Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-06-20

and that saying: Have You seen any
thing of my boy! He is twelve years of age,
of fair complexion. and has blue eyes and
auburn hair. Have you seen Him since
we left the cityv Back they go in no,
haste, in and out the streets, in and ont
the private houses and among the sur
rounding hills. For three days they
search and inquire, wondering if He has
been trampIed under foot of some of the
throngs or has ventured on the cliffs or
! fallen of a precipice. Send through all
the streets and lanes of the city and
among the surrounding hills that most
| dismal sound: "a lost child! A lost
child" And 10. after three days they
discover Him in great temple, seated
among the mightiest religionists of all the
world. The walls of no other building
| ever looked down on such a scene. A
child twelve years old surrounded by
! septuagenarians, He asking His own ques.
tions and answering theirs.
l am not so much interested in the ques-
tions they asked Him as in the questions
He asked them. He asked the questions
not to get information from the doctors
for He knew it already, but to humble
them by showing them the height and
depth and length and breadth Of their
own Ignorance. While the radiant boy
thrusts these self-conceited philosophers
with the Interrogation point they put the
forefnger of the right hand to the temple
as though to start their thoughts into
more vigor. and they would look upward
and then they would wrinkle their brows
and then by absolute silencs or in positive
words confess their incapacity to answer
the interrogatory. With any one of a
hundred questions about theology, about
philosophy, about astronomy, about time
about eternity, He may have baked them,
disconnected them, flung them fat Be-
hold the boy Christ asking questions and
listen when your child asks questions. He
has the right to ask them The more he
asks the better. Alas for the stupidity Of
the child without inquisitveness! 1t is
Christlike to ask questions. Answer
them if you can. Do not say: Il can't
be bothered now" 1t is your place to
be bothered with questions. If you are
not able to answer, surrender and confess
your incapacity, as l have no doubt did
Rabbin Simeon and Hillel and Shammai
and the sons of Betirah when that splendid
boy, sitting or standing there with a gar
ment reaching from neck to ankle, and
girdled at the waist put them to their
very wits end. 1t is no disgrace to say ::
81 don't know" The learned doctors
who environed Christ that day in the
temple did not know or they would not
have asked Him any questions The only
being in the universe who never needs to
say, IL do rot know" is the Lord
Almighty. The fact that they did not
know sent Keppler and Cuvier and Column
bus and Humboldt and Herschel and
Morse and Sir William Hamilton aud all
the other of the worlds mightiest natures
into their lifelong explorations. Telescope
and microscope and stethoscope and
electric battery and all the scientific ap-
paratus of all the age, are only questions
asked at the door of mystery. Behold the
Nazarene lad asking questions, giving
everlasting dignity to earnest interroga-
tion.
But while 1 see the old theologians
standing around the boy Christ l am i'm
pressed as never before with the fact that
what theology most wants is more of
childish simplicity. The world and the
Church have built up i'm mense systems Of
theology. Half of them try to tell what
God thought what God planned, what
God did FIVE hundred million years before
the small star on which we live was cre-
ated. have had many a sound sleep un-
der sermons about the DEGREES of God and
the eterna! generation of the Son and dis
courses showingwho Melchisedek wasn't.
and give fair warning that If any min
lister ever begins a sermon on such a SUBJ
ject in my presence 1 will put my head
down on the pew in front and 60 into the
deepest slumbsr l can reach Wicked
waste of time, this trying to scale the
unscalable and fathom the unfathomable
while the nations want the bread
of life and to be told how they can get rid
of their sins and their sorrows. Why
should you and L perplex ourselves about
the DEGREES of God: Mind your own busi-
ness and God will take care of His. In
the conduct of the universe l think He
will somehow manage to get along with
out US. Ii you want to love and serve
God, and be good and useful and get TO
Heaven, l warrant that nothing which oc-
CURED eight hundred quintillion of: years
ago will hinder you a minute. 1t is not
the DEGREES of God that do US any harm,
it is our own DEGREES of sin and folly.
You need not go anv further back in his
tory than about 1,S56 years. You see this
is the year 1899 Christ died about thirty
three wears of age You subtract 80 from
1889 and. that makes it only l. $50 years.
That is as far back as you. need to go'
Something occurred on that day un-
der an eclipsed sun that sets US all
forever free if with our whole heart aud
life we accept the tremendous proffer.
Do not let the Presbyter Church or the
Methodist Church or the Lutheran Church
or the Baptist Church or any of the Evan
gelioal Churches spend any time in trying
to fix up old creeds, all of them imperfect
as every thing man does is imperfect L
move a new creed for all the Evangelical
Churches of Christendom, only three ar
ticles in the creed and no. need OF any
more. If had all the consecrated people
of all denominations of the earth, on one
great plain, and l had voice loud enough
to put it to a vote that creed of three ar
ticles would be adopted with a unanimous
vote and = laundering aye that weald
make the earth quake and the heavens
ring with hosanna. This is the creed i
propose for all Christendom:
Article l. God so loved the world that
he gave His only begotten Son that who
soever believeth in Him shoald not perish
but have everlasting life"
Article , This is n faithful saying and
worthy Of all acceptation that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, even
the chief"
Article 8. Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive blessings and riches and
honor and glory and power, world without
end. Amen"
But you go to- tinkering mp your old
creeds and patching and splicing and in
terlining and annexing and subtracting
and adding and explaining and you will
lose time and make yourself a target for
earth and hell to shoot at Let US have
creeds not fashioned out Of human ingen-
Int Of Scr-i ,fr,ra1 mira se0lOnN