Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-06-08
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!
: SUNDAY SERMON F.:
= = = = d
y A holarly Discourse By q
3 Bishop Burgess. D. D.
= ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

l uIl SlIllOtl VlNl ans NNiN"'
art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Jesus answered ana SAD:
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; flesh
and blood hath not revealed 1t unto
thee, but My Father which Is IN
Heaven. | say also unto thee: Thou
art Peter, and upon this rock will
build MY church, He said:
These words can be scarcely under
stood apart from their context The
author of the hampton Lectures
pointed out that Caesarea was the
borderland of the Jew and the Cen
tile. and thus was fitting place for
proclaiming the divinity Of Him who
came to save. not one race. but all
mankind. Later study of our Lords
life revealed the fact that He was at
that time truly in exile. 1t becomes
almost self-evident, as we read the
Gospels. that our Lord was suffering
depression and felt that His work
was, to certain extent, failure.
The cities of Capernaum and Corazin,
where He had preached and labored,
were all against Him: ana you can all
recall the sad farewell which He gave
TO those cities. In the Gospel of st.
John we can see evidence that large
number of people who at first had
believed in Jesus were gradually es-
tranged from Him by His teaching
and by His unpopularity. He had
been forced to leave His native land
and go into exile. The words which
He spake to the Syrophocnccian
women, at is not meet TO take the
chldrcn's bread and give it to the
dogs" shows the sadness. almost bit
ter sadness: and when He came to
His own His own received Him not
In one way and another, we can see
how bitterly He felt and. while we
have no real picture, yet. ncverthe-
less, we can, in fancy. see Him. MS we
read the Gospels, with His little band,
going ahead of them through those
northern valleys: and we know that
it was no figure Of speech. but the
truth, when He said: "Thc foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have
nests; but the Son of Man hath not
where to lay His head
Now this confession of Peter marks
the end of this beriod of exile. From
that time on He set His face toward
Jerusalem. Almost immediately there
followed the TRANSPORTATION on, prob
ably. Mount IIermon. and then He
started. with His twelve apostles. to
Jerusalem to suffer and to die. Now
this passage reveals deep truth. 1t
reveals the foundation on which
Christ built His church. But, rs you
understand, we must not lose sight Of
His humanity The hcreSy which
sees in Christ an unreal man. one who
cannot be touched by our sorrows, onr
joys or our diSappointmcntS, has al
WAYS been condemned in the councils
and by the or, eds Of the church. our
Lord could not have been truly man
If He had not hungercd and thirSted
and been weary sometimes. He had
not sought for help if sometimes He
had felt the depression of loneliness
and disappointment. though only once
did it find expression, namely, on the
cross when He said: "My God, My
God. why hast Thou forsakcn Me-
This period of exile, then, was Il per-
iod of depression. Men had deserted
Him by thousands; the people whom
He had cured and taught were all
gone now And perhaps He feared.
as He asked His apostles that crucial
question: "Whom do men say that J.,
the Son of Man, amT IT, however,
He did fear, whatever He feared was
dissipated by the perfect faith Of
Peters clear. strong answer: Thou
art the Christ, the son of the living
God" And one who has ever tried
to do real work for humanity and to
help forward the Kingdom of God
must have known something OF this
depression, and must also have known
something of this JOY when at least
He had found one man who believed
in Him and in His message and who
was ready to stand out before the
world and confess his faith.
Our Lord, then, founded His church
upon man-upon Peter, if You will.
He did not found ii upon Il doctrine, or
n building. or an army, or treasury.
No. but on a warm rugged human
heart. He said to Peter: Thou art Il
rock. and on this rock | will build My
church and the gates of he'll shall not
prevail against it, Those who want
to see in this passage Il long, hIcrati-
cal line. ever connecting itself with II
bishopric. must. | suppose. b" allowed
~ nus ',I'' u, -. -, ,',
hFe' bu' Il Sn''e clI'l'IHnI WIZ "iN "' >
sorting that He would found His
church upon loving Human hearts,
upon men who believed in Him. in
hohor anu u'Sl'o''ol' ''l'ouSn Soo" ~
port OF eNlI lnlol'' ia SWN''rnH ",',
hen''h' as wen II" III ,l"N'lN 'u"
eNlle. our loru o''I'N''' III i'ri'' ~
trusted mem. II mas 'e'h we" S'Io
OF ll'h ,hhl liuISll''ioi,' even "'lS'r'
were SPOKEN ol men, p"' 10 ''nnelillI:
never. Man. rs man. was worthy u
respect.
Now that has not been the attitude
of the great writers and generals and
leaders of mankind. Alexander. Gaze
sar. REGARDED men us so many pawnS
to be moved about as they willed.
"What are Il million souls TO me-
boosted Napoleon when he was