Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-20

and going to lose a child. More than
two million people have been known to gather
at Jerusalem for that national feast You
must not think Of those regions as sparsely
settled The ancient historian Josephus says
there were in Galilee two hundred cities the
smallest Of them containing fifteen thousand
people. No wonder that amid the crowds at
the time spoken Of Jesus the boy was lost.
| His parents, knowing that He was mature
enough and agile enough to take care of
Himself, are on their way home without any
anxiety, supposing that their boy is coming
with some Of the groups. But after a while
| they suspect He is lost and with flushed cheek
and a terrorized look they rush this way and
that, saying: Have you seen anything of
my boyS He is twelve years of age, of fair
| complexion and has blue eyes and auburn hair
Have you seen Him since we left the cityY'
Back they go m hot haste, in and out the pri-
vate houses and among the surrounding hills.
| For three days thev search and inquire won
dering IL lie has been trampled under foot of
some OF the throngs or has yentured on the
| cliffs or fallen of precipice. Send through
all the streets and lanes Of the city
and among all the surrounding hills thatm
| dismal sound: "a lost child A lost child r'
! Andlo, after three days they discover Him In
the great Temple, seated among the mightest
relgionists 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 cues
tions and answering theirs Let me introduce
you to some of these ecclesiastics This is the
great Rabbin Simeonl This is the venerable
Hillel! This is tie famous Shammai. These are
the sons or the distinguished Betirah. What
can this twelve year lad teach them or what
questions can He ask worthy their cogitation?
All, the first time in all their lives these re-
Hgionists have found their match and more
fhniF mat f0ta r1fVh t.
knew all about the famous Temple under
whose roof they held that most wonderful,
discussion Of all history. He knew,
the meaning Of every altar, of every
sacrifice, of every golden candlestick,
of every embroidered curtain, of every
crumb of shew bread, of every drop Of
oil in that sacred edifice. He knew all about!
God. He knew all about man. He knew all
about heaven, for He came from it, he knew
all about this world, for He madeit. Helnewi
all worlds, for they were only the sparkling
morning dewdrops on the lawn in front Of His
heavenly palace. Put these seven Bible w-rds
in wreath Of emphasis both hearing
them and asking them questions"
l am not so much interested in the questions
they asked Him as in the questions He asked
them. He asked the questions not to get In
formation 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 phil
osophers 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 then they would look upward,
and then they would wrinkle their brows and
then by absolute silence or in positive words
confess their incapacity to answer the inter-
rogatory. With any one Of hundred ques-I
tions about theology, about philosophy, about
astronomy, about time, about eternity, HeI
may have halked them, Disconnected them, :
flung them fat. Behold the boy Christ askingl
questions and listen when your child asks
questions. He has the right to ask them. The
more he asks the better. Alas for the STU
pidity of the child without inquisitivenessl
1t is Christlike to ask questions. Answer
them if you can. Do not say: 81 can't be both
cred now." tits your place to be bothered with
questions. Ii you are not able to answer,
surrender and confess your incapacity, as I
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 garment reaching from neck to
ankle, and girdled at the waist, put them to
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: II do
not know" is the Lord Almighty. The
fact that they did not know sent Keppler
and Cuvier and Columbus and Humboldt and
Herschel and Morse and Sir William Hamil-
ton and 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 ages are only questions
asked at the door of mystery. Behold this
Nazarene lad asking questions, giving ever
lasting dignity to earnest Interrogation.
But while see the old theologians standing
around the boy Christ I am impressed as
never before with the fact that what theology
most wants is more of childish simplicity.
The world and the church have built up inn
nense 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 created. have had many sound sleep
under sermons about the DEGREES of God and
the eternal generation of the Son and dis
courses showing who Melchisedek wasn't and
give fair warning that if any minister
ever begins sermon on such subject in nv
presence will put my head down on the pew
in front and go into the deepest slumber can
reach. Wicked waste of time, this trying to
scale the unscalable and fathom the un-
fathomable 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 perplex ourselves about the DEGREES
of God? Mind your own business and God
will take care of His. In the conduct of the
universe / think He will somehow
manage to get along without u.s. If
you want to love and serve God and be good
and useful and get to heaven. I warrant
that nothing which occurred eight hundred
Guintillion Of wears a@o will hinder you a. min
ute. IL is not the DEGREES of God that do us
any harm, it is our own DEGREES of sin and
folly. You need not go any further back in
history than about 1856 years You see this
is the year 1889. Christ died about thirty
three years Of age You subtract thirty-three
from 1889 and that makes it only
1856 years. That is as far back
as you need to CO.. Something oc-
CURED on that day under an eclipsed
sun that sets us all forever free if with our
whole heart and life we accept the tremen-
dous protfer. Do not let the Presbyterian
Lutheran Church or the Baptist Church or
any Of the other evangelical churches
spend any time in trying to fix up old
creeds all Of them imperfect as everything
man does is imperfect l move new creed
for all the evangelical churches of Chris
tendon, only three articles in the
creed and no need of any more. If had
lll the consecrated people Of all denomina-
tions of the earth on one great plain, and I
had voice loud enough to nut it to a vote that;
creed ur three arJlcles would be adopted with
a unanimous vote and laundering aye that
would make the earth quake and the heavens
ring with hosanna. This is the creed pro-
pose for all Christendom: r.
Article First-"God SO loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in Him should not per-
ish but have everlasting life"