The record-union., 1892-12-05
REVEALS OBJECTED TO.
Moral Courage the Badge Of the
Souls Integrity"
Synopsis of a Sermon Preached at
Pythian Hall Yesterday by
Rev. Mr.. Horner.

Two sublime expressions from the
lips of two sublime men, said the Rev.
L. J. Horner in preface to his sermon at
Pythlan Hall yesterday morning. Con-
tinuing, he said: 1 have heard ultra
radicals speak Of Jesus as mere man."
and l never hear such remark without
feeling my own spirit rise in hot protest.
a man Jesus no doubt was, if the
science of this century is true, born of
human parents as you and were born;
but no man is ''a mere man. when he is
moved to noble thought or noble deed by
the spirit of God expressing itselfthrough
him.
For myself, 1 am compelled to bow in
reverence before the divinity OF human
ity when it rises above the average ex-
preston OF human life to command and
condemn the cowardice and the weakness
that gives expression TO what might be
called ''mere" humanity. A mere
man" we are prone to excuse when he
fails to come up TO the heroic standard in
times OF doubt and trial, and we excuse
hl!n on the ground of his mere humanity.
But are men who have never surren-
dered to the weaknesses of the common
lot, or who having once surrendered have
aiterward risen above and conquered
these weaknesses, mere men? l troW
not, and ! believe you will approve me
in saying that it is beneath the dignity OF
lofty soul 10 speak Of any great moral
hero as though there was nothing uncOm-
mon iii his words or actions, and yet,
right here in Sacramento, the evangelical
pulpit INDUCES III expressions about
Jesus that would class him as a man in
the common herd, and / hear OF no OBJ
JectOns being urged against this abuse of
humanity's lofLiest idea. | suppose the
fact that in the next minute Jesus is ex-
tolled as God eNOnerates the speaker, but
1t IS evident that at such times people do
not distinguish between things that
differ.
For myself, l cannot think nleanly Of
any genius, much less a moral and reiig-
ious genius, like Luther. or Jesus. If
read human nature Alright, moral courage
IS one OF the crown Jewels of human
character, and every expression Of it in
dIcates something kingly back Of it
something akin to the Divine nature. Its
manifestation is not confined to any one
class or sect of men, but may, and often
does, appear where least expected, show
ing that man by his very nature is 4
moral being and is capable Of exhibiting
the Divine life whether he be jew or
Gentle, Pagan or Christian. When Jesus
appeared in the borders of Judah the
question asked by the devotee Of the tenn
pie was, Can any good thing come out
Of Nazareth?" Now, a Jewel is a level
and is of value for what it is in and OF
itself. regardless of whether it comes in
cased i'll plush or is picked out of the
mire of the street, and wherever we see
the CLEAN OF the brightness Of this crown
jewel of human character it is time to put
our shoes from our feet, ''tor the place
whereon we stand is holy ground"
II may CLEAN in the soul OF a member
of the salvation Army as he or she labors
among the submerged tents" 1t may be
in the soul OF Father Damian among the
lepers; a Tolstoi among the starving
peasants OF Russia; q sea captain, who
goes down with his ship because he
would not be the first to be saved: an
engineer, who keeps his hand on the
valve of his engine to ease the crash OF a
coming collision. Wherever it shows its
CLEAN it commands our loudest praise.
else our silence condemns US as too low
down in the scale of development to be
moved by such exhibitions of what is in
man. The test of all value is the expert
ence of trial.
Eighteen hundred years have failed to
tarniSh the character of Jesus as a man.
hence | would deny the right Of any one
to speak Of him as mere man." or OF
any other moral genius who has given
life for principle. : . The speaker
dwelt at some length upon the develop
ment OF the moral nature of child, and
illustrated his ideas from Hindu, Hebrew
and Christian history.
Though the moral conscience of the
ancient Hebrew, said he, was based on
an inadequate conception Of God, it was a
conception that was sure to develop in
the right direction, and the faith that il
inc isnd =
cts and heroes of Jewish history, that
challenges our admiration to the present
day, and gives to the Old Testament it's
never-dylng interest. No literature in
the world is 50 pregnant with moral
courage as the books of the Old Testa-
ment No heroes of history are so at
tractive to a child as those old moral
heroes; and why? Because the moral
nature of every child responds at once in
sympathy with them, rejoicing in their
trlumphs as well as in the defeat of their
enemies.
In Christian history we find the Prri-
tans feeling kinship to Moses. Joshua
and Gideon. With faith in God and in
their cause they went out to do battle for
the right as they saw it.
Cromwell was as sure that he was an
instrument in Gods hands as ever Moses
was. shoulder to shoulder with the
heroes of ancient Jewish history marched
Henry of Navarro, Coligny, Maurice and
William the Silent.
Just as Judah was saved from idolatrv
and the truth OF Gods righteousness es-
tablished in Israel, so Holland was saved
from the Papal power and the liberty of
conscience made possible to the Pilgrims
who in after years planted their colony
on plymouth Bay in Massachusetts, and
laid the foundation of that liberty in both
politics and religion which is now the
pride Of every American and the hope of
every intelligent subject Of foreign des-
potism.
Just as Jesus stood before PLATE and
said, For this cause came / into the
world, that | might bear witness to the
TRUTH" so Luther stood before the Diet at
Worms and said, Here | stand: | can
do no otherwise God help me, amen ~
So you or | may stand before the world
and affirm what has convinced our in
telligence as truth, and fear nothing so
much as dislOyalty to what is in mans
nature, for we, too, are men, and have in
US all that any genius has ever revealed
as the common heritage OF humanity,
Moral. courage is the badge of the SOUPS
integrity. i is the conviction of intelli-
gence that establishes faith and compels
obedience. And when the question is
asked why people talas, so many y are
not loyal to what they profess to believe
in either politics or religion, we can only
say that their moral courage is weak, and
weak because their espousaI OF the cause
was not through the conviction of the in
telligence, else they would have that
faith which comes with the comprehen-
sion of those principles which are coeval
with the life of the universe. Herein lies
the objection to what are called "Revi-
walls of Religion" and this is one OF the
reasons why we as Unitarians lay so
much stress on reason, on the conviction
OF the mind. Not that we object TO any
good that may come of a revival. but it
seems TO US that faith established on a
paroXysm of feeling such as is usually
worked up at revival is house built
upon sand. The reaction of the reason