There she lay after the day"s work suckling her own little ones. He called her. She looked up at him. He said, "Two are missing"--holding up two fingers--"Away by, Collie, and get them." Without moving she looked up into his face, as though she would say, "You wouldn"t send me out again to-night?--it"s been a long day--I"m so tired--not again to-night." So her eyes seemed to say. And again as many a time doubtless, "Away by, and get the sheep," he said. And out she went.
About midnight a scratching at the door aroused him. He found one of the sheep back. He cared for it. A bit of warm food, and the like. Then out again to the out-house. There the dog lay with her little ones. Again he called her. She looked up. "Get the other sheep," he said. I do not know if you men listening are as fond of a good collie as I am. Their eyes seem human to me, almost, sometimes. And hers seemed so as she looked up and seemed to be saying out of their great depths--"Not _again_--to-night?--haven"t I been faithful?--I"m so tired--not again!"
And again as I suppose many a time before, "Away by, and get the sheep."
And out she went. About two or three, again the scratching. And he found the last sheep back; badly torn; been down some ravine or gully. And the dog was plainly played. And yet she seemed to give a bit of a wag to her tired tail as though she would say, "There it is--I"ve done as you bade me--it"s back."
And he cared for its needs, and then before lying down again to his own rest, thought he would go and praise the dog for her faithful work. You know how sensitive collies are to praise or criticism. He went out and stooped over with a pat and a kindly word, and was startled to find that the life-tether had slipped its hold. She lay there lifeless, with her little ones tugging at her body.
That was only a dog. We are men. Shall I apologize for using a _dog_ for an ill.u.s.tration? No. I will not. One of G.o.d"s creatures, having a part in His redemption. That was to save sheep. You and I are sent, not to save sheep, but to save _men_. And how much then is a _man_ better than a sheep, or anything else!
And our Master stands here to-day. Would that you and I might see His face with the thorn marks of His trip to this earth. He points out with His hand. And you can"t miss a peculiar hole in its palm. He says, "There are _two missing_--aye, more than two--that you know--that you touch--that you can touch--that I died for--go _ye_."
Shall we go? For Jesus" sake? Yes, for men"s sake; splendid men, befooled about Jesus, who can get Him only through us in touch with Him--for men"s sake, in Jesus" great Name.
Deep-Sea Fishing: The Ambition of Service.
A Water Haul.
Living up in the Spirit Realm.
Saved to Serve.
Ambition in Service.
Use What You Have.
Expectancy in Service.
Jesus Went into the Deeps.
Deep-Sea Fishing: The Ambition of Service.
(Luke v:1-11.)
A Water Haul.
Jesus was very fond of the outdoors. The Gospels have a woodsy smell. He taught in the synagogues, but He seemed to prefer the open air. He would go out on a country road, or down by the beach of the Galilean lake, and the people would eagerly gather around Him, and He would talk to them. One morning He had gone down to the lake sh.o.r.e. The people crowded in about Him and He commenced as usual to talk to them.
But so eager were they not to miss a word that they pressed in about Him very close. He was standing with His back to the water likely, and the people seemed likely to crowd Him over into the water. So He looked around for something to do. He was ever practical to the point of being matter-of-fact. A practical idealist was Jesus, _the_ practical Idealist.
Peter was down there, just a short distance off, with his partners and crew in their fishing boats, cleaning up after the night"s haul. Lifting His voice a little, Jesus called out, "Peter, will you pull around here, please."
And Peter did. And Jesus, stepping into the boat, sat down, and went on talking to the people. Interruptions never seemed to disturb Him. He seemed to regard them in the light of possible index fingers pointing out the next thing to be done. Every missionary, foreign and home, has to get practised in just that, while holding steady to his underlying purpose.
When He had finished talking, He turned to Peter and said quietly, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." And Peter smiled at the very idea, as he said, "Master, we"ve been out the whole night, and haven"t caught a thing, nothing but a water haul, but"--with a thoughtful earnestness taking the place of the critical smile--"if you say so, of course we will." And the Master said so. And now they can"t handle the haul.
I want to bring to you anew this old word of command from Jesus" lips: "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." These men in the story had failed. They had gone out the evening before intending and expecting to bring home a fine haul of fish for the Capernaum or the Bethsaida market. They came back with nothing for the night"s work but tired muscles and torn nets. This message is for men who have failed, or who have seemed to fail. There is no failure to an earnest man. A man cannot fail without his own consent. Every seeming failure is the seed of a coming success to earnest men.
If any of us have seemed to fail, our boots have lead in them, and our hearts are heavy too, for lack of success--this message is for us, "Launch out, and let down." Failure is very apt to breed discouragement. Your clothing seems damp and heavy with the dew of a fruitless night.
Oftentimes the best thing for that is action. Mix yourself with the action of boats and nets and men. That"s the Master"s word here.
Living up in the Spirit Realm.
There are three facts that group about the message of Jesus in this story.
And those same three facts need to group themselves in bold outline about our using of it, too. The first is this: there was _contact with Jesus as a Master_. That must come in, and come in strong, before there can be any right using of this word of command.
There needs to be the first contact when a man turns over the control of his life to Jesus as Master. There needs to be close contact that the Master"s plan of service may be clearly seen and faithfully started upon.
There must be continual contact that so His mastery may control and guide at every step.
The second fact is this: obedience to the Master"s word. Obedience, mind you, whether the thing you are told to do seems a likely thing to do or not. Here with the fishermen there were some things that pulled the other way. They had been out all night and failed. The very sense of failure strong within them was against obedience. Discouraged men seldom succeed at anything. And there was a very unlikely chance ahead. The time for fishing with them was in the night. Failure behind, and a poor chance ahead! Yet they obeyed.
If Peter had acted the way some modern folks do he would have said something like this: "You"ll excuse me, Master, for saying it; but--this is no time to fish in these waters. Pardon me, sir, I have no doubt you know about carpentering. But _I"m a fisherman_. When it comes to yokes and plows I"ll gladly yield to you. But fishing--you see, I"ve been fishing ever since I was a boy. Maybe up around Nazareth, in the brooks and ponds up there, you can catch something in daylight, but not down here."
I have heard many people talking that way. But Peter didn"t. Aren"t you glad he didn"t? He stumbled often. He talked foolishly to Jesus more than once, but not this time. He obeyed. It was against his habit, against his ideas of what was best, but the message was clear and he obeyed it. Happy is the man who listens to the inner Voice, learns keenly how to hear distinctly and accurately, and obeys. Faith is never contrary to reason, but it is frequently _higher up_. The spirit realm is the highest.
A man should reach up _through_ his bodily life, _through_ a keen, strong intellectual perception and grasp, up into the spirit realm and abide there. Many a man of splendid ability and earnestness never shakes off his intellectual scaffolding in the upward building. It remains to hamper and mar. Through a mastered body, and a disciplined mind, up to the spirit level is the full swing. Obedience to the clearly discerned voice of command from the Master is the one pathway of full power.
The third fact was sure to follow these two. It came last. There were unexpectedly large results. There always will be where the first two facts are faithfully gotten in.
Saved to Serve.
There is a growth in this message of Jesus. There are four steps up and out. First comes the plain call to _service: "Launch out_." This is the ringing service call. It is a familiar word to a follower of Jesus. He was always saying, "Go ye." To every man He said first of all, "Come." Then, as quickly as a man came, the word was changed to "go."
I like greatly the motto of the Salvation Army. It must have been born for those workers in the warm heart of the mother of the Army, Catharine Booth. That mother explains much of the marvelous power of that organization. Their motto is, "_Saved to Serve_." Some seem to put the period in after the first word. That"s bad punctuation and worse Christianity. We are saved to be savers. There is needed the divine Savior and the human saver. Only he who has been saved can help save somebody else. The tingle of experience in the blood attracts men.
The Master says, "Launch out." Get down into the thick of the fight. One should not unwisely wear out his strength. But on the other hand, it"s better to wear out than to rust out. You"ll last longer, and any loss of strength is to be preferred to the loss through yellow, eating rust. A minister noted for his striking way of putting truth was preaching upon the words that were spoken of Paul and his companions: "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also."[14] He said there were three points to his sermon: first, the world was wrong side up; second, it had to be gotten right side up; third, _we"re the fellows to do it_. That is the first note of this message, _we_ are the fellows to do it.
Ambition in Service.
The second step in this ringing call to service is this: _ambition_ in service. "Launch out _into the deep_." The sh.o.r.e waters are largely over-fished. Out in the deeps are fish that have never had smell or sight of bait or net. Here, near sh.o.r.e, the lines get badly tangled sometimes, and committees have to be appointed to try to untangle the lines and sweeten up the fishermen.
And the fish get very particular about the sort and shape of the bait.
Some men have taken to fishing wholly with pickles, but with very unsatisfactory results. The fish nibble, but are seldom landed apparently.
And just a little bit out are fish that never have gotten a suggestion of a good bite.