The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-03-05
POVERTY and PIETY."
Ss,dsy Sermon By Rev. James Alexan-
der Jenkias.
The Peaeaisg Of tle Gospel Is an Evidence Of
Fn-Qeaeiinx Mercy Of God.

The poor have the gospel preached 10
them"
The words of our text constitute part Of
the reply of Jesus to John when He sent
two Of His disciples with the anxious ques
tion, "Art Thou He that should come or
do we look for another" In this reply
the Master assumes that John is familiar
with the character of the work of the ex.
pected One, so He sets before the messen'
gers His own work as meeting the require
ments. The blind see, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
preached pre- to them" p sp'
The preaching of the gospel to the poor
may be regarded as only an evidence OF the
far reaching mercy of the great God, but
preparation Of the poor for receiving and
spreading the good news from God. II we
believe in the fitting Of means to ends in
the world OF nature, II we are upholders
of the great law OF design, may we not
with reason insist that the Father through
the course Of the ages. prepared certain of
the sons OF men for the reception of the
truth. II we concede this we behold in the
preaching of the gospel to the poor an ar
rangement of providence, a far reaching
plan of God.
The pages of the gospels reveal Jesus as
the preacher to the poor. The rich He re.
garded as being for some reason less lifted
tablishlng His kingdom. OF the rich men
of the New Testament, not Dives, not the
rich fool, but the young man who came to
Jesus with eager inquiry, may be regarded
rs typical in the mind of Jesus of the
hosts Of the rich and powerful Thinking
OF him Jesus said: 1T is easier for q camel
to SO. through the eye of needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom Of
God" From this statement we naturally
infer that the absence of wealth or poverty
is most favorable to the reception OF sav.
ing truth. to the entering of the kingdom.
Jesus Himself. coming as the founder Of
the kingdom Of God, chose the material
upon which that kingdom shall be built.
He did not preach to the poor because 9th,
ers would not hear Him. The influential
He could have commanded, strength OF
arms He could have enlisted, wealth would
have served Him. But He chose desired,
determined, TO preach the gospel to the
poor. Says DR.. Bushnell, speaking Of the
character of the ministry Of Jesus: "He
adheres to the Door and makes them the
object OF His ministry. And what is more
peculiar, He visibly has a kind of interest
in their society. which is wanting in that
OF the higher classes, perceiving. apparent.
ly, that they have certain aptitude fol-
receiving right impressions which the 9TH.
ers have not. They are not the wise and
prudent. filed with the conceit of learning
and station. but they are the ingenuou.
babes of poverty, open to conviction, pre-.
pared. by their humble lot to receive
thoughts and doctrines in advance of their
age" With equal acnmen does this great
writer recognize the fundamental and dis.
tinguishing nature of the choice of Jesus,
as contrasted with the teachings Of the
statesmen and philosophers who had gone
before Him. They began at the top, He
began at the bottom. and so His work. he.
cause it was true to nature, was lasting
abiding. eternal.
The twentieth century finds society di.
vided. as it has always been divided. into
two classes, the rich and the poor. Civil,
zation has crept onward, changing many
things, but it has not removed the distinc.
tion between wealth and poverty. The
distinction may be less brutal, less crude.
but it still exists. and the very refinement
of the classification of men is often the
cause of added bitterness. So to-day the
student of men and events, whether he be
sociologist, economist or preacher, is con.
fronted by the difficulty of adjusting ons
part of society to another. We are con.
stantiy asking certain questions and clam.
oring for reply. Can the poor man Sc.
cure Just share of the good things Of
ucation! Will society receive him? And
now, it seems, another question presses
upon US. What is the relation between
poverty and piety?
1t would seem that the world. in an.
swering this question, has lost sight OF the
teaching and practice Of Jesus; for the con.
clusion usually arrived at is that the poor
man is at disadvantage in his struggle
for the soul culture which every human
being should desire. Many, listening to
the reasoning Of the world, have, because
OF their poverty, surrendered their religion,
deserted the church and rejected the
Christ. To them the Christian worker has
Cnmp m cparn ha ta of aihi1i.
ties, but this attitude of mind is not con-
fined to the simple and unthinking, for we
are reminded that even thoughtful writers
seem to assume the existence of a natural
hostility between poverty and piety.
Let US keep in mind the attitude Of the
cred His message, and let us. remembering
that, ask ourselves what that piety is. the
relation OF which to poverty we are to de-
termine. Let us ask whether there is in
piety any element to the producing Of
which poverty is hostile. and let us find,
on the other hand, whether it may not be
possible that poverty assists the soul IN its
endeavor to become the possessor of true
piety.
Plety, is not, primarily, something in the
atmosphere; it is the rather something in
the heart of man. Among the elements
which enter into it, few of the princiDal
ones may be mentioned: Sensitivencss of
things true, beautiful, good; receptivity,
OF the ability to appropriate the good that
principles of truth; recognition of love as
the great animating, sustaining, God
knowing principle Let us see whether
poverty may not be an aid to the soul in
lts development along the lines indicated.
we may, think, claim with justice that
poverty renders the soul supremely scnsi-
tive TO the best things. Poverty is too fire.
quentiy regarded as synonymous with pau
perism, and paupersm is the embodiment
OF grim, ,ulnfeeling heedlessness. Pauper-
ism Is cold, Indifferent, dead, but poverty
Is warm, alert, alive. Poverty needs its
every faculty, its every power. 1t must
hght battles and anticipate the onslaught
OF unseen Toes. Ii must read the signs of
the morrow In the evening sky and adapt
ltseif TO sun and shower and storm. The
man with the hoe" is not the poor man,
lot poverty neither deadens nor brutalizes.
were ! to choose my illustration of honest
ers OF THE .Angelus." Clad in the rough
garb OF workers in the fields, holding in
their hands the cumbrous instruments OF
,neir daily toll. they are, nevertheless
keenly alive to the beauty, the poetry, the
suggestiveness Of the sounds waited npon
.ne gently stirring summer breezes. Truly
.yplcai are they, as with bowed heads they
Ga5a' Gtaha' OF the succeeding generations oi
.ds uods poor, as, amid toll and tribulation,
tmy seek to find the good, to know God
lne sensitiyeness OF honest poverty.
see 1t in the little children of the rabble as
Iney Followed Jesus through the streets OF
Jerusalem, aad see it in the children who
Today GLUTEN the flowers carried into the
inomes OF the poor by sweet charity. l see
u In the zeal, the devotion of the slaves
,ea ao n nis' heara the Gospel message, and