THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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ning through Christ to these men, and through them to crippled humanity. There is a story of Tolstoy which tells how the great Russian reformer was stopped in the streets of Moscow by a beggar who asked for an alms. Tolstoy found himself without a coin, but put ting his hand affectionately upon the man’s shoulder and calling him “Bro ther,” he explained his plight. The beggar lifted his hungry eyes to Tol stoy’s face, and they were shining with tears as he said, “Never mind, you have given me something better, you said ‘Brother!’ ” There is no other way for Christianity to satisfy the hungry world of our time. That world is much more hungry for real love than for anything else. It is impetent to realize its best ideals till it is loved into power. And upon those who worship the God of Love, and believe in the Love that suf fered even unto the death of the Gross for us all, upon them there rests the onus of Love’s vindication in the world, of being the vehicles of its redeeming power to souls palsied by sin and fear and doubt. Talking once to the Pharisees who thought it sufficient to meet the beg gary of the world with doles of silver and gold, Jesus uttered this great and liberating word. “Give for alms the things that are within.” Jesus, as al ways, is right. It is our souls we must share if Humanity is ever to enter the Beautiful Gate of its best dreams. If then in our own souls we know the in dwelling grace of God by which we our selves overcome, that is our supreme message and gift to mankind and we must not fail to share it. Nothing less than this supernatural grace of God, flashing from heart to heart and life to life over the cable of a great love, can save humanity. Our Churches must become once again cen ters of this essential power. Our Christ ians must become once again living dy namos of supernatural energy. Here is our one task, our supreme function.
longer able to say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ " “No, indeed, sire!” replied his friend seriously, “Neither is he able any longer to say, ‘arise and walk!’ ” Is there no clear message in that for our modern discipleship? Anxious and rightly anxious as we are to see a more just distribution of our vast modern, wealth, and to see it as quickly as possi ble, yet how tragic it will be if we lose in our interest in “silver and gold” the gift of essential power! Supernatural Grace The Christian disciple is the trustee and steward of a supreme treasure for humanity and it is not silver and gold. Peter and John were vehicles of the Grace of God in Christ. 'They were themselves, through Christ, in touch with God’s own vital energy, with Fun damental Power, and being equally open towards humanity, they went through life conveying to mankind a spiritual blessing capable of renewing the souls, and in some cases at least, even the bod ies of men. Our sacerdotal friends are quite right about supernatural grace. It is possible to focus through the human soul the Essential Creative force that made the heaven and the earth and the body and mind of man. They are wrong, however, when they shut up this gift of essential power to any given order of men. It is for every disciple who will truly associate with the Lord, and who will seek apostolic purity, earnestness and love. Every disciple is called into the apostolic succession of a real union with. God in Christ, and a real union with Humanity in love. Is this essential two-fold connection ^sufficiently close in the modern disci ple to make him a channel of real power to lame humanity as it begs outside the Beautiful Gate? There is a question in deed for us each to answer! “They took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.” “What I have give I unto thee.” There you have the golden cable of Divine Power, run
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