The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-12-22
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON By
REV. Or. T. CALVIN McclELLAND.
Subject: Jesus Idea OF God.

BROOKLYN. y. Yin the Memorial
| Pre- sbyterian Church. Sunday morning,
! the pastor. the Rev. Or. L. Calvin Nc
| Clelland. preached the fourth sermon
| i'm the series on Jesus Idea The
| special subject was: Seriousness OF
Believing in Jesus Idea of God" The
text was Matthew WA and 40. Or.
McClelland said:
There is no Christian doctrine for
which you could get SO many men 10
vote as the Fatherhood OF God. Moth
| ing can exhaust the name Father II
is the gladdest, but the greatest. the
dearest, but the deepest, the sweetest,
but the solemneSt. name men can frame
10 fit God. We cannot put too much
into the word. but we can put too little
into ii. 1t is the risk of that-of puJ-
ting too little into the name "Father"
which gives us our theme. The theme
is: The Seriousness OF Believing in
the Fatherhood Of God"
There are two kinds ot 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 God
Father, he thinks. is to enthrone in
diligence. He views the doctrine with
suspicion lest it rob God of authority,
extract the fear Of sin. and relieve the
restraint Of conscience. This man de-
plores the universal note in the preach
ing OF Jesus idea Of God. Ii he
preached it he would make it 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
into the name Father" is he who sees
nothing in Fatherhood but sentiment.
He thinks Of God rs too softhearted 10
rule, a doting grandfather too weak TO
punish. This man has the idea that
love is too tender 10 blame man for
edging off when goodness hurts. costs
or is Improbable. For this second
man the thought of God as a Father
makes life a game. the world play
ground and the infinite pity ground for
infinite excuse.
To these two l bring this message
of the seriousness of saying, Il believe
in God the Father Almighty" The ar
ticle Of the creed is the most precious
and the most perilOus for us to repeat,
and for these reasons.
First, one who claims God as Father
must be 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 a boy we call a father. The
parent of Il foal we call a sire. Here
is difference. The idea father sug-
gests care, affection ard focethOught.
The idea "Sire" conveys only the
thought of procreatiOn. We do not eX-
pect the colts sire 10 care for him. eX-
hibit affection or take thought for his
future. But if a man treated his son
as horse treats his young We would
say of that man, he has never been Il
father to the boy. He had done all that
the animal did for his offspring, but he
had left undone those things which
make fatherhood. And those things
involve character. they imply faith.
hope and love, they are not physical,
but spiritual activities.
BY the same sign you never call n
young horse son." he is "foal."
The idea "son" suggests gratitude. 10y
atty and obedience. The idea of 'foai"
conveys only the thought of animal
descent. We do not expect the colt to
exhibit gratitude to his sire. to abide
in the same stable or to evidence ODE
dience to him. But if youth treated
his father as n young horse treats his
parent we would say of that youth, he
is inhuman. He might do 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
ical but spiritual activities.
So then, fatherhood involves rela-
IL. A. A lii
something owed on both sides. 1t as
sumes likeness in ideas, tastes and dis
position: it claims reciprocity in char
hcter. 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 child'S
blackboard or a rlght-angled triangle
formed by three stars in the Milky
Way, the rule works--the square on
the hypotheneuse Of a right-angled tri-
angle is equal TO the sum Of 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 l have
DtSllll lp answer Ills vail SUI. his
Fatherhood does not exist for me until
| have made my sonShip exist for Him,
until | have shared in His character.
He is spirit and l must be spirit, too /;
something more than a body to be
warmed. clothed and fed: something
more than an animal TO fight like
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 10 be reciprocated
that He has given to us. The old
fundamental need Of personal struggle
personal conservation, personal holiness
is doubled. Life is more critical than
ever. have no loophole TO crawl out
of: the lines are tightly drawn, | must
be i'm my word what He is in His uni
verse. From Sinai. IL is said. the
smoke ascended as from furnace. and
the mountain quakes greatly when out