Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1903-10-10
THE CALLING OF LIFE"
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon By Rev. DR..
S. Parks Cadnan.
Dur Souls Face is Liable to BE Set to
Perishabie Strains, Where Noble Means
Are Used for Little Ends.

Are Used for Little Ends.
BROOKLYN. n. Y.-Dr. Samuel Parkes
Cadman. pastor of the Central Congrega-
tional Church, occupied his pulpit for the
| first time Sunday morning since his vaca-
| ton and his return from Europe. A large
congregation had assembled. The sermon
was upon The Calling of Life and the
text from the First Epistle to the Corin-
thians i:2. Called to be saints" DIR. Cad
| man said IN the course Of a strong sermon:
To-day, we enter upon the fifteenth year
| of our church's existence and work. Be-
| hind us lies the honorable past, comforting
obligation more than feeding pride, Il holy
| prophecy in living deeds and a strong root
of confidence that God, even the God Of
our fathers, who has reared this pillar to
His name and glory, will not break 1t IN
the midst. So this year OF jubilee is upon
us. and these considerations make it a
priceless possession which our stewardship
must guard and increase.
| These divisions of time are arbitrary, but
| influential. January l is but a moments
| space from December 81. and vet the birth
| instances spiritual and moral revolutions.
| A few hours separate Good Friday from
Easter Day, but if near in time, how dis
tant are they in meaning. These distinc-
tons of the calendar arrest us. They
break the, crust of our conyentlonallty,
|
purposes and they inspire us with the re-
alities of vision and of hope.
| Let us beware of blaming our surround
| lngS for our weakness, our failure to IN
strumentally convert men and control the
present world in the interec.s OF the kind
too often caused by the choked pipe and
| its paucity prevents MANY from seeking 1t:
! Pastors, teachers and workers Of all
| churches should remember that the mighty
tide of Gods life and blessing finds its
way to human hearts through their APP
pointed agencies. And the greatest church
among us is only like port on the oceans
| shore, dependent on it for increase and for
! strength.
Dredge deep the bar and cleanse away
the silt of daily cares. Then, when the
text is thus understood and obeyed, COM
merce with the unseen world shall bring
us weather. freights, and life, which now
seems far away, and inland shall be lifted
upon this resistless aff1uence of blessing
and brought back to God
But sainthood is no passive movement,
dependent on our inaction. hesitating when
we are alert and shy of any effort we can
make to secure its franchise. 1t absorbs
flee. 1t insists upon the full employment
of every capacity and new and better obe-
diences. 1t bids You rise from the low
grounds of despair and cease to say:
What might not have made of Thy fair
world had but lived Thy highest Gods
Your readjustment of energy and of aim.
| Lord Salisbury's favorite advice to those
who pestered him about his world COM
| pelling diplomacy babe them 'Study larger
maps" And the sweep of Gods plan in
| your life and mine is wide unto the inf
mite, tender and wise and capable beyond
our utmost imagination. When the apostle
hn 0f
| their high supremacy, and yet they are but
| a faint reflection of the weight of glory
| God has chosen to give perfected char
acter after the pattern of the Master.
If we see the excellency of this calling it
should mean for us the objective point
where the finest energies of the soul are
constantly in service. The pity of it is that
we are busy overmuch in trivial and imma-
terial things and struggle in the meshes of
the commonplace.
Our souls pace is liable to be set to
pershable strains. where noble means are
used for little ends. Strenuous life is wise
when its aims are correspondingly high,
but it was said of noble Roman ''Domi-
tian is always busy-catching flies"
To be born a man and die-not saint,
defeats the central thought of our loving
Creator. Manhood sacrificed to anything
less than the Makers purpose is manhood
lost. We may pursue the petty round UNI
| til high achievement and its possibility are
| paralyzed.
You naturally ask, What is sainthood?
1t is spiritual health and moral thoughtful
ness. 1T is to quote a significant utter
ance OF DIR. Arnold, of Rugby, 1.-THE inquir-
ing love of truth sustained by the devoted
cause it is holy, set about and adorned by
! the abiding beauty of holiness. rightly UNI
derstood. 1t is practice. not theory; con-
secratlon, not perfection; a condition of
| character and not theological definition.
1t is the kinship in willing and feeling of
your spirit to the spirit of Christ. who was
the very will and heart of God ir human
| flesh.
| Because it flows cut of the fulness of
| God and is accepted by our belief. it is
catholic blessing, and there has been no
more mischievous teaching than that which
has limited it to a sect within the church.
Being Gods gift. its only condition of ex-
| lstence in yon is your hearty trust and ac-
ceptance of the same, followed by constant
| effort to walk i'll Christ's way. Alike for
| all who profess and call themselves Chris
tians, for brilliant but blameworthy CORN
| thians, for generous but tickle Galatians,
for Ephesus in her dearth of first love, as
than a mere name to live; let none draw
| back from this divine election or declare
| the boon is not for them.
Many shrink from this term saint" be-
cause it has been detained by the charlatan
and soiled by all ignoble use. Pharisaical
| sanctimoniousness and bigoted exclusive
ness and false standards of the real meas
ure and quality of sainthood have hindercd
| its free range.
| But, rightly known. it is the spirit of the
heavens within the wheels OF earthly inter-
| course.
| Cardinal Newman reflected upon the
church of his birth that she failed to pro-
o.ce santhood. and the Roman commun-
| ion, he declared. was first and singular in
| this respect. How rudely he challenged
Anglican competency some of us know.
CAPABLE of much, it was wanting here.
Bishops, theologians, eXegists, ecclesiastical
statesmen it could and did afford, but
| saints, no. Bishop Kew, John keble and
Richard William Church are sufficient evil
| dence to the contrary. And I only quote
| the. cardinal to show how segregated ideals
and types of sainthood may mislead fore
| most spiritual genius.
The challenge Newman flung down we
-! are bound to take up for ourselves. No
| more searching question than this can be
brought to our fiftieth anniversary, How is
| this ideal of the New Testament being re-
| allied by this flock of God?
His we are whom we serve. He justly
claims lis for His own, elect and precious.
And beyond our cautious Puritan temper
and our dislike for the mystic and the ESQ.,
teric, all the heaven of His PURPOSE awaits