And the man, without being able to look me in the eye, answers, "No, he
did not escape because I was overpowered. He did not escape because I
was surprised. He escaped because I was too busy to watch him." "Too
busy," I answer in amazement, "too busy doing what? What task did you
find more important than saving your country and saving your own home
and saving your own honor?" "Oh, no task in particular," he answers.
"I was just busy here and there." That is his confession. "As thy
servant was busy here and there, he was gone."

And the man is sentenced to death. And we must admit that the sentence
is just. Not that he has committed any aggressive crime. He has not
cut anybody's throat. He has not stabbed anybody in the back. He has
not stolen anything. He is not being punished for what he has done.
He is being punished for what he has failed to do.

And that kind of sin, let me warn you, is just as dangerous and just as
killing as positive and aggressive sin. How foolish are they who think
they are pious simply because they do no wrong. How absurd it is to
get it into your minds that a man is a Christian by virtue of what he
does not do instead of by virtue of what he does. Now, I know that
there are certain sins that are damaging and damning, but in order to
be lost now and ever more it is not necessary to be guilty of any of
them. All that is necessary is that you do what this man did, and that
is fail in your duty.

This is what our Lord taught us again and again. What was wrong with
the fig tree that He cursed it? It was not loaded with poison. It
simply had nothing but leaves. What charge is brought against Dives?
No charge at all. We are simply made to see him neglect the man at his
gate who needed his help. He does not drive the man away. He simply
lets him alone. And over his neglected duty he stumbles out into a
Christless eternity. What was wrong with the five foolish virgins? It
was not that they had water in their lamps. It was simply the fact
that they had no oil. What was the matter with those to whom the judge
said, "Depart from me"? Only this, they had failed in their duty. The
charge is, "Inasmuch as ye did it not."

So this man failed in his duty. That is what wrecked him. Why did he
fail? First, he did not fail through ignorance. He did not fail
because he did not know his duty. He understood perfectly what he was
to do. He understood also the great importance