Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-05

Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth" Lip religion is not
life religion. Seeming right is less
important than being right. The
fundamental consideration for every
life is that the heart shall be right
with God. This is not effected by
religious demeanor and prescribed
the heart flow the fruits of true
religion.
Clean Hands or Clean Lives
The debate which is set foth in
this present Sunday school lesson
arose from the fact that the dis
ciples of Jesus did not observe all
the strict pharisaical rituais. In
truth, nowhere in the world do the
busy, out-of-door folks, the plain
people, follow all the minutiae of
the ritual of their religious teach
ers. The peasant women in Moslem
lands go about unveiled. The ordi-
nary Arab does not say his five
prayers daily nor perform the pre-
scribed ablutions; the Chinese peas
ant neglects his god-shelf, and the
Japanese farmer is delinquent in
daily offerings before the shrines
These peasant fishermen who follow
ed Jesus were neglectful of the
etiquette of the conventional relig-
ious leaders.
The question was not one of ac-
tually clean hands but of ceremon-
ial details. l have. ridden with Mos
lem pilgrims on the Mecca rail-
way and found them a filthy crew,
whose filthiness was not altered by
the fact that they washed certain
portions of their bodies five times a
day. Certain of the Moslem sects
were distinguished by the way they
laved their forearms-whether from
the forearm toward the hand, or
from the hand toward the elbow.
There are scores of these ceremonlal
practices in Islam, all of them assld-
uously cultivated by the men on
pilgrimage, yet the Immortality of
the pilgrims at Mecca may not be
told in English speech. Neither
Jesus nor His friends would bind
themselves by similar petty regula-
tions concerning the usages pre-
scribed by the rabbis and the Phar-
isees.
The enthusiastically correct were
very careful to keep their hands
and their lips, but what they needed
was to keep their heart with all
diligence" for out of 1t were the Is
sues of life. Jesus came preachlns
the new and radical gospel or
heart religion. 1t mattered not what
man ate so much as what he salu.
His clean hands were not atonemeht
for a heart full of unrighteousness'
If religion does not make over a
mans heart it does not do anything
of value to him. Conformity to
creed or system of government or
ecclesiastical usage means nothlns
unless the heart itself has been
made new. Jesus is Differentiated
from all the other teachers OF re-
ligion in that His gospel is based up
on the principle of the new heart.
Religion Out of Bounds
A deep-rooted sense of our own
crowd, and an instructive tendency
to turn our backs upon the outsider,
especially if he seems an inferior, is
a fundamental fact in human ma
ture. No matter how much we talk
about brotherhood, it is difficult tor
even the most tolerant of us to real
ize that every man is a brother and
a possible equal. That is why democ-
racy is the highest attainment OF
humanity. The exclusive attitude in
politics and society and in religion
is easy and natural. The democratic,
brotherly attitude can only be achieV-
ed by conscious effort, or by new
spirit.
Jesus, be it remembered, was a
Jew, who had come to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. One day he
was met by Greek woman, dwell
er in this heather fringe of the
Holy Land. She was Gentle and
q pagan, and accustomed to hear
from the orthodox Jews the appella-~
ton of dog" But she had a deep
human grief which took no account
of her nationality or religion. The
elemental human qualities run
through all colors, races and creeds.
The woman's daughter was in the
clutch of an evil spirit The pre-
dominant fact in the family life was
the illness of the child. The supreme
ambition of mother and daughter
was health for the afflicted child.
So, brushing aside all barriers that
separated the Gentle from the ortho-
doX Jew, she fell at the feet of
Jesus and entreated Him, with a
paroxysm of urgency such as only
they who have encountered an
oriental beggar, or one asking for
mercy, can understand. 1t is a very
real and human picture which the
historian records here-a mother
pleading for her child. Her great
need had given her great daring.
There was no resisting such hu-
mility and persisting faith. The
daughter was cleansed straightway.
Thus began the foreign mission en-
terprise, at least in its medical as
pect.
The Soldiers Confidence
The second incident included in
this lesson is laid back in Caper-
naum, the home city of Jesus, and,
for those who are fond of pursuing
types, 1T may represent Christian
work for foreigners in ones native
land. This time it was not sup
plant alien woman who approached
Jesus, but proud Roman comman-
der, solicitous for a servant strick-
EN- with the palsy.
This man warns our heart. He is
of the time to whom "noblesse
oblige" was vital principle. lie
humbled himself for his servants
sake; the welfare of his dependents
was a fundamental concern of his
life. If all employers were like this
Roman centurion, there would be
scant need to write about an indus
trial problem. The sudden delight
of discovering noble qualities where
they were not expected was given
to Jesus. His own royal heart
must have leaped as He saw this
proud Roman bending a knee in be-
half of a slave. AS chivalry instant
ly responds to chivalry, and as gen.
tility commands gentility, so Jesus