Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-08-10
MERCENARY RELIGION.

By Rev. Ulln Scott Roche.
Thus answered Peter and said unto
Him: Behold, we nave forsaken all
and followed thee; what shall we have
therefore ?"-St. Matthew 10: 27.
We would imagine that the man who
uttered such words as these must have
made some notable sacrifice-must
have abandoned a splendid home and
jewels and estates or at least great
wealth at the feet of Jesus.
Who would believe that a dilapidat-
ed fishing boat and its mended nets
were the "alr' of which he speaks
Yet this is frequently the way in which
men magnify their renunciations for
religion, and then they go on to ask
the selfish question, What shall we
have therefore?" After performing
some paltry duty they seem to expect
and demand immediate payment.
1t is as though they supposed that
religion itself could be made to furth-
er a mans temporal interests; that
by serving God they could advance
their worldly enterprises; that for ev-
cry dollar given to the church or in
the cause of humanity, they ought to
receive ten in return.
Men brought offerings of honey and
flowers and lambs to the temples of
the fates and of fortune in the ancient
cities of Greece and Italy to propi-
tate those deities and induce them to
bestow long life and prosperous ca
reers. When their prayers We're IN
needed they destroyed the affairs and
battered down the temples.
Persons who are serving God with
any such idea are just as likely to
meet with disappointment. A poor,
weak woman, who called herself a
Christian, once said that she had
prayed For a certain blessing for six
weeks and had not received it; there
fore, she was done with religion for
ever. Such a declaration appears very
childish, but are there not multitudes
who want TO be paid for everything?
Certainly there is a general complaint
to that effect. The rich parent says,
l will be very happy to attend church
and give something for its support and
to missions and to charities, if / can
get acquainted with other wealthy peo-
ple-the best people-and find cultured
and desirable society for my family.
And the poor parent says, will come
if the church will support me or find
me easy employment or take care of
my children or send them on a vaca-
ton. What shall l have therefore?"
Such Questionings certainly display
selfish and sordid disposition though
they undeniably echo the bargaining
spirit of the day. 1t ought to shame
us to he forever calling merit and
demanding reward in holy things as if
the Most High were our debtor, as
if He We're actually enriched by few
Indifferent prayers or an occasional
act of salf-denial.
We are told that when Leonardo
Da Ninci was about to draw the head
of the Lord Jesus in his wonderful pic
ture Of THE Last Supper" his hand
trembled violently lest he should fail
to do justice to the work he had I'm
dertaken. So we should feel that even
our best works are little enough and
poor enough for God to accept. and
we should strive for the highest and
hottest achievement.
When a man comes to love God the
Divine commands are no longer a stern
task to be carried out with bare liter
alism but become the plan of which
the heart approves and toward which
the soul struggles. When a man comes
to love God he Is transformed from
the willful plunderer who pillages life's
treasures for self into the feudal SOL
der who places himself absolutely at
the disposal Of his lord. When a man
comes TO love God he longs to serve
Him, and his gratitude and obedience
and sacrifice are as irrepressible as the
waters that gush from the spring on
the mountainside.
By and by st. Peter came to love
God with all his soul and ali his
strength; he came to realize his own
imperfect labors, his former presump-
ton and his need for forgiveness: he
came to understand that true hap
piness consists in Christlike living with
out ever a thought Of payment or re-
ward