The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-06
MIR. COBBS ON LENT
EARNEST SERMON AT ST. JOHNS
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Young Rector Impresses Congregation That Season 10 One of Vital Me- cessity to the Christian .,-
 RelleiOn.

I RcN. r<uWaT0 EilefDe GOODS, rectOr OI St. Johns Episcopal Church, at the II O'CLOCK service yesterday morning ad- dressed his congregation on the sig nincance and duties of the members of the congregation during the Lenten l season.
 | Special stress was laid in contradict ing the general impression that Lent IS season which is observed by the AEpiscopal Church purely through a matter of form and because 1t was ob- served by the olden Episcopalians. He 1 wanted to impress on the members or the congregation that the observance | or Lent was necessary and vital form of worship which did much to uphold the Christian religion.
 MT. Cobbs spoke from St. Matthew, vi 3-5-17:
 When thou doest alms." l When thou prayest."
 When thou fastest"
 The young minister spoke as follows:
 Had we the time, it would be in- teresting and helpful to gather up the many popular and superficial and false conceptions of the meaning and use of Lent prevailing without and also with in the church.
 But manifold as these conceptions are. and strangely diverse the one from the other. they all may be included and explained under one great general head. They all represent and interpret a certain point of view, particular caste of mind, a shallow and erroneous understanding of the church. | What am trying to say is that to the minds of many good people within the church and without, the season called Lent upon which we are about l to enter Is something local. ecclesiasti- cal and therefore entirely arbitrary. In a word, that the observance of Lent is matter of church discipline and is not therefore an essential fac- tor in Christian life and character.
 If man belongs to the Episcopal Church, where the observance of Lent is enjoined 1t Is his duty to comply with the requirements of that church. But if a man should belong to the Methodist Church, where Lent Is not regarded or observed. then of course the man Is under no obligations to keep Lent, and in no way Is his Chris tian character weakened. I think that Is, a fair and a sober statement of the attitude of the popular mind regarding | the meaning and the observance of Lent.
 Liberal and fair as that statement may seem to you. 1t Is just against that | conception that I want to utter today a word of protest. And I want to go | so far as to say that unless the truth
 
 the truth of Lent is vital and q nec- essary and an essential truth in Chris | tian life and character. then the sooner the church gets rid of the observance of Lent the better for us and for all Christcndom.
 'If the observance of Lent is only a peculiarity, or a custom. or a law of the Episcopal Church, and does not incor- porate an essential truth of Christian ity, then the Episcopal Church had better take heed lest she give occasion for offence to her brethren, for no one will question the statement that the observance of Lent marks her off from the Protestant world about her, and constitutes one of the most insep- erab1e barriers to Christian unity and, fellowship. The church may look very much like the various Christian bodies about her. until she comes to her | Lenten season. but from thence no one can mistake her identity. 1 Now I repeat 1t In all earnestness that if the keeping of Lent is merely matter of ecclesiastical polity and of local church government if it is arbitrary eccleciasticism and not es- sential christianity, then the Episcopal church Is responsible for having built up hard barrier in front of Chris | tian unity, and of having made unes- sentials the occasion of offense to our brethren.
 My purpose therefore this morning is to try to establish the position of the church, namely, that the meaning and the observance of Lent are neces- sary and vital. first to the fullest un- derstanding of Christian doctrine. and. secondly to the highest living the l Christian life
 | Do not misinterpret my statement-- what l say is this. the observance of Lent is necessary to the highest em- | bodiment of Christian life. Mark you, I do not say that you must observe Lent | as this church does: her customs have come to us from the very apostles them- | selves. rich in the association of all the splendid years of Christian warfare and hallowed by the zeal and devotion of those brave soldiers and saints of Christ-whcse day of struggleGs end- | ed-and whose victory Is won. Her ways are sober and tried and wise. Her ordinances are beautiful and im- posing.
 But If you like. you may break away from all these associations and age long customs: you may change the name of Lent to some more pleass ing modern name-you may change the time from spring to winter. to sum- mer, or in autumn. You may change the number of days rrom forty to thirty or even to ten. You may have one church service a month or you may have five every day. But the very moment you lay your hands upon any one of the truths behind the observ- ance of Lent, you lay your hands up- on an essential truth of Christian doc. Urine and Christian character. Don't be so easily deceived;- the church is not a child. she is not fool sne Is not a bigot. She doesn't say. you must do just exactly as I do-you must observe Lent just when and how l observe 1t. That would be the part of the child or of the bigot. On the other hand she says don't think that am fool! I have reached the truth that is behind the form and the custom and while the observance of Lent may often be formal and unreal in many instances, yet there is a life truth behind 1t all, and which. thank God, some of my children have found.
 Should you ask me. then what is this truth underlying the customary observance of Lent. I should quote to you from the words of Christ in His Sermon on the Mount, three simple phrases as embodyng the church's conception of the truth of Lent.
 "'When thou doest alms
 When thou prayest.
 "'When thou fastest
 What thvee words express so fully the church's conception of Lent? Aims giving, praying, fasting. Then take tbasa worda and hear them from