Evening journal., 1916-01-19


was the reply of Jesus to a lawyers
quibbling in endeavoring TO evade the
responsibility for service unto his
fellow men. This lawyer had come to
Jesus with seeming sincerity and
asked what he must do TO inherit
eternal life. The Master quoted in
reply the two great commandments,
Thou shall love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy
soul and with all thy strength and
with all thy mind; and thy neighbor
as thyself" Then the man, seeking
to excuse himself intefpOses, But
who is my neighborg"
"In this illustration Jesus presents
four types of character. There is
first the traveller who journeyed from
Jerusalem to Jerico. AS far as we
know he was pursuing the ordinary
course Of his business duties. He did
not go out of his road to look for
trouble He could not be Justly
blamed for his calamity. II was not
/ his fault but his misfortune. This
man is typical of the great mass OF
mankind going down from Jerusalem
| Of the cradle to the JericO OF the
! grave They are on every side
attended by thieves and robbers.
/ Temptations assaii them. Lust, avar-
! ice, appetite, injustice, dishonesty at
/ tack them on every hand This trav-
| eler. living by the wayside, is a pic
mre of a large share OF mankind to-
/ day. bruised, balfied and beaten, lying
hopeless and helpless by the wayside
Of life.
"Then there is the second class, the
! thieves and robbers. They are the
submerged tenth of our civilization.
! Their number is much faster in
creasing propOrtiOnaly than popula-
ton. They claim the world owes them
a living. and they will get it by fair
means or foul. They are the vampires.
the leeches. the parasites, preying
upon their fellow men. II is amazing
! when we think Of the multtudes who
! live merely by pandering to the ap-
| petites and the passions Of humanity.
They do not profess to contribute
one iota to the permanent happiness
and welfare. They are the gamblers.
the thieves. the keepers of houses Of
vice. liquor selling and social impur-
ity. They arc The Outcasts OF civiliza-
tion. The church does not seem to
want them, there they skulk in the
background OF the picture, where we
must leave them for a time.
cue turn now to consider the third
class The priest and the Levite. We
combine these two because they
logically go together. We will call
the priest the evangelist as he is go
\ ing down to the tabernacle to con-
duct the meeting and the Levite is
/ 4 a fa a iG r..
the service Of song. II will not
do for them 10 stop TO care for this
wounded man by the wayside. they
the too busy, they have their services
, to hold They must he there on time
even If the heavens fall There is a
danger that we put religion into a
, cast iron mould and think that every
, thing must go in the same old groove
\ and roctine that it always has. OF
else il Is going wrong. | have now
4 criticised myself, so ! will feel at lib
4 erty to crtcisc YOU.
1.-THE primal fault Of the priest ant
- fLevito Is their narrow limited view O
duty and responsibility. II this mar
had belonged TO their particular
class, or sect. or order they would
have doubtless lent him a helping
hand But they said to themselves
"Hc is a stranger, he docs not belong
TO our crowd or our church or ouI
II lodge, consequently IL IS nothing tt
u.s." The Greeks called all who were
not of their nation, Barbarians.. Al
= who were not Jews, the chosen pea
pie. were Gentiles, outsiders. The
Romans had the same word fol
stranger and enemy. There is too
much of this same clannsh spirit evi
dent even in our civilization. Il is
sort Of Bless me and my wife, M
son John and his wife. us four ant
no more kind of spirit. II IS eVi
dent i'm the church that says, ! vii
not Join union movement becaus
A many that are converted will joil
some other religious organization
rather than ours. II is the seliisl
sectarianism that boasts OF its demon
e. ination. we are the only tru
church, all others are outside1he pal
OF Gods Kingdom" This is tn
st Scribes and Pharisees. the Priest AM
Levite spirit OF modern days. II i
present also i'm the lodge wheH
k, vows TO care for the relatives of il
own members, protecting them fror
danger or injury, but my implication
Is says. That is as far as our responsi
bility extends The priest and tn
Lovite spirit in the lesson whic
JESUS endeavored to convey. is sci
hshness with all of its dwarfnl
withering and blighting consequer
ces. These men saw the need an
Is the opportunity. but they evaded an
personal responsibility and passed b
on the other side.
Their action stands forth in> shar
contrast with that of the Samaritan
He was stranger, of another rae
and nation. But when he beheld th
victims need. he came TO where
v-oe Ho hound nm hic yo,tnde eal