The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1909-12-09
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. L. o. ROTENBAcH
Theme: Love of Christ.

ing preached on THE Optimism and
Omnipotence of Love" He took as
his text, John 1894, and I. Corin-
thians 1873: "a new commandment
give unto you, that ye love one an
other; even as have loved you. that
ye also love one another" Love
never faileth"
Mr.. Rotenbach briefly dwelt upon
the scene in the upper chamber at
Jerusalem as presented by John,
bringing out the touching contrast as
revealed on the one hand I'm the weak
ness and petty self-seeking Of the dis
ciples. with the strength and self-re-
nunciation of the Master, while He
girded Himself and bathed their feet;
and on the other hand. in the callous
unresponsiveness OF Judas pursuing
his sordid purpose. with the unfailing
tenderness of the Christ committed
to His passion. as He gave the sop
and Judas went out. BY the contrast
he brought out vividly the optimism
and omnipotence of the love of Christ,
and then continued:
What elements can we discover in
this love which is pre-emincntly the
love of Jesus? Are they not these,
namely-vision, faith, sacrifice? As
to vision. Just recall the age or rath-
er Jesus point of contact with the
age. Through Nazareth ran one OF
the great caravan routes connecting
the great sea on the west with Dam
ascus in the east, and this was crossed
at points by the coast route to Egypt,
so that Nazareth's streets were famil-
lar with Syrian and Tyrian, Roman
and Greek, as well as Jew. AS a cara
~ tT.f
clean and degraded, the detritus of
humanity, was in evidence, to say
nothing of the vices of the Roman
times that even so-called culture
boasted. No wonder the exclamation,
"Can any good thing come out of Naz-
areth?" Thirty years of that unique
life were spent here. There is also
His contact With His own people, the
Jews; well did He know their incon-
sistency Of character. so startlingly
revealed when one day they cried.
"Hosannah, blessed is He that cometh
in the name of the Lord" and the
next with equal vehemence, Away
with Him; cruelty Hint" And then
there is the irreligious attitude and
activity of the great leaders of relie-
ion, Pharisee, Sadducee and scribe,
whose envy and hatred bounded Him
to death, to say nothing of the weak,
hating and vacillating character of
those called to be His disciples.
Such was the Masters world con-
tact-His touch at different points
with the spirit and conditions of His
age. This was what He saw; but was
this all that He saw? For this surely
no vision was needed and no man
need become n seer.
Beneath this flotsam and jetsam,
this superficial aspect of the ehbing
and flowing tide of human life, down
in the deeps, He saw with The true
seer's eye the wondrous possibilities,
human and divine, of the essential
man. inherent in all humanity, which.
II realized, would make man in a
transcendent sense the child OF God.
Think you this was the result of OBJ
servation? Say, rather, that obser-
walton tended to confirm 1t. He
knew what was in man." because He
knew what was in Himself. Exper-
ience, personal, wherein He realized
the possibilities Of His own inner life.
not miraculously, but naturally, and
enabled Him to see that the true man
is within, and If realized in actual
life. would be glorious.
Then, again, the love Of Jesus Is
characterized not only by vision,
which sees the best in man and his
noblest possibilities, but also by faith
that intense life-grlpning conviction
which unfalterinSly believes that there
can and shall be realized in the spirit
and life Of personal experience by
man, so that He shall he their living
expression. Will You say that His
own experience had nothing to do
with this faith? Then remember "He
was tempted at all points like as we
are lie knew what the power OF
sin was and He also knew that sin
could overcome by the faith and the
love OF God, and He overcame, as we
must overcome. How else His attl-
tude toward the woman OF sin at His
feet In the temple when the religion
lists accused, when He said to her,
penitent, Neither do | condemn
thee" How else defend His story of
the two sons, the one the prodigal and
the other worse than prodigal for
mean and narrow selffshness, who
stayed at home? Or how understand
HIS potent, painstaking efforts to
teach and train, to develop and to
give character to His very imperfect
and ofttimcs SHINING disciples? He
had profound faith in the redemp-
tive quality in man.
He believed with ell the Intensity
OF His being that man could become
the child OF God. crowned with honor
and glory.
And once more He not only saw the
vision beautiful. not only believed
that 1t could be realized in living hu-
man expression, but He utterly aban-
donec Himself In sacrifice to its act
uaI realization, who for the 10y set
before Him endured the cross, despis-
ing the shame"
Could that superficial aspect of hui
manlty which He saw and came into
touch with In the spirit and condition
OF His age. that Grass superstition.
that cruelty and iechery In high
places as we'll as low. that abandon
lnent to Vice which gloried In II, that
haunting ypocrisy-could that in
spire JOY for the cross, the Joy of self
sacrifice?
The vision with Its penetrating
glance into the deeps of life With their
wondrous possibilities, which angels
might envy; the faith that believed.
yea. knew that al this could be act.
unlized In the living experience and
expression of spirit and character in
man. these and only these madA possl-
Bile the Joyous abandonment OF Jesus
Christ In the self sacrifice OF love to
their certain realization.
And that cross OF Jesus 4, more.
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