The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1908-01-23
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
BISHOP 4. c. POTTER.
Subject: The Church and Labor.

preached In 81. AIMS Church on the
Heights. Sunday His subject was
"The Church and the Labor Ques-
tion," and for his text he took the
two passages: St. Luke $40 to
II Or. w: And the multitude
asked Him what then must we do?
He answered and said unto them,
He that hath two coats let him i'm
part to him that hath none: and he
that hath food let him do likewise
And there came also publicans to be
baptized and they said unto Him,
Master. what must we do?' And He
said unto them, Exact no more than
that which is appointed you. And
the soldiers also asked Him, saying,
What must we do?' and He said unto
them, Extort from no man by vlo-
lence; neither accuse any one wrong
fully; and be content with your
wages. And St Matthew 11:2 to 7:
Now when John had heard In prison
the works of Christ he sent two OF his
disciples and said unto Him: Art
Thou He who should come or look we
for another?' And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Go your way
and tell John the things which ye
see; the blind receive their sight and
the lame walk the lepers are
cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead
are raised up and the poor have the
good tidings preached TO them: and
blessed is he who shall find no occa.
sion of stumbling in Me. Bishop
Potter said:
l wonder II it has ever occurred to
you to ask yourselves the question,
how far the absolute incidents of the
gospels are a witness to their truth?
There are incidents like that which
must present itself to you in connec-
ton with John the Baptist. and that
other which occurs az the close of st.
Matthew'S and st. Luke's gospels in
connection with Peter which make
MS feel that If any one were writing a
book in which he desired to present
to us simply a favorable impression
Of this or that man there are certain
things in the gospels which would
have been left out. Nothing Is finer
for example, in its way, than the Ian.
guage of John the Baptist in connec.
tion with the coming to him in the
desert of the people. and OF the sol.
diers, and the tax gatherers and the
rest. 1t is a singularly direct and
explicit way In which ne lays down to
each group what should be the law
Of their life. And 1t is entirely an.
other man, If we stop and think
moment. whom we encounter IN the
gospel for the third Sunday in Ad.
vent: Art Thou He that should
come? Really, do not know whsth.
er you are or not.
That is the implication OF the
words, and / can imagine an unbs.
lever using these words as a very
effective argument against the belief
of John the Baptist in the divine
claims of Jesus. Here is a man VINO
aas been sent as the fo.srunner of
Jesus, who had baptized Jesus, who
was profoundly persuaded of the mis-
sion and truth and divine character
of Jesus, and yet there comes mo.
ment in his life when he says: We'll,
really, l am not clear about you. You
claim to be the Messiah. You have
appeared to this nation and to this
era in the history of the world With
. revelation of the Supreme Force in
the world. Art Thou He who should
Gomez" But the fine thing about
these two texts is the fac. that each
one of them is a distinct and explicit
witness to that thing of which you
and are perfectly conscious in our
selves. That is, that every man and
every woman is made up of two men
and tv women; that there are types
of che ,cter which are so contradic-
tory JHi so unlike each other that
abstra ly we should say they are alb
solute. rreconctlaDle and yet they
belonS the came person, influenced
by G...srent circumstances and chal-
lenged by different perpleXlties. There
can be no doubt as to the impressions
which had been made by the teaching
and life of Jesus upon John the Bap-
tist In the words | have read. John,
in other words. grasped and seized
with singular clearness and force the
fact that here in the advent of Jesus
there had entered the world an abso-
lutely new law in the conception of
life and of the individuals relations
10 other lives about him.
Go back to the beginning of civili-
zation and trace step by step to this
hour and you will be amazed to find
how largely they built on the compli-
cations and philosophers Of caste. Ny
brother (Dr. Alsop) might make an
interesting sermon upon the tragic
and dramatic forces of caste in In
dla, whose religions IL would be vel
10 remember are older than ours. In
other words, the moment that bar.
barlsm begins to lift itself by organi
cation by the creation of the govern
ing society. It dfferentiates barbar.
ism from civilization. 1t begins also
TO emphasize the distinction OF caste
DO you know that to-day a Pariah
one of the classes in India. cannot
walk on the sidewalk OF the street
after o'clock in the afternoon be-
cause il Is possible that this Pariah
whose touch is deflement, might
brush against a Brahmin? In othel
words the Brahmin has pushed the
theory OF the isolation OF the caste tC
that point where he cannot allow
one not of the same caste to walk OF
the same side of the street with him
When | was In India / asked a HindI
on boat on the Hoogly River TO ST
down and eat with me, and he turned
as IL l had struck him and said: m!
caste forbids; l cannot eat with yol
because you are a Christian"
Now. Jesus came and John tht
Baptist sees first of all that He hat
struck at the foundation, at the sys
TEN of the theory of caste. The the
ory of caste carried with 1t the righ
of certain privileged people TO main
tain q certain autocratic and imper
ious sovereignty over the lives an'
property OF others. NO" said John
having been long enough in the pres
ence O his Master to grasp that grea
central truth of the Masters teach
ing, no, you and l. the soldier ant
the tax gatherer and the men whit
pay taxes, and, all the rest, are on