Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-02-04
AN OVERLOOKED SIN.
oszYINc LATER NOT SPIRIT OF
TdE LAW.

The Eleventh OF the New York Herald'
Competitive Sermons = ON The Nin
of Despisinr oth.rs"-Dr. TaimRgs
breaches on Traps fnr the tn"afS''
Gle that desplse,h his neighhoT sinneth.'
Prov. xiv, 2l
There is a great deal 81 sin in the world
which the ordinary conscience neither
recognizes nor condemns. WIN most OF
US the standard of right ana WRONG i
purely conventional n We do not break
the letter of the Ten Commandments; II
we keep clear OF acts which public opinion
forbids; IL we maintain a character upon
whieh society sets no brand. then we feel
az peace within ourselves and make sure
that We are Gods elect.
We do not see what subtle and far-reach-
ing things good and evil are how they IN
terweaye Themselves into all our acts. our
words and motives, ana secret thoughts
even: and how they depend, uot upon the
fashion of the hour or tn" place, but upon
eternal and interchangeable principles. An
enlightened and sensitive conscience would
see sin in a thousand things which pass
with the majority a. Indifferent, IL not
actually praiseworthy. II Is not IN nice
points Of religious Observance that places
our moral character above Suspicion haIl
so much rs in those wcightier matters of
volved in all the business aud intercourse
of daily life. Thousands who would tren-
BILE to participate in any OF the so-called
amusement~ OF society, and who are
as strict and OstentatiOus rs the
PharseeS in regard to prayer
and other duties are vet living in such an
atmosphere OF uncharitahleness and wrong
that they are actually further from the
kingdom of heaven than the very pu6li-
/ mud bnrlnts In 81 tprEA direct and
emphatic way II form of guilt is pointed
out by solomon which we seldom think or
yet which we are all very prone to fall into,
| and which is one of the peculiarly beset-
| tings sins of that large class OF men who
! are disposed to be religious without being
| cody. The chief characteristic OF these
people Is to trust in themselves that they
are righteous, and to treat Others in way
which Enthusiastically declares, "Stand aloof,
for we are holier than YOU and they are
so far from thinking such spiritual Taught
mess sinful that theyreGard it as an actual
proof of their divine sOnship. Such con
duet never fails to insure moral resentment
and to elicit the rebuke, He that despis-
eth his neiShbOr sinncth.'
Tho parable of the Good Samaritan sup.
plies a most beautiful explanation of the
word "neighhor.' 1t teaches that every
man with whom we come in contact or re-
/ lation is to be regarded and treated as our
/ "neiShbOr.' The fact that | know of Il
mans existence, and that | can in any way
teach and influence him. i enough to bring
me under responsibility in regard to him.
The broad Atlantic may roll between us;
whole continents and burning deserts and
deadly SwampS may separate us: but II
there is any channel of communication be-
/ tween uS-any electric current so to speak,
by which sympathy may be created and
love may act-that man is as truly my
neighbOr as il We met in the same market
or lived in the same street.
Notice what it is to dcspise our HeighbOr.
To entertain mean and contemPtuOuS
thoughts Of our neighbor is obviously to
despise him. We should always remember
that there is vastly more in common than
there is of difference between the highest
and more cultured and the lowest and most
ignorant. Frequently, however. We forget
this, and from mere diversity of outward
circumstances we look upon each other
with feelings of naughty superiority and
contempt. As a consequence the rich and
the great sometimes undervalue and insult
the poor and the lowly; and the poor and
the lowly in return hate the rich and the
great and aScribe all their importance
solely to their wealth and rank. Surely, in
both cases this is despisinG their neighbol
forgetting their common humanity, then
common dignity and their common origin
To treat your neighbOr with Indifference
as if there were no ties binding You to-
gether, and no sympathy due from one tC
the other, is to despse him. The aflni.
ties of human nature are such that it is
treason to place ourselves in proud isOla-
ton from the race to which we naturally
belong. and gaze upon the sUiferings anC
! hclpcssness Of our kind with stoical in
difference. such conduct is not only rep
rehcnsble. it is actually sinful. 1t is sin
ful because it is great wrong done t.
humanity. 1t rouses within man bitter
bad, resentful feelings, which sets class
against class. Its tendency is to destroy
self-rcspect, and let man once lose tina
and there is no telling what he may be
come.
Again, to despise ones neighbor is al
offence against social unity. The socia
organism can only be held together by
, true and proper recognition Of the useful
ness and necessity of each individual t
the whole. Society is one body. Its mem
berS are manifold, but they are all knit to
gether in the closest bonds.
There is no such thing as real independ
encc. And hence for any man to despIs
his neighbor is Just as wrong and foolist
as il would be for the head to say to tht
feet, Il have no need of you for his in.
fuenGe, as far as it goes, operates to thu
Decentralization Of sOciety.-to the break,
ing up of that unity aud sympathy upon
which the general happiness and we'll being
depend. Despising your neighbor is tC
sin against your own soul. By such con
duct the great forces ever operating for
the formation of your own character and
the shaping of your own destiny are I'M
dervalued. We depend upon each other
This offence is also sin against God
Humanity is His child-the outcast and
the sinful as we'll as the poor. If you des.
pise his child, He says: "lnasmuch rs yt
have done it unto one of the least OF these
We have done it unto Ne
W. II. KERsHAw,
Pastor First Congregational Church, Parl
Ridge, n. j.