The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-04-24
seek THOSE THINGS
WHICH ARE ABOVE YOU"
Rev. r.. r.. Osgood breaches Easter
Sermon In Emmanuel
Church.
WAS THE DAWN OF a NEW DAY
Christ's Coming Was To Give Man
kind New Vision, New Aspiration
and New dfe-The Look Toward
Heaven.

a large congregation at Emmanuel
Episcopal Church listened with much
( Interest and profit yesterday morning
! to the following Easter sermon by
their rector. the Rev. f. T.. Osgood.
Taking as his ten the words of the
/ Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:1-2: III
! We then be risen with Christ seek
those things which are above, where
/ Christ sitteth on the right hand of
7 God. Set your affections on things
! above not on things on the earth.
DR. Osgood said:
There Is new power coming into
/ the world. 1t is Christianity" Thus
with prophetic vision, claims the
/ heroine of QUO Nadis."
/ That the advent of Jesus life upon
earth meant the dawn OF a new day
( is continually emphasized throughout
the New Testament The angels of
/ heaven in choruses of joyous rapture
previsioned the glory Of d new era
/ of peace and good will among men.
( The Wise Men. star-guided from the
East, came seeking new sovereign
" in Him who was born King OF the
Jews" And John. the rugged fore
runner, realized that the light Of his
prophetic DAY was waning he de-
clared amid the dawniug rays Of the
. Messia his day. He must increase, but
| must decrease.
And so the new day dawned, be-
cause new life came into the world.
Hitherto God had revealed Himself
OCCASIONALLY through the prophets.
They were like broken rays of great
central light God spoke through
them I'm many fragments and in di-
vers manners" But in the dawn of
this new days, in the fuiness Of
time" when the Greater than the
prophets should come. His name was
TO be called Emmanuel. God with us.
God in the person of Jesus Christ was
to be with us The IncarAation was
God. visibly giving Himself, relating
Himself, TO men.
The life of Jesus was the life OF
a newIy-manifeSted relationship to
humanity. Not in solitary grandeur,
nor merely to demand peculiar hon
orx for Himself did the Christ come
into the world. He was not simply
to he the Sought, but the Seeker.
The Son of man is come 10 seek. ~
His life was TO be related to All life,
Hence. He declares, Il am among YOU
as ore that serveth." He experienced
our temptations that He might visihly
relate Himself to US in the tolls Of
trial He was the Man Of sorrows,
that He might visibly experience with
Us aud Tor us our griefs and suffer
iugs And thus humanity might ever
more declare. II have not suffered
alone There is 0pe-the One--the
Man Christ Jesus, who has suffered
with me He has lived my life and
experienced my trials and tempta-
lions" So completely did Jesus iden-
tify Himself with those receptive to
His life. that ministers or Offenders
of them were ultimately found to
be ministers or offenders against
Him
But Jesus came not simply 20 be
ii sharer with us OF our sorrows and
trials. or even of our earthly joys
He came not only To sympatht2c. hut
to impart The Son Of man rs come
TO seek and also to save. He came
to give mankind new vision. new
aspiration. a new life.
Hope First Given.
\ beautiful German legend relates
that when Adam was standing with
downcast eyes-before the body Of slain
AbeI~-earth's first dead~-au angel
came and stood beside him, 10 whom
the first parent turned and asked in
sorrowful despair, What hope Is now
left for me ," Whereupon the angel.
with finger pointing upward replied;
The look towards heaven" And
Christ came 10 give back TO Us the
upward looking and the light" IN re
build for us the vision and the dream.
Aye. more. To give n new vision TO
the world, downcast, sinful and sor-
rowful as 1t was--a new viewpoint
the look towards heaven" Not that
men, like Enoch and Elijah. were TO
he suddenly translated into the
heavens while Jesus Kingdom was
not of this world, yet IT was for this
world He taught His disciples TO pray.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as il Is In heaven" The
Kingdom OF Heaven is within you.
The proper sphere for the sway of the
Christly sceptre is within the hearts of
men. Behold, now is the day OF
salvation!"
This ageless life Is to be lived now
and here. the life of the heavens pro-
tected upon the earth Jesus carried
in His own Divine person the powers
of the deathless life. He declares
even in the presence of death, II am
the resurrection and the life" He
was the Trumpher over death. He
had power. not only to lay down His
life, but also Ito take ii again.
And this life. this eternal life, which
Jesus lived upon the earth, He would
impart 10 us. AS He relates Himself
to our human life by sharing our ex-
per.ences Of pain, temptation and sor-
row, SO He would relate our human
life to His Divine Life by imparting
to us even in the now and here the
life OF the ages, eternal life 81 am
come that they might have life. ana
that they might have ii more abund-
antly."
A two-fold relationship. then, did
Jesus reveal. man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, and yet the
Bringer of life TO the world, His life.
the Divine Life, the Ageless Life. He
shared with us our sorrows, became
for our sakes poor, that we, through
His sympathizing poverty. might be-
come rich and share with Him the
joys and gIories of the deathiess life.
Related to us in our sorrows. we are
to be related TO Him in His triumph
over death and sin.
The Gross Was But the Seal.
But Jesus death, IL would seem,
had broken this divlnely human rela-
tionshlp. In the dawn of that first
day of the week. the agonzing heart
of the Magdalene exclaimed at the
apparent loss of even the body of
the crucified Christ. They have taken
away my Lord. and ] know not where
they have laid Him" An afflicted
love. bringing perfumed spices 10
anoint the body of loved memory.
finds even that body was gone. And
vat OH N m