The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-06-29
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIs)

L
The value of a political campaign is
that it educates the people to knowl-
edge upon the great concerns OF gov
eminent. 1t quickens interest in ma
t:onal life and challenges all the old
and taken-for-granted views II we
look upon the preaching of Jesus Js
His campaign. and His Sermon on the
Mount as the platform of the party he
was forming, we find that Tor three
months past the Sunday schools OF the
world have been discussing the issues
which He put forward In this presen-
tation of the platform He laid down
the laws that should govern His king
dom that kingdom which is now con-
quering the earth and which should
be the supreme concern of the human
mind. Every thoughtful person n
called upon to face the utterances Of
this greatest of teachers and leaders
Not to know the Sermon on the Mount
is more discreditable than not to knox
tho Magma Carta, the writings of Shak-
espeare. or the latest bit of popular
literature.
The Newness of An Old Issue.
Everything tends to petrify. The
most sacred institutions and usages
are in constant danger of deter1ora-
ton from their original significance;
the great phrases become cant; man
calls his wife dear" meaning no more
thereby than if he called her molly,
though when first he breathed that
word If was fraught with the tenderest
SIGNIFICANCE, most fully realized. A con-
spicuous instance of the Justification OF
institutions is the Sabbath Day. Jesus
was brought face to face with this,
and He found Himself in the gulse OF
condemned Sabbath breaker.
The trouble arose from the substitu-
ton of regulations for spirit. the
beneficent rest day, which Jehovah had
designed for mans highest WelIare'
had become hedged about by eccleSl-
astical legislation, until most OF us
original purpose had been lost; 1t was
a mere thing of rules to be feared and
obeyed Although the day was made
for man, Jesus found that He was
called a violator of the Sabbath when
he sought to help the suffering or to
feed the hungry Therefore, with
His characteristic courage, He chal-
Ienged the old, outworn, traditional
Views and proclaimed the merciful
mission Of this day which God had
set apart for highest uses.
The question of the Sabbath is
vital one in our time and civilization
Some of the same sort of ecclesia st1-
cal rigidity menaces the day Even
more is it threatened by needless
materialistic, short-sighted, selfish in
dividualism, which would make the
Lords Day like unto other days-or
at least only a holiday, instead OF
Jesus on this moot point should be
the study of good citizens, as wei as
of religious leaders.
Multiplying the Master.
Most of the vital personalities Of
the world have their followers ana
schools: great scholars reproduce
themselves in pupils. Jesus was true
TO the tradition of all history when
He undertook to multiply his per
= fw14 G
message to mankind must be carried
by more lips than His own. 1t was
not enough that He should mlngle
with the crowd that thronged Him
and diffuse His ideas: He must have
in training a school of apostles.
Thus the twelve were chosen COM
panv of common men with opportun-
ity to reveal the uncommon posi-
types of character were represented
in those who went forth two by two
upon the highest mission ever vouch-
safed to mortal. The significance of
the appointment of the twelve is many
sided, but first and foremost it carries
the teaching that even the divine Son
of God is dependent upon human
agency for the extension of His king
dom in the world.
The New Teaching.
current phrase in Japan is dan
gerous doctrine" This euphemism
covers all the radical views, from sim
pie democracy to out and out anarchy,
which are invading the old order. They
are thought to be dangerous because
they have power to upset existing con-
ceptions and institutions. Ideas are
more powerful than dynamite. When
Jesus called His friends TO be the salt
of the earth and the Light of the
world" He equipped them with new
conceptions of truth, and gift for
discerning truth.
So long has the world been under
the spell of the teachings of Jesus that
their radical nature, even to this day.
is scarcely perceived. The Sermon on
the mount, the Masters inaugural ad-
dress. was a succession CT paradoxes.
1t reversed the old order and put first
the things which had been esteemed as
last and least.
Reversing the Common Order.
This marvellous deliverance, up to
the level of which the world is but
slowly climbing, turned upside down
the accepted notions of the time. The
Master pronounced as blessed" not
the rich and the powerful and the
men of place and honor, but the poor,
the meek, the prosecuted. His philos-
ophy declared that the enviable men
were not the conspicuous and wealthy
and highly placed His teaching
aimed directly to show that a mans
life consisted not in the abundance
of the things he possessed, but that
It was measured solely by the state
of his spirit
So He babe men to love their enc
mics. to seek to give rather than to
receive. to turn the cheek in nonre-
sistance to the hand that smites. and
to rejoice over persecution and hard
ship. Even more. He interpreted the
law of Moses as meaning that the real
sin was less in the deed than in the
thought that prompted the deed, and
that a heart of hatred was as crimi-
nal as an act of murder
Simpleness, truthfulness, Self-de- |
NAL, lowliness of heart, lavish spend |
ing of love forgiveness of enemies |