The Yale expositor., 1894-09-21


eternal
stopped one nightfall, years ago,
at Frey burg, Switzerland, to hear the
organ of worldwide celebrity In that
place. went into the cathedral at
nightfalL All the accessories were
favorable. There was only one light
in all the cathedral, and that faint
taper on the altar. looked up into
the venerable arches and saw the
shadows of centuries, and when the
organ awoke, the cathedral awoke,
and all the arches seemed to lift and
quiver as the music came under them
That instrument did not seem to be
made out of wood and metal but ont
of human hearts, SO wonderfully did
il pulsate with every motion; now
laughing like a child now sobbing
like a tempest. Al enc moment the
music would die away until you
could hear the cricket chirp out
side the wall, and then it would roll
up until it seemed as if the surge of
the sea and the crash of an avalanche
had struck the organ pipes at the
same moment At one time that night
it seemed as IL a squadron of spirits
weeping up from earth had met
squadron of descending angels whosG
glory beat back the woe Standing
there and looking at the dim taper on
the altar of the cathedral, / said:
"How much like many a Christian .
life! Shadows hover, and sometimes
his hope is dim, and faint, and flicker
ing, like taper on the altar. But at
what time God wills, the heavens
break forth with music upon his soul,
and the air becomes resonant as the
angels of God beat it with their shin
ing sceptres."
Oh, the Lord God has many fair and
beautiful daughters; but the fairest
of them all is she whose ways are
pleasantnese and whose paths are
peace! Now my brothers and sisters
for l have a right to call you also
l know some people look back on their
an ncestral line, and they see they are
descended from the Puritans or HUI
guenots, and they rejoice in that; but
l look back on my ancestral line, and
l see therein such mingling and mix
ture of the blood of all nationalities
that feel, akin to all the world, and
by the blood of the Son of God, who
died for all people. l address you in
the bonds of universal brotherhood
/ come out as only servant, bring
ing an invitation to a party, and put
it iato your hand, saying, Come, for
all things are now ready" and l urge
it gpon you and continue to urge it,
and, before get through, l hope 10y
the blessing of God, to compel you TO
come in.
We must take care how we give the
invitation. My Christian friends,
think some times we have just gone
opposite to Christ's command, and we
nave compelled people TO stay out
Some times our elaborated instruc-
tions have been the hindrance. We
graduate from our theological semina-
ries on stills, and it takes five or
six years hsfore we can come down
b and stand right beside the great
masses of the people, learning
their joys, sorrows, victories, defeats.
We gol our heads so brimful of theo.
= logical wisdom that we have to stand
very straight lest they spill over. Now,
what do the great masses of the peo-
Pile care about the technicalities
of religion? What do they care
about tl,e hypoetatic union or the dif-
ference between sub-lapsarian and
supra -lapsarian? What do they care
for your profound explanations, clear
as London fog? When man is
drowning he does not want you to
stand by the dodS and describe the
; nature Of the water into which he has
fallen, and tell aim there are two
parts hydrogen gas and one of oxygen
gas, within common density of thirty
nine Fahrenheit, turning to steam
under a common atmospheric pressure
of two hundred aBl twelve. He does
not want a. chemical lecture on water;
he wants aySope
Oh my friends, the curse OF God on
4he church it seems TO me, in this
Cay, is metaphysics. We speak in an
unknown tongue il our Sabbath
schools, and in our religious assem-
blages, and in our pulpits, and how
csn people besaved unless they under
stand us? We put on our official
pONnS, Guu 'Nse TIE TWO SILK
balloons tapping at ahe elobws of "a
preacher give Kim great sanctity. The
river of Gods truth flows down before
us pure and clear as crystal; but we
take our theological stick and stir IL
up and stir it NJ. until we can not see
the bottom. oh. for the simplicity of
Christ in all CIR instrUctions-the
simplicity he praeticed when standing
among the people he tooh lily, and
said, There ks aiIesson of the way !
will clSthe yOu;" and, pointing to a
) raven, said "These is n lesson of the
way will feed you; coz slider the
liles-beh hold the fowls"
/ THINK often .in our religious
instructions we compel people
to stay out boy our chErch ar
chitecturs. People ,0ome in and they
fnd things angular, and cold, and
stiff, and they go away never again
to come; when the ehurch ought TO be
a great home circle. every bodykaving
n hy,op bocls triviucr half Of it 4, tho