Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-05-18
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: SUNDAY SERMON :
~ Y Y Y +
. a Scholarly Discourse By +
b the Rev. f.. f. Newbert.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

"Reality in Religion" He took LOT
his text: "The hour c0meth, when
neither in this mountain, nor yet III
Jerusalem, shall We worship the Father.
The hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshipers shall worship the
Father in spirit and truth" John w.,
81, %.
These are great words do not
come, however, to interpret them. l
quote the text because If the spirit 1t
brcathes. quote 1t as protest
against the limitation of worship, as an
answer to the creeds of Christendom.
| quote it because 1t denies formal re-
ligion, and places emphasis on truth
and life. 1t does Us good to come upon
a thought like this, maybe half for
gotten. And to find it, after having
been made to believe in the little words
of a scctarian faith, is like coming out
of the fog CT the lOwlanc to the hills,
to find the sky clear and the sun shin
ing. Or it is like following foul
stream 10 find its source In mountain
spring Indeed it Is refreshing to
throw off our load of belief and fear
and doubt, and think for an hour of
life as it is. 1t is inspiring to think of
religion rs without bounds or name or
division, just splendid ideal of life
and daring thought of the etcrnltics.
In passing, think of great picture
and its poor copy. turn from the
copy. badly DONE to the original. It's
setting is the quaint life and quiet
scenes of Galilcc. At once We think
of the night prayer in the hills and the
teaching on the mount, the central
figure that of a man who speaks 10 the
people of the realities of life. But we
must not linger with the picture. 1t Is
enough to catch its spirit Life Is
swift, and its course is onward. Rc.
ligion is a present reality. 1t is every
where abroad in the life of the modern
world In worship? Yes. In good
living? Yes. Hunt for religion in the
beliefs of men, and you lose it. Bind 1t
and bound it, and you have only husks.
Live it. and you know it for what it is.
Go where life goes, 20 where the great
worlds work is done, and YOU will find
real religion. Is the church its audible
voice? Then it should bear the live
coal upon its affairs. 1t should be in
love with truth and in touch with life.
1t should be modern, with message
to modern man. 1t should lead, COM
mand, advance. 1t should worship the
living God. not learn ritual or humble
over relies in the sepulchrc of the dead.
SO long poorly taught. we can hardly
think of religion apart from the church,
its rites and dogmas. Baptism, for III
stance, awaits us at the outer gate.
Shall it be the condition of our passing
through? Does the kingdom of God
wait for baptism? Is the rite Il vital
part of religion? Men have been bap-
tized; but what of humanity? What Of
the round world? Are the unbaptzcd
outside the gate? Baptism? Oh, go
out some summer morning, and stand
uncovered in the fields. Wait rcvcr"nt-
~ for the sunrise. Be tcndcrly af1cc-
toned toward the world. BE thankful
for life and not afraid of death. Let
nature be to you sanctuary, the world
n holy place. Invite the dew of the
morning to wet your head; and in that
hour of stiffness, reverence and joy, You
will receive a baptism, the end of all
nOvtatc and probation.
Or what of the ordination of min
lister of religion? Does the candidate
stand in the apostolic line: Has he
had the hands Of Il bishop on his head?
Has he been cOnsrCrated by rite
which separates him from his fellows?
Is his office holy? Are such questions
of grave Importance: Or do they con-
Germ anybody in this busy world but
the ccclcSiaStic? Indeed. what is a
minister of religion more than a man?
Or what can ceremony add to man?
Not by any miracle can a priest he
made man if he he not first q man.
Fools and knavcS have been ordained
to the priesthood, but neither bishops
hands nor the most sacred rite can
make a fool learn wisdom. or teach n
clown to be serious, or put an honest
soul into knavc.
And then there are the apostolic pco'
pie. These form an exclusive set in
the kingdom Of God, sort Of chosen
people. They have gone through the
gate, and have shut the gate behind
them. Nothing of ceremonial or belief
has been left undone. They have taken
out insurance for eternity. But what
of humanity? What Of the round
world? Where stand the majority of
men and women? In the winnowing of
souls, why so few grains of wheat? AS
l try to answer, even in part, ! think
of those who are doing the worlds
work think of the men and women
who are fighting the worlds battles
and winning its victories. think of
the shoulders beneath tho pOndcrouS
wheel of progress, now rolling on, now
down to the hub in the mre. l think
of those who are lending Il hand in the
gigantic world struggle for the suprcm-
aCy of righteousness. l think of those
in the vanguard who light watch-tircS
on the hills, who are educating, human
izing, libcrating. Or l think of the
gentle hands, the swift feet, the tender
hearts, the angels of mercy and peace,
in whom dwell sweetness and light.
Who are they? BY what name are they
called? TO what church. if any, do
they belong? Idle the question, i'm
possible the answer. Sufficient is it
that they establish Christian civilian
ton. No, not an exclusive SGT, not a
small division of humanity, but these
lovers and comrades and workers who
walk together, constitute the Kingdom
"
world, hopeless our human lot!
Humanity has made many expert
ments, and from failure learned wis
dom. All that the ecclesiastic would
to-day teach has been tried, and 1t has
failed. At least for 1000 years the re-
ligion of dogma and ceremonial ruled
the world. These ten centuries are dis
tinguishable by the supremacy Of
blind faith. For 1000 years men knclt
to the ecclcsiastic, and in death turned
to him as the arbiter of their eternal
destiny. / do not forget that this alb
solutism of the church forbade prog
ress. l do not forget that it made
scholarship dangerous calling, that it
set price on high intelligence, that it
stamped every new thought as heresy,
that it burned the thinker and hated
the truth. And all this was done in
the name Of religion. 1t was done in
defense of The faith. 1t was done ior
hn