The Clio messenger., 1918-10-04

lSsssesA A-s<. 80 - neighbor Is the
man in need, the man in need Of what
/ have to give, and whose need arises
and is made known to me at time
when l am able to give ii. If this be
true, how amazing and wonderful has
become the world neighborhoOd, and
how clearly is the Christians duty to
make Christ known emphasized by the
universally of human suffering. Like
the man on the way to Jericho, ma
lions lie stricken, bleeding, hungry and
ready to die.
over against this appalling fact, the
like of which the Christian never
faced before In all the history of the
world, stands Christ, Gods only an
swer to human need. We Of America
know him. We have him enthrOned In
many an earnest heart. We have
throughout the land the open Bible,
Gods word spoken to sinful and suffer-
Ing man everywhere and in all ages,
words of love, words of hope and
words of comfort. How nightly 1t be-
hoOves us in this time of world tragedy
and suffering to study the parable of
the Good Samaritan and to search our
own hearts to know whether or not
we as individuals are rendering that
ministry to the suffering which human
need requires, and our knowledge of
human suffering and our ability to al
leviate 1t insistently requires.
What a reproach that in the mas
ter's parable the representatives OF re-
ligion-the servants of the Temple OF
God-passed by the sufferer. Each
knew of the case of human need. Each
looked upon the torn and bleeding
form. Each possessed the resources
from which to help. Yet each turned
away passing on the other side, delib-
erately walking away from this revela-
ton of suffering and need, deaf to this
cry. So proud. so self-righteous, so ex-
elusive, were these servants Of religion,
and so devoted were they to the forms
and ceremonies of their service, and SO
filed with the thought of their own
Importance, that there seemed to be
no place in either heart for the milk
Of human kindness. Will we ever again
permit this reprOach to be laid at the
door of the representatives of religion?
Can It be possible that those who pro-
fess to be followers of Jesus Christ,
and who are the exponents and advo-
Gates of the Christian religion, shall
fail to exemplify that high and holy
love wherewith the master loved men?
Shall we forget in the days to come
that the master himself in answer to
the doubt Of John the forerunner an
nounced as the evidence Of his divinity
and gave as the proof of his adequate
ministry to men, that "the blind re-
ceive their sight, and the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf
hear, and the dead are raised up, and
the poor have good tidings preached tot
them"
Shall we not, as we journey toward
the day Of world peace, in our comfort
of circumstances, in our amplitude Of
resources. think of the peoples who
have fallen by the way? Will not Bel
GUM and France and Roumania and
Armenia and great, old, riven, torn and
demoralized Russia, draw out of the
| ShiiSlldh VI <tiutIlNd tlc
istry of healing, the ministry Of
money, the ministry of a Christly
: love? Surely the great lessons of self
denial and self-sacrifice which we are
learning as people in this great war
will in Gods good providence prepare
us for that new neighborhood created
by the universally of suffering and
the heart hunger of the world. May
God in his providence preserve the
faith and love of our people and pro-
tect our resources in men and money,
for worldwide campaign of evangel-
ism after the war, and above all pre-
serve i'm the heart of our nation that
reality of spiritual experience that
will make our world ministry as beau
tiful and effective as was that Of the
humble man of Samaria, who helped
his brother in need, when that need
was discovered and the humble trav-
eler had the means at his hand to rem
der the succor which human suffering
called forth.