The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-01-18

In such faith as this we dedicate
this building this day t. the worship
of God the Father, believing that
God is a spirit and they that wor
ship him must worship bin in spirit. ,
1t is our hearts offering, and we de-
sire that men shall partake of these
views. No nobler conception can be
formulated than that of God recon
Cling a whole world unto himself. A
God thus presented is the most wor-
thy of having temples dedicated to
his righteous service. Let it here be
proclaimed without hesitancg the
riches of Gods love and goodness;
that she is good unto all and his ten
der mercies are over all his works, !"
Psalms cxvl, 81. There is not sen
timent, sentence, or word, in our
creed that we need desire blotted out
or changed. Proclaim it to the world,
and in that profession let this temple,
this day be solemnly consecrated to
the divine Father.
There is something more than
consecrating or dedicating temple
made with hands. 1t is to worship
the Father ia spirit and in truth. We
are to love the Lord our God; we are
to be true to our convictions; we are
not to hide our light; we are not to
be faithless; we are not to allow the
heat and burden of the day to rest
upon the shoulders of others. If we
are true men and true women we will
not shrink from the duty that lies be-
fore us.
The dedication of this temple is
but preliminary to the work, to the
duty, and to the obligation resting
upon us. There may be those caught
by the glitter of the world, the pomp
and splendor that fascinates the un
thinking and careless; there may be
those who seek popularity; there may
be those who would stultify their
conscience in hopes of worldly rec
ognition; but they do not belong to
that class who help make the world
richer and better in intellect, morals
and religious growth. Verify they
have their reward. 1t is not the re-
ward of work we'll done. 1t is not
the cheerful assurance of good and
faithful servant.
In dedicating this structure we
enter an earnest desire for a broad
and noble conception of God. We
earnestly proclaim that God is good;
God is love; God is kind; God is
just; that the judge of all the earth
will do right. We enter an earnest
desire for broad and noble concep
ton of man. You cannot enlarge,
you cannot enhance the value of the
man, by belittling, by decrying, by
promulgating grovelling conceptions
of him. The mind, the heart, the
spirit of man-one and all-are capa-
BILE of great attainments. So speak
we'll of him, and in doing SO you not
only add to his better nature, his
spiritual stature-but also you speak
we'll of the Infinite who called him
into being.
The principle of common honesty,
or that truth enunciated in the Ian
guage of our text, cannot be too forci
bly, dwelt upon. Hence it is proper
to dedicate temple to the worshipof
an honest God, who deals in honesty
with his children, and desires them
to be honest with themselves; honest
with their neighbors; honest with
their church; honest with their God.
Let it not be inferred that the idea
is here advocated that we should be
exclusive in our acts and beliefs.
That would be bigotry. We can be
true to our convictions and also be
broad and lenient toward those who
differ from us. If we are not we
sink below that which is essential in
the principles of the Christian reli-
gion. If we close our eyes and ears
to investigation; if we refuse to learn;
if we think we have attained to all
that there is in the Christian religion.
we should at once be undeceived.
We fall below the A B Cs of the
spirit of Christ.
Let the broadcast charity, the ten
derest love, the most sympathizing
good ever be taught here, and the
practice carried into the walks of
every day life. Let the pure aspira-
tons of the soul go out to the Crea-
tor, and receive that inspiration and
blessing which can only come from
above.
There is another thought which
should not be overlooked. The Ian.
guage of our text was drawn out by
the Samaritan woman who desired to
know whether God should be wor-
shipped on Mt. Gerizim or at Jerusa-