Unawares
They say the Master is coming
To honor the town today.
And none can tell at whose house or home
The master will choose to stay.
And I thought while my heart beat wildly,
What if he should come to mine?
How would I strive to entertain?
And Honor this Guest Divine?
And straight I turned to toiling,
To make my house more neat;
I swept and polished and garnished
And decked it with blossoms sweet,
I was troubled for fear the Master
Might come ere my task was done,
And hastened and worked the faster
And watched the hurrying sun.
But right in the midst of my duties
A woman came to my door;
She had come to tell me her sorrow,
And my comfort and aid implore.
And I said, “I cannot listen,
Nor help you any today;
I have greater things to attend to,”
And the pleader turned away.
But soon there came another
A cripple, thin, pale, and gray
And said, O, let me stop and rest
A while in your home, I pray.
I have traveled far since morning,
I am hungry, and faint and weak
My heart is full of misery,
And comfort and help I seek.”
And I said, “I am grieved and sorry
But I cannot help you today;
I look for the great and noble guest,”
And the cripple went away.
The day wore onward swiftly
And my task was nearly done,
And a prayer was ever in my heart,
That the master to me might come.
And thought I would spring to meet him,
And serve him with utmost care,
When a little child stood by me
With a face so sweet and fair—
Sweet, but with marks of tear drops
And his clothes were tattered and old;
A finger was bruised and bleeding.
And his little bare feet were cold.
And I said “I’m sorry for you,
You are sorely in need of care;
But I cannot stop to give it,
You must hasten on elsewhere.”
And at the words a shadow
Swept o’er his blue-veined brow-
“Someone will feed and clothe you, dear,
But I am too busy now.
At last the day was ended
And my toil was over and done.
My house was swept and garnished,
And I watched in the dark alone;
Watched, but no footsteps sounded,
No one e’er paused at the gate,
No one entered my cottage door.
I could only pause and wait.
I waited until night had deepened
And the Master had not come;
He has entered some other door,” I cried
“And gladdened some other home,
My labor has been for nothing”
And I bowed my head and I wept,
My heart was sore with longing,
Yet in spite of all I slept.
Then the Master stood before me.
His face was grave and fair;
“Three times today I came to your door,
And craved your pity and care;
Three times you sent me onward,
Unhelped and uncomforted,
And the blessings you might have had are lost,
And your chance to serve has fled.”
“Oh, Lord, dear Lord, forgive me
How could I know it was Thee?”
My very soul was shamed and bowed
In the depths of humility.
And he said, “The sin is pardoned
But the blessing is lost to thee;
For comforting not the least of mine,
You have failed to comfort me.”
by Emma A. Lent
Howard W. Hunter – “We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; and we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him”
