Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-06-05

by making me your pastor for this Oc-
casion, and though | preach for you
but once, | am the only pastor you as
class will ever have. For me there
fore the opportunities and responsible
ties of life time are crowded into
single hour.
1t is customary at such time as
this to picture life all roseate and pos
sessed of boundless possibilities. But
a pastor must be honest. You will not
all be Presidents or Governors of
States. You may all however become
great, for greatness does not depend
upon political preferment or recogni
tion by our fellow man.
My theme therefore is "UncrOwned
Kings " The text which most tittingly
sets forth this thought is III the langu
age of Pilate to the Jews Behold
your King" My effort will be to
show that the text was true at the
time it was uttered. Christ was King
then, though he wore no crown; and
if He was king without a crown, then,
if the kingly qualities which formed
his character shall be found III us we
too shall be kings.
4 kingdom is where king rcigns, it
may have physical boundaries and be
known as n political government, it
may have ethical limitations and be
called IA moral government. 1t may
be as small as the government of
Greece or as large as the Kingdom of
Great Britain, yet it is IA political gov
crnment. 1t may be as small as the
charity of the man who prayed Lord
bless me and my wife, my son John
and his wife, US four, no more, Amen, y
or as large as the Kingdom of God.
Size does not effect the reality OF
political or moral government. Be
tween the political and the moral
there are spheres of influence of every
Imaginable description. And just as
truly as the ruler III the political gov
ernment is king and the ruler in the
moral government is king, so truly is
the controlling personality in any
sphere the king of that kingdom And
when one man said Il would rather
be right than PRESIDENT" " he was only
saying what the Psalmist uttered long
years before Il had rather be a door
keeper in the house of the Lord, than
to dwell in the tents of wickedness "
He would rather be Il subject in
higher form of government than be
king in a lower, for he is more of
king who is a citizen of a high sphere
of influence than is the one who wears
the crown i'll a lower sphere.
Now you will accept another step in
the foundation plan for my argument,
there is not only variation i'll pOlitic-
al governments, but also outside of
them, there is a world of industry,
world of art, a world of science,
world of ideas. The world of art is
bounded by aesthetic limitations, but
the world Of art may reach through
several political governments. Science
is limited but it includes art. So is
but both science and art
developed from the philosophical
foundation and hence are included i'll
its sphere. The world of ideas reaches
beyond all philosophy and science and
art. Now again you may take your
stand by the side of the Psalmist and
say Il had rather be a Or-keeper Ca
i'll the house of the Lord (the
world of ideas) than to dwell in the
palaces (bc king of wickedness Tin
Il lower realm). If indeed | may claim
i'll the world of thought, |
prefer that to being an idiot, even
though | may have inherited a crown
and be called Il king. So he who rules
i'll political kingdom may have
much smaller sphere of influence and
be much less king than he who rules
in the world of ideas, or in the world
of morals.
You will perceive therefore that the
larger number of kings i'll the world's
history have never been crowned, and
some of the greatest have been crucif-
ed Political kings are sometimes
crowned, moral kings are more fre-
quently crucified. | said political kings
are sometimes crowned, meaning that
very often the real king, the power
behind the throne, is not the crowned
head at all | said moral kings are
more frequently crucified, | used com
mon language for my expression, what
the world calls their crucifiXion is fre
quently their crowning
Abraham Lincoln died on April l5
1865 at the hand of an assassin. The
world called it assassination. An as
differs only i'll outward cir
from a crucitiXion. Abra-
ham Lincoln was crucitied, no, | am
again using common language for my
expression. On that day Abraham
Lincoln was crowned in the hearts of |
the American people. 1t was on April
18th, that the Prince of Peace was |
and it was on that day that |
he became King not only of the Jews |
alone but of the whole world. The |
man Christ Jesus was crucified, the |
King Christ Jesus was crowned, How |