Christianity in Action: Lesson 2: Four Things Necessary to a Good Life: (2) An Instructed Mind
By G.R. Balleine
By G.R. Balleine
[Warning: Balleine was writing in the 1920s and 1930s, and his views reflect the beliefs of many at that time. However, as a time capsule of the prevailing beliefs, this can be very useful for the historians of that period.]
LESSON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
PASSAGE TO BE READ: Exodus xix. 1-9.
TEXT TO BE LEARNT: “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction “(Prov. xiii. 18).
HYMNS: “Lord, Thy Word abideth," and " Hushed was the evening hymn."
COLLECTS for Second Sunday in Advent and First Sunday after Epiphany. And: To make the children eager to increase their knowledge.
I. OUR NEED OF INSTRUCTION.
(a) You all know a song about three mice who lost their tails. How did it happen? Because they were foolish enough to run after the farmer's wife instead of running away from her. Now, farmers' wives hate mice, and a mouse who runs after a farmer's wife, when she has a carving-knife in her hand, deserves to lose its tail. How did they come to do it ? Because they were blind.
(b) We sometimes run straight into danger because we are blind, not blind in our eyes, but blind in our minds. We cannot see the safe path, we cannot see where danger lies, because we are too ignorant. Some are too lazy to learn. Others are too conceited, thinking that they know everything already. And so they lose things more valuable than tails. " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge " (Hos. iv. 6).
Let all repeat to-day's Text.
(c) Last week we watched the Israelites march out of Egypt. What was the next step ? Moses led them straight to Sinai. He made them march into a cul-de-sac among the mountains, a little plain about a mile square, shut in on every side by lofty hills, and here he kept them for eleven months. Why ? That they might be taught. They had marched out of Egypt finely, but they were as yet far too ignorant to be of much use in the world. They had most extraordinary ideas about God. They had been brought up among Egyptians who worshipped animals, and somehow or other had come to think that God was like a calf. When the women brought their ear-rings to Aaron, and asked him to make an image of the God Who had brought them out of Egypt, he made a golden calf. They had extraordinary ideas also about what was right and wrong. So they had to go to school at Sinai. For eleven months Moses kept them under constant instruction. It was an awe-inspiring place. Tremendous thunderstorms echoed through the mountains, and lightning flashed around the peaks. And Moses kept going up alone among the cloud-wreathed heights, and knelt in prayer, and then came back and told the people thoughts that God had put into his mind. In this way they gradually learnt that God is a Spirit, that it is ridiculous to try to make any image of Him ; they learnt how they could worship Him, and built the Tabernacle ; they learnt all sorts of practical rules about their own conduct : for example, that we are always responsible for the harm we do—" If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the standing corn be consumed, he that kindleth the fire shall surely make restitution " (Exod. xxii. 6). By the end of their stay in Sinai they knew what to believe, how to worship, and how to behave.
(d) Last week we also watched Christian come out of Destruction. When he got on the right path, the first place the road led him to was Interpreter's House, the place of instruction. Here he was shown a series of tableaux, each of which had a separate lesson. One of them was : " I saw in my dream that Interpreter took Christian to a place where was a fire burning against a wall, and one casting water upon it, yet did the fire burn higher. Then said Christian, What means this ? Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace in the heart. He that casts water upon it is the devil. But thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher ; thou shalt see the reason. Then he had him about to the other side of the wall, where he saw a Man with a vessel of oil, of which He did also continually cast, but secretly, into the fire. This is Christ, he said, with the oil of His grace." By scenes like this he was taught lessons that would help him on his future pilgrimage.
II. THE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE.
(a) Sensible people seize every opportunity of gaining instruction. Let me tell you of three boys. Cleanthes was a ragged Greek boy, who wanted to learn philosophy. About 200 B.C. he trudged to Athens with three sixpences in his pocket. Every morning he appeared at the door of Zeno, the most famous lecturer on philosophy, paid his fee, and took his seat among the students. He made such progress • that the other scholars became jealous. They said that such a shabby youth must steal the money for his fees. So Cleanthes was arrested as a thief. At his trial he called two witnesses. One was a market-gardener who said that every day long before sunrise Cleanthes watered all his gardens, for which he paid him a wage. The other was a lady/ who said that every night Cleanthes earned money from her by grinding her corn. Then everyone looked with respect on the lad who worked so hard to gain an education ; and later, when Zeno died, he became the chief teacher in Athens.
(b) Hillel was a poor Jewish boy, who spent almost all the money that he earned in paying the foes at the Rabbis' schools to learn more of the Jewish Law. One day he had no money ; but he determined not to miss a lecture. At night he climbed on the school roof, and lay down by the skylight, hoping to hoar the Rabbi's voice through the small openings. It began to snow, but he would not move. Next morning the Rabbi sent a pupil to sweep the snow from the skylight. There they found little Hillel half frozen. The Rabbi said that a boy who loved learning so much should in future attend the class free. By the time that Jesus was born in Bethlehem Hillel had become the greatest Rabbi in Jerusalem.
(c) In 1823 a Scotch lad, David Livingstone, started work in a cotton mill. He was only ten years old, and his hours were from 6 a.m. till 8 p.m. Yet with his first week's wage he bought—what do you think ? A Latin grammar. He propped it up on his spinning frame, and as he waited for the shuttle to come back learned a bit out of it. At night, in spite of his long hours, he sat up over his books till his mother blew out his candle, and packed him off to bed. In this way he educated himself, and became the famous explorer who is buried in Westminster Abbey.
III. HOW TO BECOME EDUCATED.
(a) How can we educate ourselves ? We must feed our minds. Carlyle used to say, " Feed me on Facts." We never know when a fact will come in useful. During the war the French blew up the bridge over a deep river ; but the Germans marched right through the water without getting drowned. How did they do it ? Their officer remembered an old Latin book, in which Cesar described his campaigns in Gaul. In this he tells how his army crossed that river by a ford. The bridge had been built so long that the ford had been forgotten. The French knew nothing about it. That one little bit of extra knowledge gave the Germans the victory. Where can we find our facts ? By observing things around we can learn some truths for ourselves. But others have observed more than we have. We get in touch with their knowledge at school, at meetings (Scouts, Missionary Meetings, Bands of Hope), above all, through books. Never think of reading as a mild form of idleness. Books bring us in touch with the brains of those who know more than we do. The best of all books is the Bible. Refer to to-day's Collect.
(b) We must train our minds. A person who knows a million facts is not necessarily well educated. Every part of us has to be trained before it works properly. Examples : a baby learning to walk, an athlete developing muscles, a pianist training fingers to strike notes quickly and accurately. So the mind must be trained to work properly, to think, to reason, to draw right conclusions from the facts it knows. Moses taught the people to think by means of the Tabernacle ritual. The strange things that they had to do obviously had some meaning—the scapegoat, the sin-offering, the laver, the incense. Every time they saw them they would ask Why ? and gradually grope their way toward the truth.
(c) We must learn to express our thoughts clearly. The Israelites were to teach religion to the whole world. That is why Moses took such pains with their education. We must be teachers too. Teaching means sharing with others the best things that we discover. A child shows its new toys to its companions. When we find something really interesting, we want to tell others about it. But we cannot do this unless we can express ourselves intelligibly.
(d) A child who lived near a mountain asked, " Mother, could anyone climb to the very top of the mountain ? " She replied, " You can get almost anywhere, if you take steps enough." The words stuck in his memory. He had had hardly any education, but he began to teach himself. It took many steps, and the way was not always smooth. But in time he became Professor at one of our universities.
LESSON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.
PASSAGE TO BE READ: Exodus xix. 1-9.
TEXT TO BE LEARNT: “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction “(Prov. xiii. 18).
HYMNS: “Lord, Thy Word abideth," and " Hushed was the evening hymn."
COLLECTS for Second Sunday in Advent and First Sunday after Epiphany. And: To make the children eager to increase their knowledge.
I. OUR NEED OF INSTRUCTION.
(a) You all know a song about three mice who lost their tails. How did it happen? Because they were foolish enough to run after the farmer's wife instead of running away from her. Now, farmers' wives hate mice, and a mouse who runs after a farmer's wife, when she has a carving-knife in her hand, deserves to lose its tail. How did they come to do it ? Because they were blind.
(b) We sometimes run straight into danger because we are blind, not blind in our eyes, but blind in our minds. We cannot see the safe path, we cannot see where danger lies, because we are too ignorant. Some are too lazy to learn. Others are too conceited, thinking that they know everything already. And so they lose things more valuable than tails. " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge " (Hos. iv. 6).
Let all repeat to-day's Text.
(c) Last week we watched the Israelites march out of Egypt. What was the next step ? Moses led them straight to Sinai. He made them march into a cul-de-sac among the mountains, a little plain about a mile square, shut in on every side by lofty hills, and here he kept them for eleven months. Why ? That they might be taught. They had marched out of Egypt finely, but they were as yet far too ignorant to be of much use in the world. They had most extraordinary ideas about God. They had been brought up among Egyptians who worshipped animals, and somehow or other had come to think that God was like a calf. When the women brought their ear-rings to Aaron, and asked him to make an image of the God Who had brought them out of Egypt, he made a golden calf. They had extraordinary ideas also about what was right and wrong. So they had to go to school at Sinai. For eleven months Moses kept them under constant instruction. It was an awe-inspiring place. Tremendous thunderstorms echoed through the mountains, and lightning flashed around the peaks. And Moses kept going up alone among the cloud-wreathed heights, and knelt in prayer, and then came back and told the people thoughts that God had put into his mind. In this way they gradually learnt that God is a Spirit, that it is ridiculous to try to make any image of Him ; they learnt how they could worship Him, and built the Tabernacle ; they learnt all sorts of practical rules about their own conduct : for example, that we are always responsible for the harm we do—" If fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the standing corn be consumed, he that kindleth the fire shall surely make restitution " (Exod. xxii. 6). By the end of their stay in Sinai they knew what to believe, how to worship, and how to behave.
(d) Last week we also watched Christian come out of Destruction. When he got on the right path, the first place the road led him to was Interpreter's House, the place of instruction. Here he was shown a series of tableaux, each of which had a separate lesson. One of them was : " I saw in my dream that Interpreter took Christian to a place where was a fire burning against a wall, and one casting water upon it, yet did the fire burn higher. Then said Christian, What means this ? Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace in the heart. He that casts water upon it is the devil. But thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher ; thou shalt see the reason. Then he had him about to the other side of the wall, where he saw a Man with a vessel of oil, of which He did also continually cast, but secretly, into the fire. This is Christ, he said, with the oil of His grace." By scenes like this he was taught lessons that would help him on his future pilgrimage.
II. THE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE.
(a) Sensible people seize every opportunity of gaining instruction. Let me tell you of three boys. Cleanthes was a ragged Greek boy, who wanted to learn philosophy. About 200 B.C. he trudged to Athens with three sixpences in his pocket. Every morning he appeared at the door of Zeno, the most famous lecturer on philosophy, paid his fee, and took his seat among the students. He made such progress • that the other scholars became jealous. They said that such a shabby youth must steal the money for his fees. So Cleanthes was arrested as a thief. At his trial he called two witnesses. One was a market-gardener who said that every day long before sunrise Cleanthes watered all his gardens, for which he paid him a wage. The other was a lady/ who said that every night Cleanthes earned money from her by grinding her corn. Then everyone looked with respect on the lad who worked so hard to gain an education ; and later, when Zeno died, he became the chief teacher in Athens.
(b) Hillel was a poor Jewish boy, who spent almost all the money that he earned in paying the foes at the Rabbis' schools to learn more of the Jewish Law. One day he had no money ; but he determined not to miss a lecture. At night he climbed on the school roof, and lay down by the skylight, hoping to hoar the Rabbi's voice through the small openings. It began to snow, but he would not move. Next morning the Rabbi sent a pupil to sweep the snow from the skylight. There they found little Hillel half frozen. The Rabbi said that a boy who loved learning so much should in future attend the class free. By the time that Jesus was born in Bethlehem Hillel had become the greatest Rabbi in Jerusalem.
(c) In 1823 a Scotch lad, David Livingstone, started work in a cotton mill. He was only ten years old, and his hours were from 6 a.m. till 8 p.m. Yet with his first week's wage he bought—what do you think ? A Latin grammar. He propped it up on his spinning frame, and as he waited for the shuttle to come back learned a bit out of it. At night, in spite of his long hours, he sat up over his books till his mother blew out his candle, and packed him off to bed. In this way he educated himself, and became the famous explorer who is buried in Westminster Abbey.
III. HOW TO BECOME EDUCATED.
(a) How can we educate ourselves ? We must feed our minds. Carlyle used to say, " Feed me on Facts." We never know when a fact will come in useful. During the war the French blew up the bridge over a deep river ; but the Germans marched right through the water without getting drowned. How did they do it ? Their officer remembered an old Latin book, in which Cesar described his campaigns in Gaul. In this he tells how his army crossed that river by a ford. The bridge had been built so long that the ford had been forgotten. The French knew nothing about it. That one little bit of extra knowledge gave the Germans the victory. Where can we find our facts ? By observing things around we can learn some truths for ourselves. But others have observed more than we have. We get in touch with their knowledge at school, at meetings (Scouts, Missionary Meetings, Bands of Hope), above all, through books. Never think of reading as a mild form of idleness. Books bring us in touch with the brains of those who know more than we do. The best of all books is the Bible. Refer to to-day's Collect.
(b) We must train our minds. A person who knows a million facts is not necessarily well educated. Every part of us has to be trained before it works properly. Examples : a baby learning to walk, an athlete developing muscles, a pianist training fingers to strike notes quickly and accurately. So the mind must be trained to work properly, to think, to reason, to draw right conclusions from the facts it knows. Moses taught the people to think by means of the Tabernacle ritual. The strange things that they had to do obviously had some meaning—the scapegoat, the sin-offering, the laver, the incense. Every time they saw them they would ask Why ? and gradually grope their way toward the truth.
(c) We must learn to express our thoughts clearly. The Israelites were to teach religion to the whole world. That is why Moses took such pains with their education. We must be teachers too. Teaching means sharing with others the best things that we discover. A child shows its new toys to its companions. When we find something really interesting, we want to tell others about it. But we cannot do this unless we can express ourselves intelligibly.
(d) A child who lived near a mountain asked, " Mother, could anyone climb to the very top of the mountain ? " She replied, " You can get almost anywhere, if you take steps enough." The words stuck in his memory. He had had hardly any education, but he began to teach himself. It took many steps, and the way was not always smooth. But in time he became Professor at one of our universities.
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