The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-16
A D|V|NE'S ELOQUENCE,
DR.. Heron breaches Morning
and Evening in One
Church.
LABOR PROBLEM DISCUSSED
Hundreds Entertained on the Cues
ton of Labor and
Church.

Special morning and evening Easter
services were held at the Third Congrega-
tional Church on Sunday. The carved wood
work in the chancel and around the altar
was hidden with wealth of lilies, palms
and roses. One of the most prominent
floral decorations was large cross built of
Easter lilies suspended in front, but not
obstructing the view of the rostrum. The
following excellent musical programme
was rendered, the "offertory." by Mr.. H.
Hanly, being particularly commendable.
Organ prelude, andante; anthem, 80 Joyous
Easter Morning.: "Praise God" (all stand);
''The Lords Prayer; 'Glory be to the Father;
hymn No. 100; prayer; ''Te Deum"; scripture
lesson anthem, leave Us Not"; hymn No.
204; baptism of infant children; announce
ments; offertory "Resurrection"; sermon
''Sociai hmm ortality," Mr.. H. Hanly prayer
and benediction; organ postlude.
DR.. George D. Heron, the noted
divine and sociologist student, occupied
the pulpit, the subject of his discourse
being 1.-The Immortality of Life" Pro-
lessor Heron is a pleasant, forcible
speaker, his every utterance carrying con-
viction to the heart of the listener. The
mastery m amer in which he handled his
subject fairly charmed the vast audience,
many of whom will doubtless attend the
series of lectures which he is to deliver at
this church, beginning tonight.
Professor Herron's theme may be de-
scribed in general way as a resurrected
humanity of the future dwelling in an
ideal Christian state of society. Naturally
he looks forward to the dawn of new era
of civilization. Hence the appropriateness
of DR.. Herron'S appearance on an occasion
| like that of yesterday.
AT the evening services many were I'M
| able to secure seats, SO great was the de-
sire to hear Dr. Heron. The subject for
the evenings discourse, "The Fulhllment
of Life" struck a responsive chord in the
heart OF every person present, who with
rapt attention closely followed the lee
turer through the forty minutes consumed.
In his sermon last night DR.. Heron,
among other things, said
81 have gloritied thee on the earth, hav-
ing accomplished the work which thou
gavest me to do. John xyii:4
This was said of himself by one about
to be nailed upon a criminals cross; his
life would soon be going out and in what
appeared to his time to be ignominious
failure and endless disgrace, in few swift
hours Jesus was dying as an outlaw. This
death of shame seemed to the political and
religious authorities to be the fit ending of
Jesus life. Yet Jesus himself says that he
has accomplished the work given him to
do and has made his father in heaven ap-
pear glorious on the earth.
fShould we measure the life of Jesus by
our notions of failure and success, both So
cial and religious, it would prove to have
been failure from beginning to end, mis-
taken to the point of moral insanity. He
had no entrance to the ruling caste of
society. The conservators of his own re-
ligion crucified him as a destroyer and
blasphemer. His beloved nation rejected
his ardent patriotism with malignant
scorn. He divided households, drew peo-
pie away from their religious teachers and
ruthlessly beat down the orthodoxy of his
day as a shameless and incurable hypocrisy. |
He was distrusted by his kindred, mis-
understood by his frineds, betrayed, de-
MED and forsaken by his apostles slain for
irreligion by the city over which he wept
with the anguish of divine love, and put to
death by the Romans as a troublesome
over-religious fanatic. Yet the life of
Jesus was the most Joyous ever
lived among sons of men. In his
character were united the passion |
of supreme sympathy for humanity, with
the peace of faultless faith. His deeds |
were done as the sun shines and his words |
spoken as the rain falls. He carried the |
harmony of the universe in his spirit, and |
his character unfolded as the lily blooms. |
Jesus is the one perfect type of life |
wholly consecrated to God.
There are indications that Jesus met |
perhaps ISn pLdblOuS DcyOHQ Iue power
OF our sympathy to interpret, the question |
of revolution. Against that Roman sys- |
tenn of things-making one vast splendid |
slave pen of the EARTH with suicide the |
only escape for fettered, crushed and de- |
spairlng human lives, making the heavens |
seem like brass, with earth the arena of |
unmitigated suffering and the creation of |
devils-could anything prevail save the
attack of forces of its own kind, forces it |
could understand?
eve dare not expect that we, any more |
than the disciples who followed Jesus |
through Judea and Galilee, can be loyal to |
the living Christ and at the same time be
in accord with the social and commercial |
customs, the political and theological
opinions of the world. The will of the
world is not yet reconciled to the will of
God. Things which are an abomination |
in the sight of God are still highly esteemed |
among men. Sometimes it is the peace of
the Christ that presses out the purest wine
of the richest lives from the wine press OF
anguish.
~ know the fulfillment of human life in |
Christ, proceeding as it does by the way of |
the cross, unfolding through sacrifice and |
manifesting its glory in failure, is not in |
harmony with our modern notions of sue
cess. 1t does not accord with the spirit of |
Anglo-Saxon enterprise, which exalts rights |
above duties and places gain before Christ. |
1t is not agreeable to that patriotism |
which consists chiefly in loyalty to |
ones property; which subordinates the
welfare of society to material progress |
and the liberty of the individual 1t has |
not the respect of the political statistician,
nor is it in keeping with the greedy |
maxims of Benjamin Franklin. The Cos |
pei conception of life will not mix with the |
moral nostrums prescribed by pulpit and |
press as The secret of success, or the way
to succeed in life-the heather stuff |
poured into this tormented world by those |
who are called its teachers.
Human life eternally fulflls itself |
through temporal failure. AT best our
common notions of failure and success are
the denial of all Christ's philosophy of life. |
The blessing of our Judge is not upon the
successful but the faithful; not upon the |
religiously and materially comfortable but |
upon those who have visited the Christ in |
human life imprisoned, sick, SHINING, OPP |