Catoctin clarion., 1905-12-14
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: ! SUNDAY SERMON :
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q A Scholarly Discourse By +
3 Rev. Dr.. MoClelland.
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Clelland, preached thu fourth sermon
in the series on "Jefus' ldea.. Inc
special subject was:g Seriousness OF
Believing in Jesus Lea of God" me
text was Matthew S:44 and 45. Dr.
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 gladdest, but the greatest, the
dearest, but the deepest, the sweetest,
but the solemnest, name men can frame
to fit God. We cannot put too much
into the word, but we can put too little
into 1t. 1t is the risk of that--Of put
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 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 God
q 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.
% Cal +no enff !, NJ IN
rule, doting grandfather too weak to
punish. This man has the idea that
love is too tender to blame man for
edging off when goodness hurts, costs
or is Improbable. For this second
man the thought of God as Father
makes life a game, the world play
ground and the infinite pity ground for
infinite excuse.
To these two bring this message
of the seriousness of saying, II 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 a 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 foal we call sire. Here
is a difference. The idea father. .sug-
gests care, affection and fOrethOught.
The idea "sire' conveys only the
thought of procreation. We do not ex-
pect the colts sire to care for him, ex
hibit affection or take thought for his
fut, p,,t fn1 hIS
as a 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 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 a
young horse son." he is a "fOal'
The idea "son" suggests gratitude, 10y.
atty and obedience. The idea Of "foar'
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 Obe-
dience to him. But If youth treated
his father as a young horse treats his
parent we would say Of that youth, he
is inhuman. lie 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 filal sub
mission, and these things are not phys
ical but spiritual activities.
xIn,, 80. ,,,x. vol
tonship and that relationship involves
something owed OH 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 hypQtheneuse of n right
angled triangle. Whether it be right
angled triangle drawn OH chid's
blackboard or right-angled triangle
formed by three stars in the Milky
Way, the rule works-the square on
the hypotheneuse Of rightangled 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. have
begun to answer His call SON." 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 I must be spirit, too;
something more than body to be
warmed, clothed and fed; something
more than an animal to fight like a
Ion tlSa nj ci,, a ip1 M
hive like bee. l must be the child Of
the Eternal Spirit, the son of Infinite
Faith, Infinite Hope, Infinite Love.
A Fathers rights are unQuestloned,
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 conservation, personal holiness
is doubled. Life is more critical than
ever. l have no lOophole to crawl out
Of; the lines are tightly drawn, | must
be in my word what He is in His uni
verse. From Sinai, it is said, the
smoke ascended as from furnace, and
the mountain quakes greatly when out
of thick cloud with thunderings and
lightnlngs the King gave His command
to Israel. On q hillside sweet with the
peaceful odors of plowed field, quiet
save for the pipings of the birds, under
a blue Syrian sky which mirrored its
fair sun in Gallee's lake. the Father
spoke through His great Son His will
for the family. Yet / think Sinai's
thou shalt not kll' were easier to
listen to than Jesus "blessed are the
merciful." The Kings words, thou
shalt not commit adultery" less than
the Fathers "the pure in heart shall
see God" The Sovereign's words,
thou shalt have no other gods before
Me-" as an ant-hll to the snow capped
Alpine summit, "Ye shall be perfect as
your Heavenly Father is perfect"
Second-It is a serious thing to be-
lieve in the Fatherhood of God be.