The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-06-28
THE PULPIT.
4 SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON RY
BISHOP BURGESS. D.. D.
spbiect: The Church's Foundation.

l am? Simon Peter answered: Thou
art the Christ, the Son Of the living
God. Jesus answered and said:
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but Ny Father which is in
Heaven. 1 say also unto thee: Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock will l
build My church." He said:
These words can be scarcely under
stood apart from their context. The
author of the hampton Lectures
pointed out that Caesarea was the
borderland of the Jew and the Cen
tile, and thus was q fitting place for
proclaiming the divinity Of Him who
| came to save. not n race. but all
mankind. Later study Of Il Lords
life revealed the fact that He was at
that time truly in exile. 1t becomes
almost self-evident. as we read the
Gospels. that our Lord was suffering
depression and felt that His work
was, to q certain extent. a failure.
The cities Of Capernaum and Corazin,
where He had preached and labored,
were all against Him: and you a all
recall the sad farewell which He gave
to those cities. In the Gospel Of St.
John we can see evidence that q large
number of people who at first had
believed in Jesus were gradually es-
tranged from Him by His teaching
and by His un%popularity. He had
been forced to leave His native land
and 60 into exile. The words which
He spake to the Syrophoenecian
r-a-,or GgT{ &c mt mnaf tn f0En rho
children's bread and give it to the
dogs" shows the sadness, almost bit
ter sadness: and when He came to
| His own His own received Him not"
In one way and another, we can see
how bitterly He felt and, while we
have no real picture, yet, neverthe-
less. we can, in fancy, see Him. as we
read the Gospels, with His little band,
going ahead Of them through those
northern valleys; and we know that
it was no figure Of speech, but the
truth, when He said: 1.-THE foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have
nests; but the Son of Man hath not
where to lay His head"
Now this confession of Peter marks
the end Of this period Of exile. From
that time on He set His face toward
Jerusalem. Almost Immediately there
followed the TRANSPORTATION on, prob
ably, Mount Hermon, and then He
started, with His twelve apostles, to
Jerusalem to suffer and to die. Now
this passage reveals deep truth. 1t
reveals the foundation on which
Christ built His church. But, as you
understand, we must not lose sight OF
His humanity. The heresy which
sees in Christ m unreal man, one who
cannot be touched by u sorrows, our
joys or our disappointment, has al
ways been condemned in the councils
and by the cr.eds Of the church. Our
Lord could not have been truly man
if He had not hungered and .thirsted
and been weary sometimes. He had
not sought for help If sometimes He
had felt the depression Of loneliness
and disappointment, though only once
did it find expression. namely. on the
cross when He said: MY God, Ny
God. why hast Thou forsaken Me-"
This period of exile, tier, was q per-
iod of depression. Men had deserted
Him by thousands; the people whom
He had cured and taught were all
gone now. And perhaps He feared,
as He asked His apostles that crucial
question:: Whom do men say that /,
the Son Of Man, am" If, however,
He did fear, whatever He feared was
dissipated by the perfect faith OF
Peters clear, strong answer: Thou
art the Christ. the son Of the living
God" And one who has eve tried
to do real work for humanity and to
help forward the kingdom Of God
must have known something Of this
depression, and must also have known
something Of this Joy when at least
He had found n mar who believed
in Him and in His message and who
was ready to stand out before the
world and confess his faith.
Our Lord, then, founded His church
upon a man-upon Peter, If you will.
He did not found it upon a doctrine, or
q building, or an army, or O treasury.
No, but On q warm, rugged human
heart. He said to Peter: Thou art a
rock, and on this rock I will build Ny
church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it." Those who want
to see in this passage a long. hierati-
cal line, ever connecting itself with q
bishopric, must, I suppose, be allowed
to hug their delusion as long as they
live. But q sane criticism will always
reveal the fact that u Lord was as
serting that He would found His
church upon loving Human hearts,
upon. men who believed in Him, in
honor and dishonor, through good re-
port or evil report, in sickness and
health, as well as in proverty and
exile. Our Lord believed in men; He
trusted them. 1t has been we'll said
Of Him that indignation, even anger,
were spoken Of men, but to condemn,
never. Man, as man, was worthy Of
respect.
Now that has not been the attitude
Of the great writers and generals and
leaders of mankind. Alexander, Gaze
sar, regarded men as so many pawns
to be moved about as they willed.
"What are q million souls to me?"
boosted Napoleon when he was
tainted with the loss Of an army; so
in philosophy we find the same dis.
crediting Of men. But, Christ taught
q different estimate Of mankind to
His apostles, and st. Paul reverenced
men, even when he saw their sins and
rebuked them. The parable of the
prodigal son and the epistle to the Ro-
mans have been contrasted, and it
has been said of the one that it is ten
derby and pathetically human as he
rises above his rabbinical law to teach
the death Of the Lord and the riches
of the goodness Of God. All through
that epistle to the Romans there runs
the burden of the glory of mans origin
and mans destiny: I'VE are children