The morning call., 1893-10-09
FOR ITS INERTIA.
Rev. John Kirby Talks of
the Church.
CHOOSES A VERY APT THEME
AS Old Corrupt Civilizations Have
Passed Away So r1ay Life.
less ECcleSiasticiSm.

That God breaks up old conditions and
stirs up our nests. as an eagle teaching her
young to use their wiDgs-to develop
latent abilities and produce character, was
the theme of the Rev. John Kirby, the
new pastor of the Van Ness avenue
church, while filling the pulpit last night
of the Simpson Memorial Church, and he
chose as his text Deuteronomy xxxii:11.
Dr. A. C.. Hirst has been attending the
Worlds Fair Congress of Religions at
Chicago, and will not return in time to
preach before week from next Sunday,
so Rev. Alfred Hummer of the First Meth
odst Episcopal Church of Oakland took
bis place in the morning and DR.. Kirby in
the evening. DR.. Hummer was returning
an exchange of DR.. Hirst, for the latter
preached at the Oakland church while DR..
Hummer was enjoying the Worlds Fair.
The text of DR.. Hummer had been the
same as was that OF Bishop GoodSell in
July, while DR.. Hirst was at the
Chautauqua al Pacific Grove.ivlz: Gods
words to Elijah. when the prophet had
fled from JeZebel and was in the wilder.
ness of Horeb, what doest thou here,
Elijah?" His application of it was very
meet-that a Christian should be up and
doing; and he remarked that loud "amens"
ought to be backed up by forty years of
good moral life. So the sermon of DR..
Kirby in the evening was quite apropos.
During his elaboration OF the subject of
self-development by prOvidential arrange
ment, DR.. Kirby gave expression to some
quite modern ideas, Of the survival of the
fittest. He said:
THE design of God is to develop the
latent energies. One of our philosophers
has hoF I'D ut a mn dc
and organic matter as a vitallZlng force.
At one time it would have been considered
blasphemy 10 say that God was on the
side of the strongest armies; but God is
on the side of superiority. The most truly
vital nation is the most intelligent, and the
most intelligent is the most successful.
There is law that unemployed pow
ers become extinct. The ostrich being
fleet of foot, lost her wings, and there are
fishes that have no eyes because of the alb
sence of light. Darwin has said. Give me
time enough and l Will create new spe-
cies.' Now, we don't believe that he could
have created new species, but he could
probably have modified some of them.
There are multitudes of people in the
church like the eaglets in their nests
waiting for something TO be done for them
God has designed them 10 do for them
selves.
DO the best you can. If you can't
philosophize like Bacon, delneate char
acter like Shakespeare, or write poetry
like Milton, do what you can do. Many
people mistake gifts for genius. Fetter
not your freedom. If God has made you
like lion, roar like lion; if like an
eagle, soar like an eagle. If you have
wings the world will soon find it out"
The s0licitude that some parents feel for
their children in seeking to provide for
them every comfort and luxury for their
future received scoring from the speaker
You forget that your children need the
discipline Of life, the same as you did.
There is no place for be-jeweled idleness.
The nightingale's song is born out of the
darkness. and the eagles flight of the
storms. Genius comes by conflict"
After illustrating his argument by Gods
dealings with Job, and his molding of the
character of the Israelites in the wilder
ness of Sinai; and also, by a reference to
to the fact that the possibilities of an
American civilization were opened by the
Pilgrim fathers, who had 300 years of
Protestant Christianity behind them, he
showed that humanity had reached its
present stage alter NUMBER of previous
civilizations had been broken up. and pre-
dcted that this glorious nation itself would
continue only so long as it remained true
to its principle.
But il would not do yet for mankind to
work, as Henry George recommends, only
one hour day and devote the balance of
daylight to other pleasures. The saloons
would be filled if present conditions were
to continue. There is yet very much room
for improvement.
Noah's prophecy that Japheth would
dwell in the tents of Shew was next
touched upon, to show the awakening
influence the activity of European civiliZa-
ton is having on the inert civilizations of
,1n~ 81, IL
then DIR. Kirby went for the Christian
church on account of its inertia. As the
old civilization of the past had been swept
away Ewhen 1T became inert and corrupt,
so would it be with the church unless it
exhibited some spiritual life.
ut is the same way with church life"
said he. "As soon as they forget their
mission and simply try to rival one an
other in worldly responsibility | believe
God will forsake their temples"
lie then drew lesson from the Laodi-
cean church, of which Christ said, BE
hold, stand at the door and knock" etc.,
and there are some churches, he thought,
like that.
Have you never seen people trying to
build up a church ?" he asked. II have.
First of all things they look around for a
gooG preacher. That ia good thing to do.
Ii you can't get one West. go East for one"
The congregation showed signs OF being
stirred up little by this homely utterance
and there was murmur that was not one
of disapproval. but was more OF an exhi-
bition of its startled feelings, perhaps,
than anything else. The preacher re-
marked, in continuing his line of reason
ing, that unless there was some life in the
church the securing of gifted pastor and
qualified choir, along with other attempts
to ''galvanize" it, would be futile.
at is good thing to get dead things
out of the way" said he finally. that the
phoenix of new institutions might arise
out of the ashes of the Old
AS Christ was greater than the temple
at Jerusalem, and the child to-day is
greater than the schoolhouse. so man is
greater than ecclesiasticism, was his next
syllogism; and he again startled his
hearers by observing. with flash OF
enthusiasm:
ANY system that will grow great and
good men and women is the system for me,
call it Methodism, or any other ism, or
no ism at all. The day has come when a
church must have something more to it
than four walls"
HITTING THE PIPE"