PHILANTHROPY and devotedness to our Lord Jesus Christ ought not to be confounded, and it is well to discern between them. Not only so, mere philanthropy may even hinder that peculiar service which would exalt Christ personally.
Mary of Bethany is led of God in view of her Saviour’s burial to anoint Him. “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment” (John 12:33Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. (John 12:3)). Mary evidently did not think anything too costly to be spent on her beloved Lord. But how sadly strange that this should have been considered “waste” by the disciples. They had indignation, saying, “To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor” (Matt. 26.). The calculating brain reckons the money value of the ointment, but love to Christ is not affected by the rules of arithmetic. Consideration for the poor may be philanthropic, and on this occasion sounded unselfish, but we know that the leader of this burst of indignation was none other than Judas Iscariot, “the traitor!” (John 12.). One covetous man’s influence affected the other eleven true-hearted disciples of the Lord; and as the Scriptures say, “one sinner destroyeth much good” (Eccles. 9:1818Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. (Ecclesiastes 9:18)).
And further: God, who searches the hearts of all, and discerns beneath this plausible pleading for the poor, informs us that it was not for the sake of the poor after all, but because Judas was “a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.” When that which is done to exalt the person of Christ is accounted “waste,” our suspicions may indeed be aroused. Here Mary of Bethany was again misunderstood, but it exalted Christ when this spiritual woman took the place of a learner at the feet of Jesus, though by her sister this was considered waste of time. Martha is the elder sister, and has heart enough to receive the Lord into her house, but, like too many more, she was occupied with her “much serving,” “careful and troubled about many things,” considering that nothing was so important as the work she was occupied in, and that the time which was not spent in helping her in her work was wasted.
“Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me” (Luke 10:4040But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. (Luke 10:40)). It is a bad thing to be overweeningly absorbed in one’s own service. In this case, for instance, it brings out a spirit of reproachfulness to the Lord Jesus Himself. “Dost Thou not care?” He rebukes Martha for this interference with her sister, who had chosen “that good part”: this is not conversion, it is communion. There is some truth in the couplet “Little is much if God be in it, Man’s busiest day’s not worth God’s minute.”
That service, which busy people may think so important, nay, indispensable, may be differently regarded by the Lord.
Should this not exercise us to pray in the spirit and language of the apostle Paul, and say, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” — not what shall I do? The same apostle prays for others (the Colossians), and says, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it” (their love in the Spirit), “do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might” (or in order that ye might) “walk Lord” (Col. 1:8-108Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. 9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:8‑10)). Mary of Bethany was misunderstood, and that, as we have said, by her own sister, though it must have been a sufficient reward to her that the Lord understood her, and that she had His approval.
There was once a railway ticket collector, who, in performing his duty, caused annoyance to some passengers whose tickets he insisted on seeing before passing the gate. This raised a storm of angry words, and led a gentleman to remark to the collector that his post could not be one of the pleasantest.
“Look,” said the ticket collector, “do you see that official looking out of the window there?” “Yes,” replied the gentleman, “I see him.”
“Well, I am accountable to him, and so long as I please him, I don’t trouble much as to what others may think or say,” said the servant.
Enoch “had this testimony that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:55By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)). This may suggest that his walking with God did not provoke the pleasure of those he lived amongst. May we dare to be an Enoch, as well as “dare to be a Daniel.”
Service which springs from nearness to Christ, work which flows from communion with Him, is intelligent service. It is not indiscriminate. The disciple who is a learner at the feet of Jesus knows what he is about, nor will he be wanting in heart for the poor and suffering. There is such a thing as making very little of Christ while affecting to make much of the poor. Indeed, a philanthropist (so called) may be an infidel, with an antipathy to the name of Jesus, but everything will fall into its proper place with one whose heart is in communion with Christ, and it will not matter much to him if by many he be misunderstood. This is a great principle, and encourages the Christian to surmount the difficulties which he meets with in this world, while seeking the Lord’s “well done,” and not the approval of men. To be a servant of Christ, and to give pleasure to men, are a contradiction according to the inspired apostle Paul: “For if I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:1010For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)).
It is joy and comfort to be assured that the Lord never misunderstands. He knows the heart and perceives the motives which actuate us.
“From various cares my heart retires,
Though deep and boundless its desires,
I’ve now to please but One:
Him before whom each knee shall bow,
With Him is all my business now,
And those that are His own.”
W. R. C.