Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-01-25

accusation, l restore him lOurfOld.
How can q man who shows such gen.
eroslty to the poor; who restores four
+, fold to all whom he has injured, be so
lbad? Have the people, and has Jesus
: mistaken his character? Is he mis-
| judged and unappreciated man?
Not so do l read the story. The
words which we are thinking of are
not meant to describe his past, but his
future. They do not set forth what
has been his habit, his manner Of liv-
| ing; they are the announcement OF a
suddenly formed purpose. And that
purpose, as we shall see presently, ~
| the natural reaction from what have
| been up to this time the motive and
method of MS life.
Though he has done all these bad
| things, justly won the Odium that he
enjoys none the less Jesus sees in him
posslbi'itles of amendment and nobil-
ity and calls him down from the tree
on which lie has perched himself to
become his guest. This condescentlon
| involves an interview and an influx OF
the personality Of Jesus upon his soul.
| This brings about tremendous revul-
sion. The revulsion MY perhaps be
/ the end Of a long, slow process. Has
he not found that his riches after all
did not pa~ him for the loss of his own
peace Of min. and fc' the hate of the
community in which lie lives for the
scorn of whole city? Has he not
found that after all his wealth did not
satisfy or make him happy? That IT,
sin OF its acquisition was like a canker
at its heart?
/ More than this, when the light comes
it brings out the dark lines Like
| fash of lightning, the presence of
Christ illuminates his past; and just as
Peter, when he realized the divinity
of his Lord, cried: depart from me,
for | am sinful man. o Lord" so
| Zacchaeus feels all at once the enor-
nifty of his sin. 1t stands up in strong
relief against what has been his mas
| ter passion, his greed. In an instant
he sees the turpitude, the uglineas of
what he has been doing. What he has
seen before dmly is now emphasized,
| stands before his mind in clear. strong
lines. He is in the light and all at
once a mighty resolve seizes him. He
will break with his past, will give up
| his besetting sin; yea, will with all his
might battle with it, Just as in Ephe-
sus, among the converts of Paul, those
who had been dabbling with magic
| brought their books to burn; just as a
drunkard knows that if he is to follow
! Christ he must dash the cup forever
| from his lips, so Zacchaeus forms and
announces his purpose to break with
| his greed.
This resolve includes two things.
First-GenerOsity. Behold, Lord,
| the half of my goods, of my income,
| | give to Iue poor"
Notice the proportion. Moses asked
at least Onc-tenth. add to that de-
mands for public requirements and a
| fifth was reached. This man says
! "half." Compare that with the gifts
of some of our notoriOusly rich men
to-day. Very few attain to the mark
of this converted publican. A man
who died the other day left an estate
of some 81, 800 OO0O of which 100000
was bequeathed to charity. and the
newspaper spoke of large amount
| being bequeathed for charitable be-
quests. One hundred thousand dollars
out of $7,5OO0O0 is a very small pro-
portion. Let us hope that during his
| life time the man did better than
| that. There was something extraor-
binary in the bigncss of this purpose
of XacchaeuS. Our multi-mliliOnaires,
most of them, even those who at times
startle us by their gifts, have still
something to learn from Jericho's pub
| lican.
Secondly Restitution. "If l have
taken an thing from any man by
false accusation I restore him four
fold"
What vista these words open back
into his life. They show how Il part
at least of his wealth had been won.
They show also how the methods of the
past look now to his awakening con-
science. He proposes to deal with his
habit by a heroic treatment. Il will
restore fourfold." AS h. carries out
that purpose, imagine, if you can, the
effect upon those. who in the past,
had had bitter and exasperating eXper-
fences with him. Should the like be
done to-day, what II stirring up there
would be. What a change of places
between the rich and the poor What
vast swellings of the conscience fund
of the government. What thousands,
perhaps millions of acres of public
land would be returned to government
| control. What a dis; ,rging there
would be of eyhorbitant freights. How
many policy holders would be made
glad. How many crushed out firms
would be resuscitated. Imagine, il
you can, the restitution of all wrongly
gotten w alth. Why it would be like
streams of water flowing through dry
places. 1t would be like transforms.
ton scene in a pantomlme.
1t IS almost inconceivable, and yet
that is what Christianity meant to
Zacchaeus. 1t was a salvation not
from death eternal, it was primarily a
salvation from his greed. from his sell
fishness, lrom his isolation, from his
fellows. And notice that Jesus accepts
his purpose as Il perfectly proper
thing. He has the true spirit of COLI
verted nfe-large-hearted liberality,
restitution of all wrongly taken prop
erty. Given these two things every
where and religion becomes real and
vital. Deny them and there is only a
name to live. 1t is it.ie to talk about
being Christians, unless our religion
means open-heartedn"s and righteous
ness.
Ill. fl,nG Gru