The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Sheet 68

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

The Shining Face.

Mirrorlike, yet livelier,
On ebony surface, lie
Gleaming spheres, reflected light,
Above his sparkling eye.

Now and then on dusky cheek
Like moonbeams in the night,

Now and then on rounded chin
The jovial smile to light,

(Leaping forth from rows of pearl,
Interpreted by gems

Curtained in their safe retreat,)
A glow the fool contemns.

Halo, this, in earthly form
That brightens swarthy face.
Savior, send Thy precious light

To hallow Ham’s lost race. H.A.S.

Work for All— Work for Each
One of Us.

- There are no two persons perfectly alike in form,
features, or qualities. In fact, there are no two
things on earth perfectly alike; everything has
something peculiar, something individual about it.
And when grace takes hold of a man, this individu-
ality remains. Peter remains Peter, and John re-
mains John. When Peter and John became disciples
of Jesus, they did not change their form or features,
nor did they lay off their other peculiarities. And
80 it is with all persons that become Christians. We
find great differences among them, even contrasts.
Some are weak, while others are strong; some are
bold and daring, while others are timid; some are
quick, vigorous, and outspoken, while others are
slow, hesitating, and doubtful.

Two such very unlike men were Philip and
Nathanael, whom John refers to at the end of the
first chapter of his gospel. The Bible does not tell
us very much about Philip; but the little it does
tell us indicates that he was a somewhat slow and
dull man, 2 man without much strength and
force of mind. At the time the Lord Jesus fed the
five thousand He puta very simple question to
Philip, but good Philip wholly missed the point.

_ John6,5—7. At another time a number of Greek-

speaking Jews at Jerusalem desired to speak to

' Jesus. They made known their wish to Philip,

- probably because his was a Greek name, — but

___ he was s0 confused and naples that, he could give

Savior, just prior to His death, spoke of His going
to the Father. So we find that what Philip tells his
friend: Nathanael in the first chapter of John’s
gospel is in fact no more than a repetition of what
Andrew told Peter to get him to go to Christ. Yet,
weak as Philip may have been, he did a very im-
portant service that day when he saw his friend
Nathanael and induced him to go with him to Jesus.

The kingdom of God has use for the weak and
feeble as well as for the strong and learned. The
Church has need of Pauls and Peters; but it can
also put the Philips to good use. There was but one
Paul and one Luther; but there have been many
lesser lights, and very useful lights they have been
in their places. There is need of special lighthouses
here and there along the coast to make navigation
safe; but each ship must have its own smaller
lights, and these smaller lights are very needful for
safe sailing upon the sea. The few great men of
a country are worth but little after all without the
millions of humble workers who make up the nation.
We need great generals to lead our armies; but of
what use are they without the rank and file? If
a railroad is to function successfully, everybody
connected with it, from the manager down to the
humble switchman, must do his duty. Nelson could
never have won the brilliant victory of Trafalgar if
not every sailor in the fleet had done his duty. Christ
did not select many wise men after the flesh, many
mighty men, many noble, that the excellency might
be seen to be of God and “that no flesh should glory
in His presence.”

Nathanael, the man whom the simple Philip led
to Jesus, was probably the Apostle Bartholomew.
From what we read in the second chapter of John’s
gospel we must conclude that he was a man well
read in the prophecies, well acquainted with the Old
Testament Scriptures; he was a good example of
an intelligent and well-posted layman. He was
living in expectation of the early coming of the
Messiah. Jesus speaks of his studious devotion and
gave him what probably was the greatest praise he
ever gave a man. Nathanael was, therefore, Philip’s
superior in every way. When Philip came to him
with his report concerning Jesus, he turned it down
as a stupid tale, ascribing it, no doubt, to Philip’s
ignorance and credulity. But Philip was right despite
the opinion of Nathanael, though he was wrong in
some of the details. Nathanael argues with Philip
and bases his argument on what to him seems a good
and reasonable foundation. He is sure that Philip
must be wrong. Philip does not try to meet his
arguments, for he knows his weakness. But for all