The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-06-23
MINISTRY SOM.

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NSssAs.@ II Pains Xxx. .. Send
"a In, e h,lp from the
strSiu.ry.
If you shon.d ak 30 uien what the
church is. they would give you so diff
ferent answers. One man would say,
1T is convention OF hypocrites." An
other, 1T is an assembly of people who
feel themselves a great ceal better than
Others" Another, 1T is place for
GOSSIP, where wolverine dispositions
devour each other" Another. 1T Is
a place for the cultivation of super
stitlon and can't" "It is an arsenal
where ,heologians go to get pixies and
muskets and shot" Another, 1T is an
art gallery, where men go to admire
grand arches and exquisite fresco and
musical warble and the DantesQue in
gloomy Imagery" Another man would
say. 1T Is the best place on earth eS.
cept my own home. If | forget thee.
o Jerusalem. let my right hand forget
her cunning"
Now, whatever the church Is. my text
tells You what it ought to be-a great.
practical, homely, omnipotent help.
Send thee help from the sanctuary"
The pew ought to yield restfulness for
the body, the color OF the upholstery
ought 10 yield pleasure to the eye. tho
entire service ought to Weld strength
for the moil and struggle OF everyday
life, the Sabbath ought to be harnessed
to all the six days or the week, draw
ing them in the right direction: the
church ought to be a magnet visibly
and nightly affecting all the homes Of
the worshippers. Every man gets
roughly jostled, gets abused. gets cut
gets insulted, gets sighted. gets exas-
perated. by the time the Sabbath
comes he has an accumulation Of six
days of annoyance. and that is q
starveling church service which has
not strength enough to take that ac-
cumulated annoyance and hurl it in'o
perdition. The business man sits down
in church headachey from the weeks
engagements Perhaps he wishes he
had tarried at home on the lounge with
the newspapers and the slippers. Tha;
man wants to be cooled off and grac-
iously diverted. The first wave Of the
religious service ought to dash clear
over the hurricane decks and leave him
dripping with holy and glad and heav-
emily emotion. Send thee help from
the sanctuary"
In the first place, sanctuary help
ought to come from the music. a
woman dying in England persisted In
singing TO the last moment. The at
tendants tried to persuade her to stop
saying 1t would exhaust her and make
her disease worse. She answered: -
must sing. ] am only practising for the
heavenly choir" Music on earth Is a
ltl III lltdNtll. IL you
and l are going to take part in tina
great orchestra, it Is high time that We
were stringing and drumming ouI
harps. They tell us that Thalberg and
Gottschalk never would go into a con.
cert until they had first in private re
hearsed, although they were such mas
ters of the instrument And can 1t be
that we expect to take part in the grea.
oratorio of heaven If We do not re.
hearse here?
But l am not speaking of the mex
world. Sabbath song ought to set all
the week to music. We want not more
harmony. not more artistic expression
but more volume in our church music.
The English dissenting churches far
surpass our American churches in this
respect. An English audience of 1,OOt
people will give more volume Of sacred
song than an American audience OF
1000 people. l do not know what tn,
reason is. Oh, you ought to have heard
them sing in Surrey chapel! had the
opportunity of preaching the anniver.
sary-1 think the ninetieth anniversary
sermon in Rowland Hilrs old chapel
and when they lifted their voices ia
sacred song II was simply overwhelm.
ing, and then In the evening of the SANE
day In Agricultural hall many thous
and voices lifted in doxology.s 1t was
like the voice of many waters, and like
the voice of manv thunderings, and
like the voice OF heaven.
Now, l am no worshlper OF noise, but
/ believe that II our American churches
would with full heartiness Of soul andI
full emphasis of voice sing the songs
OF Zion this part Of sacred worship
would have tenfold more power than Il
has now. Why not take this part o
the sacred service and lift 1t to where II
ought to be? All the annoyances Of If,
might be drowned out by that sacred
song. Do you tell me that it Is no,
fashionable to sing very loudly? Then
/ say. away with the fashion. I'VE
dam back the great Mississippi of con-
Gregational singing and let few drops
of melody trickle through the dam. j.