Mark 1:43-45

RESERVE IN RELIGION

‘And He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.… But he went out, and began to publish it much.’

Mark 1:43

Our Lord, having healed the leper, charged him to be silent about the cure. He was not to make it known, except to the priest; and even if any of his comrades saw the wondrous change that had come over his once withered limbs, he was not to reveal to them the method by which it had been wrought. Christ knew the healed man would be sure, with good and glad intention, to make known the cure that had been wrought upon him; He likewise knew that the welfare of His mission required that at present the glory of His Divine works should be hidden; hence the command here given. Here is a pattern for all great moral workers. They must be content that their best deeds shall be concealed from the popular knowledge, and that their own personal aggrandisement and fame shall be rendered subservient to the advancement of Divine ideas.

I. Wise reserve should be exercised in reference to the inner experiences of the soul.—This wise reserve should be exercised—

(a) Because unwise talk about the inner moral experience is likely to injure the initial culture of the soul. The dignity as well as the safety of the early experience of the soul renders wise silence a necessity of daily life. The preservation of the sanctity of our moral experience is the highest discipline.

(b) Because unwise talk about the inner moral experience is likely to awaken the scepticism of the worldly. Pearls must not be cast before swine. We must not invite the ridicule and unbelief of men by unwise talk about the doctrines and experiences of the Christian life.

(c) Because unwise talk about the inner moral experience is likely to be regarded as boastful. True religion is ever modest in its speech. It does not chatter to the crowd about the degree to which its moral ill is cleansed, but makes its life the evidence of its cure. The world will soon reproach a talkative soul with lack of modesty in sacred things, and with exaggeration of their natural meaning and operation. It is a certain evidence of moral weakness, and a sure token of speedy fall, when men talk loudly of the hours they spend in prayer, of their charitable deeds, and of their celestial moods of soul.

(d) Because unwise talk about the inner moral experience is likely to impede the welfare of Divine truth. The cause of Christ has often been hindered by immature representation of vital truth, and by the indiscreet words which have been spoken in reference to it.

II. Yet this reserve must not interfere with obligations to the sanctuary.—Men must evince their moral cure to the authorities of the Church, and present to the Author of it the best they can command, not only of material things such as silver and gold, but the higher things of the soul—even its love and service; with this no reserve of temperament or words can be allowed to interfere.

Let us endeavour ever to speak about our inner experience at the right time, in the right place, under the right circumstances, with becoming reverence; and then our words will be to edification, and not a peril to ourselves and others.