Orange County observer., 1908-02-06
THE PULPIT.
an Fl oOuENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
BISHOP II. c. POTTER.

AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY
BISHOP H. c. POTTER.
Subject: The Church, and Labor.
Brooklyn, N. Y.-The Rt. Rev.
Henry c. Potter, Bishop of New York.
nreached in St. 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 3:1O to |
IA (R. W.: "And the multitude |
| asked Him what then must we do?
He answered and said unto them,
| He that hath two coats let him ina
mart 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 vio-
lence; neither accuse any one wrong
fully; and be- content with your
wages" And st. Matthew 11:2 to 2:
'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:
wonder if it has ever occurred to
you to ask yourselves the question, =
how far the absolute incidents of the
gospels are 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 at the close Of st.
Matthew's and st. Luke's gospels in
connection with Peter which make
US 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 cut. Nothing is finer,
for example, in it's way, than the Ian
guage of John the Baptist in connec-
ton 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 he lays down to
each group what should be the law
OF their life. And it is entirely an
other man, if we stop and think a
moment, whom we encounter in the
gospel for the third Sunday in Ad-
vent: art Thou He that should
come? Really, do not know wheth-
er you are or not
That is the implication of the
words, and can imagine an unbe-
hever using these words as very
eaectlve argument against the belief
OF John the Baptist in the divine
cialms OF Jesus. Here is a man who
mas been sent as the forerunner 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 a mo-
ment in his life when he says: "Well
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
come?' But the fine thing about
tnese two texts is the fact that eac1
one OF them is distinct and explicit
witness to that thing of which yol
ana are perfectly conscious in our
selves That is, that every man anl
every woman is made up of two mel
aa aao TWO women; that there are type
~ w. character which are so contradic
evry and so unlike each other tha
ssoiI.ttactly soi"ty we should say they are ab
SSoiutely irreconcilable and yet the,
ooelong to the same person. influence,
y! ulHereAt circumstances and cha1
.ehsed by different perplexities. Their
"a. rHa oe no doubt as to the impression n
winch had been made by the teachin
t;aa tnu NE or Jesus upon John the Bar
ust IN the words have read. Johr
n,;.l ,m oIher words, grasped and seize
..ith .ith singular clearness and force til
ta .act mat here in the advent of Jesu
Ii ,uere had entered the world an absf
ii,utely new law in the conception c
~ hle and of the individuals relation
:" other lives about him.
,stio Ho pack to the beginning of civil
'on ana trace step by step to tn
hour hou1 and and you will be amazed to fin
cston i largely they built on the compl
broth bHns ana PHILOSOPHERS OF caste. M
intoroesl... 'Dr. Alsop) might make .
and SealAs Ins sermon upon the trsg
dia uhlc uihallatlc forces of caste in L
10 a, ,ose whose religions it would be we
othoa enember are older than ours. J
haria. hrer words, the moment that ba
zatinn tlsh begins to lift itself by organ
in. io'on' by the creation of the COVER
ism ssoclety, it differentiates barba
to en,nn MN civilization 1t begins al
'"phaslz" L the distinction Of cast