. One after another they come
up, as it were, before him, and he looks on them and reads them like an
open book; and they pass on, thinking not so much of what Jesus was, as
of the revelation of their own hearts to themselves. Nathanael comes,
and Jesus reads him, and he answers: "Whence knowest thou me?" Peter
comes, and Jesus beholds him and says: "Thou shalt be called Cephas, a
stone." Nicodemus, Pilate, the woman of Samaria, and the woman who was
a sinner, pass before him, and the secrets of their different hearts
are revealed to themselves. It is so now. If you want to know
yourself, get nearer to this personality, in whose presence that which
hid you from yourself falls away, and you know yourself as you are.
The most immediate effect of Christian discipleship is this,--not that
the mysteries of heaven are revealed, but that you yourself are
revealed to yourself. Your follies and weaknesses, and all the
insignificant efforts of your better self as well, come into
recognition, and you stand at once humbled and strengthened in the
presence of a soul which understands you, and believes in you, and
stirs you to do and to be what you have hitherto only dreamed.

{80}

XXXII

THE GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST

These are the last words of most of the Epistles of the New Testament.
They are the last words of the New Testament itself. They are commonly
heard as the last words of Christian worship; the most familiar form of
Christian benediction. But what is the grace of Jesus Christ? Grace
is that which acts not for duty's sake, but for sheer love and
kindness. What is the grace of God? It is just this overflowing
benevolence. Who is the gracious man? It is he who gives beyond his
obligations, and seeks opportunities of thoughtful kindliness. What is
the grace of Christ? It is just this superadded and unexpected
generosity.

So the life of duty and the life of grace stand contrasted with each
other. The duty-doer thinks of justice, honesty, the reputable way of
life. But grace goes beyond duty. Duty asks, What ought I to do?
Grace asks, What can I do? Where duty halts, grace begins. It touches
duty with beauty, and makes it fair instead of stern. Grace is not
looking {81} for great things to do, but for gracious ways to do little
things. In many spheres of life it is much if it can be said of you
that you do your duty. But think of a home of which all that you could
say was that its members did