Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-06-19
In The Religious World;
CREv1Ew OF SUNDAY SCHOOL LrssoN)

travel had made him aware Of the con-
dition Of the times. and his lowly call
ing gave him opportunity to mediate
upon 1t. He belonged to no school of
the prophets: he, like the greatest,
was tutored alone in separation and in
silence by the voice that spoke to his
own soul A business man teaching
spiritual truth, Amos was fore
runner of the many men in aN walks
of life who are today crying aloud the
peril involved in some OF our present
social and national tendencies.
The Patriots Task.
Patriotism makes prophets. No
man becomes a prophet by caring for
his own soul Only the great passions
can stir into flame this gift. A ma
tional crisis produces the great
patriots with message. Thus the
advent Of the Assyrian into the his
tory of Israel, creating conditions
singularly analogous to our own. when
a new civilization "a new power, and
new world entered the conscious.
ness of the people.
The city problem perturbed Amos.
A long period Of wealth and security
had set the Hebrews to building.
Luxury had become common. Men
sprawled on ivory couches and drank
buckets full Of wine, and sought out
delicate portions of food and devoted
music's highest to their sensuous
feasts. Their grossly fat eyes were
blind to the miseries Of their poor and
to the plight Of their people. They
were needless of the signs of the
times. The storm that was gathering
In the east and soon to break upon
them gave them too little concern.
The prosperous people we're making a
business Of pleasure, and when a ma
ton comes to that pass it Is on the
threshold Of dire danger. The sue
cesses of these ancient Jews, their in
temperance. their sensuality, their
idleness, their gross materialism,
bring into view our own problems,
which are perhaps not as far apart as
they seem-the one class Of people
who live by vice and the other class
who live by unearned money for which
they make no return to society.
The AeeIess Problem.
Old Amos, with those sun.wrinkled,
quizzical eyes, saw to the heart of the
matter Superficial conditions did not
lead him astray. He perceived that
the root Of the evil was the sin of the
people. The new forms nd fashions
were but fresh outcroppings Of the old
spirit Of iniquity. At the core Of
1sraeIs question was sin.
The social doctors are busy with
our modern conditions. Their fnvesti-
cations and proclaimed remedies fill
the newspaper columns. Organizations
ranging all the way from vice COM
missions to political parties are active |
over the problems that trouble US.
But the real remedy, which is so |
that 1t has not the virtue |
of ), novelty, is yet to be applied In |
power and persistence. This is nothing |
less than the preaching Of the awful |
nes sof sin in all its loathsomeness |
and Of the gospel which delivers from |
sin. Perhaps we must wait until the
are through with mere
y material remedies for our times,
)ut in the end We cannot escape a
acing Of the fearful fact of sin. We
ire dropping the word sin from our
nowadays, while increas-
ng the thing itself in our life. Min
sters teachers and publicists face no
iced greater than that Of returning to
study of our times in the light Of
he word OF God with its clear mes
age upon the part that sin plays in
human society.