Morning journal and courier., 1894-05-28
ouR MEMORIAL DAYS.

OUR MEMORIAL DAYS. 4
he spirit in which They should be
Kepf.The National Memorial Day
THIS Week-A Duty and Omce OF
the Church of God-Present Social
Problens-The Days OF tho Great
war-The Next Moral Problem OF
folding Itself-Not This Time tho
Preservation Of the Nations Unity,
Hut tho Preservation OF she Social
Unity of the Body Politic-Dis-
course By Rev. DR.. Smyth.
Rev. DR.. Smyth preached yesterday
morning . striking discourse at Center
,hurch from the text in Hosea 1916:
'sHe found Him at Bethel and then He
spoke with us; even the Lord, the God of
hosts; the Lord Is His memorial. There
fore turn thou to thy God; keep mercy |
and Judgment and wait on thy God con-
tinually." The sermon in full is as fol- |
lows:
This passage shows the manner In which |
the Hebrew prophets kept the memorials OF
Israel's history. On the one hand they
dwelt perpetuslly on the events of Israel's
mighty past; on the other hand they used
the historic consciousness of the people as
their great argument for present loyalty to
the nations high calling and hope. Jacob,
so Hosea reminds his fellow-citizsns in this
appeal, found God at Bethel,
and "there he spake with u.s." Notice
how the prophet says with u.s." as
though what had happened long before
in a supreme hour of Israeps history were
still a present and real transaction between
his countrymen and their fathers God:
Gle found him at Bethel, and there he spake
with us; even the Lord, the God of hosts.
The Lord Is his memorial" "Therefore,"
20 the prophet proceeds to make tie memo
rial of Gods former action the reason for
immediate fulfllment of the peoples obli-
gation-s'therefors turn thou to thy God,
keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy
God continually" Thus the prophets
were always arousing the historic con-
seriousness Of Israelin order that they might
urge the people on to meet new providen-
tial tasks. The prophets kept their sacred
past before the people for the sake of their
present dutifulness and their future
achievement. Of old the lawgivsr of Israel
had ordained memorials to be kept In Is.
rael.
The day when the Lord led the people
forth from the land of Egypt had been set
apart from the first as day of memorial.
sfThis day" so the law read, "shall be unto
you for q memorial, and ye shall keep it
feast to the Lord" Upon the gold of
the ephed were to be put two stones of
memorial for the children of Israel. When
Joshua, the leader of the people into the
promised land, had seen that all the ma
lions were clean passed over Jordan, he
al IF fr4ha
man, and commanded them to take twelve
stones and to lay them down in the lodg-
ing-place where they should lodge that
night; "When your children ask in the
| time to come, What mean ye by these
stones3 then ye shall say unto them, Be-
| cause the waters of Jordan were cut off
before the ark of the covenant of the Lord
l when 1t passed over Jordan, the waters of
Jordan were cut off; and these stones shall
be for memorial unto the children of
Israel forever" No men reversd these
memorials of Israel more than their
Il prophets. But those religious statesmen
Of the people wore not content to be echoe.
| merely of the voice of Israel's mighty psss.
| They appealed to Israel's historic conscious
ness in order that they might stir the PEG
pie to deeds of righteousness and truth
Theirs was "a memorial of trumpets"; the
nations history, as they gave 1t voice, be-
came one trumpst-call to service: "rhsrs
FORE" therefore, turn thou to thy God
keep mercy and judgment, and wait OF
thy God continually"
| Thus should We likewise keep our mem
| orial days. Oar past Ia always for our fu
ture. There is a Hebrew prophetic uss tt
be made of all our memorial days.
This week the country again keeps 1T
festival for it's heroic dead. As sacred 81
the memorial stones which Joshua placed
| upon the banks of the Jordan should be II
our eyes the monuments of our entrance
into new era of our history of liberty
No vainglorious memory, no passing patri
otism merely of the surviving soldiers O.
the republic, but the deep historic con
seriousness of the people has oonsee GRATED
and shall keep our nations memorial day
The unwilling next Wednesday of tn
names craven on enduring tablets of 52l
men of this town who offered their live
for their country, will lend an added loca
color and significance to this years memo
| rial day. We can imagine how an old tim,
prophet of Israel might use such an occa
sion to call forth the historic consciousness
of people to renewed loyalty to the ma
TONS highest law.
To the church of God Ia entrusted some
thing of this prophetic duty of reading
present social problems in the light of ths
I
Office of the pulpit toward human life l.
| not fulfilled simply by effort to hold fas
traditions of the past; our truest histori,
past ia to be put to fresh interpretation
amid present tasks. The antiquary, the an
nalist, the citizen tenacious of custom, tn,
fond dreamer over the historic page, make
no prophetic use of the memorials who'll
are to be rsvered. Therefore" "there
fore"-so the living spirit of the past is al
ways sounding to him that hath ears tx
hear-''turn thou to thy God; keep moro,
and Judgment" Our fathers found Goi
at Bethel; the Lord of hosts has spoker
with ia in our history; therefore We hav'
our present taaks of civic mercy and judg
ment.
| deem 1t then thoroughly Hebrew
Christian use of this Sabbath hour
a. we'll as proper recognition
from the pulpit of Memorial day, t.
remind you that We have present civil
work to do, to which We are pledged b.
our best history. First of all la
Us be impressed with the fact that In til.
development of our civic life We have {
neral problem before us to be worked
out.
IL was the grsnd privilege of living II
those days before and during the war, tina
We could live In the enthusiasm of sub
lime moral task. Theirs was then a mora
work for people to accomplish at any
cost. Its awful approach overshadowed
the national consciousness. Its greatness
exalted our politics. The power Of 1t rem
dsred dumb lips eloquent, and the light Of
1t opened the eyes of the blind. Business
at its call, became sacriicial, and partisan.
ship rose to patriotism. Youth bsheld op
portunity of heroism, and womsn's love
gave more than life to country. The epoch
was grsndly made. the history nobly writ
ten; and, the work finished at last which
God had given the nation to do, our regi-
torn, but saved-their ranks thinnsd, bu!
unbroksn; while, as they passed, at every
crossrosd waved the redeemed nations
flag, and the streets of the cities resounded
with q peoples triumph. Never seemed
home so sweet, or 10 sacred as to the return.
ed soldier boy who entered again, the vet.
Gran of many battles, the aeor of his
fathers house. It has passed long since.
the glory and the vision splendid, the
noble excitement, the awful enthusiasm,
the conservation and baptism in
the love of country for obedience,
even unto death. And We who
do not read as history among our school
| lessons those events, but to whom the beat
of q drum or tho report of a musket may
| bring them back as the command of yes
terday's duty, or the firing beginning on
the picket ine-we sometimes will say
half resretfully to one another, ssWe have
now no moral problem, no great moral
task laid upon the country's conscience,
nothing to lift our politics out of sordid-
ness, to unite men in the glow of some
common enthusiasm, nothing to make the