The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-08-16

One went to brag, the other to pray;
! One stands up close, and treads on high,
Where the other dares not send his eye.
One nearer to the altar trod,
The other to the affairs God. Anon.
Most pictorial of parablesl On
background of temple these antip-
odal worshipers live and move and
have a being. Jesus deals in no
distractions or generalities, no
vague ratiocination. He just per
sonifes, incarnates, Concretes
truth. In the Pharisee one sees
the false and fruitless; in the pub
lican the true and successful wor-
shipper.
How true the Pharisee is to his
name, which signifies ''separat,st!"
He stands apart to avoid ceremon-
ial pollution, and to be more con-
spicuous, He strikes an attitude.
He is statuesque. He is in full re-
gala Of talith and phylactery. He
Stands up close, and treads on high. "
He gets as close to the hottest
place as a layman dares to tread
With outstretched palms and up
turned eyes, he begins his self
laudation before the Deity.
Il thank The" -that is a
promising prelude But the next
syllable dashes us with disappoint-
ment. He does not recognize God
as the Author of his good charac-
ter or happy environment. He
does not say, But for the grace of
God l might be an extortioner,
unjust, an adulterer, or publ
can" Depreciation would have
followed a sincere confession of
grace. He would have cried, II
am not worthy of the least of these
Thy benefits" but haughtiness
and presumption are his charac-
teristiCs. He will fain confess the
publican 5 sins for him, as he has
none of his own to speak of.
He passes BOW from the denial
Of gross sins to the affirmation of
his active pieties. Though the
Levitical law only required one
annual fast, he abstained from
food every Monday and Thursday.
Though Moses only exacted a
tenth of certain items in ones in
come, he tithes all his annual
gains. So, through supererogation,
God is his debtor. Speculative
audacityl He poses there in alb
soiute complacency before the hoIi-
ness of the highest heaven.
This publican, this inferior tax
collector, has found his way to the
temple with a purpose. 1t was an
uncommon thing to see one of this
class on holy ground. Whatever
their faults, and however numer-
Gus. hypocrisy was not one of
them. They did not pose as saints.
Here was all awakened sinner.
He had come up to the holy hill
to get clean hands and a pure
heart. He had faith in the prom
ises and provisions of the first COW
enant of grace.
He stands on the opposite side
of the court from the Pharisee,
just inside the Enclosure. He
dares not send his eyes" toward
the sanctuary. He keeps shifting
his breast with self accusing ges-
ture, and keeps crying in an I'm
prescribed but noble collect, God
be propitiated toward me, the sim
ner,' He attempts no palliation.
He confesses, Il have sinned and
done evil. He is in the oblivion
and self-abandon of penitence, only
conscious of the Eye that is on him
from above. He tries not the ever
unwise eXpedient of comparing
himself with others. He looks at
himself i'll the perfect law of God
that mirror that has no alteration
He is emptied of self and hunger
ing and thirsting after righteous
ness. The moral universe would
have tottered to ruin had he not
been filled. How long think you
it took for his Miserere to chord
into the hallelujah Of salvation?
II tell YOU" That is ex-ca-
thedra, Jesus own decision from