Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-27
Gpmortt league
Uopic

REV. SAMUEL W. GRAFFLIH.

''The Man Of the Hour"
Isaiah, SO.
~ 8 we stand in the amphitheater Of
|A time and look upon the panorama
OF deeds. two great Impressions &C.
cur and recur with such impressive
emphasis as to leave no doubt within the
thoughtful mind that history not only
repeats itself. but that its vocabulary Is
small.
The topic for the month has been 1.-THE
Brink Of Ruin and the Ian of the Hour"
and we have seen the ruin that travels in
the wake Of sin, the weakness, personal
and national, that waits on folly, and the
emergence from time to time Of some
great soul. who, feeling his nations need
and caring not for praise or blame. has
issued forth as though compelled Of God
to meet the present crisis: often to die in
SO doing, but to be named in history as
1.-THE Man Of the Hour"
1t is in this twofold thought Of the
crisis and the man to meet it that his
tory with such regularity repeats itself
and in a closer inspection Of these recur-
rences two facts stand out: First, That
wrong and ruin are synonyms; no rigl,te-
GUS nation ever having had to permanent
ly bow in bondage to a nation stepped in
sin: and second, that the MAN Of the
Hour has almost invariably been cast
in the same mold as his Titan fellows in
the war which God. through men, has
and for the good.
But nowhere IN the realm Of greatness
set to life's most noble strain has there
been one who even made approach to
Him whom God designed to save and
serve His creature-children who have
f~{ -
spite Of this. in spite Of the immense
superiority above all others who have
dared to try, there is such kinship among
great souls that while He stands forever
first the difference has been a difference
Of degree and not OF kind. He was
rare prophetic picture Of the coming
Christ, Isaiah has portrayed the attri-
butes that go. to make true greatness.
not only in the person of the Christ,
but also In His greatest followers, we
catch vision of what the factors are
that made and make such lives sublime
What are some Of the things thus
prophesied Of and fulfilled in Jesus Christ
that are revealed in every Man OF the
I. There is humbleness of origin. Sell
dom or never have these giants been
born under such conditions as to impress
men with the thought that they should
ever be THE Man OF the Hour: but like
the lofty peak that spreads its broad base
upon its mother earth, the towering pine,
or the widespreading oak which warm
their feet in the deep soil, all Of the
truly great have seemed to rise from
landmarks and shelter OF the race from
which they rose. This, in the Christ, and
all who dare to claim ktnship with Him
through noble deeds well done, has been
who dared to follow the same path.
H. Both He and they seemed to be
human in their humanity How approach
able have been all of the truly great
or the poor dupes of cankering wealth,
may shut themselves in privacy. or raise
the barriers Of chill formality about
them, but the real loyalty, the men and
women who have done the most to make
man noble in the eyes of man. have
never been too busy at the task to see
and hear the fearful tale, or give the
counsel which the case might need.
Jesus Christ was God. but no less man;
and Browning has done we'll in placing
in the mouth Of the shepherd king Of
Israel the promise which he speaks to
troubled Saul:
In the Godhead! seek 1t and ind it.
Saul, 1t shall be
A face like my face that receives thee; man
Thou shalt love and be loved by. for ever: A
Shall throw open the gates Of life to thee!
See the Christ stand!
III. They were all burden bearers. He
bore our sins and our humanity; and 1t
has been the glory of the great that
''they who did most have borne most. !"
God. the infinite, could not lift tho bur-
den that men bore until He got under
1t, beside the straining creature whom 1t
weighted down. And we shall not do our
share in raising the present burden which
men bear until, like Him who bore the
cross for us. we take our place beneath
the tiresome load to share at once our
strength and their weakness.
Nv. They were patient. Nothing, per-
haps, in all the myriad lights that spar
kle in the diadem with which men
wreath the memories Of their martyrs
and their saints compares to the clear
light that flashes from the memory OF
the unfailing patience with which they
bore with the thankless objects Of their
toll and solicitude. We are most like
Him, and, indeed. most great when we
are patient with those who seem the
least to care.
v. They were satisfied in the success
Of their cause. From the high priestly
prayer Of Jesus Christ In which. AZ God.
He talks to God, no note IL moro clear
than that which finds it's satisfaction in
the words: 81 have finished the work
which Thou gavest me to do" and In this
spirit all Of those who may lay claim to
deathless memory because Of work we'll
AnpoA tA