The Glenwood post., 1912-03-16
PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY

As ye have not done it unto one of
the least of these ye have not done it
unto me.-Matt. 25-45.
The foregoing was the text at the
Methodist Episcopal church Sunday
| night.
Tte Rev. Mr.. Klein said, in part:
| Jesus Christ makes his own the woes
andi suffering of human kind. The sor-
rowA that come to the unfortunate
here on earth come to Him. Their
needs are His needs. And it matters
notshow Insignificant and forlorn they
may appear to us, or how abandoned
they may be by us, the Master says
that kindness shown one of them is
| a Kindness shown Him, and a kindness
refused one of them is kindness re-
fused Him. 'Inasmuch as We did it
not; unto one of the least of these ye
did it not unto me.
1t Is love that can put us in the
place of others and make US feel their
pains and sufferings and agonies. And
so when Jesus says, II was an hungerel
and We gave Me no meat, thirsty and
ye gave no drink, naked and we clothed
Me not, sick and in prison and We WIS.,
tied Me not, stranger and We took
Me not in He, by the power of His
great love is made to feel the hunger,
the shame. the affiction. the sorrow
of the destitute. He is with them in
their sorrow, He is there in them, and
we, you and I, pass them by without
administering to their needs and there
by without administering to His needs,
| and so well can He say, AS We have
not done it unto one of the least of
these ye have not done it unto me-.
"The glory of the Christian religion
| is in its disinterested service. it
serves God by serving man. The
Christian does not fulfill his duty in the
temple or in the sanctuary but his
life is one of continuous outpouring of
love wherever he is. He is friend
in need, neighbor of him who is in
want of assistance, rather than a mere
| lip,devotee, who goes to his church
| and says his prayers and then passes
| by his unfortunate brother man, as
did the priest and the Levite. There
fwas no seclusiveness in the Christ. and
t.,a<e is no place for it in His religion
You cannot be Christian and retire
to your little corner and there conceal
your religion You can It carry it with
you to your little social caste, class
| or clique That religion of yours must
find a concrete expression in that
brotherly kindness that goes out to
your unfortunate fellowman in the
lowest strata of society. There is no
place for arstocracy, as that term s
now used and understood in the Chris
| tian life. You will have to become Il
commoner if you would follow Christ.
He was the great commoner, the arti
san of the carpenter shop, He dwelt
with the seething SHINING multitudes
where He was most needed, and there
is where His disciples axe found to-
day. AS You go into their midst and
shower on them your Christian live
you will administer to the Christ.
at is indeed strange that men and
| women who call themselves Christians
men and women who pretend to walk
in the path trod by the Master, should
be Indifferent to their brothers and
sisters who are down in the valley of
suffering and distress. Oh, the misery
that walks abroad'in the world tonight
The poverty and hunger that dwel!s
among men in this day and age of
progress and plenty is so great that
| were you and l to see but small part
| of it we would be haunted to our
dying days, by scenes of want and
squallor, by child visages of hunger
and pain. Yes, there is much affle-
tion in this world tonight, and by its
| side there is wealth in abundance, be-
longing to Christian people who evade
the suffering of their brethren. They
pass by on the other side.
eco back with me in fancy 1900
| years and see the great brother of the
hungry, the naked, the sick, the out
cast, the dying. He finds the suffer
| ing, and none are too degraded, none
too foul and filthy for Him to touch
with His spotless hands. Clothed in
immaculate purity He walks in their
midst, and administers to their needs.
And as He stoops to aid them He be-
comes the more bright and glorious.
In His work among the lowly He never
loses His dignity. He is ever majestic,
walking amid His afflicted brethren.