Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-08-24
The FRIEND OF GOD
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
A Scholarly and Polished Sermon by
Rev. j. D. Burrel.

A Scholarly and Polished Sermon by
Rev. J. d. Burrel.
Brooklyn, N. Y.-Sunday morning the
Rev. Joseph Dunn Burrell. pastor of
the Classon Avenue Presbyterian
Church, preached an interesting SER
mon on the subject, 'sThe Friend Of
Sod" The text was from James ii:23:
~ was called the Friend of Cod"
Mr.. Burrell said:
Inc figure Of Abraham is one OF the
most majestic spared to us by the past.
He stands before us in singular dig
nifty, serenity and power, and his su-
preme quality was that he was the
friend of God.
The phrase is peculiar. 1t is not said
that God was his friend, but that he
was Gods friend. There is a differ
enc We accept the friendship of
God as a matter of course. like the air
we breathe. But the thought that man
may be a friend to God scarcely comes
to us at all.
There is something deeply touching
about that thought. For we usually
look upon God al sufficient unto Him
self. Yet in this other respect we see
Him longing for friends. That desire
IS common among men, for there are
many lonesome, misunderstood, hungry
for a friendly word of appreciation.
Now think of God also as misunder-
stood, grieved by neglect, yearning to
be loved. Then think of Abraham as
giving God his heart. You see how
much it meant to God that Abraham
was his friend.
One is led to be the friend Of another
by liking him. The reason why we
like him may be inexplicable to our
selves, for there is no accounting for
tastes. All fruits are the gifts of God
to men, yet some we enjoy and others
we reject. All people are children of
God, and we can love every one Of
them in a disinterested and fraternal
way. But this does not interfere with
our liking some better than others.
Even u Saviour felt this human ten
dency and was drawn by it to a spe-
cial intimacy with the apostle John.
I suppose there never was a person
about whom people differed more than
Charles Lamb. Some could not endure
his perpetual raillery, his bad puns,
his stammer. Others knew him to be
one of the rarest spirits, subtle in in
tellect, exquisite in taste and grandly
unselish.
Now that liking which makes friend
ship between man and man makes it
between man and God. We can pic
ture Abraham at the close of the day,
when the tents had been pitched and
the evening meal eaten, going apart
from the camp for a little space that
he might open his soul to God. We
can imagine David at night time while
the city slept, mounting to the roof of
the palace and beneath the canopy. Of
stars %communing with the Most High.
We can see Christ escaping from the
crowds that thrOnged His steps and
eagerly hiding for a brief time in the
seclusion of some mountain top that
He might be alone with His Father.
It WAS because all three of these liked
1t is a question worth asking wheth-
er we like God. I do not say reverence
and honor, 1 do not say submit to and
obey. Do we like God? It is a pecu-
liar question. Perhaps asking it makes
us wonder whether u appreciation of
God does not lack something Of the
warm thrOb of life.
Friendship also involves similarity
of tastes. In fact, most Of our friend
ships come about through our being
brought together in the pursuit of some
common interest, by an ocean voyage
a golf club, a board of directors, q
Sunday-school class, for example. PEG
pie whose chief interests differ are not
likely to become friends; Emerson and
Boss Tweed, for example.
There is no better field for studying
the laws of friendship than a college
Young men or women who have known
each other pleasantly enter in the sam
class, go together for a time, the1
gradually, without anyill feeling what
ever draw apart in order to form othel
combinations. This shifting is gener
ally due to the dominating power O.
some common interest-French, boat
!, ing, editing a paper together, member
ship in the same fraternity and tn
!, like.
The same principle holds true in tn
friendship between man and God. I
is brought about by similarity of taste
and interests. Supreme in God is tn
: sense Of order, whose moral side j
righteousness. How can He have an
friendship with a man who lacks thi
sense of order? Who does not min
being a glutton or a drunkard OF i'm
pure, or telling a lie or taking what
not his? AS Paul says, what fellow
snip natn righteousness WITH unrlgn
t eousness?" And another character!
tic of God is His spirit of charity. Br
3 suppose a man is Indifferent, hard an
o selfish, prone to cherish grudges and
a do unkindnesses, how is friendshi
= possible between him and God? III
;. that loveth not his brother whom |
IL hath seen, how can he love God Whol
A he hath not SEEM"
It is important, then, for us to ask
n we like what God likes, if we Walt
le highly, as He does, the soul, the spiri
ual life, a character of purity and goo
ness. These are the foundations
q friendship between heaven and eartl
~ Again, part Of friendship is loyalt
1 But loyalty how far? Through bad r
d port as well as through good repor
y Assuredly. The friendship that w.
not endure strain is of little worth.
" Twenty years ago a young nan W.
le swept away by the excitement Of ga1
10 bling in Wall Street, and misused tt
o. funds Of the bank of which he W;
= president. The deficit Of millions W;
made good. But, of course, the d