Jeremiah 17

The Diamond

A diamond. Jeremiah 17:1.

April has as its stone the diamond. Everybody knows a diamond. It is the most brilliant of precious stones. And yet it is only a variety of what is known as carbon. The black stuff (wrongly called lead) which forms the point of your pencil and the shiny lumps of coal which burn in the grate are made of the same substance. They are the diamond's first cousins. More remarkable still, a diamond, by means of great heat or electricity, can be turned into a black mass like coal dust, and coal dust, most wonderful of all, can actually be turned into small diamonds very small, it is true, but still diamonds. Some day we may learn how to make diamonds as large and as cheap as cocoa- nuts, and then everybody who wishes can have one.

But though men of science have succeeded in making diamonds, they have not discovered how the diamond makes itself. That remains a mystery. The diamond is found in river-beds, sand, and gravel, in India, Brazil, and Borneo; but in the great diamond- mining country, South Africa, it is found in what is known as “blue ground.” This greenish-blue earth is met with in deep craters known as “pipes.” But instead of being hollow the pipes are packed with hard blue earth. Some men say that it was volcanic action that made the diamonds in the blue ground, but nobody is quite sure. All that is certain is that the diamonds are embedded there, each a separate crystal, some large, some medium-sized, many very tiny, but all costly and precious in the sight of man.

How did the diamond get its name? Diamond is really the same word as “adamant,” and “adamant” means “that which cannot be tamed or broken.” It is a good name for a stone which is the hardest thing in the world. The diamond is so hard that it can cut glass, steel, or precious stones. The painter uses it to cut the panes for our windows, and the dentist uses it for one of his delightful, drills.

There are many famous diamonds in existence. All the large ones have names, and their history is known like the history of the kings or great men who have owned them. Perhaps the two most famous are the Koh-i-noor and the Cullinan.

The Koh-i-noor, or “mountain of light,” belonged to the ancient rulers of India, the Moguls. A Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, conquered Hindustan, and took away as part of the spoil this glittering gem. But he did not keep it very long. He was killed shortly after, and his treasurer, an Afghan, carried it back to Cabul, where he made himself emperor. It passed from one prince to another, and it almost seemed as if the sovereignty of India went with it. In 1850 it fell into the hands of the East India Company, who presented it to Queen Victoria. It now flashes in the crown of the Queens of England. Long may it rest there!

The other great diamond, three times as large as any other diamond, the Cullinan, was found in the Premier Mine in the Transvaal in 1905. At the suggestion of General Botha, the Transvaal presented it to King Edward in gratitude for his having granted self-government to that State. It was cut into nine large stones and many small ones. The two largest are the biggest diamonds known. Of these the smaller is set in front of the British Crown. The Cullinan, you see, has a short history, but a happy one.

Now, what has the diamond to say to us? You will notice that it is valued because it cuts, but it is prized most because it shines. It catches the light, breaks it up into all the colors of the rainbow, and flashes it back to us glorified and magnified. So I think the diamond's message is this “Shine.”

When I say “shine” I don't mean that I want you to try to be one of the brilliant people in the world one of those who are always making clever sparkling remarks, or writing wonderful books, or doing great things in business. Brilliant people of that type are few, and not many of us can aspire to shine in that way.

No, there is another, and to my mind a better, way to shine, and we can all try it. It is a very simple way. We have merely to be happy. Perhaps some people will say, “That may sound simple, but it isn't simple when you come to try it.” Now these people are wrong. It is perfectly simple if you only follow the directions I am going to give you.

There was once an old Spaniard who was very fond of cherries. He was so fond of them that when he sat down to eat them he put on a pair of magnifying spectacles which made them look twice as big. That sounds greedy, but his idea was not at all a bad one, and I think we might imitate it.

Let us keep two sets of imaginary spectacles, one pair to make things twice their size, and the other to make things half their size. Let us put on the first pair to look at all the joys and pleasures in life, and let us keep the second pair to look at all the troubles and the worries.

Or, to put it another way, like the diamond let us catch and reflect all the sunbeams that are going. When you were very tiny I expect you often tried to catch a sunbeam with your fat little hands and failed. The diamond's way of catching them is the only way.

If we always try to look at the bright side of things and catch all the sunbeams, do you know what will happen? Why, our faces will shine with the happiness we have caught. And a happy shining face is ten times more to be desired than a face with merely beautiful features. The loveliest face is ugly with a frown or a cross expression, and the plainest face is beautiful if love and happiness shine out of its eyes.

Shall I give you a reason why we should shine? We should shine because Christ expects us to do it. It is our duty as His children. He is our great Sun and we are His diamonds. He pours on us the sunshine of His love. He cares for us each one, and we know that He will not let anything harm us. And we love Him in return, and, knowing all is well, flash back His sunshine and take as our motto “I shine for Christ.” (The texts of the other sermons in this series are Genesis 2:12; Job 28:19; Proverbs 3:15; Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 27:16 (2), Ezekiel 28:13; Matthew 13:45; Revelation 21:19-20 (2).)