The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-11-24


In the city court no default docket will
be called today.
apostles were ciphers. How many of the
worlds men and women meet with a sim
liar fate-drop out of sight at death-sink
as a drop of water sinks in the bosom
of the seal Plenipolent millions-but only
name Here and there on the pages of
historyl Multitudes In the church of God
but only here and there a name on the
scroll of faithi It would all be diseourag-
ing If we did not remember that there
is another record book, another heart
where all the services of the people of
God are remembered and appreciated. The
light of eternity will show the handiwork
of Bartholomew and Alphaeus, and Thad-
daeus. and Simon the Caanite. God APP
preciates the mediocre, the meager, the
feeble, the humble-the men who fall be-
low the average as well as the men who
rise to topless heights of promotion in
his service.
"Of the twelve with which Jesus or.
ganized, six began and ended in obscure
ty. OF the remaining six only three at
tanned to distinction and distinotness. one
was a Rock, and two were Sons of Thun-
der in the cause of Christ. The twelfth
wrapped himself In infamy and handed
his name to history as the synonym of
treachery.
such was the beginning of that Christ
ian church which Jesus of Nazareth
launched from one of Capernaum' HILL
tops some twenty centuries ago.
The Opinion of His Friends.
what was the opinion of his friends?
What did they think about this starting
of the Cristian enterprise? Were they
hid tbaU rPnd the
air with shouts of approval with huzzas
of congratulation? They had no enthus-
iasm, They were bowed with dlsappoint-
ment. They were chagrined and morti-
fed. Their spirits sank in despair. 1t
was all so unlike any thing they had
foreimagined. The most charitable judg-
ment they could pronounce was that their
Lord was mad. His friends said: He Is
beside himself
Brethren 1t is always So The man
who lives in the atmosphere of the spirit
ual and the eternal is always misunder-
stood He who lifts his ideals out OF the
mind of God-who drinks his inspiration
out of the heart of Jesus-who throws
himself across the currents of popular
opInlon-who pronounces all human
schemes of reformation to be failures
who relies solely upon the power OF the
world to come-who lives In deep COM
muni0n with dOu-tHdl man 10 always
esteemed visionary and branded as
crank
There is Enthusiastically great diseour-
age at the heart of the church. Efficiency
is thought not to be proportionate to
eauiment Progress is supposed not TO
be equal to promise Returns are regard
ed as meager for the investment. To
many the outlook is gloomy, Many of his
friends are today tempted to cry out
He is beside himself
"Hall Game voices the sentiment Of
many when he makes John Storm say,
The church is chaos. a wreck of frag-
ments, without unity, principle, or life
No man can find foothold in 1t without
accommodating his duty and his loyalty
to his chances of a livelihood. 1t is a
career, not a crusade. 1t loves the
thrones of the world, and bows down to
the golden calf
Doubtless the Holy Spirit does not re-
ceiye full honor In the modern church.
There is tendency to lean upon human
deyices-upon cathedral buildings, oper-
attic music, remuneratiye church-life.
catching sermons, the machinery of So
cieties, the hurrah of religious conven-
lions, and high pressure methods general
ly.
But If we make the blunder of relying
upon the architectural magnificenee and
ornate splendors of our church buildings
to draw men behind the doors of our
If we impose upon ourselves
the deusion of imagining that the ravish-
ing sounds of sweet music and the snowy
milinary of worship will entice men into
the genuine praise of God; II we court the
world by pandering to its love of wealth
and pleasure, and even go to the extreme
of furnishing cheap theatrieals for its
thought and energy and revenue upon
ecclesiastical machinery--if in word, our
meagerness and impotence are due t.. our
departures from the principles and poll
cies of our Lord, yet us not be guilty OF
the monumental unfairness of charging
him with being foolish and beside him
self when he inaugurated New Testament
Christianity on the hill top behind Caper-
naum.
Let his friends repent before they
criticise, reform before they blame, re-
turn to Apostolic Ideals, before they
brand their Lord as fool, and Christian
ity as impracticable fanaticism!
But was Jesus an unbalanced vision
airy, a frenzied fanatic. a man without
perception and good judgement?
HE organized with twelve adherents;
soon seventy were added to the twelve:
on the day of Pentecost, the seventy
multiplied to three thousand, few days
later. five thousand more were added, and
so the number swelled beyond all human
census; while today a third of the human
race nail their testimonies to the face of
his church,
His friends were mistaken. He was no
mailman. He was a prophet who saw the
end from the beginning master. who
for success which would bring
the nations of this world o his feet-a
day when all thrones would stand up
IN his presence, all crowns be cast at
his feet, every knee bow and every tongue
confess him to be Lord of all.
The Opinion of His Enemies.
His friends said, He is beside himself
-distracted-gone daft But his enemies
,aid. ''He hath Beelzebub. the prince of
he devils In their Judgment the enter |
,rise which he launched behind Caper- |
laum was nothing less than satanic and |
leyilish They saw no coed in 1t; to them |
I was wicked movement, destined to |
,roduce much evil in the world. To their |
mind nothing but the spirit of the prince |
Il devils could have inspired such con-
Iuct
THAT mind is pitiful which cannot see |
he wisdom, the beauty, the power of |
but on the contrary looks |
ipon all this ministry of miracle and |
mercy as sheerest foolishness; but he who |
las so debauched his intelligence and
10 perverted his heart that he can Judge
- Cbrfutfop zusfaul In a xutaLod ara