The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-12-27

Rev. Elmer Nelson Owens, Of Des
Moines: Text: They said unto him.
we are able" ST. Matthew, x:22-26.
Note the courage of this answer and
its sincerity. Jesus had challenged
James and John. Their reply came
without hesitation. They did not
comprehend all Jesus meant when He
asked il they were able to drink of
the cup that He should drink of. but
they were willing to take a chance.
They said unto Him, I'VE are able"
The significance OF their words lies
in the fact that they We're uttered by
men who loved their leader. but
hitherto had revealed a kind Of dis
cipleship that was incapable OF
worthy expression. Their sense OF
what Jesus religion involved was
poorly defined. Personal ambitions
and shallow conceptions babe fair to
make them ineffective and valueless.
The challenge saved them. Not know
ing all it involved, they accepted it.
They said unto Him, I'VE are able"
and passed on from discipleship
that forever would have remained In
articulate and unworthy, to one
that commended itself TO Jesus and
to men.
| We might prof1tably to ourselves
substitute our own names for those
Of. James and John. Ours, too, has
been a religion Of the inarticulate.
We have not been profitable to Him,
nor satisfied with ourselves. We
have not been related closely to any
thing that could be recognized as
Active participation in His cause"
If we have been forced to think at
h M q g cod nv
the wealth of our personal ambitions
and the poverty of our loyalty to His
will and work.
Then, too, in thoughtful and con-
structive way. we might even substi-
tute church" for James and John.
To some, church suggests holy memo
ries, spiritual restraints, forgiveness,
the breaking of the bread, the mes
sage of good news. But this is
largely emphasis on personal religion.
| 1t still remains true that the church,
that Is, church members, in their
corporate capacity, do not appear to
exercise that spiritual power which
is surely latent in them. There are
thousands in this community to whom
the church >meane working and yet
the church was meant to be Jesus j
ttneir 4AiUsl. .AIl>- 4 want to say to
you that If, in the days that are past,
the church had been drinking the
cup of witness, and sacrifice and serv-
ice instead of year in and year out
trying to save itself, those same thou
sands would be fighting her battles.
Christ's battles, today. For men love
Jesus.
The church seems to have no
plans, and If we have them, where
are the results? Inspiration and
service go hand in hand. They can
not be separated Each strengthens
the other. Together they ought to
accomplish definite spiritual enter
prise. 44
If ever the church faced chal-
! lenge 1t is today. The war Is prac-
tically over. We cannot anticipate
the new and weighty problems that
the future will present, but we know
| they will develop.
| If a truer democracy is to be
evolved, the social and economic re-
adjustments that are bound to come
must be met and solved by conse-
Grated manhood-a manhood that
has for it's ideal the life of Jesus.
His teachings must be faced squarely
today. 1t is possible that men may
be inspired by that life and avoid the
church, but 1t is not probable they
will neglect a church true to his
principles. Such a church will not
! fail to lead. Men will welcome such
leading. They are thinking today in
terms of righteousness and brother
hood and sacrifice. What they do not
want is ecclesiasticism. They want
~, h,,c 10 npaot life
with life: to work for the lifting up
of the Son of God that men may be
! drawn unto Him. Our place is where
He would be-down among His people,
sharing their problems. The more
we think of it the more we realize
that in adherence to His teachings
/ will be found the basis of church
success.
| Let us then point out several mat
! ters which have been begun among
US which in time will commend ST.
/ PauFs church before this community
as having consistent and necessary
place.
| First, we are now passing from
a system of rented pews to that of
a free church. st. PauIs will enter
the new day in a democratic spirit.
We have been aware for some time
that rented pews do not commend a
church as offering the largest spirit
of welcome and hospitality. The
system is not democratic in principle.
Christianity is the mother of democ-
racy. If ever the spirit of freedom
and brotherhood is to be found any
where certainly we must look for it
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