The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-10-10
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A SERMON %<$sSs "a.
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Hamburg avenue and Welrfield
street, on the above them. the Rev.
Ira Wemmell Henderson, pastor, took
as his text, Daniel. 3:1S. He said:
The courage of these men was
sublime. Their heroism was remark
able. The story of their strength
of character is not an ordinary one.
They might easily have played the
king false by bowling down to his
idols while still serving their God in
their hearts. In all likelihood Nebu-
chadnezzar would have been satisfied
had they simply bent the knee to his
gods. And how could a mere man,
even though he we're a king, divine
the devotions of their inmost hearts?
Here was a place where most men
would have considered discretion the
better part OF valor. Here was a
chanee for compromise in externals
for the sake of saving ones life.
Here was the supreme test of their
characters. They might have made
excuses for themselves to their own
minds and to God. and have wor-
SHIPPED the golden image. They did
neither. They were true Jews. They
served the God of Israel. who had
said unto His people by the mouth
Of Moses the deliverer and law-giver,
Thou shalt not bow down unto them
nor serve them" Therefore, they
stood erect when the sound of "all
kinds of music" made the multitude
fall down. And standing. they are
monuments to moral heroism.
Heroism has great value In life and
Is varied. Without 1t we could not
make much, If any progress. A man
may be as a prophet in his percep-
finn and t.nb ~
truth, but II he lack heroism his pow
ers are largely unavailable to society.
Conviction needs courage TO become
living force. 1t is one thing to have
a vision, and another to declare it.
II is one thing to have knowledge,
and another to eXpound it. 1t is one
thing to have a valid and substantial
I'd opinion, and another to state it.
1t is one thing to detect sham and sin,
and quite another to unmask them.
The world is full of men who could
do evil to the death in many place
lid they only dare But it is so mani
testify one thing to know the truth
and another to stand up for it and to
proclaim it,
The value of heroism cannot be de-
MED. With II Moses faced the terrors
and the torments of the desert and
she threatenings of the wandering
people of God. With it Isaiah and
the prophets assailed mighty sin in
the name of Almighty God. With it
Columbus sailed the wide, uncharted
seas, and discovered America to a
ready world. With it Luther hurled
defiance to the Vaccinations of Ro-
man ecclesiasticism and marked an
epoch in the majestic march of man
hood fOW1rd 1fbaFfxr Of
thought With it the heroes of Val
ley Forge kept the faith for civil lib
erty and under the impulse of its
spirit the slave was freed. without
1t Jesus would never have become our
Saviour.
Valuable as heroism is, it is not
less varied. For heroism is indiyid-
ual and social, physical and moral,
lustrous and humble.
The men of Lexington and Santi-
ago, of Trafalgar and of Waterloo.
the heroes of Hebrew history and of
the Crusades, the hosts who followed
Napoleon or Wellington or Washing
ton or Stonewall jackson or any of
the famous captains of armies, an
cient or modern, are examples of
what we may term physical social
heroism. Many were the instances Of
humble, individual moral courage dis
played by soldiers serving under all
these military geniuses. And yet, in
the last analysis, their heroism was
that of brute strength let loose and
dependent, as much as upon anything,
upon the flags, and the fanfare, and
the smell and sight of blood, and the
crowd moving together to the battle
for its inspiration and its sustenta-
fl0n II IL m IN
uate tha- even under these conditions
it Is an easy thing to fare forth to
try conclusions with fate. But in
comparison with the pluck needed to
do many another deed it is easy.
There is, too, an indiyidualistic,
lustrous heroism which is even less
trying and exaoting. He is a hero, I
care not who he may be, who will
lead a willing army on to a fight
where victory Is sure or who will
point the way to a moral victory to
men who are with him and who sight
the same truth that he sees. For
many man has lacked the herolsm
TO lead even though the skies we're
full OF portents of success. It is so
much easier to relinquish the respon-
sibility OF leadership to another.
Officers are marked men.
we must AUNT great measure
OF physical heroism in the action OF
the man who will test his strength
against the wild animal that would
take his life 1t takes nerve as well
as muscle to meet a bully who richly
needs and deserves a thrashing, and
make him eat the dust But in the
category OF heroic virtues these are
the least.
At this time I would call your at
tenrion to the heroisms which we
nave and need In our daily life, the
heroisms of the humble, moral host
who constitute the mainstay of this
land and VINO are the backbone of
America, the men and women and
children who H. an inconspicuous. hut
none the less efficient, fashion give
themselves as living sacrifices upon
the altar Of devotion TO God and home
and country. | would have you again
remember If you have been so un-
gracious as to forget the offerings of
that countless host Of simple, homely
speople who daily live for the common
good and the public veal would
call TO your attention the leaders of
our day who, In the face OF sin and OF
opposition and OF militant and i'm
perious self-satisfaction. are effecting
the salvation OF America and teaching
her people how to help themselves.
For we have much heToism Of this
'1't in this land. fn1 v r-ss more.
IL is cnsy in a Wav IA fall into IinA