St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-25

tlcre on HlN lett DdliSs Ultululle! wiz
dOws: and what do these windows sig
nifty? What is the lesson they have tor
US on this dedication day and will al
ways have for us ana all the eyes which
shall ever see them? They teStiSy first
of all TO the depth anu perpetuity of
human love that we have kept and will
continue to keep i'm our hearts living
memory of our departed, and still more,
these windows mean Il belief in the
resurrection, in a life hereafter, in
bliSSful and endless reunion OF
friends beyond the grave. These
windows mean what the text means.
They are a pleasing and comforting
commentary OIL the text; they are a SER
mon preached by Christian art and
Christian symbolism. ! see Hope yOn-
der holding up her lamp and making
her timId way through the valley and
shallow of death; l see her face take on
suddenly Look of celestial radiance,
because a welcome light from the UNI
seen future has fallen on it, and be-
cause her path to the heavenly gate is
now clear. Fear is gone from that face
and trembling from that hand. and the
ray of angelic trust rests upon her. And
in another portion of the window, see
Memory standing with Saddened.
dOwn-caSt cOuntenauce, looking mourn
fully for Love which has disappeared,
but her right hand holds fast 10 Faiths
scroll which saws: Until the morning
dawnS and the shadows flee away"
and there in that window is Purity with
purity'S emblem in her hand. What is
more worthy than Purity TO stand in
portals of eternity and TO mediate be-
tween the visible and the invisible?
l wish | had the strength TO tell
Ill 4. -. - min ~ n
means to me and mine es-
pecially. | remember how l sat
and wept in the ashes of my sorrow. l
remember how even then you gave US
beauty for ashes-gave it in your sym
pathy, your tears and your love, and
now with an ardent friendship which
years have neither dulled nor wasted,
you have given to me and mine that
wisdom. Beauty tor Ashes"
My first contract with the trustees
was 10 serve as pastor of this church for
one year. That contract has never been
renewed. and | have never been in
formed that 1t was cancelled, hence the
enc year has lasted until now. The
chairman of the present trustees and
one other have retained their places in
the board fIOm the beginning of my
ministry here. To the careful over
Slsub anu VI bilC
trustees; to the zeal and good will and
generosity of the members and or the
congregation, crowned with the won
drOus blessings of God, the Church OF
the Redeemer owes its singular pros
perity. The temptation is great
To make my whole sermon re-
Prospective and historical. but L
should fall sadly below the highest i'm
port of this occasion if i simply asked
you or myself to rejoice over the fact
that your church has been restored
you: that you have been reinstated in
your pews; that your place of worship
is more conveniently, if not more brill
iantly. equipped than before, and that
your history as congregation has been
a successful one. We have gathered
here for no such purely selfish end.
Why should this church have been re-
built? Why should any church exist?
Unless we are able to- answer clearly
questions like these, to perceive and TO
appreciate something of the principles
which make foundation for all struct-
ures of this kind, to give an adequate
reason for Christian hope and Christian
worship everywhere and under all its
forms. our business here is too trifiing
or TOO uncertain 10 merit either divine
favor or self graduation. The Al
mighty can spare any single house like
ours, any single congregation like ours,
except they stand IN the line of
His infinite work and contribute TO
the sum of His infinite purpose; and
hence He has not led US TO this
place once more to eXuiJ over circum-
stances which concern our personal
welfare alone.
If what the text says had not been a
&r,,% IF universal
would not have rebuilt our church; if
We had not believed it true we would
have had no object and no heart to re-
build it; and now. having rebuilt it,
what use have We for it? What law or
principle have we to rest our faith or
work upon without that truth? LII all
the best lines of religious thought and
religious doctrine do not cOmmingle III
this truth our faith walks with broken
staff. and heaven is but a dream.
| continue the discussion, then. with
the conviction that these words,
Beauty for ashes" read in their con-
nection, contain not only one of the CEN
trail promises of the Bible, but CON-
prehensive statement alsO-comprehen-
Sive hint. at least. of the central prin-
ciple in Christian philosOphy-nOt in
bulk. but in essence; not in detail, but
in essentially. Therefore let the
thought contained in this promise, Il
will give the beauty for ashes" be the
bright particular star by which we steer
the bark of our human reason. Fur
Their on in the address he continued:
Religion has prosecuted and burned
its martyrs, but every truth for which
they died lived on. Whatever persisted
in Catholicism, enriched the soil and
Professionalism grew. The decaying form
of English ritualism fed the the other
upSpringing SectS. and wheE the time
came for more radical Professionalism
in New England, it rose and fllOuriShed
in grounds covered all over with the
mold of decaying belief.
Many are alarmed at the doubt and
skeptlcism of our times; they see.
or think they see. in this signs of
the utter destruction of Christianity.
the breaking up and disappearance of
all churches. THE calamity of having
orr churches burned is tritiing," peO-
pie say, compared with losing our
faith in worship, even our desire for it.
The architect can give US beauty for
ashes in one case; but who, alas, can
erect for US another temple of trust
when that is gomez"
l understand and | sympathiZe with
the honest souls who ask it. My reply
is that religion is fundamentally IN
destructibIe; that the religious in
stincts are indeStructible. If you de-
mOlish the theory of prayer men will
pray nevertheless; if all the churches
were burned, churches would immedi-
ately appear again; if God should per-
NIT the burning of all the Bibles, Bibles
would rise again. So it always is. Per
secutiOn only scatters the influence it
seeks to kill. The most that can hap
! pen in the end is the destruction of
what is false in religion. and none of us
can regret that. In that case its ashes
are worth more than the religion itself.
If our denomination has had more
than its share of persecution in the
years which have gone, let us count it a
proof that it shall have hereafter a
corresponding share of prosperity. OPP
position cannot ruin us. No influence
| can overthrow us but oar own. If we
have at times put on sackclOth and
mourned at the defiant attitude of the
other Christian sects, at the strange
hardness with which our doctrines were
accepted, is there not cause now in
these wiser and more tolerant times for