The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-06
GREAT BURDEN BEARER
SUBJECT OF SERMON ny REV.
STEWART M'QUEEN.
The Rector of Church Of Holy Conn
forter speaks ON Christ ns tine
Great burden Bearer.

Great burden Bearer.
At the Church of the Holy Comfort
er. the rector, Rev. Stewart Mcqueen,
The sermon was one Of a series that
Mr. Mcqueen is delivering on Burden
Bearing.
With yesterday summer hours for
church services at the Holy Comforter
went into effect. The Sunday morning
services will be held at $3.50 instead OF
at IL o'clock.
In his sermon yesterday Mr.. Mcqueen
said:
i AS we search the records Of history.
my friends, there stands out one hg-
IRE above all others. illuminating its
dark pages. sublime, perfect. fiawless,
shining forth in golden spiendor-
Christ the ideal man. the only sinless
man, the central figure in all history,
Il Christ the friend of publicans and sim
ners, the Great Burden Bearer of hu-
lmanity. 1t is as such that we are
lchiefy drawn to Him. perhaps. II Is
as such that His strongest attractive
power manifests itself for the children
of men. He was Himself homeless and
Ipcnniless. hungry and thirsty, cold and
suffering, despised and rejected. Hence,
He can sympathize with those similar
lily burdened. Into all the weaknesses
ity He can enter. and share them, too.
He feels not only for us. but with u.s.
He understands. He appreciates. He re-
Allies our misfortuncs, our difficulties,
our responsibilities, our failings, our
blindness to what Is best for us. be-
cause. as the Son of Man. as the Bur-
der Bearer of Humanity. He entered
into it's spirit, into its life. and drank
of the same cup of which 1t must
drink. Therefore, In His knowledge
and compassion does humanity find the
Tightening of its burdens. and in His
tenderness the softening of those things
that make life hard. In the presence
of His Justice and holiness, and purity,
overcome with awe, we bow down in
alteration, feeling that we are not wor-
thy to touch even the hem of His gar
lment. But, in the presence of His be-
nevolence. the chief outward charac-
teristic of His life,-His Burden Bear
ing quality, you observe.--we feel quite
differently, and dare go close to Him,
drawn by the cords of love and graft
tude, drawn to Him as one who can
give rest TO the weary and heavy
laden" as one whose yoke is indeed
easy. and whose burden Is light.
How impressive the fact, so plainly
manifest in the Gospel that Christ
rarely alludes to His own burdens, on
ly once or twice Is 1t the case. Always
, and everywhere He Is thinking and
speaking of our burdens. Always and
everywhere, He reminds us of His read
mess to bear them, but, scarcely IL at
] ali does He mention the many burdens
q He Himself bears--burdens which were
inevitable because of what He Himself
was, Wig, the Son of Man. Being such,
He enters into our human condition.
Therefore, He experiences human grief,
, human weakness, human burden bear
ing. and Is touched with the feeling
inf inf TharnfnFa
to the suffering. the Man of Sorrows;
to the poor He had not where to lay
HIS head; to the joyous, He is the guest
at the feast; to the isolated and mis-
Judged, and sensitive. He Is treadtng
the winepress alone. To all bearers of
burdens, He is the Great Burden Bear
err.
ri How we need to realize. with CRATE
: full minds and adoring hearts. what 1t
!, means to us that Christ is our Burden
! Beareri II will quicken our moral sem
4 sibilities. 1t will kindle our affections.
a II will cause our love to burst forth
in flames OF faithful service and ard
/, emit devotion. To be sure, we cannot
( fully comprehend the nature of His
burdens, because II is impossible for
. us to put ourselves In His place and
r be what He was. Nevertheless, we
i may, with reverence and humility, con-
! template them. We can have some
e conception, at least, of what they were
; how tremendous they must have been
! No man before or since, has ever borne
. such burdens. How heavy they were
4 continually pressing His spirit to the
a earth causing Him constantly to seek
: strength in prayer and communion with
: His Father.
j Some of these burdens we may VEN
2 ture to discern. What ever present
loneliness of spirit must have weighed
upon tlss springs of His life, for In
stance! What torture to His perfectly
pure nature to come in daily, hourly
: contact with impure Surroundings
| Again, how His own ideals of right
" eousness were being perpetually shock
ed by the standards OF society about
Him! What moral anguish must have
been His( as He realized the condi-
lions of ungodliness that so universal
:, ly prevailed in His day! What must
!, have been His sufferings-the stniess
y and stainless Christie live even fcr
. a short time in world blasted by hate
n and malice, foul with all moral I'M
J. | cIeanness and blackened by sin.
s Moreover. how He must have longed
a for spiritual companionship. indeed
: suffered for lack thereof 1t is true
4 He had friends. There wero men and
= women who loved Him. and who went
s with Him from place to place. But
they could not meet this need. They
could not enter into HIS inner lie, into
the depths of His nature. into HIS spir-
itual life. They could minister to His
physical necessities, providing Him
with food and raiment, with shelter and
care. They could not possibly compre-
. bend Him or His mission. however
y therefore, II left Him spiritually alone.
z Further, all of US well know what the
sense of fellowship is. know how 1t
inspires us with courage ansl hope and
strength for our labors and trials and
sorrows, making life brighter ana more
endurable.
But, Christ, the burden bearer OF hui
manity. was deprived of this great SOL
ace and comfort altogether. Deep, as
it cut. He had to bear His load alone.
Heavy as 1t bore upon Him, He had to
carry His burden alone. His follow
ers. His disciples were blind and dumb
here. They could only look on and
wonder. The solitude of His tremen-
& dous and mysterious inward lifS. they
could not compass. nor enter into. nor
understand, nor could they help Him
with counsel And, all of these bur-
dens are borne by Christ uncomplain-
ingIy. Rarely does the anguish of His
A great spirit relieve itself in words. He
4 is Divine sufferer. Therefore, in Dr.
& vine silence He suffers. The superb
reticence. the sublime seIf-control
Il ~