1.H 06. Health as a Cheering Influence
Health as a Cheering Influence.
But, once more, it is impossible for a man who 1? an invalid to sustain a cheerful and hopeful ministry among his people. An invalid looks with a sad eye upon human life. He may be sympathetic, but it is almost always with the shadows that arc in the world. He will give out moaning and drowsy hymns.
He will make prayers that are almost all piteous.
It may not be a minister’s fault if he be afflicted and ill, and administers his duties in mourning and sadness, but it is a vast misfortune for his people.
If there is anything in this world that is the product, of wholesome, healthy souls, it is the hope giving and joyful comforter. If there was ever a system of joy and hop:- in the world, prefigured by the prophets, and afterward characterized by the Sun of Righteousness, it is that ardent and hope-inspiring gospel that you are to preach. You are not sent out to tell of the dungeon and the pit, the shackle and the yoke except as redeemed by the power of Jesus Christ into rest and peace. And the very product of the gospel which you are to carry to mankind is hope and cheer. It is good news.
You rind men struggling with cares. They stand where a dozen ways meet, in utter perplexity, and they want the best advice you can give. Your Sunday ought to bring this witness from your flock every single month of your ministry: "If it had not been for the refreshment that I got on Sundays I never could have carried my burdens." The sweetest praises that ministers can ever have are from the house of trouble, from men in bankruptcy, from men hunted by perverse fortune almost to the bounds of suicide. They come to you, and say, " Sir, it was the cheer and comfort of your preaching that helped me through, or I never could have endured it." That will be better than any guerdon and any compliment. We are sent to men that are cheerless, men in distress, men who are burdened; and we have no business to have any other ministry than that which is based on the sweet teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must learn ardour and fervour from St. Paul’s interpretation of them. We must tell of love, hope, courage, and the cheering prospect of a blessed immortality. What business have you to turn all this into a minor symphony? But you cannot do otherwise, unless you keep your selves healthy, cheerful, hopeful, and buoyant. You must call in to your assistance all the help you can derive from the highest conditions of bodily health.