River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1911-12-21
Religion as
Satisfaction
By Rev. Hugh T. Ken.
Pastor Of Fullerton Avenue
Presbyterian Church. Chicago

and white. The picture Is drawn by
determined hand and there is no hint
of hesitation Stroke follows stroke
until the complete portrait is before
us. The story is as complete as it is
concise. 1t begins in comedy and ends
In tragedy. The young man, impulsive,
optimistic and temperamentally en-
thusiastic, hurries breathlessly into
the presence of Jesus with the long
hushed question of his heart upon his
lips, and then when our hopes for him
are highest we behold him making
what Dante calls "The Great Re-
fusal' and returns to his old life as i'll
at ease and with his heart as hungry
as ever.
Let us not misunderstood this young
man. He was no comedian trifiing with
sacred things and then casting them
thoughtlessly away from him. He was
intense, enthusiastic, a nobleman at
heart, and when Jesus looked upon
him he fell in love with him. He
had climbed the ladder of lawful am
bition, and while still a young man
was in the council of the elders. Honor
did not spoil the humility of his
heart, and in the presence of the Mas
ter he bowed in graceful reverence.
Richly endowed with worldly wealth.
he was still more richly endowed with
q nature rich in the virtues that make
for righteousness.
Jesus was intensely interested In
this Young man. We read that HE
loved him." l think he was interest
ed in him on account of his youth.
Christ and young manhood, as has
been said, are as magnet and steel.
This young man had all his life to
live. The years with all their posi-
BILE achievements were still before
him.
Christ was interested in this young
man because he was rich. Riches and
wealth meant power, and power is an
other name for responsibility. Jesus
spoke hard words about rich men and
about rich men who loved money, who
trusted in money, who because of
their money forgot about God. Jesus,
however, did not despise a man be-
cause he was rich. He loved the rich
young ruler. It was rich man who
begged his lifeless body as 1t hung
unclaimed upon the cross. Two rich
men took his dead body and wrapped
1t tenderly in the choicest of linen and
laid it away in a costly sepulcher.
Jesus knows and recognizes no class.
Riches and poverty to him are but the
tools with which character fashions cir
cumstances. 1.-THE mans the gowd for
a. that" It is written of him that "he
made his grave with the rich in his
death" There is pathos and tragedy
In that sentence "Must the Master
wait till death to dwell in the hab-
itations of the rich?" May he not make
his abode with the rich in his life?
Let the rich man open the door and
Christ will enter in to share his lone
ly isolation, and will satisfy the hun
ger of his heart.
Jesus was interested in this young
man because he was moral. His life
was pure and his hands clean. For him
good name was better than great
riches. He followed the quest of the
best. He was one of the Knights of
the Round Table, who had pledged his
honor to Give sweet life of purest
chastity" To gain the love and adj
miration of Jesus it is not necessary
to wander off into forbidden paths
of sin, and to run the gauntlet of a
dissipated life. For all young men
who are fighting sin and the devil and
carrying a clean conscience in the
midst of communicating circumstances
Jesus has a warm welcome.
Jesus was interested in this young
man, who, with his youth, his position,
his influence, his purity Of life. was
still dissatisfied and came with the
cry Of unrest What lack YETI" This
is a wonderful thing that he should
have so much and yet not have
enough.
Jesus answered the young mans
question by command. Come, follow
me-" In a great book recently pub
lished there is this striking sentence,
'If the gods went their way and were
satisfied. and the beasts went their
way and were satisfied, the unrest Of
man can only mean that he is not
rightly related to his present life !"
Now. is not that just the truth? How
can a man be rightly related to this
present life in which he is set If he
leaves out God and refuses to become
related to the eternal realities that lie
all around him, in the world of truth
and beauty and goodness? Are youth.
and worldly honor. and riches the only
things that life needs to be related to-?
Ont of all these human relationships
the cry is heard. What lack ! YETI"
And Jesus responds promptly, you
lack the love and the light of the pres
ance Of the God of truth
The human heart is homeless until
Il finds the Heavenly Father" Find
God, and you find rest and peace and
satisfaction. Religion Is satisfaction.
Religion completes life and perfects
love, and only in the presence of God
is the soul satisfied
No sacrifice is too great to gain this
great treasure. "Sell all that you
have and give to the poor If neces.
sary." Let nothing hold you back from
following after Christ in the life OF
self-surrender and loving service.
Led by the Eye That Never Sleeps.
IT will guide thee with mine eye"
FPS. 32:8.) When we are in the dark
God can and will see for US. When led
bv a friend who can see, a blind man