Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-04

out of it. Commonly we turn our PACK
upon him. Nobody needs good friends Sc
much as sinner. We ought to try to help
each other; not to talk, not to criticise, not
to condemn, but to help.
Infamy of ths Human Heart.
But "you are not all clean" verify,
verify say unto you that one of you shall
betray Me-" And they all began to be sor-
rowful, and to ask Him one after another,
''Iord, is it I?''
No man feels sure of himself Indeed,
there is no end to the possibilities of in
fanny in the human heart. The II feel that
any one of them may even turn traitor. A
black foreboding overshadows them; the
future is dim, uncertain and foreboding;
something is to happen, strange, dreadful,
tragic, overwhelming Every man in that
little company distrusts himself Perhaps
it is L
Sometimes 1t seems as if goodness means
little more than the absence of strong temp
tation. We are respectable people because
1t has been easier for us to be respectable
than not Our disrespectable brothers and
sisters whose names are read out in police
courts are really the same sort of people
that We are, except that they have been
more sorely tempted than We have been.
The best of us cannot take very much
credit to ourselves for our goodness II we
had lived where these brothers and sisters of
ours live would we have any cleaner hands
or any cleaner hearts than they have? Who
dares answer yes? Lord. is it I?" Am 1
the traitor? There is a possibility of basest
treachery even in the hearts of saints
No Condemnation for Judas.
The apostles never, so far as we know,
cursed or reviled Judas The story of the
betrayal is set down simply and briefly as
possible. Thus he did and thus he died.
But there is no self-religious outcry against
him; no sentence of condemnation is pro-
nounced upon him, except such as Jesus
spoke Himself. He went to his own place
they said, speaking of his death. The
apostles never called down any anathemas
upon the head of Judas. They knew their
own hearts too we'll for that. They had
sins enough of their own to repent OF. They
had that charity for their brothers crime
which comes to one who knows how he, too,
might have been a criminal. They knew
that when they questioned, "Is it II" any
one of them might have been answered,
"Yes"
There are two considerations that deter
the soul from sin: One is knowledge of
punishment, the other is knowledge of
love. Jesus brings both of these to bear
the Son of Man is betrayed" SIT would
have been good for that man if he had not
been born" Judas listened. He knew
who the betrayer was The plot had all
been made and lacked now but few hours
of tulfillmenL Jesus admonishes him of
retribution.
The Offsnse Against Love.
And then He takes the "sop;" that Is, o
81 hal npln aA
bread and bitter herbs, and Himself gives it
to Judas. This was a mark of affection. In
spite of all, Jesus loved judas That must
have touched his heart more than the pro-
phecy of punishment. The worst thing
about sin is that it is an offense against
love. 1t is something that we do, not
against any angry despot, but against
loving Father.
Yet Judas holds to his plan of treachery.
There is moment in the commission of 8 in
when the sinner gets within reach of that
strange law which transforms sight into
blindness and hearing into deafness. See
ing, he sees not; and hearing, he hears not.
He goes straight on in utter defiance of his
own protests. There are voices calling
''Thou shalt not" but he refuses to regard
them. He has hardened his heart. Judas
had hardened his heart
There is only one thing that Jesus will
not do with Judas. He will not coerce
him. He will not compel him against his
will God will do a great deal to deter us
from sin. He will warn us; He will assure
us of His love. But He will not prevent
us from SHINING. God sets no value upon
any automatic goodness. He cares not at
all for virtue that has no alternative. He
wants us to be loyal to Him because we
want to be loyal. He would have our good
ness to be the sincere expression of our real
desire God will never compel us to be
good. Judas may betray his Master. No
legion of angels will arrest him.
In Rcme embrance OF Him.
So the traitor rises from the table. 'What
thou doest, do quickly" Jesus says. The
apostles, who are much more ready each
one to suspect himself than to suspect each
other, think that this is some errand OF
charity. So he goes out. The open door
shows black night outside
"And as they were eating He took bread,
and when He had blessed, He brake it, and
gave it to them and said: Take We; this is
NV BODY And He took cup, and when He
had given thanks He gave to them; and they
all drank of it. And He said unto them:
This is NV blood of the covenant, which
is shed for many" This they were to do
in remembrance of Him.
Jesus desired to be remembered. This
was no doubt, in part, because He knew 1t
would do us good to remember Him. We
remember Him for the sake of our own
character. We keep His words in mind,
and His life of self-sacrifice, and His death OF
love, and we are helped.
The thought of the ideal man makes us,
too, long to be men. The death of Jesus,
which is here specially commemorated, has
been the inspiration of the saint from that
night ever since. How many trials have
been borne patiently, how much pain has
been endured without repining, how many
hard tasks have been taken up and carried
on in spite of persecution and in the face of
in the strength of the memory
of that broken body and that shed bloodl
Love Longs for Remembrance.
And yet was it altogether for our sake
that Jesus desired to be remembered?
Was the purpose wholly practical, entirely
utilitarian? Was 1t not for His sake also?
He loved those companions of His, whom
He had made His friends. He loves US
whom He knows as we'll as He knew them.
And He wanted to be remembered. Love
longs for remembrance He was not willing
that we, for whom He gave His life, should
90 about our tasks and pleasures, and never
think of Him. The meaning of the sacra-
ment is not only ethical. 1t is the sacra-
ment of love.
They did not understand very much about
1t, there in the Upper Room. They did not
realize what that breaking of His body and
that shedding of His blood meant Neither
DO we realize it. Close as we may get to-
day to that cross of Calvary, we do not re-
alize it. We say the words over, "He died
for me-" "He suffered and died for me-"
yet we still stand afar off. And we are al
most as confused in our minds as the apos-
Ties We come to the sacrament doubtful