The trouble with Peter in this passage is the sense of his own
incapacity. Jesus comes to him with the great command: "Feed my lambs;
feed my sheep;" as though Peter were appointed to take the lead among
his followers. And then Peter shrinks back, not because of
disinclination, but because of sheer self-distrust. Who is he that he
should assume the leadership? He has failed once, perhaps he may fail
again. "Lord," he says, "there is John; is not he the man to lead? He
never made a mistake as I did. What is he to do?" And then Jesus
says: "What is that to thee? The question is not whether you are the
best man to do this thing. You are simply called to do it as best you
can. If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
Follow thou me."

There is a great deal of this moral timidity in college life. Any man
of reasonable {26} modesty sees about him plenty of men better able to
be leaders in good service than he is. It seems audacious for him to
pose as fit to lead. "There is John," he says, "a far better man than
I; what is he to do?" Then the spirit of Jesus again answers: "What is
that to thee?" Here is the thing to be done, the stand to be taken,
and here are you. Of course, there is much that you cannot do. Of
course there are many that might do it better. But the call happens to
be to you: "Follow thou me." It is not a call to any exciting or
dramatic service. It is simply the demand that one takes his life just
as it is, and gives it as he can to the service of Christ. "Feed my
sheep, feed my lambs;" give yourself to humble and modest service; live
your own life without much anticipation of influence or effectiveness;
with all your insufficiency and frequent stumbling, follow thou me; and
in that simple following you are showing better than by all eloquence
or argument how others ought to go, and you are helping and
strengthening us all.

{27}

X

THE HEAVENLY VISION

_Acts_ xxvi. 19.

The great transformation in St. Paul from a persecutor to an apostle of
Christianity was a sudden revelation. He saw a heavenly vision and was
not disobedient unto it. But this is not the common way of life. It
does not often happen that character is transformed and the great
decision irrevocably made in an instant. It is not as a rule true
that:--

"Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side."