WONDERFUL!

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23014, 17 October 1936, Page 5

WONDERFUL!

Written for the Otago Daily Times By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller There is a very well known hymn called “ Wonderful Jesus,” and every time I hear it sung~and that is often —I am reminded of the miracles.of grace that are for ever associated with the name of the Saviour. In saying this I am not at all referring to the miracles that took place within the sphere of nature, but those that occurred within the realm of human personality. To me it was a greater miracle when Jesus brought a man back to sanity than it was to calm the raging sea; to cure a man of blindness than it was to feed thousands with a few loaves and fishes. I would even go further and say that when Jesus forgave men their sin and made new creatures of them, so that they could see the world through new eyes, it was • a miracle beside which His walking on the sea was a mere nothing. Men and women are always greater than things. God has given to men power to change nature in many ways, but within the realm of human personality miracles, such as being “ bom again ” can only take place by the , grace that is supernatural. Jesus is wonderful to me, not'only because He founded the religion of love, but because He cured the heartache of men and women and made living a new thing to them He practised what He preached. The Cross would have no real meaning unless it were, as it is, the supreme example of the love for others that knows no limit. The resurrection would.be merely a miracle, if human experience had not proved it to be the love that came back to live in human hearts. In other words, it is only as Christianity is a religion that actually changes men and women that it has any right to exist. When we think of it as a system of doctrine we, are doing less than justice to it. It becomes the, very power of God when it enters a human ■ being and brings in light where , darkness had reigned. And so, when I hear the hymn “Wonderful Jesus,” I see the long and glorious record of men and women to whom He has given new lives for old. .• i • '• “New lives for old ”! It sounds impossible, but it is the truest thing in ..all the world. If Jesus could not do this for us, then life would indeed be a dreary thing. But it is I because this wonderful thing does happen that Christianity is the religion of regeneration. There is a very beautiful expression copied from the Old Testament and made to express this great truth. You will find it mentioned in Matthew, chapter xii, verse 20: “A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench.” I think that ig one of the most expressive, “summings up” of Jesus ever recorded.. The reed was much more familiar in the days of old than it is in ours. * It grew profusely and was used for many purposes. It had a feathery top and, j when swayed by the wind, was most | graceful., It could be used as a. walking stick, but if it got bruised it would bend and a splinter might lodge in the hand. The reed , was also used for the purpose of rriusic, , pipes and flutes being made from it. You can see at once the allusion. Iffd; reed were bruised, there could be.'iio>rauSlc.‘ Jesus came not to break the' -”; bruised’- reed, but to strengthen 1 "#. He saw. and met so many ' men and women . and little children, bruised and bent,.with no music in their,lives. He did not dismiss them; He, got alongside , them and took the “ kink ” out of their lives. He brought the music back into their hearts. No wonder,, the common people heard him gladly! The meaning of the smoking flax is quite clear, although we no longer use the flax as it was in His day. The smoking wick hat gives a distorted light is quenched by finger and thumb and tossed out. Jesus does not quench, the wick that dimly bums.' He adds more oil to the lamp so that the wick takes on a new lease of life. There were so many poor suffering creatures in His day, whose flame of life burned low. How He cherished the little light until it became strong! Music and Light! New lives for old! No wonder He became the Wonderful Jesus to so many!

I am afraid this sense of the wonderfulness of Jesus is not so vivid with us tb-day as if should be. 1 We . are so easily caught up with routine that we cease to expect the revolution. Services often take the place of service, and sermons the place of revelation.' And yet it is fundamentally true that Christianity can only- live by putting music into human hearts and the -source of light in the souls of men. . Unless these miracles are occurring 'we are living with our shrouds on. ; The very worst thing that you can say is that human nature cannot be changed.’ That is a denial of the religion of Jesus. It is because ‘He does change human nature that i;we can face the great task of sharping with Him in the redemption of {the wbrldi .Jesus is wonderful be- ! cause He does not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax. He 'sees the possibility of music in that seemingly useless life; He sees the i possibility of light and service in i that life that seems so, dark. Wonderful Jesus! Let the whole Church believe in human miracles arid revival will break upon us.