'They came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom
his spirit made willing.' There is a striking metaphor in that last
word. Wherever the spirit is touched with the sweet influences of God's
love, and loves and gives back again, that spirit is buoyant, lifted,
raised above the low, flat levels where selfishness feeds fat and then
rots. The spirit is raised by any great and unselfish emotion. There is
buoyancy and glad consciousness of elevation in all the self-sacrifice
of love, which dilates and lifts the spirit as the light gas smoothes
out the limp folds of silk in a balloon, and sends it heavenwards, a
full sphere. Only service or surrender, which is thus cheerful because
it is the natural expression of love, is true service in God's sight.
Whosoever, then, had his spirit raised and made buoyant by a great glad
resolve to give up some precious thing for God's sanctuary, came with
his gift in his hand, and he and it were accepted. That trusting of
men's giving to spontaneous liberality was exceptional under the law.
It is normal under the Gospel, and has filled the whole field, and
driven out the other principle of statutory and constrained service and
sacrifice altogether. We have its feeble beginnings in this incident.
It is sovereign in Christ's Church. There are no pressed men on board
Christ's ship. None but volunteers make up His army. 'Thy people shall
be willing in the day of Thy might.' He cares nothing for any service
but such as it would be pain to keep back; nothing for any service
which is not given with a smile of glad thankfulness that we are able
to give it.
And for the true acceptableness of Christian service, that motive of
thankful love must be actually present in each deed. It is not enough
that we should determine on and begin a course of sacrifice or work
under the influence of that great motive, unless we renew it at each
step. We cannot hallow a row of actions in that wholesale fashion by
baptizing the first of them with the cleansing waters of true
consecration, while the rest are done from lower motives. Each deed
must be sanctified by the presence of the true motive, if it is to be
worthy of Christ's acceptance. But there is a constant tendency in all
Christian work to slide off its only right foundation, and having been
begun 'in the spirit,' to be carried on 'in the flesh.' Constant
watchfulness is needed to resist this tendency, which, if yielded to,
destroys the worth and power, and changes the inmost nature, of
apparently devoted and earnest service.
Not the least subtle and dangerous of these spurious motives which
steal in surreptitiously to mar our work for Christ is habit. Service
done from custom, and representing no present impulse of thankful
devotion, may pass muster with us, but does it do so with God? No doubt
a habit of godly service is, in some aspects, a good, and it is well to
enlist that tremendous power of custom which sways so much of our
lives, on the side of godliness. But it is not good, but, on the
contrary, pure loss, when habit becomes mechanical, and, instead of
making it easier to call up the true motive, excludes that motive, and
makes it easy to do the deed without it. I am afraid that if such
thoughts were applied as a sieve to sift the abundant so-called
Christian work of the present day, there would be an alarming and, to
the workers, astonishing quantity of refuse that would not pass the
meshes.
Let us, then, try to bring every act of service nominally done for
Christ into conscious relation with the motive which ought to be its
parent; for only the work that is done because our spirits lift us up,
and our hearts are willing, is work that is accepted by Him, and is
blessed to us.
And how is that to be secured? How is that glad temper of spontaneous
and cheerful consecration to be attained and maintained? I know of but
one way. 'Brethren,' said the Apostle, when he was talking about a very
little matter--some small collection for a handful of poor people--'ye
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that, though He was rich,
yet for our sakes He became poor, that we, through His poverty, might
become rich.' Let us keep our eyes fixed upon that great pattern of and
motive for surrender; and our hearts will become willing, touched with
the fire that flamed in His. There is only one method of securing the
gladness and spontaneousness of devotion and of service, and that is,
living very near to Jesus Christ, and drinking in for ourselves, as the
very wine that turns to blood and life in our veins, the spirit of that
dear Master. Every one whose heart is lifted up will have it lifted up
because it holds on by Him who hath ascended up, and who, being 'lifted
up, draws all men to Him.' The secret of consecration is communion with
Jesus Christ.
The appeal to lower motives is often tempting, but always a mistake.
Continual contact with Jesus Christ, and realisation of what He has
done for us, are sure to open the deep fountains of the heart, and to
secure abundant streams. If we can tap these perennial reservoirs they
will yield like artesian wells, and need no creaking machinery to pump
a scanty and intermittent supply. We cannot trust this deepest motive
too much, nor appeal to it too exclusively.
Let me remind you, too, that Christ's appeal to this motive leaves no
loophole for selfishness or laziness. Responsibility is all the greater
because we are left to assess ourselves. The blank form is sent to us,
and He leaves it to our honour to fill it up. Do not tamper with the
paper, for remember there is a Returning Officer that will examine your
schedule, who knows all about your possessions. So, when He says, 'Give
as you like; and I do not want anything that you do not like,' remember
that 'Give as you like' ought to mean, 'Give as you, who have received
everything from Me, are bound to give.'