The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-11-25

148s*&srS~1Ss>SseSsc"c 'oDVS>S'o
Rev. Mr.. Krom's sermon is given below
in full
WHY PEOPLE ATTEND CHURCH"
We enter tonight into new feld OF In
sestigation. We approach new class Of
people. above all we have TO deal with
new impulses and new motives.
, This problem presents difficulties that
4he first did not There is a sense In
which we may know thing too we'll TO be
In a position TO speak about IT, The best
teachers are often the men who know
little about their subjects, az a whole.
They do not lose themselves In the bye
paths of the subject but stick TO the beat
en- highway where there Is always some
thing of interest. The dry as dusts' In
our colleges are not the instructors but
the professors who can repeat their sub
ject backward as well as forward and
Just as lnteligently.
The man who can tell you the most In
teresting things about people and institu-
tions is the man who has heard much and
knows little Gossip Is founded on
strictly utilitariau basis.
Consequently there is a truth In the
statement that the longer a man stands
In the pulpit the less able he Is to ex-
plain why people go 10 church. Perhaps IL
he could preach IN the pulpit and at the
same time sit In the pew the problem
would be more complicated. He finds so
many motives that he is unable TO de-
fine one.
Furthermore II is true that with all
things familiarity breeds a species OF
contempt. We dislike some people because
we don't know them and we dislike more
people because we do.
The feelings of the preacher are often
arrayed not with the people who do at
tend church. but with the people who
don't In a sense this is natural and not
only natural but legitimate. mans feel
ings may be with the under dog even II
the dog belongs TO his dsa ereeable neigh
Dor and he is as anxious that his own
dog win.
DEAD LINE IN MINISTRY.
There is much talk OF the dead line In
the ministry today The editors OF alman-
acs and the lovers OF statistics are anx-
ious TO fix the date. Some people love defi-
niteness not for its value but for Itself. II
would be n comfortable feeling perhaps
for the cloth IL IL could say on the eve
OF its fftieth birthday tomorrow morning
when / wake up / shall be in the ranks OF
the has beens.
To some men, however, this sensation
would be so usual and customary that
they would fail TO appreciate It. We ap-
preciate nothing unless II brings us that
sense Of fear that is coupled with all new
ness.Joy and fear are yoke fellows. IL has
been well said that IL is "the awkward
man whose evening dress does not At
him. whose gloves will not go on. whose
compliments will not come of. who is
really full OF the ancient ecstacies OF
youth. He is frightened enough OF socie-
~ TO actually enjoy its triumphs. He has
that element of fear which is one OF the
eternal ingredients OF Joy. Some men
would miss this sense of newness at hfty
because IT is the condition in which they
were born. The dead line is not a
thing OF the calendar, II Is
thing OF the spirit and
every man al 20 has crossed II IL he hs 5
lost sympathy with and feeling for the
people who attend no church. and care
Or any other mans. Jesus said: IT came
10 seek and to save the lost. came not
TO call the righteous, but sinners TO re-
He ate and drank with publicans and
sinners. not only that he might help them.
but because I think he found their COM
pany more congenial than some OF the
whitened. sepulchre- -pharisacial saints. A
recent biographer has claimed that Pope
was able TO satrize men because he first
Of all had full account OF their vir-
tues.
Mr.. Henley fails because he has not
this. II is said of Robert Browning that
he Was not content with seeking sinners
he sought. the sinners whom even sinners
tast out -
Let us not be less sensible in the In
vestment of our feelings than we are In
1t where ID is most needed and where II
will bring in the largest returns.
CHRISTIANITY ON ICE.
great deal OF Christianity is served
TO the world on ice. SO far we have been
led to consider the church and the world
as divorced Language forces us 10 DC
some things for convenience sake. The
people who come TO church. however. are
the people who buy and sell IN the mar mar
the city In only the country come to
town. II we found varying motives te
keep people away from church we shall
lation TO their coming.
Furthermore since the church is only
the world como TO worship and since some
OF the motives OF the world are base. we
can expect TO find those motives concealed
under the Sunday clothes OF the few
There are base motives why people dc
things just as there are base base .1ns motive, we,
not all sins OF omission. Some people
do not get married for selfish reasons
and TO hear married people talk one would
suppose that the old maids and the OLE
bachelors were the only sinners in moderr
society.
Perhaps those very people got marrlet
for the same selfish reason that led th'
.eiHeie-eaiprit TO remain single.
The church says people sin by not goint
10 church. But there are people who sli
because they do go. Jesus recognize,
souls in those spring time. Galilean day
OF the Gospel. Just as now, not because
they heard too little. but because hearing
All dissipation Is not alcoholic begging
the pardon OF the temperance reformers
There are people who attend church am
SG %sn y beS th. ~ns creed T that eternity bes
at 10 o'clock at night and that night
last forever" A woman who hear