The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-07-13
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
For July Is is "Hezekiah. the Faith
full King. II Chronicles 80.
A Nation That Got Religion"
BY w. T. ELLIS


full King. III Chronicles 80.
\ Nation That Got Religion"
What is the power that most
strongly binds people. or even ma
lions, together? Other countries
frankly express their amazement at
the closer relations now being estab-
lished between Canada and the United
States, and between Great Britain and
the United States. They seem unable
to explain the phenomena. Small
wonder, for. they look no deeper than
the selfish concerns of statecraft,
whereas the strongest cord m this new
international tie is religion, just as re-
ligion is the greatest unifying factor
in each of these nations itself. Our
new fellowship is on the firmest foun-
dation. 1t never occurs to the man
who is engrossed in concerns of high
politics that such an inconspicuous
factor as the International Sunday
School Movement, or Christian En-
deavor, or the Young Mems Christian
association, or the Laymen's Mission
airy movement might be considerable
forces in this new state of mind.
Such, none the less, is the case. The
law that Hezekiah observed still holds
good today. When the old Hebrew
king wanted to draw all his people to-
gether. and even the aIienated north
ern kingdom also, he sounded the ap-
peal to a common past in religious
life. 1t was faith in Jehovah, Il faith
often dim and ignored or deserted,
but still the one common heritage of
the people, that made the Jews a ma
ton. That note was still the deepest
and strongest appeal. There are i'm
mense possibilities of human welfare
| in the truth that the two most pow
erful nations in the world are funda-
mentally Christian.
Stirring the Deep Springs.
Petty divisions and local abuses of
many sorts tended to separate the
Jews of HezekiahS time into groups
and mutually antagoniStic commune
ties. This was especially true with re-
spect to the great division between
the northern and southern kingdoms.
The king might have taken up these
one by one, and tried to patch them
up. But he knew a better way. He
realized that there was a deep, hidden
sentiment in the hearts of all Jews
of loyalty to the God of their fathers.
| Likewise he understood that neglect
| of religion was the fundamental fail
ure of the time.
All religious visions and most per-
sonal and national calamities are due
to an inadequate loyalty to God. The
cure for all the ills of the church is
simply deeper devotion to the
church's Lord. The blight of denomi-
national rivalry will disappear from
| North America as soon as Christians
| learn to love Christ more than they
! love their own way and their own
past All the little ponds and eddies
! along the shore are submerged when
will submerge the differences and dis
| agreements between Christians.
There is a profound truth here, in
dicated by the lesson story, that needs
| close bordering. When the disciples
of Christ find themselves engrossed in
| devotion to Him they will be in real-
| lzation of practical Christian unity
The greatest Christian union meetihs
ever held did not have Christian un-
ion as its object; it was the Worlds
In the face of a world service, all the
divided branches of Christendom real
lied their unity. Only very narrow
| minded person can retain sectariar
| preJudlceS on the mission field. Both
church and nation rise to a higher
unity and loyalty in the face of the
call to return to the first love.
A Reform for the Preachers.
Thanksgiving Day is a great ma
tional asset, a powerful +. omoter OF
patriotism. AS Hezekiat called tC
the Jews everywhere to come up tC
the City of David for national relig.
ious festival, Thanksgivir 9 Day ant
a feast of remembrance, tee nationa
| Passover, he urged -ppropriate prep
aration. Deep experiences call fol
has set millions to looking into theil
| own hearts for the meanin of things
Holy communion before action is e
solemn battlefield experiel ce.
AS first step in This great Jewish
celebration, Hezekiah called for tht
publication of the Levit~i and the
priests. Repentance must begin at the
house of God. The wor.7 will never
be purified by a spotted Church. Thu
! wise king, when he Rad caIed the re
ligious leaders of the peop'e together
pointed out that the punishment O
Jehovah had fallen upon the nation
because of it's religious decieIsions anC
the irreligion of those Who SHOULD
have been the first in fidelity to Je
hovah. So the first step in the prep
aration of the Passover was the sane
tification of the Levites.
One cannot resist the temptation t.
speculate upon what would be the re
suit if the ministers of religion in GU
own land were to hav- So arely pu
up to them the responsibility for NOR
al and political conditions II the ma