The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-03

The father no more than the son, the
son no less than the father exists Tor
| that home. 1t is this mutual instinct
of, being supported and supporting
| which makes us sing, There Is no
place like home"
So here, again, the axiom or 1ne
earthly relationship we call nome Is
true for the celestial relationship we
call religion. This is the extension OF
| the old Fifth Commandment in re-
| Igion-"Loye your enemies and pray
| for them that prosecute you; that ye
NAV be sons of your Father who is IN
| hea ven: for He maketh His sun to rise
on the evil and the good, n senoeeh
| rain on the just and the unjust"
| Like God the Father, h Son U
| have q love that is boundless, ungrudg-
ing and gratuitous. The famliy, NOT
n favorite here and another there,
but all the members must receive WITH
| ont bias, be blessed without prejudice,
| he cared for without faGoritism. Inc
| son must live SO that no man can be
noorer. no woman sadder, no child
more wretched for aught he has done
or left undone. He must live SO That
| through his words and deeds men may
| see truth, reverence, purity, and pos
sess the means Of happiness, and ne
must so live not for profit, prudence or
| popularity; he must SO live, though II
| means 4 curse, q crown of thorns ana
q cross.
And if we seek to know what tnat
! means, what sonship involves, we go
TO Him who taught US to s2y Our
| Father" His life is just spent in 60
! ing about doing good; He does so much
| for the imperfect, the defective, the
| degenerate, that He gets the nickname
of friend Of publicans n sinners"
| He never bears a grudge, He
remembers an insult, He never seems
to see anything in the men about HIM
| but their need Of the good things He
has to give away. And He gives, gives
| until when He comes to die He ma
| nothing worth gambling for but His
| cloak-the one that was pure White,
woven without seam. That day, d
day He died, the men He had lived
| for led Him away like q lamb to the
slaughter. And while they were max
| ing the wounds for Him to hang by He
prayed, Father, forgive them, tney
| know not what they do"
In the last place, it is q serious thing
| to believe in the Fatherhood OF goo,
| because it means that Gods perfect
| ness consists in His impartial love, and
lore is the most awful thing IN q
| world. It has been said, BE AFRAID 0
| the love that. loves you; it IS elther
| your heaven or your hell. Inc llVes Oh
| men are never the same after tney
| have let themselves be loved; II they
| are not better they are worse. For THIS
| is the mystery Of love, its paradox
while it is the greatest thing in the
world it is the most helpless" For the
love of her child, without thought OF
| the cost, q mother would give her
| own life in exchange; and yet she must
! stand at its death bed with helpless
| hands when the heart spring unwinds
and the little life runs down. A father
would give his fortune, his blood to
keep his sons heart clean and white,
but all his paternal passion cannot
check that sons mad pace, If the boys
lust take the bit between his teeth
| and drag him along the edge Of the
moral precipice. A son may leave
home; a despot might compel his sub
ject to come back, q father can d
wait, and watch and keep open the
door.
We shrink to apply all we know OF
the weakness of human love to the
divine. Yet it was through a man the
Father made His love plain to US. He
came, the Christ, to His own and they
| received Him not. He loved His own,
| loved them to the end, and yet at the
| end they deserted Him, betrayed Him,
hung Him on a cross.
You remember the Tuesday before
the Friday when they nailed Him De-
tween two thieves. He was standing
in the temple at Jerusalem. Did He
love that fair, rebellious city? You
may never know how great was That
| love. Gould He save that imperilled
| city? Jerusalem had bound loves
hands with indifference SO that He
could not reach out to rescue her; she
had tethered His feet with hate SO thar
! He could only stand still and watch her
sinking into the gulf that Titus was TO
dig. Stand close to the Christ as lie
speaks-you see He is draining love
| bitterest cup; He is realizing loves
helplessness, "it is the wall Of a heart
wounded because its love has been
| despised" and it cannot avert the doom
which impends over those it loves.
"Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often
would I have gathered thy children
as q hen gathered her chickens, n
ye would not. Behold, your house Is
left unto you desolate."
To sum up, it is a serious thing to
believe in the F%atherhood OF God,. De.
cause this belief involves sonship, n
sonship involves brotherhood. n
! brotherhood involves living for the
spirit behind things, for the higher
life, the eternal kind, on which death
lays no. hand, on which the grave has
no claim. "
For this higher life, in the Fathers
name I claim you. You have q perfect
pattern of it in Jesus; you have a per-
feet helper in Gods Spirit, which IS
yours for. the asking. You begin. to
live the life by. doing something for the
man next you just because God is bis
Father and yours.