The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-10-08
DIR. HUTCHINS SERMON
DISCOURSE UPON THE SUBJECT Oh
THE SACRAMENT.
The Table Prepared in the Midst of En-
emies-Then and Now the Same
Is Experienced.

Following is a synopsis of the sermon
at Central Union Church, preliminary
to the sacramental service Sunday
morning, announcing as his text Psalm
$3.50, Thou preparest table before me
in the presence of my enemies; thou
annointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over" The preacher said;
Three or four thoughts are here sug-
gested; and first, the security of Gods
children in His divine protection. The
soldier snatches hasty meal when the
approach of the foe is announced, but
in all calmness and deliberation God
spreads for us the feast; laying all the
beautiful table furniture and providing
all necessary viands. In repose and
tranquility, even in the midst OF their
perils, His children recline at the feast.
In inaugurating the last supper our
Saviour actualized the metaphor, "He
spread the table in the presence
of enemies" There was the
enemy, who, through treachery, gave
Jesus over His doom. The feast was
spread at the Passover time, when the
chief priests and scribes were busy in
their Vaccinations for Christs arrest
and destruction. 1t was spread in the
very city nigh unto which Christ was
| crucified 1t was spread, as it were, in
the very presence of His own enemies
and the enemies of His infant church.
The table was spread as preface and
preparative to the prosecutions His
| diciples were to endure. Every one at
! that table might have said as did
! David, Thou preparest table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. ;"
! And thus has the table been spread anew
! from age to age, the presence of the
enemy. So it was when the Christians
celebrated Christ's dying love in the
| Catacombs. So it was in the days OF
| Waldencian persecution, in the days Of
the persecution OF the Huguenots, in the
| days OF Lutheran persecution.
During the last year in that great
Republic from which many OF us have
come, and which is SO unspeakably dear
unto all OF us, this table has been spread
amidst commercial trials and social dis
tresses; the whole country has be en- in a
ferment of discomfort. As in the days Of
the crusades, pilgrimages have been
Observation-Disclosures to exhibit the
sores OF poverty to the central authori-
ties. Bloody strikes and riots have
abounded. This banquet has not failed
to bring its lesson OF peace and rebuke ;
it has said TO the church and to the
world, Had the spirit of the Master
been in you, these things had not been. "
Poverty has abounded in the midst of
great surplusage of wealth; had the
spirit of sacrifice symbolized by the
broken bread and the poured out wine,
been widely practiced, America would
have been saved from her recent
sorrows.
You too, here on these Islands have
sat at this table, spread in the presence
of grave solicitudes and anXieties.
And some of you this very day may be
beset by financial limitation and be
PRAYING to the dear Lord, "Give me,
| o give me relief !" For you this BAN
Duet has a voice. He who hath not
| withheld from you His Son, but has
given Him up for you, how shall not
He also with Him, freely give you all
things.
There are also invisible faces with
hateful glare in their eyes, faces of
enemies, hungry for our harm and de-
struction. This table is spread in the
presence of our sins. 1t says to us,
"Christ hath died to be the Precipitation
of our SINS, we need not longer carry
our burden, but through faith IN
Christ, may see it roll from our
shoulders and buried forever in the
sepulcher of our Redeemer." And this
table is spread in the presence of com,
ing temptation, but here in the Divine
love we find a counter attraction. Such
love as this should enamour, enchain us
and keep us from yielding.
And here, too, we see the hospitality
which Christ extends to his children
how costly it is
And what a welcome is there in hi
hospitality. You know how the Ori
entails emphasize this duty of hospital
ity, and even now it is said an Oriental
|, will not infrequently, before taking his
principal meal, go out on the highway
and look north and south, east and west
for some weary pilgrim that he might
invite him to share his bounty. He
will even call aloud for guests, when nc
human being is visible. And so today
| seem to hear Jesus crying amidst the
highways of the world, "Iio everyone
that thirsteth come We to the waters,
and ye that have no money, come We
and buy wine and milk without money
and without price" "The Spirit and
the bride say come, and let him that
| hea!eth say come, and whatsoever will
let him take of the water of life freely"