Evening journal., 1910-10-22
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
His Theory for a Sermon
That P. Brooks Lived Up To

BY "HOiland.D


Phillips Brooks, who really was
not arnbitious for the honor, and
cared very little for it. was appointed
bishop of Massachusetts In 1891. about !
two years before his death. A year or |
so before he became the head OF a !
great diocese, / had the pleasure Of !
long chat with him, in the course |
OF which he outlined at some length
his theory Of the proper sources for
the sermons of the preacher Of to-day.
"The world OF to-day said the
great pulpit orator life as We see II
around us. mems activities, the as
Z pirations OF children, the conquests
Of natu~e for the benefit Of mankind
all these things. abundant inspira-
l tion and opportunity for the clergy
man who wishes to reach right down
! into the hearts Of those who hear him.
/ In another time, possibly. effective
preaching depended upon explaining
/ the doctrines, but that is not for this
age.
After alk Christ furnished us the
best example Of the manner in which
preacher or teacher should APP
! proach his hearers and those whom
| he wishes to influence With the
single exception of the Sermon on the
Mount, which contains the funda-
mental~Christian philosophy--the pre-
cepts upon which the Christian re-
/ ligion was founded--Christ always
took his examples, his illustrations,
his metaphors, from the daily life
with which mis- hearers were familiar
"He could take the most trivial fact
Of nature and with II emphasize His
truths. His allegories. or parallels,
as ] now remember them, we're all
based upon familiar things. The only
occasional references to the classics
of that day which He made were to
the prophets and to the Jewish scrip
lures, and with these all who heard
Him We're perfectly familiar. All
what an exquisitely beautiful illus
tration He made from the lilies Of the
field, very likely pointing 10 those He
saw blossoming about Him as He
spoke. And yet | say unto you that
even Solomon In all his glory was
not arrayed exc one Of these
Now" continued Mr.. Brooks. 1t
seems to me that the most effective
way OF reaching hearers for a preach
er Of this time is TO bring them into
touch with familiar things. That
means. OF course, that the clergyman
should not hold himself aloof, but
should take an active interest in
every affair OF life. He should 60
about among the people and learn
what they are thinking about and
what they are doing He should
and what they are doing. He should
have an eye for nature; he should be
affected by the flowers. the foliage
and the birds OF the air, Just as SO
y,au az he aAans,1a a I have
tried to follow this course, and it has
not been an effort of the will for me
TO do so. since it has always been a
most gratifying experience with me.
DR.. Brooks certainly practiced what
he preached in this respect. He went
about among the lowly, but without
superior mannerism, and gained their
confidence. He was seen once in a
humble Boston tenement, With an in
fant upon his knee, playing with an-
other child upon the floor, at his feet
and chatting merrily with the parents
who must have looked upon that visit
as a pastoral call OF @le best kind
He was a fond as Thoreau was OF
visiting the wharves of Boston, he
was many times seen watching the
coming in and sailing of ships and
listening to the none too discreet con-
versation- of the stevedores and long
shoremen. Within less than quar-
ter of an hour after he had delivered
wonderfully powerful Advent SER
mon to three thousand business snen
gathered in Trinity Church, In New
York. he went arm in arm with a
friend Sscross the street 10 one OF the
famous downtown restaurants, and
sat at a table for the better part OF
an hour keenly observing the coming
and going OF the great throng which
rushed into that place for its noon
time lunch He was a constant stu
dent OF life and of nature; he ap-
piled this study in his sermons; and
1t was because of this. undoubtedly
that he. perhaps more effectively than
any other preacher of his time, touch.