The Portland daily press., 1879-04-21
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF
The CHRISTIAN CITIZEN.
Sermon Preached at Plymouth Congre.
gatlonal Church,


REV. HERBERT w. LATHE, Pastor
Fast Day, April I4th, 1879.
Luke iii, 10-14: Aad the people asked him
saying, What shall We do then? He answer,
eth and saith unto them, He that hath two
| coats, let him impart to HIM that hath none
and ne that hath meat, let him do likewise.
| Then came also the publicans to be baptised,
| and said unto him, Master. what shall we do ?
| And he said unto them, Exact no moro than
| that which is appointed you. And the soldiers
Likewise demanded of him, saying, Aud what
| shall we do? And he said unto them. Do
violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely
and be content with your wages.
| would not to-day if could profoundly
| discuss questions of government and political
! economy. would say nothing which might
dissolve the definite responsibilities OF ofperSoH-
| al LIE into the vague responsibilities Of ma
tional life. God knows that we have much
to repent of as a people, but we know how
| comfortably the individual conscience rests
beneath the burden of nations sin.
must say something to-day which will make
you feel-not merely that your country
| ought to be better, but that you citizens,
one by one, ought to be better-or the OBJ
Ject tor which this day was appointed is not
gained. l would therefore speak of the Re-
spousibilities OF the Christian citizen in three
great departments of life.
Our text illustrates our theme.
The place was that long stretch of wilder
ness which sweeps southward from Jericho
to the shores of the Dead Sea. High Shout
dered cliffs overhung narrow defiles In which
robbers lay concealed. Marshy beds of reeds
marked the spots where the Jordan lad over
fOwed-the home of crocodiles and wild
beasts. The characters were motley osl-
lection Of people, scooped up at random from
the streets Of Jerusalem and the villages of
Judea. In their midst was strange looking
man talking to them about religious life.
The bronzed ccuntenance, the leathern girdle,
the mantle OF camePs hair, were well kno wn
to his hearers -he had lived in the wilderness,
he had led on locusts and wild honey: be
was what few of them could be-master of
himself and they gave him reverence. His
ferocious virtue was not atluring; he was
stern man aud his doctrine was stern. As
with all men, his belief took form as much
from his temperament as from his intellect.
The sermon was austere because the preach
er was SO yet it was the old doctrine of
their "Repent-fee from the
wrath to cOme"-and men were moved, ter
rifed perhaps, and began to ask questions.
Three classes came with their inquiries.
We will, if you please, take them up in their
order: "What shall We do?" said the COM
mon people, coming first" "He that hath
Two coats, let him impart to him that hath
none; and he that hath meat, let him do
likewise" What a trivial answer! The
people shrink back into the crowd with dis
appointment on. their faces. But as they
think it over they begin to discover the prin-
ciple of life which lies beneath. For this
answer Of John's-so specific in form-s
generic in essence. In these sample duties
he enforces universal duties. "The fruits OF
repentance are personal Each one, in re-
ligious life, is to give according 10 the meas
ure of his ability; he must give what he has,
what another has not, a coat, meat, sympa-
thy, instruction, example; life Is ministry;
personal gifts are sanctihed by SERVICE"
This was the breadth of the Baptist's mean
ing.
From this point of view we look at the
first aspect of our theme-Responsibil OF
the Christian citizen in the Church.
would emphasize at the outset the lmi-
tations OF this responsibility. 1t Is defined
by the peculiar abilities Of the individual. II
calls no one to answer for the work of another.
Each one must give what ne has to some
other who has it not. And in this way it
recognizes diversity Of gifts.
Look at Nature. What child who loves to
ramble about in the fields has not tried to
find two leaves exactly allke-has not Won
dered how God ever could have made each
at least a little different from every other?
Who has not sought along the beach for twin
stones, or twin shells, and discovered that
Nature never repeats herself in this way?
Who has not, in younger days, watched the
shifting clouds form themselves, according to
his fancy, into palaces and soldiers and ele-
pnants, and what-not - but no two alike?
Who does not know that the stars, which
seem to be all duplicates of Que another,
would be found entirely disslmjlar If he could
reach them? Aud even the snowflakes,
which surely seem TO be all alike, under the
microscope assume myriads of Crystalline
torms. Every separate thing in nature IL
1riginal-has something to distinguish it
from all others. Even more wonderful than
this diversity in natural objects is the variety
among people. Such countless combinations
of all the qualities that 60 to make up human
beings. Such Emergencies in taste, in de-
sires, in emotional tendency; such divers
manners of personal preferences, incllsa
tons, likes and dislikes, all belonging to QUE
race and not one the exact counterpart OF
the another, all made of the same metal, no
two cast in the same mould. Aud what
comes of all this in religious liIe? Well,
sometimes there comes much evil of it.
Mixed up in common society, We make our
differences the occasion for much contention.
Some peculiarly of your neighbor CRATES
dreadfully on your nerves. Some ragged
edge in the disposition of my friend saws into
my sensibility aud makes him my enemy.
Then we dispute on all sides, Often it is
mere matter of taste; the argument is not
very profound: 81 like this, you do not
therefore, you are heretic." But constiiu-
tional differences become ground for strife,
and all the world becomes jangie. If sleep
shuts our ears against it, it is only for few
hours, and we awake 10 the morning to hear
again the horrible rumble and grumble and
roar telling the battle is on once more. And
we almost pray God to make us all over again
aud to make us all alike.
And now Religion comes in and desires to
utilize all this varied talent. And The prob
| lem before the church is just this: How shall
| We treat personal peculiarities? Two meth
| DDS are possible. The one is the method of
| military discipline. Christians are soldiers.
| A model is set up for imitaton-oDe who has
| been through certain experiences, holds Ger.
tain beliefs, performs certain actions. Bend
| every Christian to that model; Danish all
differences; drill each member in the proper
religious tactics till he can perform them ike
| every other member. Be efficient if you can
| be, but by all means be alike; be Jealous if
possible, but be alike; be true to conscience,
| o Christians, If you may be, but above all
things, be alike; be anything that you can be
consistently with this supreme necessity of
being all alike-lke so many peas in pod.
L l.
merge the one in the many; to destroy tie
consciousness of personal identity, and so to
obliterate the sense of personal responsibility,
upon which am trying to insist. l believe
that the drift of the church to day is toward
the military method.
To show this might instance great move
ments tending to a stereotyped Christian ex-
perience and life. The attempts to convert
men in the mass, the thouehtless outcry
against denominatonal differences, the
wholesale indiscriminate rules for religious
life laid down in some quarters. Let NE
rather illustrate from more simple examples.
Think back, any of you who have lived more
than score of years, to the early religious
training which was most common In your
youth. As l remember, it came first from
tue home. 1t came from the old Family
Bible, which we knew must be inspired when
father read it. 1t came from the lips aud
example Of her who understood the peculiar
nature of each one of her chiden and who
adapted her treatment 10 the needs of each !;
it DEVELOPED erjginal gifts; it encouraged
growth in personal virtue. Now turn to the
tendency OF to-day the loosening of the hold
of home upon the young; the inclination of
thn .At.n