St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-26
THE GRANDEUR OF SERVING.
True Greatness Consists of Doing

True Greatness Consists of Doing
Loving Service for Others.
Rev. Marion d. Shutter preached yes
terday at the Grand opera house to the
congregation of the Church of the Re-
deemer, from Matt. Xxx, 26. He said:
The lesson Jesus teaches His disciples
is that true greatness does not mean
arbitrary dominion, but loving service.
The question is not "What can / make
men do for me?" but "What can / do
for them?" The greatness of a man
does not depend upon his position, but
upon his spirit. One may have the
spirit which prompts him to minister to
his fellow men,i in palace as well as IN a
cottage. The censure of Jesus does hot
fall upon rank and station, but upon
self-seeking- disposition that dis
regards others and their rights, forget
full that mo man liveth unto himself"
We need not 60 outside of the churches
to find many exhibitions of this spirit,
There are men who stand in their pull
pits, Sunday after Sunday, not-it
would seemIto help any one, not to
bring strength to the tempted, consola-
ton to the distressed, hope to the dis
couraged; but to crush, if possible,
some other denomination whose theOl-
ogy is different from theirs. Men of
the world are justly Disguised
with such procedures; but how
much better is it elsewhere? I
meet my friend on the street,
and he tells me the churches are exclu-
sive. He says: II do not like all this
narroWness. Why can you not treat
each other as brethren?" / agree with
him. But when he leaves me on the
sidewalk he goes down to his place of
business and fOrgetS all about that con-
versation. He says to his partner:
Now, how can we drive our cOmpeti-
tors to the wall? How can we crowd
them so that they will have to go out of
business?" 1t is the same spirit of pro-
scription against which, in the church,
we have both lifted up our voices. Inject
another of my friends on the street. He
tells me that there are great mOnOpolies
formed with view of crushing men
and robbing them of their of just dues:
He wonders when the millennium will
come and how a rich man who belongs
to one of these combinations can pray,
''ThY kingdom come" Tell him fear
the doctrin e of brotherhood is yet far
from prevalent. But he goes down to
the meeting at the hall and denOunces
all who are outside his organization,
applies vile epithets to them, seems I'M
willing to recognize their right to earn
a living. He goes farther, and says:
IF any one is employed to do stroke
Of work unless he belongs to our organ
iZation we will ruin him and his en-
ployer." 1t is the same spirit that in
the church, not many centuries
agone, burned heretics. So the battle
RACES from one end of the scale to the
other. Competition is right when it
works along the higher lines, when it
leads to superior work; but not when it
is battle in which two parties are try
ing to compass each others downfall.
1t is this animus that Jesus condemns.
No one is prevented from rising in the
world, if he rise by superior skill and
industry. On the other hand, while
this definition does not exclude the
lofty, it gives encouragement to the
lOwly. 1t does not follow that
because one is at the bottom of
the ladder, he necessarily comes
nearer being included in this defin-
ltiOn than his brother at the top. There
is meanness and selfishness, grasping
and pushing, among the poor and OBJ
Scure, as well as among the wealthy
and conspicuous. But the words Of
Jesus go down and say to all that they
may be truly great in their humble
spheres if they are willing to serve1if
they are willing to minister to the needs
OF others, He found many of His ex-
amples of greatness in the secluded
walks of life. How many have turned
the sick-bed into royal chariot! How
many have glOrified common Occupa-
ton! How many through their very
poverty have made others rich, rich in
thought, in character!