great length of sea; but only to have
done so with bringing home abundance of produce and much merchandise. So the
length of our fast will be of no profit to us, if we pass through that very time
without fruits and carelessly.” [Par. Brev. Dom. Quart. Quadrag.]
Everyone must acknowledge the great
wisdom of these words; the Christian must have his set times for fasting and
mortifying the flesh, as all other religions, whether false or true, have had;
but in him it must always be connected with Christ, never apart from Him, and
His Spirit, and His sacrifice; and therefore, always to the humbling and
bettering of the heart, to the forgiveness of injuries, and active charities.
And thus it is, that when our Blessed Lord calls upon all that are heavy laden
to come to Him that He may give them rest, He invites them to take upon them His
yoke, by the practice of meekness and lowliness, after His example; and He
promises that they shall find His yoke easy, and His burden light. Hence it is
always the case, in very deep penitence and self abasement, that the Spirit of
God visits the soul with comfort. This David found,—the Prince of
Penitents,—when in the fifty-first Psalm, after expressing his sorrows, he says,
“Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast
broken may rejoice.” “O give me the comfort of Thy help again, and stablish me
with Thy free Spirit.” It was for the free and princely Spirit, the Spirit of
adoption, for which he so earnestly sighed and prayed; and he prayed so
earnestly because he felt that by his repentance he should obtain, and had
obtained what he earnestly prayed for.
Now such is the teaching of this
mid-Lent Sunday, and it is carried out in the Gospel for the day....
...(for the second part, on the Gospel)
