Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-12-22
Religion as
Satisfaction
By Rev. Hugh T. Kerr,
Pastor Of Fullerton Avenue
Presbyterian Church, Chicago

|
determined hand and there is nc 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 ell
| 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 trif1ing with
sacred things and then casting them
thoughtlessly away from him He was
/ intense, enthusiastic, 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 IF the Mas
ter he bowed in graceful reverence.
Richly endowed with worldly wealth,
he was still more richly endowed with
a nature rich in the virtues that make
! for righteousness.
Jesus was intensely interested in
| this young man. We read that He
IL Al. l. f,1k rACf
/ 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. 1t was a rich man who
begged his lifeless body as it hung
unclaimed upon the cross. Two rich
men took his dead body and wrapped
+ it 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
| 70
a that" 1t is written Of him that ''he
made his grave with the rich III 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
a good name was better than great
riches He followed the quest of the
best. He was one Of the knights Of
| lH6 dUlC, WIN itiu plSuSSQ
honor to live sweet life of purest
chastity" To gain the love and ad-
miration of Jesus it is not necessary
to wander off into forbidden paths
of sin, and to run the gauntlet of a
dssipated life. For all young men
who are fighting sin and the devil and
carrying a clean conscience in the
,,,;Je+ ~ oop+ap,ip atipo oirourpc+, mao
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 a command. Come, fellow
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 tos
Out 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
ence of the God of truth"
The human heart is homeless until
It 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