The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-20
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD; THE OBJ
LEGATION BINDS ALL MEN.
BY the Rev. j. w. Barnett, Phi. D., Pas
tor of the south congregational
Church, Columbus, D.
A ye are brethren."-Matthew XIII, s.

All ~
1t was a profound remark of Schilling
that history as a whole is a successive
revelation OF God. And In this revelation
both God and man have participated. COO
has been seeking to reveal Himself in His
true nature and character, and this enort
has been met and seconded by man reach
ing out after Him and responding TO Him.
1t has been a slow process. but IT has gone
steadily on increasing in breadth and sig
nihcance as the centuries have come and
gone.
The cry of the human heart throughout
the ages has been after God: "Oh, that L
knew where 1 might find Him. But 1t
was not till Jesus came that any sagl
had any adequate conception of His ma
ture and character.
The fundamental proposition Of the king
dom that Jesus established is the univer-
sal Fatherhood of God. By Him all par
tition walls have been broken down, and all
dividing lines removed. so that all men
everywhere may now look up to Him ana
saw "Our Father who art in heaven"
The coordinate proposition is the uni
versal brotherhood of man. Goo is the
Father of all; and IF one is our Father,
GNGA thCA IL We -
men are ready to concede this fact in a
general way, but when We come to make
a practical specific application of it. we
discover that ii is scarcely more than a
theory. We say that we believe it, but
we are hardly ready to practice ii. We
are quite ready TO recognize as our brethren
those who are living on the same plane as
we are-those whose tastes and habits are
1~5 ,1-1 1.ifa roadU
to recognize that those above us are our
brethren. and that they have certain OBJ
legations towards US which we are very
ANXIOUS TO have them recognize and fulfill;
but we are not sure about those who are
below us. Many refuse to recognize these
as brethren. They are our brethren, how
ever, even though we do not like to recog-
nize them. The limits of human brother
hood reach from the highest TO the lowest,
from the richest to the poorest, from the
most worthy to the most unworthy. To all
of these we are indebted. for the measure
of obligation reaches as far as the limits
of brotherhood, and we need TO keep ask
ing ourselves the question: How much
owest thou?"
DEBT TO THE PAST.
First, there is our debt to the past. The
limits of our brotherhood reach back TO the
very beginning. Every man who has lived
before US has contributed to what we have
and are. Every sin of the past is seen and
felt in the present. And what is true of
the evil is just as true of the good. We
stand upon the shoulders of all the past
and enjoy the blessings for which they
have lived and labored and died.
And we ought to be grateful to them for
what they have made it possible for US 10
do. This is our debt to them, and we can
pay it only as we live such lives as not to
lose all this for which these noble souls
have lived and died. and by making our
best contributions to the end that not only
ourselves. put the race as well shall be
made perfect.
Second. there is our debt to the present.
We are brothers not only to the past. but
also 10 the present generation. The rela-
ton of man TO man is q mutual relation.
The spirit of Jesus is that il any man has
in his possession anything that makes his
life easier and better it is his duty to i'm
part this to others AS far as possible. so
as 10 make this world, and this life, as
beautiful and helpful to all as we AN.
The most widely separated peoples are
linked together by the ties Of brotherhood,
and we shall never live our best life till
we have come to recognize this fact and
to order our lives in accord with 1t. All
wrongs shall be righted and all oppression
cease when men once learn that they are
brethren.
Third, there is our debt TO the future.
Even though We recognize that every man
who has lived in the past, and that every
one who is living to-day, is our brother,
and try 10 fulfill our duties and obligations
toward them all, still we have not yet
reached the limits OF human brotherhood
or the measure of our obligation. We are
brothers as well TO all future generations
II it is true tha every good and every evil
of the past is seen and felt in the present,
it is equally true that every good and evil
of the present will be seen and felt In the
future. Gods law is: Whatsoever a man
soweth. that shall he also reap"
LEFT TO THE FUTURE.
Our debt to the future, like that to the
past and present, is twofold; what we get
and what we have TO give. We are not in
the world TO get all we can out OF 1t for
ourselves. We are not in it even to get
all we can out of it for the present genera
ton. We must take the future into the ac-
count as well. The man who lives for the