The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-08


looked upon himself as n servant. The first
step towards recovery was for him to take
himself as a son. The first step out of the
lostness of the servant life is to take SON
snip Tor granted and to act upon the as
sumption
Again, the lostness of the stay.at.home
appears from his thought of service. And
/ never transgressed commandant of
thine These words are no more accidental
than the others. The Master is cutting
close to the essential weaknesses in the
creed and practice OF Pharisaism. The two
weak words here are never" and Com
mandment." The elders sons thought q.
service vas partly negative, and for ts
rest consisted in keeping commandments.
The Pharsee habitually thanked God that
he was not as other men, extortioners,
unjust aduiterers, or even as the publican,
but tasted twice in the week and gave
tlthes of all that he possessed
First, the negative aspect of the phari.
safe creed. According to Pharslism re.
ligiO1 consists largely in not doing.
Never Is the blessed word. Adherence
to the never creed causes the inert and
passonlcss worshlper to mistake the list
lessness of death Tor the peace that passeth
understanding. Negative piety is often
sheer lielessness; there Is not vitality
enough to break forth in sin; there is not
strength or spirit enough to make temp.
tat,on possible How eXasperating it is to
49, " 'LANs W tAiltlth SDul 'ltCldlHl on Ile
iohes OF youth, or a mind sluggish with
stupidity boast its freedom from doubt.
There is long.lived heresy to the effect
that the heart of religion is repression.
No longer do this, or that, or the other!
Drive out the devils. sweep the house, set
the furniture in order, board up the win.
dowS, lock up the doors and hide the
Keys! This. as OF old, overlooks some.
thlng-the skill of devils as key-inders
Pack they come with others worse than
themselves; or, ii they do not come back,
the house stands empty which is about
as bad. redemption really means abun.
dant life. The. lifeless and inert seriously
starting toward redemption may possibly
make more mistakes in the first six months
OF activity than in all the previous years
OF iistiessness. but they are better never.
theicss. One of the most disagreeabld
n thls word never" 1t suggests a staid
ilieiess, ploddingness beside which the rol.
hcklng prodigahty of the younger brother
seems almost a relief. 1t is almost a re.
,let' too, to find that the elder brother
becomes angry, for anger is sometimes
sign OF awakening life.
The more Of the merely "never" there
Is IN a mans religion, the more completely
lost the man il.
=, And then the other part Of the creed
the word Commandment" What the
Master, had in mind was the Pharisee's
hNlng by rule. He is exposing the wood.
enness and mcahanicalness OF Pharisaia
piety; He is showing US the lostness OF
iivlng by rule. With the Iharisee life
had become round of ceremonial obser.
Ninces and PharSaism was lost in the
abundance OF its rules. Any man is lost
who tries to be good merely bv rule OF
epurse: many OF the great principles OF
Ihe CHRISTIAN religion can be brought
down 70 the compendious statement of
rules, nut IN these the principle is kept
IN mind. | am speaking of 'Pharisaisn
as the system which slavshly learns the
rules and follows them. Such a course
leads inevitably to the wilderness. If we
lose sight ot the spirit and principle, we
must nave rule for everything. This
Pharlsalsm strOve for and was lost in its
own cumbersomeness. If the system il
not complete, if there are spheres of con.
duct for which the Pharisee has no rule.
then in those spheres he is ant to feel
free to do his worst.
Living the good life is the finest of the
hne arts. Fine art is not mechanical ob.
servance of rules-it is an ABSORPTION OF
sp sPlrlJ. In the religious life it is being
hled with the spirit; and he who has not
the spirit of life is lost.
The lostness of the stay.at.horoe still
;urther appears from his unnatural heart.
lessness.. Thy son!" These words are
doubiy heartless, they repudiate brother.
mood with the returning prodga and they
tep,oach the f2ther for not looking upon
such son as his own. Heartlessness nj.
most Inevitably follows mechanicnlism
u Is natural that it should be so. There !
Is no heart in a cumbersome set of com.
uandments. Commandments having to deal
simply with doings and not with feelings
are IN the nature OF the case wooden and
iieiess. II life be looked upon as some.
thing to be fitted into a scheme of com.
mandments, all the fragrance OF fine feel. |
ing evaporates This picture of the elder
nrother Is the perfect setting forth of the |
ineart eSsness OF developed Pharisaism. ,
Inc heartieSsness came not out of delhi.
crate dlabOlism, but out o. mechanical /
legalism.. In the end, however, these two |
are not far apart.
IL would seem quite the fashion in these
matter Of fact DAYS to ridicule emotion.
ahsm. There Is instead a kind of emotion (
aism a thet deserves ,ridicule. The piety ,
that consists only in being happy i a poor
piety. But strike emotiona,ism out OF re. |
ilglon and religion l. not religion. In |
John's; wonderful epistie of love much is |
SAID about the presence Of God in the life, |
and that presence maniiests itself in vari. |
brethren? That is to say. do Won feel
the force and power OF friendship? A |
part OF the witness OF Gods spirit is to he |
found Just here, in the quickenng OF those |
hne feelings OF friendship and love which /
seem to come so naturally as We relate
1
for brothers and sisters becoming more |
kindly? Is the attitude towards fathers |
and mothers and children more affection.
atey Is the circle OF loving interest widen
ing! This is the mark OF the presence OF |
God-this and that other feeling like unto |
Il, the affectionate going forth OF the heart |
in the cry of abba, Father" Remove /
emotionalsm OF this kind and You take |
the substances out Of life as well as out .
Of religion. Life is matter OF feeling. |
All values are realized in feeling, and the |
teelingless mortal * an unnatural mon.
strosity Any system of religious thought |
or practice that makes men feelngless
is to be condemned Pharisasm was feel. |
lngless; its lostness was set on high be. |
fore the gaze of all the world by it's failure
to feel the greatness of Jesus 1t was as
u the light of the rising sun Played upon
dead eyeballs. feelingless life! These
words seem contradictory. A feelngless
religion, These words are contradictory
and absurd, as absurd as unseeng seeing
or unhearing hearing.
Still further, the stay.at-home reveals |
his lost condition in his tendency to put |
the worst construction possible upon the |
life OF his brother. Thy son, which hath |
heyoured thy living with harlots." The |
elder son had no way OF knowing this to |
be true. He judged that this must be the
truth because IL was about the worst thing /
his brother could do.
In this world of ours we are compelled /
TO make assumptions, to choose between |
views either oil which may be correct. |
SO lar as the great mass OF things is con-
cerned: there is no way OF getting absolute |
proof beforehand. We must assume and |
see. NOW concerning men aud things. |