The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-05
THE LOVE OF MONEY
REV. STEWART MeQUEEN SHOWS
 THAT m IS CHEAT EVIL.
Episcopal Clergyman Diseourses on one of the Greatest of Modern sins--sordid Natures Beget
 C0yetouBness.

III au SdEnS1t anu tApHeNthS ~~"-~-~~
 delivered at the Episcopal church Of
 the Holy Comforter yesterday morn.
 ing the rector, Rev. Stewart Mcqueen.
 showed the evil results that follow
 ed the love of money-gettins.
 The love of money. Mir. Mcqueen
 showed, warped the soul and too of-
 ten drove out of the heart and mind
 the love for higher and rurer tninss
 He chose as his text: The love ot
 money is the root of all evil Timo-
 thy vi:10. zs
 "Tbis assertion" said MT Mcqueen,
 was made by St Paul. the greatest
 mind of the New Testament. St. Paul
 whose knowledRe of human nat ture~
 was as extensive as profound. It IS
 he who says. The love of money is the
 root Of all evil.'
 "The love of money Is general, if
 not indeed universal. Now. why do
 people love money? Of course, people
 love money for differeat reasons But
 taking humanity as whole. 1t may be
 confidently affirmed most people who
 love money, love |: becsuse IL rep
 resents power. the desire Tor wnscn
 Is inborn in man. They do not seem
 to love money chiefly for what it
 brings. As a rule, they live in the
 utmost simplicity. spendiag as nt1le
 as possible. They do not enjoy go
 much what money can procure. as the
 possession of money itself. isi otner
 words the power 1t gives IheiT po-
 sition is well expressed in the sentiment
 of a rich old man once heard or. war
 said. with much unclicn. Money are 2
 power and I are got 1t sucn psrsons as
 arc objects of pity. rathAr than of conaemnation. Usually. they becoms
 hard. narrow, unss nrathetlc. and ieAd
 a purely selfish existence. Observe.
 do not say they lead selnsn Ire. paonte of that kind-- and alas! fhsre are far too many In every conRrelE1- tion and cotnmunity--do net live fhey exist merely. Existence and hving are hv no means the same, you know. Gradnally but surely, they are changed into paoney making and money savink machines. Finally they roach that stage where they have no more teei. Inr,-except for their own nesn ano hlood-than has any other macune' ~ Tn time, they die and go to tnelr oMs place. whose heated atmosphere wou,a .,a snaediiy dissolve their money eVes" thev take t with them.
 "A pain. If is a common thinR Tor
 neonis to affirm that the assertion: srhe love of money is the root oI an a,,iI, does not al,pIy to thenas because Tbev have very little money. thus mss ing the whole force of .he Aposns teaching. He does not say. Money tha root of all evil but the aoss - 1 1t. Yet. how freouentiy peopss sbs hea I'd to remark that money is u | ~oot of all. evil. This, of course IS an | aIs,,rditv for there can bs no eVu S,a ds@a matter. Money IS no more | a,4I than a lump Of clay. It ls hotuiae hrt. a niece of paper. or bit or met. | all A little reflection tells us tns. | evil can exist only where .here s s,s | life. and then. only wnere s .ays. nersonality, will and determining pew sr in word, what we call freeoom os action-~ The love Of money not | reruiated by the money itsslt or pS sue quantity one possesses.
 .sIo ove ia d matter of the heart ana halonws to the domain or leenns
 fla not called forth so much oy tns oD epa | feet loved as it is the outcome ot sne ae hsart that loves. Consequently. we see nsonIa of moderate means.a wno togy rnonev quite as much as weit-to-ao nson1e. Indeed, poor people, or more | . Accurately speaking, people Wno oaIs ,hamselves poor, and I have oosefVsu most people make that claim when U is a question of giving in their prOoer- | tv for taxation or are askeu " "l so trihute to the support of the cnurcn' nsonle calling themselves poor, say, sre ouiity of the love of money Just as truly as the rich. Rather, we shoulo Sv it ts not confined to any special oiass of people. It pervAdes all classes in some degree, and is one Of the com luoneSt of sins. <...u..La. .low the love of anything twnetnsr eood or bad) in the human heart, nat nraIIv seeks to express itself. Hence lt n.ust take some form. And the form which the love of money assumes IS: itsovetousness, and covetousness IS near sr heIng a universal sin of mankind | than any other How frequently, ana | in the strongest terms. It Is conaemnSo | in Gods Holy word. Our Lord kaimsei. utteFa the solemn warming: Take neeo a,,S beware of coyetousness.' St. Paul | ciassifles 1t with fornication, unclean- ness Inordinate affection and evil con. ounisence. Nay, he goes further stll1 ana declares 1t to be idolatry. Now what is the nature. the very essence of Idolatry? Surely 1t is nothing more or less than giving affection and ser vice to a lower thing which ought to
 h" g,ven to a higher. This Is just ex- actly what every one does who loves money. Therefore. they are idoiators, and so you see idolatry Is by no means confined to heather lands. It IS all about us here and now. wherever coyetousness is found. there too s idol atry of a most deadly sin. Like moth | fretting a garment. 1t fneVltaply eats
 
 all of us are to this sinl Now it is sur prising for to covetousness we owe our | fallen nature. that Is, our inherent ten dency to sin. for we are not as narrow minded theologians CD tell us--totallv depravcd. We are not born sinful Tn inc sense that we ourselves have sim ned. An infant can not sin. There can be no sin except where there IS conscious exercises of the will in mak- ! ing choice between god and evil Our fallen nature, repeat, is due to the sin of covetousness. True we ere accns- | toned to say the sin of our forefathers was tho sin of disobedience. But that was merely the form their sin assum- ed. What made them sin? What was the motive within, iriving them onT They wanted more than they already
 had. Hence they sinned just as you
 And sir when we want more than we have, (if given safe and secret oppor- ] tunity,) unless helped by the grace Of
 God.
 l baneful results of the love of money.
 How perniciously It affects our rela- tions to God Nothing In life so pre-
 vents the obedience due Him, or robs
 Him of the affection and service which
 are rightfully His alone. Let man
 become absorbed in the pursuit of money, become virtually it's slave, and
 what necessarily folows7 Why, 1t
 sturves hls soul It dwarfs his higher mature. It atropnies the gentier, soft CT, sweeter qualities of his being. It
 gradually dries up the milk of human
 Kindness in his breast, His religious
 dition. He becomes utterly indifferent +a fbaf paada of tha. soul Auita nrob-