The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1914-10-09
PEACE SERMON
Delivered on Sunday October 4th, at
Christ Church, in Milbank by
Rev. E. +. Siegfriedt, 5. r. Is.

y
Christian dissentions have been de-
plored and here and there efforts hav
been made to sink differences and
unite in common duties. The latest
efforts have been towards general
PRAYER for peace. 1t h e
response has been local, feeble and SO
far without result. 1t is not new
thing for the president to call the
people to prayer. Once a year the
call goes out for all to join in offering
thanksgiving to God, but it is all a
matter OF form; churches unite in SER
vices because Of small cOngre-
cations and the main interests Of
the day are foot ball and turkey
dinners. Today it is different. The
President has expressed the sentiment
OF the entire American nation. Every
where the horror of the situation is
felt We involuntarily shudder as
we read of tn heaps of dead and
dying stricken on bloody fields, Of
the sick and enfeebled soldiers battling
in the swamps and trenches. and of
the famished women and children in
the ruined cities. Even he, to whom
prayer is strange, cries out &c i've
peace in our time Q, Lord"
1t is no selfish prayer we pray to.
day. We are not asked to pray for
ourselves only, but that God will
enlighten mems minds and show a
way to peace where at present there
seems none, that the counsels of men
may be overruled and things set
straight which are beyond mans pow
er to govern or alter. The president
asks further for the confession of per-
sonal sins and weaknesses, lack of
wisdom and ignorances. He asks US
in other words to follow or pursue
peace and holiness. Is it not worthy
of note, that the thing which commits
sions and leaders of various church
bodies have been trying to bring
about within the church for years. has
been brought about throughout the
nation by one stroke OF the presidents
pen?
What tho, is to be the result? Shall
we pray to-day for peace and to-mor-
row seek thi sword, or shall we pray
to day and all days for that glorious
peace which is to crown our days?
Shall we as the psalmist, 'Eschew
evil and do good, seek peace and
pursue it,
Peace is the watchworo Of christian
ity. 1t was that with which the angels
heralded the masters birth. "Peace
on earth, good will among men, 1t
was the final gift OF the departing
Lord. .Peace, | leave with you-My
peace | give unto you. Throughout
His life. His gospel vas, amid the tur
mOil OF winds and waves. of fears and
doubts, of selfish ambitious and world
ly strife. Peace, be STILL. Put up
the sword nto its sheath. and His
70 81 | al.
ed peace by Jesus Christ And the
Apostle Paul urges his Cornthan
converts ITO live in peace and prom
ises that God, who is the God OF Peace
will be with them. His is the Gospel
OF Peace.
Peace not merely between nations
and armies. in CORY fields where re-
venge and hatrel blind mems eyes and
lead them to wanton deeds Of blood
shed and useless destruction, where
the wounded groan in agony of pain,
and the prayer OF the suffering. the
orphans, fatherless and widows cry to
God for mercy. wondering perhaps if
indeed there be q God and why He
permits such carnage and suffering.
Gods peace means that and more than
that. More than peace in the CONNER
C al world, where labor strives
against capital, where greed and avar
ice kill and deform those who struggle
for life amid the cogs of the industrial
machine. More than peace in the
church, where charity is overborn by
pride and brother contends with broth
er, and families are divided against
themselves. Christ's peace means
peace in all these and more, peace
within. Peace in the soul OF man
where the contending forces of good
and evil strive for the m lstery, where
doubts and fears assal, where sin,
sickness and sorrow renl and tear.
where emotions strive one with anoth
er. where law striveth against spirit
and spirit against flesh. There, the
Gospel also brings peace.
Peace, did say? Is it a mockerv
that the christian cries "Peace. peace.
where there is no peace?' No, it is
not mOckery, because we find no
promise OF peace from the world S
war Industrial strife and ecclesiastical
jealousy in this life. Not peace from
them but peace among them. ''For
nation shall rise against nation, and
Kingdom against Kingdom, and there
shall be famines and earthquakes.
1t was the same occasion on which He
Sdlu, IVY pcdCt lcdVc Will you.
that Jesus said, ''These things have
| spoken unto you, that in me We
might have peace. In the world We
shall have tribulation, but be of good
cheer. have overcome the world
Peace in the world just as the ship,
weathering the gale on the ocean finds
peace there, under the lee of a rock.
Christ is our rock. He is our peace.
| was reading the other day, the
story of a man who sat amidst the
turmoil OF busy city and watch
ed nun, who in the quiet Of the con-
vent garden gathered roses for the
alter of her Lord. Without, all was
noise, dirt and distraction
but within all was quiet, beautiful
serene. Life there was possessed by
10 higher life, and had become the in
|strument of higher will. "Must we.
|he cried, sfollow the black nun out OF
The world into Religion, before quiet
is in any sense possible for us?'' Or
Is some possessing of our souls attain
hble under average conditions of life?
Peace was the thing his soul craved.