Women labouring in the Lord : a sermon preached at Wantage, on St. Mary Magdalen's Day, July 22, l863

Wiamtn f^akurmg ht lljt '^oxQ.

A SERMON

PEEACHED

AT WANTAGE,

ON

ST. MARY MAGDALEN'S DAY, JULY 22, 1863.

BY THE

EEV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A.,

VICAE OF HUfiSlEY.

Published by request.

P

i

JOHN HENRY and JAMES PARKER.
1863.

The proceeds of this Sermon {if any) are to be given to
St. Marfs Home at Wantage.

M0m£n; l^abourhrcj; in flj^ ^iDrb.

ST. MARK xiv. 8.

" SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD."

T^HIS day's anniversary, my brethren, invites
-^ us to reflect with humble thankfulness how
all along from the very beginning of the Gospel
our gracious Master has condescended to make
use of Women's Work, in preparing men's hearts
for His kingdom, and in promoting it when its
time came.

Before and beyond all, there is the momentous
and mysterious decree, that we were to be saved
by "The Child-bearing," Not without the in-
strumentality of a woman would the Great Al-
mighty God vouchsafe to be made Man, " God
sent forth His Son, made of a Woman ;" through
His mother alone partaking of the substance of
our flesh ; of a woman vouchsafing to be born, of
a woman to be nursed, and in His man's nature
cared for, and educated, and ministered unto, by
a woman, until He was full thirty j'ears old.

No other instance can come up to this ; but it is
observable how from time to time, doubtless not
without a special providence, women were selected

4 Women Labouring in the Lord.

to be His agents or occasions for new steps to be
taken, new doors, as it were, to be opened, in the
progress and diffusion of His marvellous mercy.

Thus, when He would shew Himself to the Sa-
maritans, half heathen as they were, and prepare
them for His Spirit which was to come, with His
Evangelist Philip to convert and His Apostles
to confirm them, He drew to Jacob's well, by
His secret guiding, that Woman of whom we
have all read, and caused her to inquire of Him
the best way and place of worship. A woman was
His first messenger to that remarkable people.

To a "Woman, to her who had had an issue of
blood twelve years, was given, in reward of her
faith and humility, the privilege of being the first
to have revealed to her the healing (might I not
say the sacramental ?) Virtue, which abode in
the very hem of His garment, to meet the touch
of Faith.

Women, as far as we are told, were the first
who had the honour allowed them of ministering
to Him of their substance.

In His last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem,
in His lodging at Bethany, on His way to Calvary,
around His Cross both before and after His death,
beside His grave both before and after His resur-
rection, we all know what a part they took and
how highly they were favoured. The Saint of
this day, as has been often remarked, became an
Evangelist, commissioned to announce the Gospel

/^\

v/

Women Lahouring in the Lord. 5

of the Resurrection to tlie Apostles themselves.
She first found grace to see our risen Saviour, and
with or without her certain holy women, as ap-
pears by St. Matthew's Gospel, were first privileged
to touch Him. "They came and held Him by
the feet." None of them indeed appears to have
been present at His Ascension; but not without
" the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus," did
the Apostles after that event continue in the upper
room, in prayer and supplication, waiting, as the
Holy Ghost said by the Prophet, " for His loving-
kindness in the midst of His temple."

And to crown all, the narrative in the Acts
clearly implies that the Holy Spirit, when He
came down, found the women praying with the
Apostles " with one accord in one place," and
made them partakers of Himself, sealing them
with His blessings variously, according to the
various work which He had prepared for them.

Thenceforward the daughters as M'ell as the
sons began to prophesy, the handmaidens as well
as the servants had the Spirit poured out upon
them ; and they prophesied in that sense especially
in which Miriam was a prophetess — in festival
ceremonies, in holy psalms and hymns. Thence-
forward, again, the Church had her deaconesses,
or whatever they might be called, whom St. Paul
so often salutes as " women that laboured with
him in the Gospel," or " laboured much in the
Lord." Whether wives, as Priscilla, whom God

r

6 Women Labouring in the Lord.

enabled so to lielp her husband in the work of
conversion that " all the Churches of the Gen-
tiles" had to thank her ; or widows experienced
" in bringing up children, in waiting on strangers,
in washing the saints' feet, in relieving the af-
flicted, in diligently following every good work;"
or those, lastly, whom he congratulates as hap-
piest of all, who were willing to " abide even as
himself," caring only "for the things of the
Lord," and enabled to attend on Him " without
distraction."

Eminent of course among them, and over them
all, Holy Scripture sets forth to us, from the An-
nunciation even to Pentecost, as the chosen type
of the Church, and pattern of all Christian women,
virgins, wives, and widows alike, our Lord's own
highly- favoured Mother, the representative of the
Christian as Eve was of the natural woman.

But were we to select any one saying of our
Lord which more than others might seem to em-
body the whole duty of Woman, and the secret of
accomplishing it so far as it is ever accomplished, it
would not perhaps be far wrong to lay one's finger
on the simple iitterance, " She hath done what
she could." " What she had, that she hath ofiered."
Could any form of words more exactly describe
the peculiar character of Christian Womanhood —
a deep sense of helplessness, but a deeper sense of
duty ? That saying, with the occasion of it, stands
out as one of the most noticeable among the few

Women Labouring in the Lord. 7

instances — each of them strongly and distinctly
marked — in which our Lord vouchsafed to utter
words of personal praise to individuals in their
own hearing. I do not believe that there are
more than ten or twelve such instances altogether
in the four Gospels, even if we include such say-
ings as " Thy faith hath made thee whole."

Very interesting and instructive it would prove
to examine all these cases in detail : at present
I will only point out that five of the twelve relate
to women, and two of the five to the same woman
at difierent times ; that is, to Mary of Bethany, the
sister of Lazarus. Of her in her hearing, Christ
had said some time before, " Mary hath chosen the
good part ;" now He says, " She hath wrought a
good work upon Me : she hath done what she
could. Verily I say unto you. Wheresoever this
gospel shall be preached throughout the whole
world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken
of for a memorial of her." 0 blessed woman, to
be once and again so commended by Him who
shall come to be her Judge, the Judge of us all !
first, to be assured out of His own mouth that
she was not deceiving herself; that the part
which she was professing to have chosen was
really the good part, that she had really chosen
it, that it should never be taken away from her !
Then as to the matter of the anointing : what
would any one of us poor uncertain backsliders
give to be quite sure of having pleased our Lord,

8 Women Labmiring in the Lord.

were it but in one action only of our Kves ?
as sure as Mary of Bethany was that she had
pleased Him in pouring the ointment on His
head?

In both, instances, you will observe, Mary had
been attacked, and needed defence. Before, it had
been her own sister who found fault, now it was
Judas Iscariot, countenanced by some other of
the disciples. Each time it was the same kind
of censure, though proceeding from very different
persons with very different minds. However,
in neither case, perhaps, would it have seemed to
us such a very pressing emergency. It was not
as in former instances, when there were broken
hearts to be healed, or heart-breaking responsi-
bilities to be newly imposed : " a woman in the city
that was a sinner" to be assured of entire absolu-
tion ; or a poor fisherman to be charged with the
kej's of the kingdom of heaven. Here, it was
simply an unfair judgment passed on a zealous
worshipper's way of honouring her Master. But
our Lord's tone in silencing the objectors shews
with how deep and tender sympathy He marks
the thoughts of His loving daughters' hearts.
Mary was eminently a " tender and delicate
woman," and would deeply feel both her sister's
reproof, and the scornful, if not malicious, saying
of Judas : the rather, as in both instances, op-
posite as the persons and their intentions were,
what they said was plausible enough to disturb

Women Labouring in the Lord. 9

a mind in the least degree scrupulous. "What
sort of a devotion is this, which leaves a sister to
serve alone? which lays out on ointments and
perfumes, offered to Him who needs them not,
a sura of money which might go a good way in
feeding the hungry or clothing the naked?" Who
can say that there is nothing in such a remon-
strance ? or that it will not tell most upon the
good and kind hearts, that care most for their
kindred and for their poor neighbours ? Doubt-
less, as the bystanders and some even of His
disciples entered into the feeling which the traitor
was first to express, and broke out in tones of
deep displeasure, implying that they were seriously
shocked ; so the beloved Mary herself could hardly
help being in perplexity, as many on like occa-
sions have been before and since.

But He that searcheth the hearts, and knoweth
what is the mind of His good Spirit, the meaning
and purpose which He puts into the sayings and
doings of His holy ones. He interfered, as He
never fails to do sooner or later on behalf of the
humble and meek ; He spake out words of wisdom
and power, which have settled the matter for
ever, to her and to the whole Church. Twice He
spake : once to the traitor, and once to those
whom the traitor was misleading. To Judas apart,
" Do thou let her alone ; against the day of My
burying hath she done this." By His manner
and look as well as His words He was speak-

10 Women Labouring in the Lord.

ing to His betrayer's conscience ; and startling
him it may be with the thought, ' Surely this
thing is known.' To the rest He seems to say,
" Do 1/e ' let her alone ; why trouble ye her ? she
hath wrought a good work on Me/" To all,
"For ye have the poor with you always, and
whensoever ye will ye may do them good : but
Me ye have not always."

The drift of His words plainly is, that both
uses of our worldly substance are religious and
right ; that each must be attended to in its sea-
son : that as the poor and their claims can
"never cease out of the land," — they are al-
ways within reach, and we are perpetually to
be helping them ; — so there are special times
and seasons, when such as love and honour our
gracious Lord feel especially called on to lay out
money in honour of Him, and as part of their
witness to Him before men. One of these occa-
sions would be of course His funeral ; which our
Saviour proceeds to speak of as a thing so near at
hand, that to His all-seeing eye this pouring out
of the ointment was as a part of the ceremonial,
and was so taken by Him, though Mary herself
knew it not, but was simply offering her very best
to shew how dearly she loved Him.

We may remark by the way that His approba-
tion sanctions and hallows all the little courtesies
and self-denying services which Christians practise
one towards another in their daily and common

Women Labouring in the Lord. 11

life ; all the kind attentions which the delicate
loving heart suggests : while through a slight
and almost imperceptible touch, in another nar-
rative by the same Evangelist, we are made to
understand with what a holy and charitable cau-
tion our Saviour would have us guard our own
and other persons' demeanour on such occasions.
The place which I allude to is in the fourth chap-
ter of St. John's Gospel. The disciples, return-
ing from an errand to the place where they had
left our Saviour alone, "marvelled that He uri-s
talking with a nvman." That, I believe, is the cor-
rect translation of the words : do they not imply
a general rule of reserve in our Master's conver-
sation, which for our sakes He vouchsafed to set
Himself, and which all who desire to walk warily,
and perfect themselves in His divine Image, would
do well to bear in mind ?

But to return to what took place at Bethany.
Doubtless He intended in so rebuking Judas to
convey to us a spiritual rather than a social
lesson. It is commonly observed, and I see no
reason to doubt it, that He designed here to
adopt as a law of His spiritual kingdom the sen-
timent which He had so long before put into the
heart of His favoured ones, under the dispensation
of types and shadows. " The house which I build
is great, for great is our Lord above all gods."
Do not ask only what good will come of these
noble buildings, of these graceful sculptures, of

12 Women Labouring in the Lord.

these enchanting sounds, forms, and colours, and
the like ; but where your God is to be honoured,
strive without stint to honour Him with your
best in every kind; only taking care that it is
your own best, that you are not giving Him what
is not yours to give. I say, I cannot doubt that
our Lord reallj^ meant as much as this : He was
not merely condescending, as some have thought,
to the innocent infirmities of His people, when
He thus accepted outward beauty in holy things,
but was promulgating a true part of the more
excellent way.

But neither is this the main point to which
His Scripture in that passage, and His provi-
dence by this day's ceremonial, would draw our
attention. There is something broader, and
deeper, and higher to be thought of. For the
words express the great principle of Sacrifice :
especially of such sacrifice as His lowest and
weakest can ofier. " She hath done what she
could." " TA'hat she had — she herself, this very
person and no other — f/tat she hath ofiered — hath
o-iven it all unto Me." What more could have

o

been said of the greatest Saint, nay even of the
highest Archano'cl? yet what less can be said of
the poorest and meanest worshipper, — nay, (for I
will say it,) of the most grievous sinner, truly re-
penting and coming to God by faith ? It is the
rule, the great charter, of Divine equity : " If there
be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to

Women Labouring in the Lord. 13

that a man hath, and not according to that he
hath not." Not, of course, that all saints are
alike holy, any more than all sinners are alike
bad and miserable ; but that He who alone sees
men as they are, vouchsafes in His mysterious
mercy to accept them as they are, provided they
truly submit and surrender their whole being
into His hands.

"She hath wrought a good work upon Me."
" She, this very woman whom you blame, this
Mary of Bethany whom you are trying to put out
of countenance for what you call a wrong way of
manifesting her love, — I know that love, how
deep it lies in her soul. I know her willing
mind, what she would part with, what she would
endure, if she could thereby save Me the least of
the pangs that are coming on Me. She knows
not yet of those pangs, but I who know them
have put this instinct in her ajffectionate womanly
heart, to pay Me this tribute while she had Me
yet with her. I have by My warnings to My
disciples, or in other ways known to Myself,
caused her to have thoughts how it may be with
Me before long. And having by her this costly
thing, she humbly offers it for My acceptance, in
token that she offers herself and her all, and
would do so a thousand times if she could. And
she shall not be disappointed of her hope. I
accept her gift beforehand, as I shall accept what
she, or others like her, will offer for My burial ;

14 Women Labouring in the Lord.

and My will is that her name and this which she
hath now done shall accompany Mine own Name
and the memory of My Passion in all ages and
nations to the end of the world." Was this de-
creed, think you, for a special honour only to
her, or was it not, in part at least, for our sakes ?
For our sakes no doubt this is written, that all
people, nations, and languages, all sorts and de-
grees of the sinful children of Adam, might know
how to draw near their Saviour — the Saviour of
all alike — and be sure of a loving welcome.

Is there any one, for example, whose heart is
newly broken with the consciousness, sudden or
of gradual growth, that his or her life, be it much
or little as men count life, has been hitherto worse
than wasted ; that every hour of approach to death
has been an hour of departure from God ; — any
one who feels as though nothing remained to be
offered but the dregs of earthly being ; years that
can have no pleasure, a polluted body perhaps, and
a sin- sick soul ; hopes blighted, and chances of
doing good utterly cast away ? yet let that afflicted
one come to kneel at the feet of Jesus, and offer
him or herself, with all that sin and sorrow, to be
punished if need be, but pardoned if it may be ; let
such a man shew himself in earnest by doing what
little he can in the way of confession and amend-
ment, and so go on patiently waiting ; sooner or
later he shall hear in his secret heart, and here-
after it shall be said of him in the hearing of the

Women Labouring in the Lord. 15

whole world, " This My servant hath done what
he could ; what he had, though it were but a
wreck remaining of that which I had at first
given him, he hath laid it all at My feet, he
hath kept nothing back ; therefore I own him
for Mine, Mine wholly and for ever."

Suppose now a different case : a person brought
up in the ordinary way, with a certain degree of
knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and leading a respectable life — outwardly screened
from great temptations, and not tormented with
strong, inward impulses to evil ; suppose, I say, such
an one coming to see and feel after many years
how low his standard has been, how lukewarm his
heart, how much evil he has done, how much
more good left undone, because he was simply
contented to be as other men. But now he wakes
up like Jacob, with a feeling, " The Lord has
been here all the time and I knew it not : how
dreadful is my condition ! I have been going on
all these years in a commonplace way, self-satis-
fied, self-approving, because my fellow sinners
seemed to approve ; and through that whole time
the Saviour^s eye has been upon me, His heavenly
messengers, I now perceive, have been coming
and going between me and Him : and where am
I still ? and how am I the better ? I cannot go
on so ; what must I do that I may work the
works of God ?"

In many such cases, perhaps in the greater

16 Women Labouring in the Lord.

part, the answer of Divine Grace to such a question
will be the same as when it was once asked of
our Saviour, — " This is the work of God, that ye
believe on Him whom He hath sent/^ * Do not
attempt great things ; make no sudden outward
changes : whatsoever you do now in the way of
duty, go on doing it, but strive and pray, pray
and strive to do it all with a new spirit, as to
Him who loved you and gave Himself for you.'

But in every generation of Christians there will
be some to whom the Divine Voice will rather
seem to say, ' If thy will, thy real longing, is to
be perfect, sell whatsoever thou hast and give to
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ;
and come take up the Cross, and follow Me.*
Happy they who find grace in either of these
two ways to understand and obey their Lord's
call. Of both it will be said, " They have done
what they could."

But Holy Scripture teaches beyond all ques-
tion, that those who have the higher call are the
more highly favoured ; and it is a signal mercy
shewn to our time and country, that among
Christian women especially that higher call comes
to many more than it did in some former gene-
rations. The daughters of our people have been
made aware, by many remarkable turns of Pro-
vidence, how great a power has been given them
for good, — great good to their sinful or suffering
fellow- creatures, infinite good to their own souls,

Women Labouring in the Lord. 17

— and what a pity and loss it has been, their
having hitherto made so little use of that power.
[And symptoms, I trust, are not altogether want-
ing, of something like the same holy zeal in our
young Men also. Why should it not be so ?
Why may we not hope that even within this
generation Christian Brotherhoods as well as
Sisterhoods of Merey may be found taking their
place in the work of Christ among us ? seeing that
there is no more palpable fact in all Church history,
than that Almighty God has ever been pleased
to make use of such communities — devoted men
severing themselves more or less from the ordi-
nary ties and affections of earth —when His time
was come for converting, not here and there one,
but whole nations, to the obedience of His Son^.]
It is well that the idea of Counsels of Perfection
has become a little more familiar to some of us,
were it only to counteract in some measure the
tendency of our age to grow more selfish, as
material comforts are brought more and more
within reach. Indeed, my brethren, when we
look round and see the condition of our poor,
our forlorn, our sick, our children, and our fallen
ones, how can we choose but pray earnestly for
more Maries, if I may so speak, in Bethany ?
that He may increase the number and holiness of
such as are willing thus to sacrifice and surrender

• The passage in brackets is slightly enlarged from what was
said in the Sermon on this subject.

18 Women Labouring in the Lord.

themselves to His immediate service. It is a
great grace wtich you need, seriously to under-
take sucli a plan of life ; greater still, to carry it
out soberly and with entire perseverance. Mary
did not mind breaking the box in order to
pour the ointment on our Saviour's head ; and
these our Sisters must deal somewhat rudely
with themselves, if they are to pour out all that
they are and all that they have — some more,
some less, but each what herself can — on Christ's
mystical Body ; they must deny themselves many
things which they would naturally, and otherwise
might innocently, enjoy.

Will you not pray for them, and if you pray
will you not give, lest your prayer prove a
mockery ? Will you not both pray and give to
your power, that you may have some share in
the comfortable words, " She hath done what she
could ?"

I will venture to add one word on a different
but not altogether an irrelevant topic.

If any person's heart begin to fail him on ac-
count of evils which may be feared for our Church,
when we look on present signs, and remember the
foreboding intimation, " When the Son of Man
Cometh, shall He find faith on the earth !" — let
such an one take comfort from our Saviour's way
of encouraging Mary ; " She is come beforehand
to anoint My body to the burying." If the worst
that any one now anticipates should take place,

Women Labouring in the Lord. 19

then will be the time to remember that the mourn-
ful pleasure of waiting on our dying Lord was
itself a great honour and blessing, and that it led
to the joyful, unalloyed transports of Easter. So
do ye, and so shall ye be rewarded : for His sake
"Who liveth and was dead, and behold He is
alive for evermore. Amen and Amen."

I

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