The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1898-05-20
Secular Sermon.
WE NEED THE LARGER VISION OF LIFE

WE NEED THE LARGER VISION OF LIFE.
My text, beloved, is taken from the
Hymn to the Beautiful"
eve hold the keys OF Heaven within our
The gift and heirloom OF a former state,
And lie in infancy at Heavens gate,
Traushgured in the light that streams along
the lands,
Around our pillows, golden ladders rise,
With winged sandals shOd.
The angels come and go, the messengers OF
God"
The Poet has only put, In very beau
tlful way, what is after all truth that
we all recognize quite we'll, that there is
a larger vision to life than that which
comes to our human eye-sight. For
who knows:
GLOW nigh is grandeur to our dust
How near is God to man."
1t is very certain that we need the ex-
perienCe which you will remember came
to the servant of the Prophet of God.
His master had thwarted the plans of the
Syrian king and so an army was sent to
capture him. When the servant awoke
Ia the morning he saw whole army en-
Camped around the city. In great trepi-
dation he ran to the prophet crying out
what shall we do?" imprisonment and
death seemed to him to be their portion.
But in answer to his question, the prophet
breathed the prayer "Open his eyes that
he may see," aud straightway he saw
chaEiOts Of fire and horses of fire encir-
cling the Servant Of God. The Master
had the larger vision; the servant only
the narrower one.
We need the larger vision of life con-
corning the work OF the church of God.
How much the church stands for In this
rvnrIA In tee GunAau aRhnn1 IL
fles Christian nurture. In its music it
elevates our musical tastes. In It's pray
er and preferential services it exalts the
spiritual part of man and teaches him
that he has a soul. Yet every little while
you meet a man who Ills complaining be-
cause he has to pay so much to support
his church. He would like to get off
his tithes at lower rate, forgetting that
his contributions are the measure of his
conservation. He would like to make q
dicker with God, forgetting that there
are no bargains In the house of God.
The Heavenly Father does not run bar
gain counter trades with the children of
men. Your gifts are your expression of
thanksgiving and devotion for life and
health and wealth and worldly good
with which God has endowed you.
Some people try to be mean with God.
They are only mean with their own
souls. You recall the story or the
wealthy lady and her little boy who went
to church together. When the contribu-
ton box was passed the lady dropped in
only penny. After the service as they
were walking home the little fellow, who
had noticed her.gift and thoughtlabout it,
looked into his mothers face and said
Mamma, don't you love Jesus only
penny worthg' Sure enough il she
could spend her dollars for self, did not
the penny represent her devotion to the
Lord who died for herr
We need the larger vision of life re-
speeding the value and possibilities OF
service Tor humanity. Most people do
not know how much they can do because
they never have tried. Genius, some
one says, Ia only hard work. There are
calls enough for service. We have
strength enough IL we would only use 1t.
But the giants nI'm afraid and 81 can't"
frightened as from doing what we might
do. There Is not a community that half
a dozen energetic souls might not shake
to its foundations, IL they only all work
ed together. There IL Lot a church but
what IL ten righteous men Ia 1t strove
nightly with God and with men they
might work miracles OF comfort and |