The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-06
THE ROYAL ROAD TO GREATNESS
BY REV. A. B. CURTIS. PH. D.

snail De your servant, ne was laying
down the royal road to greatness.
Service, noble, true, manlike, woman
like service is what goes to make up
greatness. Mr.. Alfred Austin has said
recently that "It's the greatest great
ness to be good;' and 80 it is when
rightly defined, but there is a good
ness switch is as the Italians say, good
for nothing" The true test of good
ness is service; and this word, my
friends. includes your calling as well
as mine; it embraces the shop girl and
the boot black as well as the lawyer
and the banker.
"All service ranks the same with
God,-whose puppets, best and worst,
are we,-there is no last nor first"
The role which the word servant"
plays in the language of religion is
very interesting one. It reaches back
in its origin to the early days of
totemism when every tribe or clan
had it's special deity and all the men,
bers of the clan were the slaves of
that deity. To disobey the command
of the God issued through the tribal
chieftain was either excommunication
or certain death. AS we follow on
down through the ages the idea of
God is transformed, modified and
purified of it's heathen elements, but
the word servant still retains it's place,
and as we look at it carefully we see
that it too has been transformed.
From it's idea of bond servant it has
passed to that of the servant who is
also called the masters friend, and
knows his plans as we'll as his will.
From conveying exclusively the idea
of bondage it came to carry also the
meaning of worship, even eloquent
worship. The old Obed Edom was as
his name indicates the slave of the
God Edom; the modern Obed is the
servant of the Most High.
Service leads through bondage to
freedom. He who rebels against ma
ture is her slave. She crushes all who
ignore her laws. He who serves her
obediently, eloquently, is her master;
he penetrates to her very heart and
wins from her her secret. Do you re-
call that fine passage in the Bonnie
Brier Bush said in praise of the doc
tor of the old school7 HE hasna
sinned against nature, and nature ill
stand by him moo in his cor O. dis
tress."
So in the laws of God his story is
the same, through service to freedom.
Whose disobeys God is his slave
in chains, but who obeys is Gods
freeman. The truth makes all who
love it free. Long ago Paul noted
this paradox of service and he makes
of it universal message of rejoicing.
"Rejoice," says he, 20 slave, that you
are become freeman through obedi-
ence to the Gospel. Likewise, o free
man, rejoice, because to you is &C.
corded the royal honor of becominga
servant of Christ"
Again service leads through sell
fishness to unselfishness. All begin
nings are selfish. The young life
wants not only the moon but the
earth. The first days of ones relig-
ious life are pre- eminently selfish.
The rush to get saved, the enthusi-
asm for the new interests crowd out
all else. Any great passion or desire
intensifies selfishness. But as we go
on unto perfection, as we follow our
new found occupation to all its diver
sified ramifications, little by little the
selfish enthusiasm and zeal slip away.
Service is founded not on the idea of
selfness but of bitterness. He that
seeketh his life shall lose it; he that
loses himself in service for others has
really found life. Jesus has set us
the example towards which my
thought is tending in the words, "for
their sakes l sanctifY myself that
they also might be sanctifed."
How often we enter into life sell
fishlY.lWe are in it for what we can
get out of it. We will attempt moth
ing till we have beforehand the prom
ise of the plans. We, as students,
look forward bo the school year and
ask ourselves how much can
get of il, how much of pleasure,
friendship, honor2 Or again it is the
business year and the question asked
is how much can / make this year of
fame, of money, or of applausei Per-
haps it is the social year that charms
us. How much can l get out of it of
personal pleasure, of selfish gratifica.
ton of social advertisement All, my
friends, these aims and ambitions are
all wrong, if not wrong in themselves
they are at least pointed in the wrong