The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-12-14
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. Or. +: CALVIN MecLELLANDs
Subject: jesus Idea OF God.

Brooklyn. N. YIN the Memorial
Presbyterian Church, Sunday morning,
the pastor, the Rev. DR.. T. Calvin Nc
Clelland, preached the fourth sermon
in the series on. Jesus Idea" Inc
special subject was: Seriousness OF
Believing in Jesus Idea of God" Inc
text was Matthew v:44 and 40. ur.
McClelland said:
There is no Christian doctrine for
which you could get so many men to
vote as the Fatherhood of God. Moth
ing can exhaust the name Father" 1t
is the: g!addest, but the greatest, the
dearest, but the deepest, the sweetest,
but the soiemneSt, name men can frame
to fit5Go6. We cannot put TOO much
into the word, but we can put too little
into It. It is the risk OF that-of put
ting too little into. the name Rather
which gives us our theme. The theme
is: aThe SERIOUSNESS Of Believing in
the Fatherhood Of God"
There are two kinds Of men who put
too little into the idea of Gods Father
hood, The first man is he who prefers
to think of God as Judge. To call COO
q Father, he thinks, is to enthrone In
dulgence. He views the doctrine with
suspicion lest it rob God Of authority,
extract the fear Of sin, and relieve the
restfaint of conscience. This man de
plores the! universal note in the preach
ing uf Jesus idea OF, God. If he
preached it he would make 1t an ESQ
teric doctrine to be mentioned only
to those who had been Initiated by con-
version into the secrets OF grace
The#second man who puts too little
.1nto tie name Father" is he who sees
nothing in Fatherhood but sentiment.
He thinks Of God as too soft-hearted to
rule, a doting grandfather to- weak to
punish. This man has the idea tnat
leve is too tender to blame man for
edying off when goodness hurts. costs
or is improbable For this second
man the thought Of God as Father
makes life a game, the world 8 play
ground and the'infnite pity ground for
infinite excuse.
To these two I bring this message
Of the: seriousness of saying, Il believe
in God the Father Almighty" The ar
ucle Of the creed is the most precious
and for these reasons
First, one who claims God as tather
must2be ready to answer the question,
What: kind Of son are you? Father
hood is something that we never think
OF when we talk about animals. The
parent Of boy we call father. The
parent Of a foal we call sire. Here
IS a difference The idea rather sug-
gestsScare, affection and forethought.
The idea "sire" conveys only the
thought of procreation. we do not ex-
meet fhe colts sire to care for him, ex-
hibit affection or take thought for his
future. But if q man treated his son
as q horse treats his young We would
say of that man, he has never been a
father to the boy. He had done all that
the animal did for his offspring. but ne
had left undone these things which
make fatherhood. And those things
involve character, they imply faith.
hope and love, they ale not physical,
but spiritual, activities. - :.
Blythe same sign you never call
Young horse a ''son;" he is "foal."
The itlea 44.son'E suggests gratitude, 10y
atty and obedience. The idea Of "foaf'
conveys only the thought Of animal
descent. 1--WE do not expect the colt to
exhibit gratitude to$his; sire, to abide
i'm the same stable or to evidence oDe-
dienee to him. But if q youth treated
his father as a young horse treats his
parent we would say of4that YOUTH he
ia inhmman. He nightdo all that the
animal did for his progenitor, but he
would have left undone those things
which make human sonship. And
those things involve character, they
imply trust: affection and filial sub
mission. and%these: things are not phys
1cal but spiritual activities.
Sosthen, fatherhood involves a. rela-
tionship and that relationship involves
something owed on both sides. 1t as
sumes likeness in ideas, tastes and dis
position; it claims reciprocity in char
acter. Can the relationship with God
expect less? You see the idea of
fatherhood is, like the rule. about the
square of the hypotheneuse Of right
angled triangle. Whether it be a right
angled triangle drawn on q child's
blackboard or q right-angled triangle
formed by three stars in the Milky
Way, the rule works-the square on
the hypotheneuse Of a right-ang!ed tri-
angle.is equal to the sumof the squares
On the other two sides. This father
and son relationship, like mathematics,
works everywhere, on the earth, In the
heavens.
/ cannot say .Father" until ! have.
begun to answer His call "son;" His
Fatherhood does not exist for me until
have made my sonship exist for Him,
until i have shared in His character:
He Bspirit and I must be spirit, too;
semefAing more than body to be
wafmed, clothed and fed: something
more than an animal to fight like a
dog, root like pig, sing like bird or
hive like bee. must be the child Of
the Eternal Spirit. the. son Of Infinite
Faith; Infinite Hope, Infinite Love.
A Fathers rights are unquestioned,
absolute, ungiven. He has the right to
expect, everything to be -reciprocated
that He has given to US. The old
fundamental need of personal struggle,
personal consecra ton, personal holiness
is doubled, Life is more critical than
ever.@SI have no loophole to crawl out