The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-04-04
A SATURDAY SERMON.

A SATURDAY SERMON.
y, He calleth his own sheep by name. and
Anybody who has watched a great
city's crowds out for holiday must
have been struck by their resemblance
to sheep. They throng wherever the
parade or spectacle may be until it is
crammed from curb to curb. They
wander hither and thither, almost with
out reason. Even trif1e-a- circus
parade, a band marching, fire engine
in the streets, a fraternity festival
will call out the multitudes, eager to
follow anybody or anything that prom
Uses a moments diversion. The old
Hebrew prophet knew sheep and peo-
pie when he said, I'VE like sheep have
gone astray," the manner OF the stray
ing, and not the fact thereof, being in
his mind at the moment.
People instinctively recognize the
sheep-like traits in themselves when
they leave more thumb marks on 1.-THE
Shepherd Psalm" than on any other
page of the Old Testament. In it's
WEAKNESS and weakness the world
wants shepherding. Henry Grady, that
great Albanian, one time went home to
his mother and besought her to treat
him as a boy again; he was tired Of
being the strong and busy man of the
world; he wanted rest and comfort and
coddling. The most self-dependent of
men have moods like this. Everybody
knows this hunger for tender, envelop-
ing, protecting care upon which the
heart may sink down in unQuestioning
rest.
To meet this ever-present and pre-
vailing spirit, Jesus offered himself as
the Good Shepherd. He knew that men
want refuge from the clanor Of strife
and discussion, from the grind of effort
and the mad pursuit Of the unattain-
able. Like sheep distraught by trying
to care for themselves in a barren and
hostile land, they seek the comfort of
strong Shepherds presence. After
all has been said, it remains true that
it is the tender, compassionate, SYM
pathetic aspect of Christ that appeals
to the human heart.
Not to the ranges of the west, where
the wagon Of the hired sheep-herder
follows huge flocks of inpersonal NUT
ton, must We go for light upon this
figure, but to the pastoral Orient, where
the owner of the flock leads them forth
in affectionate solicitude, sitting beside
them as they Craze. The close and per-
sonal relationship existing between the
easterner and his dumb animals is al
most incomprehensible to the west.
Four traits of this good. shepherd
Jesus appropriates to himself; owner
ship, leadership, protection and provis-
ion AS to the first, the simple, ex-
perienced truth, which cannot be
argued down, is that IT know mine
own, and mine own know me-" The
spirit bond between kindred human
hearts is not so real and assured as
this understanding which Christ has
with his friends. My beloved is mine
and 1 am his" Here runs q deep,
strong reality of faith.
Newman's Lead, Kindly Light" Is
among the immortal hymns because it
voices deep desire of every spirit. At
best. the world is a maze: life is be-
wildering. The wisest cry for guidance.
Weak and defenseless as the sheep,
In a world which we cannot compre-
bend or master, we covet the protec-
ton which the Good Shepherd promises
to his sheep. Some of us forget for
moment, or for years, that "our times
are in his hands," but great awaken
ing-a time Of seen danger, or the
death of a dear one. or q great natural
calamity, like a storm at sea, or an
earthquake-is inevitable, when we
shall realize the need of the divine pro-
lection.
Even as it appealed to the blind man.
SO the individual care of the Shepherd
has been the comfort of his followers
throughout the centuries. 1t is sim
gle sheep or lamb that the Shepherd
carries in his arms. Or, as the text has
it, HE calleth his sheep by name" No
vast. impersonal mass are the flock
to this Shepherd; each has personali-
ty and a name; each is treated accord
ing to its individual nature. Mans In
stinctive craving for a recognition of
his identity-how any one likes to be
greeted by name by a public person.
age-is satisfied by the popularity OF
the divine care.