_COMMONPLACE PEOPLE_
JOHN i. 35-47.
Our Lord delights to glorify the commonplace. He loves to fill the common
water-pots with His mysterious wine. He chooses the earthen vessels into
which to put His treasure. He calls obscure fishermen to be the
ambassadors of His grace. He proclaims His great Gospel through provincial
dialects, and He fills uncultured mouths with mighty arguments. He turns
common meals into sacraments, and while He breaks ordinary bread He
relates it to the blessing of heaven.
And "this same Jesus" is among us to-day, with the same choices and
delights. He will make a humdrum duty shine like the wayside bush that
burned with fire and was not consumed. He will make our daily business the
channel of His grace. He will take our disappointments, and, just as we
sometimes put banknotes into black-edged envelopes, He will fill them with
treasures of unspeakable consolation. He will use our poor, broken,
stammering speech to convey the wonders of His grace to the weary sinful
souls of men.