The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-20


BISHOP WILLIS SERMON.
Matt. WIG: LET your light so shine
before men, that they may your good
wo ks and g.orify your Father which is
In heaven"
In these words in the Sermon on the
Mount, our Saviour calls US to have our
Epiphany even as He had His. For
what is Epiphany but "a shining forth?
The mysterious star that shone forth at
His birth was the witness in the heav-
ems of the True Light which was then
shining in the world, if men had only
eyes to see it. That True Light had it's
Epiphany, it's shining forth, when tie
wise men from the East beheld the
glory of God in the face of the Babe of
Bethlehem and fell down and woi SHIPPED
Him. 1t had It's Epiphany for the chos-
en- Twelve in the life and miracles of
Jesus, and especially in the holy Mount
| of Transfgura ton, so that St. JOHN
writes: I'VE beheld His glory, the glory
as of the Only Begotten of the Father.
fun Of gIace and truth"
The text calls us to have our Epiph
any; to let our light so shine before men
that they may see our good works, and
gloIify, not us, but our Father which Is
in heaven. For just as the glory which
shone forth from the Human Tabernacle
of the Lord-made flesh was the glory of
God, and the alteration paid by the shep-
herds and the wise men to the Infant
Jesus was the worship done to the
Eternal Godhead: so If His disciples are,
as they ought to be. the light of the
| world the light tina. they shed around
them rebounds not to their own glory,
but to the glory of Cod through whose
| Only Begotten Son they have received
| their illumination.
! The yearly round of the church sea-
sons has this twofold value: First, they
are the annual commemorat ons Of the
1 la.<1 tod
demption: the birth. the Epiphany, the
sufferings, the death. resurrection and
ascension of our Lord. But then, next.
they severally bring with them their
corresponding lesson of Christian life. |
1t would be to little value that we cele- |
brate the Saviour's birth, or Epiphany, |
or death, If the several commemorations |
have no reflex influence on our lives, If |
they stir no responsive chord in our |
hearts.
In the order af the Christian seasons,
which follows the order of the life of |
Christ, you may learn by what stages
the Christian character is to be develop-
ed. until after the first aspirations after
holiness, IS transformed into the
likeness of Christ. Thus at Christmas
the thought of our own new birth by
water and the Spirit is the founda ton
of our prayer that as we have been thus
regenerated we may be daily renewed
by the Holy Spirit, without whose AID
there could be no development of the
Christian character, no growth in hoi~
ness Then Epiphany follows, and we
are taught how the divine life of Jesus
was continually manifested by His sim !
lessness no less than by His migacles; | 1
by His wonderful humility in being SUBJ
ject to His mother and supposed father
for 80 years, no less than when He turn :
ed the water into wine at Cana, or walk
ed on the sea, or Gained the angry e
waves at a word. To apply the lessons D
IF Epiphany to ourselves our lives must
show that we belong TO Christ, are men, "
Oels of His Body. Let today's epistle p
ell you how the light within you, if it D
pc there, will manifest itself: "Abhor q
hat which is evil, cleave to that which q
S good. Be kindly affectiored one 10 q
another, with brotherly love. in honor
one another; not slothful In
business; fervent in spirit: serving the
Lord; rejoicing in hope: patient in N
ribulation; continuing instant in prayer; A
to the necessity of saints: Il
-iven to hospitality"
Here you have picture of what we
ught to be through the grace of God II
hat we have received. But 1t only needs
he recital of this and kindred passages
n the New Testament to bring home to
very heart how far short we fall of the
character-how faint and I'M
ertain is the light that we send out T
ow hard to find is any manifestation
W
hitch is in heaven.
If 1t were possible for us, through the
race that is given US, to be so trans,
ormed by the renewing of our minds,
S to be able always to walk N the steps
our Lord, and have His likeness
tamped upon our souls, then the year 81
light be one continued Epiphany. as we er
I our light shine brighter and brighter -
sfore men. "
But in spite of the grace we have re- 81
eived our best efforts are marked by ar
lilure; and so Epiphany is followed by
ent, and PaSsion-tide, in which to be- GU
all our shortcomings, and have impress eS
ID upon our souls that hope of he
ternal life does not rest in ourselves.
ut solely and wholly in the merits of te
lie death and passion of the Only Be- &C
often Son, in whom alone the Father is 20
ell pleased.
But whilst reflection on the light that W
hines forth from either as a church su
as individuals, must needs be humii> >,
ting when compare it with what the M
.xt demands, let venture to hope fe
lat the event OF this day does bear wit 81
ess to our Epiphany, for which glory ra
lay be given to our Father in heaven. ca
1t is no light matter for any branch GA
the church to be asked to change Its
,rvice book, to which its members have d.
cen accustomed from childhood. Even -
slight alteration of a phrase or a word VI
rates at first upon the ear, until it be- III
1mes accustomed to the change. The or
ngIican Church in Hawaii, from the tn
ay on which it was first planted, has to
sed the formularies of the Church of T,
ngland, to which it owes its birth. 1t 10
'ould have been strange if the members ar
f this church, to whom this is their ma
We land, should not be reluctant to part
18th it. But the circumstances of the 90
our required 1t, and the members of the
nurch have shown their loyalty to the vi
of o.
oect have let their light shine before tn
en by their unanimous acceptance of W
lese changes in the Book of Common K
rayer that were made by the church In oy
lie United States of America In 1'S9. Ac> w
ord,ng to the 34th Article of Religion, 70
1t is not necessary that traditions and -
ceremonies be in all places one and g.
tterly alike; for at all times they have Id