St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-03-04
YESTERDAYS SERMON.

ushers know to be left for the day with
out an occupant.
YESTERDAYS SERMON.
A Specimen OF DIR. Simmons Pull
pit Orations---Divine Incarna-
ton.
DR., Simmons preached in Memo
monte. Wis, yesterday, instead of Min
neapolis, as he had expected. His SER
mons always seem as part of the
First Unitarian church. SO closely has
he been connected with it from the
start. In giving description of the
sermon of the one who has done so
much toward its perfection.
The sermon was on the "Divine In
carnatiOn.''
He said that in the New Testament
Jesus own companions, disciples and
very mother repeatedly call Him a son
OF Joseph, and there is no reason why
we should prefer later legend and con-
tradict them. The idea that He was
born from virgin is nowhere found in
the Bible, except in the introductiOnS
to Matthew and Luke. and these intro
auctions are full of contradictions. The
story in Luke makes His parents resi-
dents of Nazareth before His birth. and
makes them return there from Bethle-
hem Immediately after His birth. But
the story in Matthew makes them go in
the opposite direction to Egypt, remain
there some time, and then go and set
tie III Nazareth, as new home alto
gether. Both genealogical tables also
trace His ancestry through Joseph, land,
of course, are made in the belief that
Joseph was His father. 1t is better,
therefore, to accept His friends and
mothers statement that He was the son
of Joseph.
But while regarding Jesus as the nat
nrally born son of Joseph, we still see
Him as divine incarnation. AS man
He showed the highest form in which
the divine spirit manifests itself on
earth, and, as so noble a man, He was
an embodiment of that spirit of good
ness which is called God. We can still
say that Jesus was son of God, and one
with God, and was God.
Only we must not stop there, but
make the doctrine broader. An infinite
God cannot be confined to Jesus, but
must fill the universe and dwell in all
men. and be, through all and in all,''
as the apostle said. To say that no one
but Jesus has been divine wrongs man.
kind and denies God; and only the doc
trlne that Deity is ever and everywhere
incarnate in humanity, declares the di-
vine Omnipresence, or asserts God at
all. We will be thankful for the past,
but remember that Deity still fills the
world. and is not dependent on Pales-
tine OF Bibles. We will not forget the
storied star of Bethlehem; but we will
remember that every star of every
night looks down on miraculous births,
and that the Divine Child is ever COM
ing again and calling for service. In
mental power and moral purity and
generous charity, Deity still shines;
and in all the good men and women
around US. whether high or low, we
will still see 'God made manifest in
the fiesh.''
This doctrine brings broader sense
of brotherhood. The idea that only
Jesus was divine has led the Church to
perSecute those who refused His name
or denied its docsrines about Him; but
the belief that Deity is Through all and
in ALL" will end such evils and destroy
half the hate and inhumanity of the
world. The doctrine of an incarnation
i'll only one person has divided man
kind, stained church history with some
deeds worse than paganiSm showed, and
tortured women in the very name Of
Him who said: blessed are the merci-
full" But the belief that God is incar-
nate in all just men, whatsoever creeds
they come with, will hasten the prom
ised day of peace ON EARTH" and bring
charity such as the world has never
yet seen.
This doctrine of larger incarnation
helps religion, too. 1t does not destroy
former faiths, but fulfills and extends
them. 1t does not make Judea less sa-
cred, but consecrates all lands. 1t does
not dishonor the Hebrew religion but
ennObleS others. 1t does not dethrone
the prophets of Israel; but finds COM
panions for them in all men of what
ever nation, who like them have spoken
for right and truth. 1t does not take
away at all from the divine mission of
Jesus. 1t still shows Him as a
redeeming sacrifice for men, and
adds that all who like Him have given
themselves, in death or life, to help the
human race, have also been holy sacri-
fees for the redemption of mankind. 1t
still shows Jesus as Messiah, divinely
annOited to advance the Kingdom of
God; and it shows the same divine con-
secratiOn resting Oh all others who have
aided that advance, Christian. hereto
and heather alike. 1t still calls Jesus
''Son of Cod" and adds His own words
that every peacemaker is another. 1t
still declares most emphatically that
Jesus was divine and filled with the
very fullness of God, and it adds that
all who love are filled in the same way
as the apostle says, HE that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God and God in
him."
So the doctrine of the incarnation is
kept, with no denial of Jesus, but with
ever-enlarging meaning. We are
charged with denying the divinity of
Christ. Rather we declare the divinity
of Christ. and all that it implies, as
the first principle and foundation of
religion. We declare the divinity
of His lessons of love, the divinity of the
soul that felt them, the divinity of the
lips that spoke them, the divinity of the
man who lived them. And by the same
principle we declare the divinity of
that love everywhere, the divinity of all
the souls that feel it and of all the lips
that speak it and of all the men who
live it. This is our theology-that God
is love and lived in the loving Jesus
and lives in all love and is worshipped
best by our love of each other.
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