The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-22
LATEST FAIR HAVEN NEWS
SERMON By REV. ALEXANDER
IRVINE AT PILGRIM CHURCH.

Discourse on the Minor PrOphets-Dem-
oeracy tn ReIigIon-Mtcah ms a Prophet
of the Poor-His Book Not Dlrge-
Most Democratic Leader-Exctusisc
Property of the Rtch-Managed by
Machines.
Democracy and Religion was the
subject of the sermon by Rev. Alexan-
der F. Irvine at the Pilgrim church last
evening. He said:
Sermons on the minor prophets are
quite rare in these days. They are too
pointed and applicable to the sins OF
our times. They have too much to say
about justice and square dealing to be
popular.
ITO illustrate what l mean by de-
mocracy in religion, / present to you
Micah, the prophet of the poor, and ask
you to consider his message. Only the
voices speaking for, God can ever be
perpetuated. SaplesS platitudes cannot
live. The message of Micah has the
ring of the eternal in it. He comes up
+ to Jerusalem to plead the cause of the
oppressed, and while Isaiah sattrizes
the fashions Of the city and the corrup-
ton of the court, Micah scourges the
selfishness of the iand-grabber VINO had
squeezed out the peasant and robbed
him of his heritage He is not much IN
| terested in the question of idolatry or
wanton luxury--he hardly touches the
corruption of the religious machine of
Jerusalem. Not since the days of Adam
could a man plead for justice and es-
cape the rage of the parasite and pluto
| crat. What did they say to Micah?
PIRATE not; let none pirate or such
things!
Revilings will never cease.
O thou that speakest thus to the house
of Jacob!
Is the spirit of Jehovah cut short?
Or are such His doings?
Here, as George Adam Smith says,
is the eternal cry of responsibility. God
can mean no harm to the likes of us!
The idea! Thus the platitudes of the
poor and the parasites of special priv
ilege have attempted to shut off God
and the prophet from that day to this.
But the book of Micah is not dirge.
You can hear the strong voice of de-
nunciation, but even that dies away in
the psalm of hope that fills the book.
The chosen people missed their chance;
they chose mama and parted COM
pany with God. But the prophet has a
vision of another day--a day of divine
democracy. First of all he launches
the hope of leader. His time is cursed
by lack of men--strong, fearless men
who speak for God
! we will divide his vision into three
= parts-a new leader new order, new
( religion.
J The new leader, But Thou. Bethle-
hem, Ephrata, smallest among the
5 thousands of Judah From Thee unto
5 Me shall come forth a Redeemer to be
5 in Israel! We notice here the empha-
2 sis on the humble origin of the leader
= He was not to come forth as the scion
' of some oppressor who had fleeced the
e peasantry He would not be under the
supplying spell of custom and tradi-
= ton, but Saviour who was to be one
$ Of themselves. To a doWn-trodder
= peasantry this announcement filled
r them with hope. Has this any mean
4 ing for us? What have they done will
= the leader of the people?
This most democratic of all earth's
!, democratic leaders seems now to be the
: exclusive property of the rich and to bt
= managed by machines with pretention:
= to divinity. He is fenced in by tht
+ creeds and clothes and purchased pew'
!, this man whose ancestor was shep
: herd and who was Himself carpente'
II who selected honest fishermen tt
n found a common wealth-this MAJ
), whom the common people heard gladly
4 These tens of thousands might or!
4 with Mary: They have taken ava!
Il my Lord and l know not where the.
. have laid Him.
g 1.-THE new order This man shall b.
=" our peace. Swords shall be beaten int
: ploughshares and every man shall 81
, under his own vine and fig tree. Thes
are some of the distinguishing feature
of the new order in the vision of Micah
Any order of society dependent upol
the cudgel or the gun for its perma
nence is doomed already. The new or
der was to be one of peace, and the in
l. struments of murder were to be turne
lie into tools of industry. There is a yer
l. definite idea here, too, that the tim
= would come wren every man woul
have an inherent right to some of tn
t. earth's surface. General Booth express
n. ed hope some years ago that the tim
l. would come when the English laporin
1r man would reach the horse standard c
" life-that is, that he would be of a
s. much consequence to society as hors
Or is to it's master-that he would at leas
be sure of food and shelter. Anothe
Englishman had larger hopes and tixe
the limit as three acres and a COW
Micah significantly puts peace befor
y prosperity. Is there any connection {
dependence? The Car of all the Rus
sas thinks so. Was Micah a fanat
! to hope that in a new order every ma
= might sit under his own vine and fl
III tree? I think not. Away back in thos
> Old Testament days there was ma
It called Naboth, who had little bit of
lg garden beside his house. Nahab wan
IL ed this little spot very badly and whi1
t, ed about it until Jezebel stole it fl
him. But fan of God entered a PR
I'd test--but that is so long ago. Let II
Ill give you a modern instance. In tt
~ city of New Haven there is a hare
working man who owns his own co
taco h11t a G there is LITTLE land attapl