_THE COMMONPLACE OF DEATH_
LUKE vii. 11-18.
Death is never a commonplace. We never become so accustomed to funerals as
not to see them. Everybody sees the mournful procession go along the
street. A momentary awe steals over the flippant thought, and for one
brief season the superficial opens into the infinite abyss.
And yet, while a thousand are arrested, only a few are compassionate.
There can be awe without pity; there can be interest without service. When
this humble funeral train trudged out of the city of Nain our Lord halted,
and His heart melted! There was an "aching void," and He longed to fill
it. There was a bleeding, broken heart, and He yearned to stand and heal
it. He found His own joy in removing another's tears, His own satisfaction
in another's peace.
"_The Lord hath visited His people!_" That is what the people said, and I
do not wonder at the saying! And let me, too, be a humble visitor in the
troubled ways of men! Let my heart be a well of sweet compassion to all
the sons and daughters of grief! Like Barnabas, let me be "a son of
consolation."