The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-23
|ND|V|DUAL|SM SIN OF GERMANY
 STATES PREACHER Rev. M. s. Barnwell, of the Church of the Advent, Speaks on Timely Topic STRUGGLES BETWEEN WOLVES AND SHEEP Scores Politicians who Dare Not Take Stand When National Issues
 and National Safety Are
 at Stake

A forceful sermon, dealing with current events, was preached yesterday morning by the Rev. Middleton S. Barn well at the Church of the Advent, before large congregation In his sermon Dr. Barnwell spoke on neutrality, conscrip. tion, the relation of the worker and the employer, and many other vital topics Speaking of Germany he declared that her sin was individualism, and her motto Germany Over All" He declared that America was rising to greatness of which in peace and prosperity she never dreamed. The following was the text:
 "Sts John x 1s-15 The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep I am the good shepherd I lay down my life for the sheep
 ''In these sentences we have presented to us four types, the sheep, the wolf, the hireling and the shepherd; four types that run through every phase of human life and work for, of course, 1t was a parable that our Lord was speaking a story taken from the homely scenes ot His Own life, yet shot through and through with eternal truths applicable to every time and nation).
 ''The gentle sheep the cruel wolf; the indifferent hireling who cared not for the sheep, the zealous shepherd who laid down his life for them: how easy it is to all of these in the conditions of life that surround us! Gods people every where are the sheep. Gods people, gen. tie at heart, tender and true, yet some times goaded to desperation by the vile 1,t; fO ,1I,+ submit. All of the noble ideals of life are the sheep; truth and justice; liberty, love and faith; all of these things that set us apart from the beasts and make us akin to God; all of these splendid paths up which man tries to climb that he may come nearer to God; these priceless ideals that have led us upward and shall yet lead us on; these are precious in God s sight; these are the sheep, which false hood and cruelty and lust and sine are forever seeking to destroy.
 Because these things are the wolves. There isn't any good without it's opposite evil. Opposed to tenderness is cruelty; opposed to truth the lie. Passion lies in wait along the paths were purity is wont to walk and hatred batters at the gate of the temple of love- But spiritual evil alone does not reach humanity Like good and God it must become incarnate before it strikes. So we have men, and we have institutions and we have nations which become as veritable wolves be- cause in their lives they give expression to the ideals that have mastered them; ideals which are hostile to the sheep and alien to God.
 THE WORLD IS NEUTRAL
 And in the presence of this strug- gle which is constantly going on between good and evil; between the wolves ana the sheep, we find men and institutions and nations who are indifferent. We have a word today which means "indifferent,' but which is fraught with a new signifi- canoe. The word I mean is neutral When good locks horns with evil; when the incarnate evil seeks to destroy the incarnate good; when men or nations en- gage in mortal combat with principles of justice, honor and liberty at stake, then in the person of the neutral who stands afar off on some pinnacle of ina gined safety we have as fine an example ot the hireling as the world can offer. "What do I care for the liberties of the world so long as mine are safe? Why should I worry if women and children perish? Mine are secure at home Why should join in this strife, and fight for the vague and shadowy ideals of jus
 
 Let these sheep perish. They belong r. the Master, not me'' An, can you not see this very situation in the language of the Christ? But he that is an hire ling, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them and scattereth them. The hireling fleeth because he is an hirelng and careth not for the sheep
 "Oh, the hirelings of the world! Who do not care if men are hungry, or little children die from lack of proper care and food; who do not care if virtue and in- nocence are crucified; who do not care if passion and cruelty are triumphant so long as their triumph Is on some distant shore. The most ignoble figure in life is the man who stands apart and idle, and does not care!
 STRUGGLES WITH THE WOLF
 'fhank God my friends, for the Good Shepherd who was not indifferent From His place in heaven He saw our strug- gles with the wolf. He saw that we were ignorant and needed to be taught He saw that we were wandering and needed to be led. He saw that we were weak and needed to be made strong He saw that we wished to be good, yet could not because God was so far away So He came to us. He cared. Cared enough to forego the glory that was His the honor and praise that the angel choirs contin- ually sang, cared enough to leave all these behind Him and come to help us fight, because the wolf was pressing us hard. He left his honor for mems hatred.