The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-15
BISHOP BREWSTGR'S SERMON
ADDRESSED BRoTHERHooD or
 ST. ANDREW YESTERDAY.

Delegates to the Convention of the New
 England Local Assembly of the
 Church Society Were in Attendance Large congrsgasion-strong and EIo-
 qnent Address.
 The Rt. Rev. chauncey B. Brewster. D. D.. bishop os Connecticut of the Episcopal church, occupied the pulpit at St. Paurs Episcopal church, this city, yesterday morning. and preached the annual sermon before the members of the convention of the New England local assembly of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
 The sermon was preached from the text .sYe are the light of the world' zound in the fifth chapter of St. Mat thew's gospel and the 14th verse. lie said in part:
 That means manifestation. Ye are the light of the world. Our Lord says it. then lifts His eyes to town situat- ed on hilltop, and says the city on hill cannot be hid His words and thought are suggestive regarding the attitude Of certain who would seem to be living a discipleship in sacrament and spiritual conviction for men and Him. Ye are the light of the world. That which is already in the church must come out to view plain and dis tinct. Our Lord enters a summons which shall be vast and a witness plain and distinct. The text means not only invitation; it means illumination. When our Lord says sYe are the light of the world'' He does not mean that the rest os the world is in the dark; He means that they are to illuminate the dark ness. It is the illumination of light house sending out it's rays far into the night. There is no limit to the spark to give light. Says our Lord, Ye are the light of the world. The great world lay in darkness, and in that little company was the spark of it's illumination. Now the Church of Christ is not always like lighthouse. There are parishes where the church would seem to be more like an icehouse If 1t is united it is by freezing together, and who may abide the frost? It rests upon the members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew to see that in their life this shall not be so. People talk about joining the church or coming to church in a way that is purely selfish. I can be saved without baptism and confirmation, and can get along just as well at home by reading good book. as I can coming in church. Think what selfish and un-Christ-like s2irit that is. On the other hand the church is that to which you come not only to get good but to do good. It is the great army under orders to march out and take up the fight and make con- quests for the kingdom of light. They have recently built machinery and are utilizing the water of Niagara for gen. erating power for the lighting of Buffalo twenty miles away. And so in the church the one ground of holy life should be in generating light, whether near or far away. But once more ob- serve that the illumination must not be mechanical. Ye are the light of the world. The church is not a great nla- chine of ~cegs and wheels. It is more than an organization of leading points. Its members are living persons, met to- getfler in a fellowship of society. New Christian fife is the illumination which comes to us in order that we may open OUT eyes and see clearly. In the pro- gress of astronomy they have succeed ed in photographing stars invisible to the naked eye. The star is so small that it can only be indicated by a small sDeck. But there is one telling witness os a star Always the star has behind it a perceptible trail of light. So in the ceaseless onmoving of human life your little fife may seem to count for noth- ing. but it does tell for light or for darkness. Our lives must tell, and tell assuredly. Let your light so shine be- fore men. How shall we give light to others? We must keep self out of the view It remains to ask, what is that light? What is that spiritual energy, that we may be converted into spiritual illumination? One force alone, the force whereof we have heat to live; personal love- That which St. Paul saw in the face of Jesus Christ; that which we find in tlla. unspeakable love of Jesus Christ. Faith, by which you and I are to live henceforth; and the secret. Open ness to Jesus Christ: prayer, medita- tion, sacrements, openness to His light. Ne are the light of the world. The mes sage is for you. He hath given unto you light. Obey the giver, rise up to greet the light; spread yourselves to welcome it more and more, and in Christian light may you go forward