Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-04-12
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SUNDAY SERMON :
y
A Scholarly Discourse b
Rev. Howard Molish.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ClufCh. sunday morning, tue icctoi,
the Rev. Howard Melish, preached
from the text, "From that time Jesus
began to preach and to say, Repent
I st. Matthew iv:17. He said:
/ heard one of the ablest men IN
America. Il man who had studied the
popular mind carefully and observed 1t
most keenly, say not long ago, that II
| he were young again the one message
| he would endeavor to bring home to his
countrymen is-spirit, soul, manhood
make conditions, not conditions men.
Three forces are producing the oppo-
site view. The first Is materlalism.
Materialsm as philosophy is discred-
| tied Twenty-Five years ago 1t received
| tremendous Importance through the
| formulation of doctrine of evolution
by natural selection. To-day it Is not
taught in single university chair.
| But materalism, as a popular concep-
| ton of the world, is more generally
| needed than ever before. In it God is
| identified with His universe. His name
| is Force. His law is to be found not in
| the Bible, but in the latest text books
on physics. Man is an animal which
! thinks. He is creature of his ell
| vironment When lie dies he is dead
rs every other beast of the field.
The second is the teaching of some
| socialists. There is socialism and there
| is Christian socialism. Christian social
! ism endeavors to make a place in So
| cialism for Chrstianity's emphasis OH
| the individual. Socialism is concerned
| with the economic and industrial reor-
ganization of society. AS interpreted
! by some of its expOunders it is telling
men that they can't be just or right or
pure or honest or humane under the
| competitive system. TO talk about eth
| zeal standards so long as men must
compete to live is child's play. The
| Sermon on the Mount is impractcable;
let man obey it's precepts and he is
sure to be thrown by the current OF
! life on to the bank as wreckage. What
| is needed to make men is different
order of society. Such teachings, such
| feeling, for it has become more feel
ing than clearly articulated system,
has weakened the sense of individual
responsibility. l can't be pure living
under tenement house conditions. l
can't speak the truth in modern pull
pit or modern newspaper, therefore
/ am not responsible for impurity, dis
honesty, lying.
The third force, laying stress OH con-
ditions instead of will, and so weaken
ing individual conscience, is Christian
Science. At first thought this may
seem an utterly inconsistent statement.
Does not Christian Science lay all the
emphasis on the individual-his atti-
tude of mind, his thought? Not at all.
What it emphasizes is conditions OF
thought BY methods which rival the
methods of Hypatia and the Neo-Pla-
toniSts, they endeavOr to work your
mind into state where nothing eX-
ternal to your mind has any reality.
Sin does not exist The suffering of
little children in the Home of st. Giles
the Cripple is mere thought. The
dishonesty of business has no reality.
The tragedy of much of our tenement
house life, with its starvation, unem-
ployment, ,.warfed lives, or the sinful
luxurionsness of much of the Fifth
avenue" life are mere thoughts. Jesus
OH His cross was only acting a part.
Such teaching has no social mes
sage. Christian Science has pro-
duced some beautiful characters, as.
raelites in whom there is no guile
who recognize in Jesus. as did Ma
thaniel, "the Son of God" brt it has
not and cannot produce a social re-
former TO go into a black Stun and
stay there, working and dying for the
kingdom Of God, because it has no
message to the conscience, individual
or social.
Over against thcse three forces which
weaken individual responsibility !
would put the one truth of repentance.
1t is an old word with long record.
The vocabulary of some nations does
not know it. And those nations have
died. Wealth corrupted them, power
made them arrogant, and arrogancy led
to national madness and ruin. They
had voices which criticized and com.
planned, which ridiculed and despaired,
but no voice with thunder and light.
ming in its tone to cry Repent" But
one nation developed n race Of men
whom we call prophets. They were
men who spoke for God. The word of
/ the Lord came to them. And they
| spoke that word to the conscience of
| their nation. They made men feel
| guilt, they pointed out the right way,
and they inspired men to walk in it
| And this is repentance. In circum.
| stances when other nations have dis.
| appeared, as in transportation and
captivity, this nation was kept alive
because Of its sense of responsibility
for its own deeds, past and future.
That nation in the fulness of time
gave birth to Christianity. Its imme.
date fOrerunner was John the Baptist
What he taught is summed up in the
one word-repent. The rich man with
self-sufficiency, the powerful man With
his arrogancy are to be eveled dowr
like the mountains; the poor man with
his patience is to be filled up like the
valleys. Start now; for the AK is laid
to the root of your tree and down you
will come il you don't have fruit.
Share your abundance with those who
have nothing; cease to squander youI
money on clothes and food when men
are naked and children are hungry
Stop levying unjust taxes on the poor
Abide by the law and speak the truth
Take what you earn and nothing more
| Jesus caught up that message and
cried "Repent! John had been preach
ing to classes as the prophets had
preached TO the nation. Christ brought
the truth home to the conscience of the
individual. Each one of you knows
Of his own self what is right Then
do it. Otherwise your religion is a
sham. Your prayers are words. Your
theology is speculation. Only he knows
God who wills to do His will. You
have no peace in your SOUL no joy in
your life, but you are weary and heavy
laden under all this luxury and formal
ism. Your money is your undoing.
Turn from it. Resolve to seek the
right and do it, come what may. Your
foes will be those of your own house
hold. You will be as sheep among