The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-12
SERMON BY NEW PASTOR
DIR. S. A. HAYT IN PULPIT OF May
FLOWER CONGREGATIONAL.
Rev. j. a. MiIburn, Returning from
His Vacation, Touches ON
Live Topic.

IT. .. a hdyt tne new pastor OF May
flower Congregational Church, preached his
iirst sermon here yesterday morning to a
large audience Those who heard the new
pastor We're well pleased with the discourse.
He chose his text from the words found in
Rev. xxi, Is; The length and the breadth
and the height of it are equal" DR.. Hayt
said in part
This text represents not so much the flu
ture dwelling place of man as the condition
ana character of good men. 1t is a picture
OF the perfected spiritual life of a man. A
Cnrlstlan man is TO be like a city, glorious
with eternal splendor, whose streets are gold
and whose gates are pearls. His life shall
Ce abundant as the life of a populous city.
ALI about; the whole universe shall con-
tribute to his wealth, strength and pleasure
as the whole country contributes TO the sup
port of a metropolis. Through his life shall
now the river of God upon either bank of
which the tree of life fiourishes. A city
represents the highest and best life of a
nation, its wealth, culture and piety; its
peneVoence, enjoyment and beauty. Life is
fuller, more varied, more satisfying in the
city. The city therefore is taken to repre-
sent the highest and best in spiritual man.
There is nowhere else such pictures given
or the possibilities of men, of the goal which
human nature can reach, of the height
which it can attain and of the strength and
beauty which are to belong TO it. 1t de-
scribes as no other book the depth from
which human nature must rise; the Bible
builds, as no other book, a glorious palace
philosophers and sages.
John describes this life as city, the
length, breadth and height of which are
equal, or as elsewhere it lieth four square,
a perfect cube. 1t is the picture of a SYM
metrical, harmonious, well-balanced char
acter and life. 1t has completeness. Its
sides, angles, distances and measurements
are equal, nothing disproportioned nor out
or line, everything as 1t should be, nothing
as 1t should not be- This picture of the life
of spiritual man has the length of it, the
breadth of it and the height of 1t equal. 1t
may not at first present any clear or distinct
ldea, yet there is in the very sound of 1t a
completeness that attracts and holds atten-
uon For 1t is life which presents itself
TO the world and to God and to it's own
selI as a cube presents perfect side, no
matter from what view point you look at it.
1t is not picture of this life. Things
mere are fragmentary and incomplete. Life
As not harmonious; character not symmet-
rical. Each man is weak in some respects
where it would be necessary to be strong
TO be perfect in character. Great men of
the earth haYe their glazing faults. their
pltiable weaknesses, traits of character
which are bad, weak and undeveloped, MAX
shows some defect, either in logic, rhetoric
or imagination. He is too diffuse, too gilt
tering, too dull and commonplace, or too
condensed and stiff No artist ever lived
who could paint beyond the power of Just
criticism to find a fault. Faults in work
show defects in character. For a mans
work is the outward capitalization of his
mind. 1t is his character put into some ma
terial and visible form. And of all the in
completeness fragmentariness and dispro-
portion, and discord and heterogeneousness
in mans life, his soul shows these defects
the most conspicuously. If a man is faulty
and poor anywhere it is in his soul; there
are concentrated
I'VE see many men who. If they were as
good IN every respect as they are in some.
Or II they were as bad in every respect as
they are in one, they would be the children
OF the devil The text speaks of three
chnn he
equal. The length OF a mans life is not
measured by years, but rather by a long
life of Jesus the longest ever lived on this
earth, contrasted with which the life of
Methusaleh was but as morning hour
Life is not duration but quality. TO live
best one must be governed by some SUI
preme and dominating purpose. The length
OF life is the straight, narrow way which a
man takes, without much reference to any
one else; and there is sense in which a
man is shut up in himself where he first Of
all questions his selfhood, and takes the
projects himself into the future And this
Is right, If the breath of his life is cared
for. There is selfhood that must be regal
but the life which God pictures for a man
has not only the selfish part in it, but it
broadens out. 1t has breadth as well as
length. And its breadth is according to its
Sympatnles, and its comprehension of the
truth that his life is part and parcel of
humanity; not separated and disaSsociated
from others, but woven together with them
Inherited relations show oneness with the
past, the constant flow and reflow of
thought in the community shows his one
ness with the present. The line of mans
purpose for himself and the line of his pur-
poses for others should balance. Otherwise
he becomes narrow and selfish and his soul
shrinks to smaller proportions Life to be
like perfect cube needs height, however,
as well as length and breadth. There must
be an uplooking and uplifting of the soul
which is the height of a mans life-a TAX
ing hold of the infinite. Religion is the
plummet that sounds the depths and the
Telescope which searches and finds out its
Now let me assure you that a life with
out religion is home without roof, a
world without sky, earth without heaven,
time without eternity. The cross of Jesus
Christ must be in the sky of life like the
polar star-in the circle of perpetual appari-
ton. Other stars rise and set, are in light
and disappear. The North star is always
in the sky; and when the cross of Christ is
always above us, always raining its light
upon u.s.. always guiding us, always making
true and larger the freedom that is the
birthright of the soul, then we rise to the
true stature OF men, and in our life the
length, and the breadth, and the height of
1t are equal"
The WATERFOWL IN. " Daily Times, in
commenting on the departure of DIR. S. A.
Hayt from that city to Indianapolis, has the
following to say:
DIR. .Hayt has been general town pastor,
called by all classes, creedS kinds and con-
ditions of men, by ali those unattached to
any church or not represented in the city.
He has cheerfully responded to every call.
The military organization, the fraternal or
ganizations, all associations for good OBJ
jects have considered him their own. He
has lent a hand in every good cause re-
ligious. social or political, that has had an
existence in this town, and he has been a
force everywhere for a better tone and bet
ter culture and morality in this community.
man who has done so much in this best
way for town is entitled to the public
thanks, and in the name of the people Of the
city they are hereby extended The good
wishes of all citizens follow him to Indian
apolis. which is fortunate in securing him
as a citizen and in the ranks of its minis
try
PREPARING THE WAY.