Luke 19:44

TIMES OF VISITATION

‘Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.’

Luke 19:44

There is indeed nothing so saddening to the mind as the thought of great opportunities unrecognised and unused. Whether it is in the case of a nation, of a Church, or of an individual, we think of the glorious possibility which once presented itself, of the time of visitation, of trial, when God came to see what they were capable of, to know what was in their heart; and then we think how the whole life of a nation has been lowered, how the energies of a Church have been weakened or misdirected, how the career of a man has been spoiled and stunted by a single irrevocable mistake.

I. England’s opportunity.—And can we not see that to this nation in this age God has given a great, a magnificent opportunity? We have but to look around us to be reminded of what England is. But is it not certain that in the power, the influence, the wealth which God has put into our hands there lies a tremendous responsibility? We hear sometimes of the duty of asserting the national honour, of maintaining British interests; how could we better maintain our country’s honour than by letting it be seen that the only interests we care for are those of righteousness and peace? Have we not in our Indian and Colonial Empire a vast opportunity of promoting a high standard of political and social life? But then, what is our political and social life at home? Amidst the perplexities, the cross-lights of this difficult age, do we know the time of our visitation? ‘Naught shall make us rue,’ says Shakespeare, ‘if England to itself do rest but true.’ But is England true to itself, true to the great traditions, the noble memories, of the past life of the nation?

II. The Church’s opportunity.—But if for the nation, so too, assuredly, for the Church of England is this age a time of visitation. As the Church stands face to face with the new world, the question arises, Can the Christian faith meet and assimilate the scientific knowledge, the social upheaval, the new thought and the new aspirations which come upon us so thickly from every side? Is Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of the future as of the past, or do we look for another? Has the Church a message for our democratic age, or is she a feudal institution that cannot stand in the presence of the organisation of labour? These are the questions which the Christian Church has to meet; and if she has no answer to give to them, if she is content to rest upon her great past and to forgo the possibility of a yet greater future, shall we not have to confess mournfully and with bitter disappointment that the gates of Hades have prevailed against her?

III. The individual’s opportunity.—Each one of us has had, at one period or another, under one form or another, his time of visitation, upon which depended the whole course of his life, the whole direction of his character. It is so even in mere matters of worldly success. Every man has his chance, we are told, once in his life. But not once only, but over and over again do times of visitation come to us in our spiritual life. Not once only, but at intervals all through our life, does Christ come to visit us.

Rev. R. E. Bartlett.

Illustration

‘It is the moment when the great procession reached the ridge of the Mount of Olives, at the one point where the whole city of Jerusalem suddenly bursts into view. On that ledge of rock, the one absolutely authentic spot in Palestine, where we can say with entire confidence that our Lord’s presence passed, He paused and beheld the city. It rose before Him, in the combined effect of its buildings and its impressive situation, the most magnificent at that time of all the cities of the East—its palaces, its walls, its gigantic towers, and, immediately fronting Him, parted only by the deep ravine of the Kedron, the vast courts, enclosing the snow-white mass of the Temple, flashing back the sun from its golden pinnacles—the Holy City, the city of David and Solomon and Isaiah, the joy of the whole earth; and His soul was shaken at the sight, and He wept over it.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

IS GOD VISITING US?

Jerusalem would not know her hour of mercy and acceptance. It passed away, it was too late now; and the Lord saw, and wept as He saw, that it was gone.

I. Not to know the time of our visitation means—not to know when God is giving us opportunities of good; not to feel the blessings He is putting within our reach; not to see when the time comes, which is specially meant to suit our needs, and to open the door to peace and mercy.

II. There is one sort of visitation from God which many of us are going through now.—We are leading quiet, peaceful lives, with little apparently to disturb us; no great sorrow, fear, or disadvantage to struggle with, no great care to weigh us down. And in this kind of life we go on from year to year. I can well imagine people being almost frightened sometimes at the unbroken peace of their lives; thinking that something dreadful must be coming to make up for the long immunity from trouble and pain. But this is faithless fear. God does not deal with us in this way. He does not make a certain amount of evil weigh against and balance a certain amount of good. He gives good and evil by a different rule. Let us enjoy the blessings which He gives us—our quiet days, our health, and peaceful homes; and let us hope on in the mercy which has been with us so long.

III. But there are two things to be remembered, which we are apt to forget—

(a) Without superstitiously vexing ourselves, yet it is true that all this quiet cannot go on for ever—that we must expect sooner or later some of the trials of life.

(b) This freedom from the burdens of sorrow and pain is a time of visitation, a time when God is visiting us—visiting us by many a blessing, as truly as He is visiting and searching others by His chastisements and judgments. In this time of peace and regular work, of quiet days and nights of refreshing sleep, He is preparing, He is testing us, He is giving us time, ample time, to fit ourselves to meet the harsher and heavier ways of His Providence.

Dean Church.

Illustration

‘There are many different sorts of these visitations of God to the souls of men. They are always the openings and beginnings of new mercies, more than had been vouchsafed before. But there is about them all this danger—that those to whom they come should not know the time of their visitation. And there is an additional danger of so failing when these visitations are not accompanied by any strange outward marks of God’s power. How easy to miss the opportunity, when it comes in the common course of our lives, without any appearance of what is extraordinary or wonderful! The days were when God’s Presence was revealed by visible miracle and judgment; the earthquake, the wind, the fire; now, these are passed away, and it is only the “still small Voice” in the heart which tells that the Lord is nigh. God’s real dealings with souls are out of sight. We cannot now, as in the days of miracles, say, “Lo, here,” or “Lo, there.” If, then, the blindness and selfishness of man were able to resist the outward call and manifest token, how much more the whisper of conscience and the gentle appeals of Providence.’