The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-03
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
FAITHFULNEss THE MORAL QUALITY
THAT MAKES MEN TRUE.
A short Sermon by Rev. II. Heber New
ton, ID. d., Rector of All souls Epis-
cOpaI Church, New York City.

The supreme question concerning man
is that which one of Robert Brownings
characters puts-"Are you faithful now, as
erst?"
All through this thought of faithfulness
there runs double sense, which you will
find in your dictionaries. 1t is the moral
quality. which keeps a man true to every
bond of life, and it is the more distinct-
lively religious quality. And, as we shall
see. these two thoughts slip one into tina
other and partake each of the character
istics of the other
In its moral quality we see it as the
power in man by which he keeps faith
with his fellows, by which he is true to
every word fun of fidelity to every obliga-
ton, serving all men according to vow and
contract, fulfilling every relationship ac-
cording to the due or the duty thereof.
When Milton would picture for us the angel
above all others noble in his essential char
acter, through the stress and strain of bat
tie that ragged in heaven, he pictured him
as faithful among the faithless found"
So, also, to-day, no higher eulogy can be
given of nobleness of character in man
than that he was faithful" We shall con-
slider this moral quality again presently;
but let us first look briefly at the other as
pect of faithfulness.
In its spiritual quality faith is the power
of realizing the unseen, the infinite. the
eternaE-of apprehending God 1t is an in
tuition which cannot always be followed by
the hating steps of logic, but which to
him that has it is clear, quick and sure.
1t is won through a life of fidelity to duty.
1t is the clear vision that comes to a soul
loyal to it's best and highest and truest-a
vision of the heart, of the conscience, not
of the mere understanding. So far as my
knowledge and experience go, through these
years in which / have watched men. a liv-
ing faith is won not so much by the rea-
soning of the mind as by the loyalty of the
soul to it's visions of duty Thus the high
est sight that man gains is faith. 1.-The sub
stance of things hoped for, the evidence OF
things not SEEN"
And so this faith reacts upon character.
OF every appeal that can come to a man
reinforcing him in the face of temptation,
in the presence Of duty, what is equal to
that quick, sure sense, that intuition OF
the life to come? What so powerful as the
realization of the infinite. the eternal; I'M
seen presence in which I'VE live, and move,
and have our being?"
Thus you see how faithfulness, in its spir-
itual quality, leads right into faithfulness
in its moral quality, and becomes the secret
of its power.
Again, moral faithfulness reinforces the
other potency; it is not merely moral, as
we ordinarily think of it; it is truly and
thoroughly religious. When is man faith
full to bond or an obligation that he is
not faithful to something more than the
legal bond, the cevenanted obligation7
That may not be in existence at all, but
he is as faithful to his duty as though it
were, and were the true bond of his duty.
He is faithful, in the highest sense OF the
word, when he subordinates his own inter-
est to the interest of another; when he sac
rifces his pleasure to his duty; when he
puts himself aside that he may serve his
fellows; when he hears voice within say
ing unto him IT ought" and when he full
fills that fought" at any cost of pain, of
service, of sacrifice-when he faces death
and hesitates not to meet it, If need be,
that the duty may be fulfilled.
Thus it was with the noble captain who
stood on the bridge of the royal vessel in
the Mediterranean but a few years ago;
stood there while the great ship sank in
the waters while the sea engulfed him:
capable Of dying but not Of betraying his
trust Thus the humble engineer, seeing
the child upon the rail before him, counts
duty, springs to the front guard and saves
the child though he himself loses his own
life. Thus the hero on the Western lake
stands by the wheel while the flames en-
wrap him, for there are scores of men and
women to be saved; and. though the flesh
shrivel and the body burn, he holds the
wheel firmly until the PROV CRATES upon
the shore and the passengers are saved, as
he dies Thus the soldier goes to the bat
tlefield with his country's obligation upon
him, and counts not his life dear unto him,
but lays it down upon the altar OF the ma
ton, faithful unto death"
From the highest to the lowest, never is
there man morally faithful without be-
ing, whether he knows it or not, spiritually
faithful and religious worshping God. For
what is this due or duty which commands
the sacrifice of self. commands the putting
aside of pleasure, bids him hold not back
from death? To answer this question we
must needs reach to a something finer than
codes or laws. a something infinite eter-
nal, essentially spiritual, which we cannot
name otherwise than by that most sacred,
tender name of the ages, Cod When a
man lays down pleasure or an interest or
his life that he may be faithful unto death,
he sacrifices to the most high-the life in
finite eternal, divine, which binds us all
one to another, and each to due or duty
higher than the love Of self.
What matters it whether the man knows
the religious nature of his moral faithful
ness or not? 1t is none the less religious
none the less spiritual. 1t is what our
Catholic friends call implicit faith" There
walks many man on our earth to-day
who knows not that he is religious, and
dreams not that he can take to himself that
utmost glory of ''the spiritual man." who,
none the less, being faithful in al things,
is as one of the children Of Abraham, the
father OF the faithfuI"-as one OF the
saints and faithful brethren in Christ Je-
sus."
But take it, this moral quality of faith
fulness. thus essentially spiritual and re-
ligious, always tends to clear the human
consciousness for the recognition OF its
true nature, and to become thus the open
vision Of God. / believe that every man
who IS faithful to the bonds and obliga-
lions and relationships OF life, whatever his
difficulties or doubts, will sooner or later
emerge into the clear and open light and
know that in serving his fellows faithfully
he has rendered the one acceptable and
only serviceable worship.
There is a beautiful saying in the ancient
book of Enoeh, one of the gems in that
rf