The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-09-14
Two Sides of a Teacher.
SUNDAY.

NO SlQCS Oh a
The International Sunday School Les
son for September . Is, JUG
ment and Mercy" Matt. 11:2O-30
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
The Judge who sits in robed dignity
upon the bench and IS a terror TO eVl
doors is, in his own home, the familiar
playmate of his children. There are
a least two aspects of everybody
Browning says,
God be thanked, the meanest of
his creatures
Boasts two soul-sides-one to
face the world with,
One to show a woman when he
loves herr
The nany-sidedness of the Won
derful character whom the world rec
ognized when He was spoken of as
,Tbe Teacher as if there were no
other. is the study of todays Sunday
School lesson. The Master is seen in
dieting flourishing cities which had
ignored or rejected the truth. and
voicing a tender appeal to the heavy
hearted. Contrasting as these sides
are. they are yet related and both
perfectly consistent with the char
acter of Jesus.
The discourse hinged on the send
ing out of the twelve representatives
Some communities would reject them,
even as Capernaum and Bethsalda
had in effect rejected Him. The re-
sponsibility for refusing to accept
known truth is set forth in phrases
like unto lightning flashes The
theme is a rich one for study, both
for it's social applications and for its
relation to the personal life
The City and Preacher.
A few years ago young minister
was called from a small city charge
to the paStorate of an important con-
gregation in a neighbOring city. The
new field was in a critical condltton,
and ecclesia stical wiseacres shook
their heads over the folly of the con-
gregation in calling a young man
who had made no particular success
of his previous small field. Yet that
minister has been the -1euns of build
ing up his church until It is unques-
tionably the foremost congregation
and the foremost pulpit in its city
The place had affected the man. The
littleness and unrespopsiveness and
pessinism of his first charge had
hindered his powers, although the
world accorded him the blame. A
more congenial atmosphere, greater
confidence. and a readiness 20 work
on the part of the new Parlshloners,
gave the man his opportunity
Some churches ask that the preach
er minister primarily to th.ir preju-
dices and precOnceptions- The fail
IRE of some preachers is not TACT
about the preachers, but about the
communities in which they work
Many cruel judgments are rendered
upon ministers of the gospel which
rightly belong upon the heads OF the
people whom they serve. Some cities.
like Brooklyn, are productive OF great
preachers. 1t is more than coin
cidence that Brooklyn is to an un-
equaled degree the home of distln-
guished preachers
IJp at the northern end of the Lake
Of Galilee, in the center of the sphere
Of the -thly labors of our Lord,
u-ere three favored cities whose streets
He often walked-Capernaum BETH
saida and Chorazin. In Capernaum
He made His home during the larger
mart of His public ministry. They knew
Him and His miracles. Yet their I'M
resnonsiveness called forth His woe
INTO thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee,
aethsaida! for If the mighty works
had been done in Tyre and Sidon which
were done in you, they would have
repented long ago in sackclOth and
ashes So He declared of Capernaum,
..if the mighty works had been done
in Sodom which were done in thee it
would have remained until this day"
Even in the day of Judgment Sodom
would have oetter chance than
Capernaum.
1rbis Judgment seems terrific. It
fairly makes the flesh creep and the
nerves tfngle. as one contemplates the
aVrfulness of the offense of ignoring
onnortunity To have had the privi-
1eges of Capernaum, or, even more, of
a roodern Christian community with
churches and schools and Sabbath and
literature. and still to ignore Christ.
is an offense that will not be forgiven
in the day of reckoning.
The TerribIeness of Truth.
Knowledge of the truth creates a
iudpnent day. We all of US are con-
demned by the truth which We know
and vet do not. knowledge is desir-
abla only to the extent that it can be
made useful. To know and not to dc
is to incur the gravest responsibility.
A common delusion is that there is
virtue in the mere intellectual acquisi-
ton of information, and in the theore-
teal and critical exercise of knowledge
This is not so: truth is to be used
Unpractised, it becomes atrophied. like
any other unemployed faculty. When
exercised it leads the way to more
truth. Every duty we omit aoscures
some truth we should have known
The awesomeness of living in a day
af privilege and opportunity should