Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-29
PICTURES JESUS AS ONE
OF THE WORKING CLASS
SERMON DEALS WITH MASTERS
VIEWS ON LABOR
Rev. MIR. Smither Says That Following
the Teachings of the Bible Would
Reduce the Class Struggle to a
Condition of Peace

Rev. A. C. Smither has been preach
ing during the winter Il series of SER
mons at the First Christian church up
on THE Teachings of Jesus" Apropos
OF the present agitation of the labor
problem he preached last night upon
THE Teachings of Jesus Upon the Sub
ject of Labor" He said in part:
Jesus was the worlds great teacher.
Part of his greatness as a teacher is
found in the application of his teaching
to the practical problems of life. This
IL strilIingly true of the labor problem.
His teaching concerning property,
properly understood and applied, would
bring a solution of the much vexed
problem of labor and capital
He was himself laboring man, be-
longing to the humbleSt class of work.
men. From this class he selected his
apostles to whom was to be committed
the great task of establishing Chris
tianity in the world. Christianity en-
joined labor upon its followers, teach
ing them that if they would not work
neither should they eat. No greater
honor could be put upon honest labor
than it received from the life and
teachings of Jesus.
His direct teaching is equally as
clear and as emphatic as his example.
He enunciated the fundamental princi-
pie that the laborer is worthy of his
hire. This is principle of wide ap-
plication and Christianity has nothing
but denunciation for the man who de-
prives q laborer of his well-earned COM
pensation. The doctrine that men
should be rewarded in proportion to
their labor is a fundamental one and
underlies the whole system of reward
as set forth in the word of God. Christ
teaches the great truth that 'all ye are
brethren; one is MASTER the great doc
trine of human equality. He obliterateS
all the distinctions of master and slave,
of master and worker, and teaches that
fundamentally and essentially we are
all equal, that we are brethren to min
lister to each others good and not en-
emies to seek others hurt. The whole
doctrine of human brotherhood received
new meaning and emphasis under the
teaching of the son of God.
"The great struggle between capital
and labor grows out of an utter dis
regard of this teaching. Each party to
the conflict ignores and disregards the
rights of the other
"The effect of Jesus teaching on the
worlds labor market was tremendous.
In fact, when Jesus began to teach
labor had little or no market in the
world. The labor of that age was ac-
complished almost entirely by the
slave. Only as the doctrines of human
equality We're preached in the world
were such conditions overcome.
Heather nations offer little market for
labor today. See the miserable pittance
that India and China offer laborers.
''The advance of the worlds civil
ization and Christianization may be
marked by the wages of the worlds
laboring classes. Our country has per-
haps reached the worlds highest civil
ization and we pay the highest price
for our labor. Very much of our pros
perity is enjoyed by the wage Garner.
The average brickayer makes more
money than the average lawyer. The
carpenter makes better wages than the
average minister of the gospel"