Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-10
Gpmortb league
Topie
The Strong Shall Not Take Advan.
tage of the Weak"
Amos, S:4-7; James, sd.
(Lincoln Sunday.)
REV. SAMUEL w. GRAFFLIN.

~ LII through the mighty oratorio of
" modern progress there runs an
undertone of discord; sometimes
faint. SO faint, indeed, that we are led
to doubt that it is there, and then so
harsh and loud and Earring as to mar
the whole harmony. This discord is
caused by the social unrest of the times.
1t is the cutlery of the downtrodden, the
plea of those who feel that they have
not been justly dealt with-have not re-
ceived their share OF that which their
labor has produced. We are prone to
speak of this as Il modern evil, as some
thing which because it is now present
Is born of the present. This is not true;
the trouble is not in any one age or
nation, but in every age and nation,
wherever one set of men grow rich at
the expense of the many and less IA
vored.
The history of every nation that has
passed from Off the stage of action, that
has gone the way of the unfit, reveals
the fact that their prophets invariably
foretold the national destruction, and
always on the ground of divine in
tolerance of the oppression of the weak
by the strong.
Discuss with any banker the real secret
of high prices, and he must be eloquent,
indeed to better express it in one brief
paragraph than has the faithful prophet
small and the shekel great; in other
words, "A small bushel and large dol
lar 1t has been the poets and prophets,
not the statesmen and historians, who
have been quickest to grasp this truth.
No one should attempt to speak upon
this theme. without first having read and
reread, Man Was Made to Mourn in
which Robert Burns sounds the eternal
inquiry of the oppressed. asking those
questions concerning human rights
which must be answered here or else be-
fore the judgment seat Of God.
We as a nation shall on the Sabbath
celebrate Lincoln day in memory of the
great emancipator Much will be said
concerning his great work in setting
free not only the enslaved black man. but
also the nation, for in the hour in which
he struck the chains from him he like
wise wiped from off our flag blot which
there are forms of bondage in our land
today so grim and terrible that those who
see with prophets vision or feel with
poets soul must cry aloud to God against
such injustice and uneven practice. Even
the masters of these modern serfs must
drea6 the hour when costly mausoleum
or plain pine box shall have received
master mast and servant, and, both set free rec
ord stands: Born in a stable, laid in a
manger, hung on a cross, and buried in a
borrowed grave" Then and then only
will each perceive how He was grieved
to see them so estranged by the false
standards Of this selfish world.
Spare, Lord. the thoughtless guide the blind,
Till man no more shall deem 1t just
His weaker brother In the dust.
Two things remain. to say which in a
charity or force with which things are
said The first bears on Gods hatred of
injustice or oppression anywhere. That
God is love- no more robs Him of a hot
prevents the raging torrent of mothers
wrath who sees her offspring ruthlessly
abused. God hates the wrongs which
men infiict on men. Only the prayer
sun refused to shine and earth in her
last chill went trembling to her doom will
save the needless masters of this age:
Father. forgive them, for they know
not what they do
The other thing is this: The many
forces Of this present day. which seem
so much at variance with each other and
the truth, are seeking for some panacea
for the social ills that scourge the nation
with feverish unrest, whose symptoms
are the growth of parties, socialistic or
more radical STILL
These parties are asking a thousand
important questions. but are answering
none. There is but one answer and one
place to find it.
The rich and cultured cannot fairly ask
the poor, unlettered man to share their
home, nor may the poor man ask tie rich
one to spend his time with him. But
both may find the answer to the disturb
ing questions of their lives while bowling
at the feet of Him who died that each
might have common meeting place
within the church, that there the strong
might share his strength with his less IA
vored fellow-servant, and he in turn by
bravely bearing his hard lot may dem
onstrate his worth and claim the things
which each will see belong to him. God
haste the day.