THE QUIET HOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 67, 23 March 1929, Page 3

THE QUIET HOUR

SUNDAY READING.

SOMEWHAT TO SAY.

By Dr. George H. “SVmoiu, I have somewhat to say unto thee.”—Luke vii., 40. It is ione of the notable thijngs about our Lord that vs He has somewhat to say. No hour of'Tteod

ever finds Him silent. The intrusion of the woman into Simon’s diningrocln was au entirely unexpected incident. It was a painful and' per, plexing moment when she made her way into the feast. But our Lord had somewhat to say then, and one of the wonderful things about Him is that, alw/ays, Ho has somewhat td say still. Listen to the Speaker at the street (corner discussing Social-, ism or industrial unrest.. Join an

eager ccVipany bf young fellows gathered to reconstitute the, universe. Socrates and Shakespeare art, not mentioned, hut almost always Christ is summoned in; fney all feel He has somewhat to say still. Heav, en, and earth have passed away, but His words have not passed away. Wo live under a different heaven now, and the earth has been displaced from her centrality. Yet still, on every problem which emerges Jesus Christ has somewhat to say. It is a fact which is well worth considering. He lias somewhat to say, Tt should bo noted, just when everybody else is silent. My impression is that when that woman entered you might have heard a pin drop in the tuning-room. iSome of the guests would hang their headsi and some would look at each other “with a wild surmise”. A sun, den quiet would fall upon the table; conversation would instantly he hushed. And just then, when there was silence, when nobody else had a syllable to utter, our ‘ Loiv? had somewhat to say. So was it in the house of Jaunts, when the Tatlier and mother could db naught but - weep So was ft outside the gates of Nain when the widow was stricken dumb fn her great sorrow—and the won derful thing is that so is it still., When all the ).(!ii(L';/4ph;iep: ajrei dumb, and cannot give on.o word of help or comfort; when learning haa. no message, to inspire or to console the, heart; when sympathy hesitate to break the silence, lest it give

“vacant chaff veil-meant for grain,'s the Lord has somewhat to say. Noth, hiff can rob- Him of His message, wot I even the bitterest experience of life. He never grows silent when the way is dark, nor when the feet go ddwn into the valley. There (arid many voices, and n>md '.w'Hhonti sijgnfi- J ranee : but the hour comes when they all fail ns. and then we find how in Knch hours as that, Jesus, has some, wlfat to say. Ong notes, too. that He- lias some-

what to say to those separated from Him by great distances. What a gulf there was between our Lord and Simon! It is true that Jesus was sitting next to Simoig for that was the place of the) chief guest. But sometimes one may sit beside another, and all the while be thousands ot miles away. Just, as tw o - may live in the same dwelling, and sleep under the same roof at night, and yet seas between them “braid may roar.” Many a young fellow is nearer Keats or Shelley than he is to the fellowclerk on the next stool. Real near.

i ness differs from proximity. And* I that night, though seated nelxt to Simon by a. gulf it is impossible to i measure. Tin; One a provincial from Galilee: the other trained in the lexrj ning of the schools. The One, with j lov.o filling His great heart: the other | discourteous ancj cold and legal. Ami | yet across that gulf the Saviour j reaches, with. His searching and rej vealing word—“ Simon, I have some, j what to say unto thee.” That is the ; wonder of the word of Christ. It is universal. It bridges every gulf. Men hear that word in their own, tongue, as they did at the miracle of Pentecost. He. has somewhat to say to the millions of India. Ho has somewhat to say to the New Guinea cannibals., When one thinks of on- industrial civilisation and compares it with the environment of Jesus, it might seem incredible that that h/ue Man of Galilee should have anything to say to us. Yet there come times when wo most profoundly feel that there is no one who understands us ami our problems like the Guest who was in Simon’s house that night. Then, toj, we must not forget that our Lord lias somewhat personal to say. To his intense surprise Simon discovered that. I imagine that when he invited Christ to dinner ho was counting on some splendid talk. j . . *“* I Had he not heard from the assembly officers that never man spake like this man ? Simon wan m "nan who I loved good talk, and had an abhor. i rence of gossip at tho dinner-table, [ as every decent person ought to have.. Ho would get this, prophet to talk of tho Old Testament—He was said to have strain go viewls of the Old Testament. He would get Him to speak about the Coming One. He He would urge Him to tell one of His beautiful stories. And then, suddenly, and in the deathlike silence, came what ho was never Hooking) for: “Simon, f have somewhat to say unfo thee.” It was a. word for him and him alone. It was intensely personal ami individual, it reached his solitary, selfish heart. It probed his conscience and convicted him. And that is the abiding wonder of the Lord, that He speaks t/( each, of us in such a way that there might 1 jo no one else in the widci world at all. Ho holds the answer to tho vastest problems. He h.as a. mosago for international relationships. But, when* wo listen to Him He never leaves ns< broodiim on international relation. 1

ships. As He speaks toi me, I come t-u realise that the problems of all problems is myself. “Simon, I have somewhat to say unto time.”’