The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-05
LENTEN RITE SOllBER
THE SEASON OF sOLEMNITY
SORROWFUL, TOO
CHURCHES ALL MOURN HIM
Not Only His Own Denomination,
but Pastors Of Other Faiths Pay
Tribute to the Memory of the
Dead Preiate- Encouraging Re-
ports From Mrs. Gilbert, Who Is
Still at FnFibauIt.

Stlll at FPFtbarIt.
Solemn as are the ordinary services
for the first Sunday in Lent in the
Protestant Episcopal church, there was
added to the Services of yesterday moro
than the usual iinpressiveness by the
widespread sorrow, personal; as it wers
with every member of the congregation
in each church of the denomination at
the death Of the late bishop coadjutor,
Rt. Rev. Mahlon Norris Gilbert.
| At st. Pauls church the sermon was by
Rev. Harvey Officer, one of the young
est Of the local Episcopal clergy Mr..
Officer practically grew UP in the church,
and was coached In his studies and or
dained by the late Bishop Gilbert. Mr..
Officer in his sermon said:
Taking as his text, II. Kings H.. 8:
| ''Knowest thou that the Lord will take
away thy master from thy head today?"
We your place" Mr.. Officer said in part:
It was the ancient and very touching
beliet of the church that bishop at his
death went straight to heaven. The state
of the episcopate was always held to be
a state OF perfection acquired, that is,
that man who who was selected for the
office of bishop was necessarily free from
all mortal sin, and was by life of con-
slant and habitual prayer, self-denial and
love, freeing himself through the grace
of God from sYenial sins also Men, there
fore, held that. bishops had not to wait
In that intermediate state where the ma
lority of men are prepared for heaven,
but went Immediately to the enjoyment
Of the beatiiic vision, excepting, of course,
that like all men, they must walt for
the final Judgment and the resurrection
of the body before they were in complete
could be tasted.
And, therefore, we may think of Elijah.
the prophet, who went by a Whirlwfnd to
heaven, even in a chariot Of fire. as the
| type of faithful bishop Of the Catholic
| church. Elijah had lived a hard life. His
work had been to recall the people of
Israel from idOlatry to the worship of the
true God. He mad labored long and brave
| ~. in spite Of the determined and releqt-
| less opposition, of the king of Israel He
had had tremendoqg success, which, after
| all, had turned to failure for just as he
succeeded in bringing the people to rec
ognize that the Lord, His God, the Lord
He is the God. once again they fell way
into tdolatry, and his work seemed use
| less and unayailing; After one Of these s
| ures. Elijah fed to, the wilderness. In
utter despair WEAKNESS and desolation
he came to Horeb; the mount of God.
And there God youehsafed to him ylT-
showed to the prophet the forces of ma
ture, the winds the earthquake, the fire.
the whirlwfrtd manifestations OF the
| mighty forcesl. which are in Gods hand,
which He wfefds as He wills, aud yet In
each case the Lord was not there, not in
the fire or the whirlwind or the earth
of Gods power. The forces OF nature
are wholly in His hands. He has not
evolve and to work themselves out as
they will. He has not set them going
and then withdrawn His interest from
them. Rather does the Eighteenth psalm
show them to US as very manifestations
Of his Providence. There went smoke
out in His presence, says the psalm; and
consuming nre oHt or H. s noun mo haWs so
the heavens also and came down. and II
was dark under His feet He rode upon
the charabim and did hy. He came fly
made darkness His sacred. place. His
pavilion. round about Him with dark wa
ter and Thick clouds Ids to cover lin inc Inc
the highest gave His thunder hailstoneS
and Goals of fire. 9f'''a7 i
But all these signs, though they be His,
are not the truest nor the most personal
manifestations OF God. They are the out
er circle. But after Elijah had seen all
and yet perceived that God was not in
them, he heard what our Bible calls the
still, small voice. better rendered, per-
haps, ''the voice Of Stiffness" the sigh
and calm OF summers day. In that
quietness, in that stil voice, the prophet
recognized the. real presence OF God.
Gods work is not done in our way,1n
the way we plan. My way Is not thy
way, saith the Lord. 1t seems to us
sometimes as If large congregations
large offertories, large communicate lists.
large confirmation classes, were sure evil
dences of the spiritual growth of our
church. But as We grow Older IN work
for God we come to- see that all these cyl
dences may be as nothing compared with
the one sinner that repenteth. That was
the lesson Elijah had to, learn He
made all his plans, his faith was large,
his hope was great. And 1t came to noth-
ing. Not single conversion amongst all
Baal confounded on Mount Carmel. His
encouragement was complete. And then
God sent him, forth to call one man,
heard the call he left his work, left his
possessions, his house, his all, and fol-
lowed the prophet who called him. Elijah
could not convert a whole people, but
he could so :. influence one soul that
when it came time for him to be called
by God away. from this world, another
was left to carry on his work.
Brethren. these thoughts come to me
as 1 think of him who is uppermost In
our minds this morning, as indeed he has
been constantly for these last days He
was one who learned well, 1 think. this
lesson-the lesson of the relations of our
work and our ministry to Gods will He
had its effect. Even in the subordinate
position which was necessarily his, he
was one of the most prominent bishops
In the American church. Outside his
own diocese he was widely known, deep
ly loved and venerated. And yet he real
lied how fruitless all our work Is, how
selves as ministers Of God, unless we are
workers together with Him.
For God never needs our work. Elijah
thought himself necessary to the con-
he cried to God Nay. is the answer. I
have yet left me 1900 in Israel all the
knees which have not bowed to- Baal
But our bishop had learned this lesson
He learned it in boyhood, when, having
resolved to give himself UP to the min
istry, God smote him down with sick
ness, and for year his health was pre-
carious. God taught It to him again,
when he, accustomed to- success and pop
ularity, found himself not always wei
coined, not always trusted. In these last
years we saw him growing nearer to
God. depending more and more upon the
still small voice-content more and more
come from his Master We saw it in his
face-we heard it In his voice.
All how sure we are that God needs
us! But how different we. find it, that
epistle just read this morning shows to
you and to me what st. Paul thought
Christian apostle should be. AS that tre-
mendeus picture is painted, as these Won
derful paradoxes are wrought out
know you think of our bishop, for surely.
he approved himself q minister Of God In
much pauiencey in Affections. In necessi-
ties, In laborS, in. watehings. by harm
and dishonor, as deceiver and yet true,
as unknown and yet we'll known--and we
see him in these last days as dying, as
dying, and, behold she iives
As dying. Yes for; the Lord hath taken
away our master from our heads today.
AS dying-for he who offers himself for
the service Of the Lord must learn the
lesson. that "Whos6ever findeth his life
shall lose it. nbut whatsoever loseth his
life for My salxe shall find It," He has
found it. brethrenfsI cannot understand
the Christian who will stand at the grave
Of this minister of Christ and pity him,
rather is he 70 be envled; rather should