Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-07-11
"L0sT AT HOME
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon BY Rev.
Francis J. Mcconnell.
The Parab.. in Luke Which Deals With the
Grace of God Toward the Lost.

pastor OF the New York Avenue NJ. +.
Church The sermon was based Oh Luke
XIV. Mr. McC onncil said:
All the parah.es oi this fifteenth chapter
of Luke deal with the grace OF God toward
the lost There is the story OF sheep lost,
another of a COIN lost and another OF two
sons lost The parable from which the text
OF the evening Is taken is not the parable
of the lost son. but the parable OF the lost
sons. y great many OF us stop at the TWEEN
ty-hfth verse. We rejoice in the sound OF
music and dancing which welcomes home
the prodigal. and prefer that the story
should end with the happiness OF the ban
quet. The remaining verses. perhaps, seem
| 10 Us somewhat ont of place. The beautiful
| narrative Is married by reference to the
ug.ine>s of the elder brother but if we
leave the elder brother ont OF the parable
we have lost III large part the Master
point. Remember that Jesus Is speaking
OF the lost; lie is lustifving His dealing
with publicans and sinners. These are lost
sheep which have wandered away from the
shepherd; lost coins watch have Guided the
fingers of the houseiiSeper and fallen into
the cracks: lost soas vino have wandered
far from home 20 spend all in riotous liv-
ing. The parable was spoken IN response
10 the murmGrs OF Pharisees and Scribes.
! With wonderful oSquisiteness Jesus puts
the phariseos and Scribes into the parable.
The elder brother is the Scribe. who can
not understand the love OF the Master Tor
publicans and sinners. 1t requires but a
moment glance to see that in the Master
thought the PhariSCc Is lost-lost not III
open prodigality and outbrcaking vice, but
lost in false conceptions and false feelings.
Jesus does not say, indeed, that the Pharl-
see is lost. but lie implies as much. When
we look ut the parable in the light OF the
whole teaching OF Jesus; we can see clearly
the ''iostness' of the elder brother.
Possibly it would be well to say just
word about the sense in which the word
I lost is here used Lost in the gospel
means not that destruction has already
come upon the SOUL but that the soul is in
the grip of forces which, if left to them
selves, will sooner or later bring disaster.
Ii the s;eeplc-climber loses his hold the
onlookers cry out Lost" not because the
death-deaiing shock has already come, but
because the steeple-c climber is in the grasp
OF n force which will inevitably bring him
TO destruction. Ii ship falls into the
upon the rocks the watchers upon the
shore cry Lost" At the moment OF the
( cry the ship is rs staunch as ever. The
"lostneSs' consists in her being in the
grasp OF force that must. If LETT to itself,
bring her 10 doom. The sheep oat IN the
wilderness had not been killed when the
shepherd found it. 1t, however, was lost
because wandering aimlessly in the pres
cnce OF danger that must. sooner or later,
bring the end The coin in the dust was
as Gunu dS ever. nut III GanHcf OF DClil1
swept out upon the rubbish heap. where
it might never be found. The younger son
had not yet lost his life, hut his days were
short II they were to he left To the forces
! preyng upon them. Now. in this sense OF
the word. in the sense of being i'll the grasp
/ OF death-bringing forces. the elder brother
was lost as truly as the younger.
OF course, there may be degrees in ''lost-
! nes,.' One man may be further from the
right road than another. though any man
of the road Is lost. y respectahle-looking
Pharsee certainly does not seem so bad
as dissolute spendthrift reduced to the
company OF SWINE. But when .oStness is
under consideration. nothing is so decep.
tive as outward appearances. Physical
vices that maniies: themselves in outward
signs are no more deadly than some subtle
spiritual vices that work quietly within.
Not all vices are rough and boisterous.
Again, III the parable before Us we may
iail 10 see the lostncsS of the elder brother
because he remained at home. We are very
apt TO think OF lostaess as s.patial. The
younger son was IN a far country. and
whether we realize it or not. something of
our thought OF his lostness has to do with
his geographical position. The cider son
was at home and therefore, safe; but the
lostneSs OF the parable has very little to
do with spatial relations. The father could
not have saved the younger son by fasten-
ing chains upon him and keeping him at
when he clasped his fathers hand to say
goodby. Nearness in spiritual sense is
not at all a matter OF physical distance.
The son who remained at home was in 4
spiritual sense as truly lost as the son who
wandered into the far country. Spiritual
lostress consists in false ways of looking
at and feeling about spiritual things.
Ii may be that some will object that the
PhariseeS were 4 particular class OF people
living at particular date in the worlds
history; that they have long since passed
on. carrying all their irailties with them.
OF what use to speak OF Pharisees to-day?
IL must be responded that this view is
wholly saperficial--that Jesus spoke for all
ages: that in Pharisasm were certain fun
damental traits that appear over and over
again. Pharisaism is not yet dead: the
name Is changed. but the characteristics
reappear. Few men are far enough beyond
Pharsdlsm to make a protest against the
discussion or the lostaess OF Pharisaism
especially relevant.
FIRST OF all. the stay-at-home was lost in
his thought OF himself. 10. these many
! years do | serve thee" The word ..serve"
Is rot at all accidental: it is very essen
tai part OF the picture; it strikes at one
.cep ian'ts al Ph1risaisn--the inability OF
the fharsce 10 rise above the idea of SER
vantship II his thought OF mans relation
to God. The elder brother did not take
himself as 4 son, bur as n servant, and
self. After the p:odigal among the swine
came 10 himself he said. Il am no more
worthy to be called thy son; make me as
one OF Thy hired servants The prodigal
thought OF himself as lost forever to son.
snip and hoped only for stewardship; and
yet the great redeeming fact in the reck.
less sinners case was that he had come to
the point where he could appreciate SON
snip. Upon that fact the father restored
him. The prodigal had learned something
IN his disgrace. He had learned to think
Of himself one who had sinned against
sonship. With that lesson there followed
Il viii arise and go 10 my father" So far
a. this essential realization OF sonship was
concerned the elder brother was as lost as
the wanderer who had gone to the lar
country.
Looking AZ the parable in the light Of its
eternal spiritual significance, this must be
said, the man who strives to serve God
a. servant and not nc a son Is lost. Not
that he l. villain or given TO outbrealing
transgression, but 81 long as he merely
serves God he Is lost to all joy for himself
and j. a dead loss to God say lost to
JOY. because there is no JOY in merely
serving God-that Is, ii we take the wc:k
seriously. Ii we look upon God as a great
taskmaster. great lord over servants. we
are lost IN misery; for we make so many
mistakes and we leave 80 much undone and
we absolutely fail so many times that we
get nut little satisfaction out of the work
itself. Ii we really look upon God as
taskmaster we must honestly confess that
we can never please Him. With our limit