(Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity.)
Proverbs xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit.
I fear there are more lessons in the Book of Proverbs than most of
us care to learn. There is a lesson in every verse of it, and a
shrewd one. Certain I am, that for a practical, business man, who
has to do his duty and to make his way in this world, there is no
guide so safe as these same Proverbs of Solomon. In _this_ world, I
say; for they say little about the world to come. Their doctrine
is, that what is good for the next world, is good for this; that he
who wishes to go out of this world happily, must first go through
this world wisely; and more, that he who wishes to go through this
world happily, must likewise go through it wisely.
The righteous, says Solomon, shall be recompensed in the earth, and
not merely at the end of judgment hereafter: much more the wicked
and the sinner.
That is the doctrine of the Proverbs; that men do, to a very great
extent, earn for themselves their good or their evil fortunes, and
are filled with the fruit of their own devices; and it is that
doctrine which makes them the best of text-books for the practical
man.
For the Proverbs do not look on religion as a thing to be kept out
of our daily dealings, and thought of only on Sundays: they look on
true religion, which is to obey God, as a thing which mixes itself
up with all the cares and business of this mortal life, this work-
day world; and, therefore, they are written in work-day language; in
homely words taken from the common doings of this mortal life, as
our Lord's parables are. And, like the most simple of those
parables, the most simple of the proverbs have often the very
deepest meaning.
'In all labour there is profit.' Whatsoever is worth doing, is
worth doing well. It is always worth while to take pains. In
another proverb, homely enough--but if it be in the Bible, it is not
too homely for us--'Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,' Solomon
says the same thing as in the text. He says, 'Where no oxen are,
the farmer is saved trouble; the clearing away of dirt and refuse;
and all the labour required to keep his cattle in condition: but
all that trouble,' Solomon says, if a man will but undergo it, will
repay itself; 'for much increase is in the strength of the ox.' For
the ox, in that country, as in most parts of the world now, is the
beast used for ploughing, and for all the work of the farm.
Now, herein, I think, Solomon gives us a lesson which holds good
through all matters of life. That it is a short-sighted mistake to
avoid taking trouble; for God has so well ordered this world, that
industry will always repay itself. No doubt it is much easier and
pleasanter for the savage to scratch the seed into the ground with
some rude wooden tool, and sit idle till the grain ripens: much
easier and pleasanter, than to breed and break in beasts, and to
labour all the year round at the different duties of a well-ordered
farm: but here is the mighty difference; that the savage, growing
only enough for himself, is in continual danger of famine, he and
all his tribe; while the civilized farmer, producing many times more
than he needs for himself, gains food, comfort, and safety, not only
for himself, but for many other human beings. The savage has an
easy life enough, if that be any gain: but it is a life of poverty,
uncertainty, danger of starvation. The civilized man works hard and
heavily, using body and mind more in one month than the savage does
in the whole year: but he gains in return a life of safety,
comfort, and continually increasing prosperity.
This is Solomon's lesson: and be sure it holds good, not only of
tilling the ground, but of all other labours, all other duties, to
which God may call us. 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,' says
Solomon, 'do it with all thy might.' God has set thee thy work;
then fulfil it. Fill it full. Throw thy whole heart and soul into
it. Do it carefully, accurately, completely. It will be better for
thee, and for thy children after thee. All neglect, carelessness,
slurring over work, is a sin; a sin against God, who has called us
to our work; a sin against our country and our neighbours, who ought
to profit by our work; and a sin against ourselves also, for we (as
I shall shew you soon) ought to be made wiser and better men by our
work.
Oh, if there is one rule above another which I should like to bring
home to young men and women setting out in life, it is this--_Take
pains_. Take trouble. Whatever you do, do thoroughly. Whatever
you begin, finish. It may not seem to be worth your while at the
moment, to be so very painstaking, so very exact. In after years,
you will find that it was worth your while; that it has _paid_ you,
by training your character and soul; paid you, by giving you success
in life; paid you, by giving you the respect and trust of your
fellowmen; paid you, by helping you towards a good conscience, and
enabling you in old age to look back, and say, I have been of use
upon the earth; I leave this world, according to my small powers,
somewhat better than I found it: instead of having to look back, as
too many have, upon opportunities thrown away, plans never carried
out, talents wasted, a whole life a failure, for want of taking
pains.
Why do I say these things to you? To persuade you to work? Thank
God, there is no need of that, for you are Englishmen; and it has
pleased God to put into the hearts of Englishmen a love of work, and
a power of work, which has helped to make this little island one of
the greatest nations upon earth. No, thanks be to God, I say, there
is no need to bid you work. What I ask you to do, is to look upon
your work as an honourable calling, and as a blessing to yourselves,
not merely as a hard necessity, a burden which must be borne merely
to keep you from starvation. It is not that, my friends, but far
more than that. For what is more honourable than to be of use? And
in all labour, as Solomon says, there is profit; it is all of use.
And all trade, manufacture, tillage, even of the smallest, all
management and ordering, whether of an estate, a parish, or even of
the pettiest office in it, all is honourable, because all is of use;
all helping forward, more or less, the well-being of God's human
creatures, and of the whole world.
And therefore all is worth taking trouble over, worth doing as
diligently and honestly as possible, in sure trust that it will
bring its reward with it. Why not? Almsgiving is blessed in God's
sight, and charity to the poor; and God will repay it: but is not
useful labour blessed in his sight also? and shall he not repay it?
Will he not say of it, as well as of almsgiving, 'Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these little ones, ye have
done it unto me?' We may trust so, my friends; indeed, I may say
more than, 'We may trust.' We can see; see that industry has its
reward. By increasing the well-being of others, and the safety of
others, you increase your own. So it is, and so it should be; for
God has knit us all together as brethren, members of one family of
God; and the well-being of each makes up the well-being of all, so
that sooner or later, if one member rejoice, all the others rejoice
with it.
But more. And here I speak to young people; for their elders, I
doubt not, have found it out long since for themselves. Work, hard
work, is a blessing to the soul and character of the man who works.
Young men may not think so. They may say, What more pleasant than
to have one's fortune made for one, and have nothing before one than
to enjoy life? What more pleasant than to be idle: or, at least,
to do only what one likes, and no more than one likes? But they
would find themselves mistaken. They would find that idleness makes
a man restless, discontented, greedy, the slave of his own lusts and
passions, and see too late, that no man is more to be pitied than
the man who has nothing to do. Yes; thank God every morning, when
you get up, that you have something to do that day which must be
done, whether you like or not. Being forced to work, and forced to
do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control,
diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content and a
hundred virtues which the idle man will never know. The monks in
old time found it so. When they shut themselves up from the world
to worship God in prayers and hymns, they found that, without
working, without hard work either of head or hands, they could not
even be good men. The devil came and tempted them, they said, as
often as they were idle. An idle monk's soul was lost, they used to
say; and they spoke truly. Though they gave up a large portion of
every day, and of every night also, to prayer and worship, yet they
found they could not pray aright without work. And 'working is
praying,' said one of the holiest of them that ever lived; and he
spoke truth, if a man will but do his work for the sake of duty,
which is for the sake of God. And so they worked, and worked hard,
not only at teaching the children of the poor, but at tilling the
ground, clearing the forests, building noble churches, which stand
unto this day; none among them were idle at first; and as long as
they worked, they were good men, and blessings to all around them,
and to this land of England, which they brought out of heathendom to
the knowledge of Christ and of God; and it was not till they became
rich and idle, and made other people work for them and till their
great estates, that they sank into sin and shame, and became
despised and hated, and at last swept off the face of the land.
Lastly, my friends, if you wish to see how noble a calling Work is,
consider God himself; who, although he is perfect, and does not
need, as we do, the training which comes by work, yet works for ever
with and through his Son, Jesus Christ, who said, 'My Father worketh
hitherto, and I work.' Yes; think of God, who, though he needs
nothing, and therefore need not work to benefit himself, yet does
work, simply because, though he needs nothing, all things need him.
Think of God as a king working for ever for the good of his
subjects, a Father working for ever for the good of his children,
for ever sending forth light and life and happiness to all created
things, and ordering all things in heaven and earth by a providence
so perfect, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his
knowledge, and the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
And then think of yourselves, called to copy God, each in his
station, and to be fellow-workers with God for the good of each
other and of yourselves. Called to work, because you are made in
God's image, and redeemed to be the children of God. Not like the
brutes, who cannot work, and can therefore never improve themselves,
or the earth around them; but like children of God, whom he has
called to the high honour of subduing and replenishing this earth
which he has given you, and of handing down by your labour blessings
without number to generations yet unborn. And when you go back, one
to his farm, another to his shop, another to his daily labour, say
to yourselves, This, too, as well as my prayers in church, is my
heavenly Father's command; in doing this my daily duty honestly and
well, I can do Christ's will, copy Christ, approve myself to Christ;
single-eyed and single-handed, doing my work as unto God, and not
unto men; and so hear, I may hope at last, Christ's voice saying to
me, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I set thee not to
govern kingdoms, to lead senates, to command armies, to preach the
gospel, to build churches, to give large charities, to write learned
books, to do any great work in the eyes of men. I set thee simply
to buy and sell, to plough and reap like a Christian man, and to
bring up thy family thereby, in the fear of God and in the faith of
Christ. And thou hast done thy duty more or less; and, in doing thy
duty, has taught thyself deeper and sounder lessons about thy life,
character, and immortal soul, than all books could teach thee. And
now thou hast thy reward. Thou hast been faithful over a few
things: I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord.'