The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-03-10

NY thOA fOlOOo, lou 10 oAuS Will SOOu
heed the noble words of these hymns,
grown dear to all Christian hearts, and
make them ours by the strength of the
feeling we put into them. 1t is time
that the descendants Of the Puritans,
removed in time from the conditions
which forced their sires to.revolt from
Journalism and protest against ritual
ism run to seed, to recover something
of what was lost in those old days, and
provide themselves with fit methods of
expressing the sentiments of heart
felt worship. Never have there been
such appeals to mems hearts to wor-
ship the Lord as in these latter days,
when nature and history have disclosed
such wonders of power, of wisdom and
of love wrought into the nature of
things. Never had any people such a
call to praise God as those to whom
has been given the thrilling faith that
the creation is marching on to the hol-
mess and the peace Of heavenly life, to
victory over evil, to the triumph of
righteousness.
But to what purpose does the church
maintain its offices of instruction and
of worship? To what end does it seek to
impress men with the lessons of the
cross, and bring them into the light of
Gods truth? 1t is nothing less than
the conservation of the life to God,
and here you will ever have before
your eyes the symbol of that devotion
of self to the Divine will, in the font,
which stands for the new and pure
life Of the Christian. If there be any
spirit in this age which would turn the
church into society for mutual enter
tainment, into social club, into a
lyceum, it will be under the constant re-
Duke of this silent witness to the great
motive of all the activities the gospel
sets in motion, the conversion of souls.
We are set here as Gods servants, not
to languidly enjoy spiritual idleness,
not to give ourselves to an aimless alb
sorption of fine moralizings. We are
bound to definite work and that
work is the conservation of our own
souls to divine service, and the effort to
bring other men and women to the same
loyal disposition. The soul has not full
filled its earthly destiny until it has
put away the purpose to serve self, and
assumed the purpose to serve God.
This is the end of all our aspirations,
our prayers, our Instructions, our per-
suasions. At this place many shall
kneel and confess themselves the chill
dren of God, and pledge allegiance to
him. Here childhood shall be ded-
icated to the divine life, in which at
last it shall find itself again, as in the
struggle of the years, the soul becomes
as ''a little child" And thus the sculp-
tured stone shall be constant monitor
that the energies of this church have a
clear and lofty aim; that we are not
drawn here by the mere drift of GUS
tom, nor by the spell of social attrac-
ton. We have mission in which we
believe, work God has given us to do,
in which alone our facilities have any
proper meaning. The church of Christ
stands for the renewal of human life;
and this is the sign Of its purpose.
vi.
Finally, there will always stand here
one more symbol, browning this great
object-lesson in faith and doctrine with
its fruitful suggestions of our destiny
and our reward. The table upon
which we spread the simple emblems
of the Lords Supper is the token of life
eternal, the portion of every true be-
lever here and now, the final estate of all
souls. The bread and the wine which
we spread here, are symbols of the life
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, a life
which hath beginning but no end,
life which feeds upon the highest
things, life which is filed with the
fellowship of the best souls. The end
of living is to have more life. True
life always expands into better
life. And the aim of all for which this
church stands is the enlargement of
every mans life, the increase of his en-
joyment, the establishment of his in
ward peace. This is the deep and solemn
significance of what we call the l." Holy
Communion" Far above all common
earthly fellowships, the social contact,
the sympathy of kindred, the inter-
course of friendship, comes the COM
munion of souls that meet on the high
levels of insight into the truth and love
of good things. This feeds the noblest
life of the soul. This is the best re-
ward of living. For it is the life in
God, in which all barriers down, all
darkening clouds swept away, we are
forever blessed with the knowledge of
the Fathers love renewing itself in all
the love Of our hearts.
VII.
And when, as it shall one day come
to pass, these windows shall be filled
with the memorials of the sanity and
the honored lives of those who have
gone up from the earthly beginnings
of this life to its higher cOnsummations