And then, my friends, whether we be rich or poor, fortunate or
unfortunate, still that spirit of Love which is the Spirit of God,
will be its exceeding great reward.

I say, its own reward.

For what is to be our reward, if we do our duty earnestly, however
imperfectly? 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord.'

And what is the joy of our Lord? What is the joy of Christ? The joy
and delight which springs for ever in his great heart, from feeling
that he is for ever doing good; from loving all, and living for all;
from knowing that if not all, yet millions on millions are grateful
to him, and will be for ever.

My friends, if you have ever done a kind action; if you have ever
helped any one in distress, or given up a pleasure for the sake of
others--do you not know that that deed gave you a peace, a self-
content, a joy for the moment at least, which nothing in this world
could give, or take away? And if the person whom you helped thanked
you; if you felt that you had made that man your friend; that he
trusted you now, looked on you now as a brother--did not that double
the pleasure? I ask you, is there any pleasure in the world like
that of doing good, and being thanked for it? Then that is the joy
of your Lord. That is the joy of Christ rising up in you, as often
as you do good; the love which is in you rejoicing in itself, because
it has found a loving thing to do, and has called out the love of a
human being in return.