The Progress., 1893-07-22
MONEY AND RELIGION
REV THOMAS DIXON'S THIRD SERMON
on THE SUBJECT.

Thomas Dion, Jr.. preached IN" tmri
sermon in the series on The Question
Of Money and the Gospel of Christ IN
the Methodist church on Cobb's island
today. The text chosen WAS, Tho stars
in their courses fought against Si,cra'
JudgcS V, 2O).
In no way does money show its ire
mendoUS power So clearly ;s III tn. want
If it. Man never fully realizes the power
of money until hc is absolutely without
il. Il Is this shadow that oppro,~cS in
these days our own great nation IL L.
tho shadow of the panic. II Is the ghost
Of the commercial world that forever
hauutS even the prosperous II Is the
skeleton in the closet of the nation who's"
treasury groauS with countless millions.
The darkest DAYS of the history of our
nation have not been the days Of war.
of great storm or of food or of famine.
They have been days of money panic.
They have been days IN which thousands,
hung brrathlc~s over the brink of ruin.
ami bound up with them were counties,
other thousands whose lives were in
volvrd
Tho days IF our real trial are thcs.
DAYS when the black shadows hang Owe:
the money markets of our great cities;
when cunning ficnds lurk in every darl,
corner ready to spring upon the throat
of the helpless and kill aud destroy with
ont mercy This Is spcaEing on a large
scale of the problem which confronts the
poor in their daily life Wall street IN
New York and State street in Boston
and the centcrs of commerce III our great
western cities have their Black Fridays
but they come on rare occasions and at
long intervals. and 1t is a blessed relief
to the world that they do come thus
rarely But 1t is Il sad fact that Black
Friday is day with which the great
masses Of or people are only too ia
miliar
One Of the dIreSt curses of our age iS
the want of money. | mean want. |
do not mean IL respectable poverty. !
mean Il want that cuts. One of the chief
causes of the poverty of our age is un-
questionably found in the results of the
day of darkness and panic in the finan-
cial world THIS black Friday is not Il
thing that comes by chance. 1t is the
evidence of IA vital disease-a disease that
strikes to the very heart of the body
polite The old prophet told us that
the stars in their courses fought against
Sisera Sisera was the captain of the
hosts of Jabin. the oppressor of Israel
He encamped in the plains with his mag
nificent army. preparing to make his
final assault But the river rose and
overwhelmed his chariots, and woman
slew Sisera. driving a nail through his
sleeping head The river did the work
that Is to say. the prophet would teach
us that the forces Of nature are az iedgue
ruth the eternal principles Of truth and
righteousness. and together they are
working out the salvation of the world.
Evil by its own nature exhausts and
destroys itself. Good increases and must
ultimately triumph. Its principle Is
germinal individuals, principles, sys-
TENS that clash with truth and right.
have gone down and must continue to go
down Let us lift high above our heads
as cleaning lantern these facts and
explore the depths of this Black Friday
of poverty. and we will find both the
cause of our failures and the promise of
something better.
We touch the heart of this difficulty
when we ask the question. Can Il true
Christian. as a Christian, be a successful
business man of today? II not. then we
will find in the clash of the principles of
the modern commercial world with
Christianity the true cause for the days
of commercial darkness. To get at the
truth of the matter we must have basis
of comparison. We ask therefore:
First-What is it to be a true Chris
tian?
Christianity means sacrifice. IL you
would understand Il principle of Chris
tianity, you must LOOK to the life of
Christ in the concrete. His life was
thrown away. 1t was lost. 1t was a
dismal failure. He was despised man
of a despised nation. He neither sought
or gained professional influence. He
antagonized the powers that were estab-
hshed. He failed to organize his follow
/ GIS llilO a NbAilipdNb ihttNhiAiN' AhS NNii'
mon people heard him gladly, and yet he
did not seek to utilize his power over
them for his self ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. They
pressed about him at the gates of the
city. They tore off the roofs of houses
even that they might place their sick be-
fore him. He fed them when they Were
hungry. and yet he so conducted himself
that at the last they deserted him and
cried Cruelty him. He laid up no
money on the earth. He had no home.
He exercised no immediate influence on
literature. He formulated no system of
philosophy. He did not write a book.
He founded no family to perpetuate his
authority or his name. He died pre-
mature and ignominious death. He lit
orally threw his life away. He lost it.
There were no great men to attend his
funeral. His very tomb was the loan of
charity Yet. though his death was not