Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-12-02

most minus III uense mist, ana log. Otne
men, in their eyes, are not immortal spirit
moving around them, robed in a drapery o
flesh and blood but mere forces, or agents
or counters with which they have to deal
and of which they think only SO far as the
may be made useful to their purposes.
Now, it was the one object of Christ il
our world to reveal to man his true dignity
Therefore he did not fix his eye on His dres.
or station. or income, or bodily mien anC
form. His glance pierced through to the
character and spirit within. To Him Plate
Herod, Nicodemus, the rich young man, the
woman of Samaria, the Magdalen, were not
merely high Office, loyalty, learning, wealth.
degradation and social disfranchisement
They were these in the eyes of common men
but before Jesus Christ, they were each, and
all, immortal spirits to be sought, and loved,
and honored and the outward distinctions
which made them what they were in the
social world of Palestine, were for Him as il
they did not exist. That is the meaning oil
Chrlsts constant violation of worldly stand
ard of social rropriety. He sacrifices them
to the higher demands OF mans real dignity.
10 Him, rich or poor, bond or free, male or
female were all one. He attends the feast
of a converted publican. He permits the sin
full woman to wash His feet. He fingers in
conversation with her Of Samaria. lie will
NV CNNi Stii ~ LIS sili1
rem. He calls Herod a fox. He weeps over
Jerusalem. Pharisees condemn Him in tones
of grave surprise. Disciples arc bafled and
cannot understand Him. But He goes on
His way, thinking not of outside distinctions.
of which we think so much, and revealing
mans true self to man proclaiming that it
matters little if the whole world be lost, and
the true life gained. And therefore it is,
since the days of Jesus Christ, men so far as
they have followed Him, have honored all
men seeing in them the possession of that
image of God, which is mans true self, and
true inalienable birth-right. Christ has
taught US the significance and beauty of Hi.
precept by His own life. Nay more, He has
taught it to us by His bitter death. Hence,
III. Christ's death upon the cross is a
second reason for hOnoring all men His
death was indeed a true sacrifice, offered to
the justice and majesty of God, and it was
also an act of honor to the WORTH of the hu-
man spirit Therefore it is, that at the foot
Of the cross we learn the honor which is due
to all men. 1t was to %enlighten the con-
science of man, u purify his soul from the
stains and free it from the burdens of sin it
was to restore him to his true and native
dignity among the first born of creation, thai
He died HIS anguish of spirit, His nigh
OF insults and shame, His weary bearing the
instrument of His death. the splitting, the
buffetting, and crown of thornes. the words,
each and all which lie uttered upon the cross,
are one long testimony TO the truth, that man
under all circumstances, man in his utmost de-
radiation, man as man, Is to be honored:
with an honor which will express itself.
not in ietes and celebrations. not IN cOurte-
sizes and parades. but in the sacrifice of the
noblest powers for their good, and the hottest
of lives in their behalf.
L.. - stl~.-- ~ lu:-lA@-- II
and actual condition of mankind into one
worthy of shining honor. 1t is His stuTen-
dous gift of Himself which at once discovers
and stimulates mans capacity for an exist
ence and a glory, which without Him. would
he impossible and inconceivable The glory.
the sinlessness. the majesty Of the son Of
God, is the measure of the dignity, the honor
Of the son Of man. Throncd above the
highest inteIligences Of heaven. adored by ali
that is purest, wIsest, and strongest in the
universe of God, the sacred manhood of our
Lord Jesus Christ, gives a point to our en-
thusiasm on behalf of our race We accept
the taunt of an ancient hcresv. We are
:. man worshipers." We can worship hu
manity now without violence on moral sense:
without feeling that we are wronging God.
or adoring Il dead distraction. We adore
humanity, mans nature in the son of man.
the holy, harmless, undehled One, who is
most high in the glory of God the Father.
And from that throne Of His, in the highest
heavens, there descends upon the race which
He has ennobled, and which lie yearns to
glorify and save, an interest, a radiance. an
inheritance of, a title 10 honor, which has
made the precept of the Apostle one of the
main factors in the moral life of Christian
dom, and in the progress of the race, from
the morning of its creation to the midday of
its Christian civilization.
III. We now inquire whether this pre-
cept is TO be understood literally? Does
- all men mean all classes, all members of
our race? Does it mean all men, irrcspec-
tive of their condition or character?
Let me ask in return, why not? Why
not give man a true honor. as to a being en-
nobled by his creation and his redemption
But let us look here at the barriers which
have been raised against mans right to
honor by the prejudices of his fellows.
There is, first of all and lowest of all, the
barrier of wealth. Wealth honors wealth.
income pays respect to income, but it is
wont in the secret heart to cherish contcmpt
for poverty. If it were only meant that
labor which produces wealth is honorable.
md that idleness which creates poverty and
vice is dishOnOrable, there would be no room
Tor dissent. But the honor of wealth, of
< goodly apparel and the gold ring is
,OLIttilIiG very Inherent from tllS. The pos
session OF riches and of the social power
which they bring constitutes in most minds
,he title to honor. 10 believe that a man
with $500 a year is just as deserving of
as a man with $4,000. YOU must be
and thoroughly n Christian. A
philosophical and political estimate of men
IS not proof against the inroads of n senti-
nent which makes mere fortune the tandard
IF honor. The honor of income as distinct
rom the honor of man, is still n real an
which disputes the ground inch by
nch with the principles of the Gospel. Do
not misunderstood me. Wealth has its
necessary privileges. and much more, it's
grave responsibilities. But to refuse honor
20 an immortal spirit because it is not en-
trusted all over in gold, implies a failure to
lpprehend the true dignity Of life, so pro-
ligious that it were idle to attempt to charac-
erie it. should rather ask you to consider
our Lords words of counsel to the rich
7oung man.
a second barrier is the spirit of class or
.'tation, whether founded upon success in
ife or the circumstances of birth. am not
to question Gods providential gov
ernment of society, or to assert the absolute
y equality of human rights any more than
If human condition. Different men have
different functions and different degrees of
1onor. One star differeth from another star
n glory. Society creates its higher classes
~ a natural process, and these help and lift
he lower when they act wisely and Chris
ianly. But when it developes an exclusive
'pirit, when it divides humanity into OPP
posing, unsympathizing sections, those within
nd those without an artificial limit, then it
zones into collision with the spirit of the
Gospel. And however such a spirit is be-
GOTTEN, whatever be its destinations, what
yer charms it may throw around its ex-