Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-08-03
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
, SUNDAY SERMON :
= = y .
A Scholarly Discourse BY \
Rev. Charles @, Arnes.
~

Rev. Charles G. Ames. 1t is entitled
1.-THE Glory of Simple Rectitude." and
was preached from the text, blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filed"
Matt. v. 6.
BLESSED are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filed The man who says
that has q claim on the reverent and
grateful attention of all mankind. He
gives voice to the universal reason
and conscience; he inspires the highest
and hottest hope. Heaven and earth
may pass away, but the words that
give life are themselves immortal
Like the utterances of the sibyl they
are Simple, unadorned, nnperfumed
and reaching through the ages, because
of God"
Here is one sign of truth. 1t affects
us like part of the permanent order
of things: it is all Of one stuff with
the word and with our own proper
nature. 1t has the ring of reality.
Like sunlight it carries its own evi.
dence; and to the sane mind it rec
ommends itself as sunlight does to the
healthy eye; but it is concealed from
our grossness by its own simplicity
and transparency. Who realizes this
splendid miracle of the common day?
In the same way we have become too
familiar with some of the most OBJ
vious and important aspects of spirit
ual truth. These Beattudes of Jesus
may seem to be worn smooth. We have
heard them from our intimacy: their
force and beauty appeal to unrespond-
ing hearts.
If we could have stood, one day long
ago, among the Syrian peasants, on the
slope of a hill in Galilee, and listened
to these sayings as they fell fresh and
clear cut as newly minted gold from
the living lips of the new prophet,
perhaps we, too, should have been
"astonished at the doctrine" we should
have wondered at the gracious words
that proceeded out of His mouth
Did it not seem AS if Nature herself
had at last found voice, and as if
that voice We're speaking straight to
her children. saying clearly and cheer
lily, yet soberly and solemnly, what all
men vaguely think or feel, but can
rarely put into words?
Yet these Beatitudes are remarkable
for what they do not say. The sen.
fences of Jesus seldom run in the .
grooves of old commonplace. He does
not sit there. like thu scribe of The
synagogue, complaccntly reciting. in
tones that make men sleepy. the vir-
tues and piety of dead ancestry,
as If it were enough to have Abraham
for father and Moses for law
giver. He pronounces no blessing on
religious responsibility. dccorous con-
formty, doctrinal soundness, loyalty to
the standard. fidelity to the traditions,
or even diligence to the routine Of OBJ
servancc and devotion. Any priest in
the audience must have felt that a
slight was put upon his great office, as
If the speaker had forgotten to do ii
honor. The temple. the altar. and the
sacred books are all mentioned with
respect yet they somehow fall into
the background. Humanity is brought
directly fronting Divinity. as if the
pure heart might see God and the i'm
pure might know the cause of their
blindness.
Many a man in that company must
have hung his head as the rehukc
came home to him. Complacent world
lings, men proud of their estates or
their learning doubtless stood there.
expecting that He would confirm the
worlds vulgar Judgment which says,
blessed are the prosperous, the Dopu-
lar, the cultivated ana the comfort
able" But no. The lips that opencd
in blessing made them shrink as if He
had uttered n curse. Every world fell
like blow on their idols The vir.
tues which had strutted so proudly
before God and man began to unmask
as ugly vices as He went on to say:
blessed are the men of humble mind.
the men of good will, the mprciful. the
pure in heart. Yea. blessed arc they
who hunger and thirst for righteous
ness, so that for the sake of being
right they dare and bear all losses
and pains. and willingly let their
names be cast out as evil"
No comfort here for the Splf-right-
eous. the self-satsfied. the salf-willcd.
the Self-Seeking. But scattered through
the company were men and women
who felt their emptiness and poverty.
who took no credit for their ancestry,
their accomplishments or their social
standing, who hardly dared so much as
to lift up their eyes to heaven. Yet as
they listened all the world above.
around, within seemed to change.
The awful Jehovah. whom they had
thought of as throncd afar in threat.
ening majesty. seemed smiling
Father who wished His children to be
near Him and to be rs perfect rs HIM
self They drew in deeper draughts
OF the country air; their very emptiness
seemed to make so much more room
for God and goodness. Their cry Of
inward need changed into childlike
trust.
Here was indeed messenger of
good tidingS. Here was doctrine
as worthy Of man as it was worthy of
God. And does not all the best
thought of our own time still travel
this way? Has the weary search of
mankind through the ages found any.
thing better than Righteousness
which is rooted in sonshp to the
highest. and which blossoms into ser
vice to the lowest? Has not our clear
est conception of the divine ever been
an expansion and idealzation of the
best qualities of the human? The one
fact which we most certainly know
is our own existence: and that fact, If
we look deep enough and honestly
enough we shall find the revelation
and witness of God. For. when a man
has rightly reverenced the DEGREES OF
conscience, he has heard the Voice;
when he has really made acquaintance
with his own nature, he has seen the
Face.
There are times when feel entirely
satisfied with this inward proof of
realities. There are high moments
when there is need of no other eyi-
dence of God than the fact that | am
alive. And there are times when the
sight of good man, or something seen
in the face of a child or some stir In