The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-03-22
4 He PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON 5f
BISHOP SEYMOUR.
sahject: "My Shepherd"

sahject: "My Shepherd"
BROOKLYN, n. Y.-At the Church OF
the Messiah. the Right Rev. Bishop
Seymour was the preacher Sunday
morning. He chose for his subject.
.sIy Shepherd.' and his text was
Psalm / :23: The Lord is my shepherd:
therefore can lack nothing" he said:
We pass from the brightness OF
Christmas and Epiphany to the sea-
son of Lent that closes with the dark
ness of Good Friday. Ere we bi9
Epiphany goodby let us consider What
it tells us, namely, that our Saviour
came to be the Saviour OF all manklnd.
Epiphany falls into two divisions: Ire
Christmas of the Jew and the Chrlst-
mas of the Gentle. First, the Christ
mas of the Jew. when the shepherds
came as the representatives OF the
shepherd nation: came called on o!
an angel through whose dispensation
the law was given to the Jew:
came to the manger; came to worship:
! And then the Gentle Christmas. called
Epiphany. when the kings were led by
the star to worship the child. And
then the fact that the Jew and the
Gentle alike fell down and worshiped
the little child. baby, weaker than
the weakest, may say, of all the
young. and yet-Him by whom the
worlds were made. 1t is indeed Won
derful spectacle to see the Jew and
the Gentle alike worshiping the babe.
We leave the angelic host that sang
over Bethlehem and .le brightness OF
the star which brought the three kings
at all events the kings of the East
worshiped the little babe with appro-
pirate gifts-for the transition period
of Lent.
Could do better than ask you. with
myself. to consider our personal re-
sponsibility in the words of the text:
1.-The Lord is my shepherd; therefore
can 1 lack nothing" Here is a dec
laratiow which may make or not. as
we choose, for the posseSsive proncun
: is intensive-'my," as though it were
something that we loved. as jewels OF
earth-"they are mine; own them
So: 'The Lord is my Shepherd and
based upon that declaration is the
fact; therefore can lack nothing"
There is 10 word which more frequent
ly falls from our lips than 81" 1t IS
the shortest word in human speech
a single letter-because it brings to
(, the surface personality. Go whittier
you will, on every side you will hear
men. women and child utteri1g II"
.sI' is to each one the centre Of the
universe; everything radiates from it
and everything comes into it. And this
is right in its way, only sometimes 1t is
exaggerated and we have what we
call se!6shness But / am not dis
posed to criticise tina: just now. only
to say that this p:onoun my" grows
out Of tie personal pronoun 81" be-
: cause it denotes ownership-"my."
And we may say, the poorest OF US.
first we own ourselves: Il, myself; l
belong to myself" and it is on the
basis of that claim tat we have the
wars for independence, for liberty or
personal right, and Een resist the idea
of being owned by the others, and pre-
) eminently in this land of freedom
claim: to be free-'I own myself" |
have not time to analyZe the worth Of
the claim. for it is immense: Mine,
spirit. body" this creature, of God
like mould and summing workmanship.
how marvellously built up! A single
profession, numbering some Of the
greatest men, devotes days and weeks
? to studying it and yet has not fathomed
its secrets. The medical profession is
5 largely experimental to-day. 1t has
Z made wonderful discoveries in fifty
years. and still it has not yet probed
this little mass Of matter. the body, to
its depths. And back of it is the mind,
the intellect. the memory that holds
the past and hope that grasps the fu-
ture; the mind that deals with prem
ises and conclusions and reasons. 1t
has no moral quality, it is pure intel
lect. Deeper down than it is the spirit,
the seat Of conscience, the moral sense,
marvellous beyond expression! that en-
phasizes our nearness to God. Body.
mind and spirit bound up together and
each Of us claim to own that trinity
blended into unity. Il, myself, 1 own
myself"
Let us pass on. "N1y time;;" that is.
''my life. These hours and days and
weeks are mine," and, hence. the: wage
- 4UCSlfOA, VAS41 AASh SAoi&A tAS 31SAN w
sell their time for so much. So, you
see, we claim the ownership of time.
OF course, it is not really ours. Our
times are in His hand" Still. We
claim it. "My years are so many"
Hence, we see another element Of
wealth-time, opportunity. Then,
again. character, my character EN-
phasized by the name. A good name
lis worth a good deal. We pass still
further: "My position in life, in So
ciety, my parentage, my surroundings.
my friends and relatives-these belong
to me-" And they are worth great
deal sometimes. Then we come down
to THAT with which we are most fa-
miiiar:"My material wealth. my stocks
and bonds, jewels. wardrobe. They be-
long to me-
Now, that brings US to David's
claim: "The Lord is my shepherd
You. do not give up the other things.
but you make another claim, and that
you can only make through Him who
allows it. and He allows it by coming
here to be reached and embraced. if
you will. and loved. He revealed Him.
self as one of US in order that through