Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-04
SERVING FOR NAUGHT
The Ideal. Religion Is That Which
Involves Duty and Devotion.
BARGAINS JACOB TRIED TO MAKE.
The Commercial Spirit of the Time Affects
the Church Too Mnch.
EXAMPLES FROM EVERYDAY LIFE
iwR1rrEN FOR THE DISPATCH,

fathers house in peace, then shall the Lord
be my God"
That was the bargain which Jacob made
with God. Jacob was just then running
away from the consequences of one over
cunning bargain, and it came to pass as be
stopped to say his prayers, that the phrases
of trade crept in among the phrases of petit
tion. And he tried to make contract with
God. He was like some business men who
come to church to-day and plan their Mon
day work in prayer time and do sums in
mental arithmetic during the sermon. Even
that is better than to initiate the people of
the parable, who went their ways, one to his
farm, another to his merchandise, one to his
leisure at home, another to his accounts at
the store, and missed the service altogether.
. Jacob was shrewd and crafty money
maker. Even religion, he thought, might
be made TO minister to mans material
advancement. If God would give him
bread to eat and raimemt to put on, if God
would build him good house and furnish
it, if God would give him a fair measure of
success in his mercantile eadventurings, why,
then. for his part, he would be perfectly
willing to recite his prayers. and sing his
praises, and to be on the side of God. So
much prosperity, so much praise. so much
wealth, so much worship, "Then shall the
Lord be my God" 1t would be a paying
bargain. It would be worth while.
A SAXON PRIESTS IDEA.
That was the idea OF God which that
Saxon priest of Odin had, who listened to
the good Bishop Paulinus as he preached
the promises of the new religion and said:
1.-THE old gods have profted me little.
These long years have served them, no
man mere diligently, and yet many are
richer and more prosperous than am. I
will try the new" And thereat he rode
full-tilt into Odin's temple, and with his
lance tumbled the great statue of the god
over into the dust.
That was the idea of God which men had
in those days when the favorite deity among
the Romans was that tickle goddess For
tuna. There are no more pathetic and
significant relics OF that old religion than
the little battered and broken altars dedi.
Gated to Fortune. "Let us say our prayers"
men said. ITO the great god, Good Luck.
Let US get him to give US this and that"
Toward the end, nothing remained OF that
ancient faith but this-a serving of the gods
to ward of evil and to get good.
To-day, "the negro OF Guinea beats his
gods when they do not crafty his wishes,
and the New Zealander threatens to kill
and eat them" Indeed, it was the opinion
of the devil in that wonderful play of
sob, " that godliuess everywhere is merely
fof the sake of gain. In comes Satan
among the sons of God, weary with a long
journey. He has been going to and fro in
the earth, and walking up and down in it.
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast
thou considered my servant Job, that there
is none like him in the earth, perfect and
an upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the
Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for
naught?"
SERVICE FOR GOOD PAY.
man will serve God faithfully so: long as he
gets good pay il. II the Lord gives him
bread to eat aud raiment to put on, any
man will choose the Lord for his God. But
let adversitv come-and then seel Doth
any man serve God for naught?
lam afraid that Jacobs bargains has its
parallels in Christian communities. I am
afraid that the devils sneering question
must in some instances be answered in the
DEVILS way. The most evident instances
are of course to be looked for in connection
with the great troubles of life. Adversity
comes, and it is not everybody who meets it
as faithfully as Job did. People lose their
money, or they lose their health, or they
lose their friends; and then because they
are poor, or sick, or full of loneliness and
sorrow, they lose their faith. They begin
to stay away from the sacrament, and to be
missed out of their places in the church, and
presently they are fond to say that God does
rot for fhap1 io
God at all. II there Is God, why do they
suffer? Why does He not send prosperity?
What is God for if not to help us? A God
who does not serve US, why should we serve
Him?
That was not what Job said. No doubt
there were plenty of imperfections in Jobs
religion, but, at least, it was not founded
upon selishness. 1t was not built u pom that
shifting sand. 1t was not constructed out
of such materials that it stood up and made
a brave show in the sunshine, and toppled
over and went to pieces when it raised. Job
said, Though he slay me, yet Will trust
him." jacob said, "If he pay me, then
will 1 trust him." There is some differ
ence!
COMMERCIAL SPIRIT OF THE DAY.
1t is said that in these days the CONNER
cial spirit of our time has got into religion;
that Jacob is still bargaining with God; and
this not only IN the great adversities which
try mems souls, but in lesser matters in
some of the ordinary duties OF the Christian
life. Thus there is a general complaint
among the clergy that people nowadays
must be paid for everything.
Jacob will give money for Christian uses,
he will help the cause of missions. he will
assist the poor, he will do his part in build
iprr fho oh nd int iptp %lo, I'll,
if you pay him, if you get up great sup
per, and give him something good to eat, or
a concert, and let him hear sweet music,
Jacob will come to churchill he is we'll
paid tor coming, it there is a popular
preacher and fine choir. Provide enough
attraction" Make the services taking"
Interesting" and not too religious, and
Jacob will never miss meeting.
"If God will keep me in the way that I
90, and will give me bread to eat and raj
ment to put on, so that l come again to nv
fathers house, then shall the Lord be my
God"
But we ought to think great deal more
about what we owe to God, than about what
God owes to us. The central fact of our re-
ligion ought to be the fact Of God, rather
than the fact Of SELF The sovereignty of
God and the smallness of man, the omnipo-
tence of God and the weakness of man, the
inexpressible pre-eminence of God-we
ought to think Of 1t used to be asked of
converts, in one of the great religious COM
munions, ii they so set God first that they
were even willing, if it were for Gods glory,
to be forever damned. That is a strong way
of putting it. But there is grea: truth
underlying that given question, neverthe-
less. 1t is an essential condition of Christian
ity to look utterly away from self toward
God.
DUTY AND DEVOTION.