The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-07-02
Large Audience Greets
Bishop Johnson Tuesday

way of a talk by a reverend gentle
convey to you the wonderful thoughts
brought by Bishop Irving P. Johnson
to a very large audience at the Epis-
copal church Tuesday evening, it will
Not bore you. His sermon, if you like
was magnificently Christian-not sec
tartan
Twelve men left their work to fol-
low Christ. They were humble men,
II the Lord depended upon big bust
ness He would have been dead, buried
and forgotten long ago, said the
speaker. For three years they en-
joyed the fellowship of this greatest
of men He tried to instil1 in them
the quality that makes man believe
in Him and accept Him in spite of the
devil.
Then came the catastrophe. In His
troubles one of their number BETRAYED
Him. Another denied Him. At the
cross there was but one of His disci.
pies and three women, and His fol
lowers still hold about that proper.
ton The romance in which the
twelve and their Master had lived
seemed indeed miserable failure.
Jesus arose from the dead, but even
after that miracle, Peter announced
that he would go back to his old job
fishing. Several others joined him.
They fshed all night and caught moth
ing. In the morning a man stood on
the shore and asked if they had
caught any fish. When they told Him
no, He bade them cast their nets on
the other side of the ship, and their
success was miraculous
Then they recognized Him as Christ,
and He begged them Feed my lambs"
and feed my sheep" He was sorry
to see that they had gone back to
their work and were no longer spread.
ing His gospel.
They were like many men TODAY.
We experience a great wave Of re-
ligion. Then some church member
cheats, some supposed Christian lies,
or a preacher bores US, and we go
back to the job as it was before.
The Lord knows that it is lone
some task to be religious We all
want to be in the band wagon in poll
tics, style, etc. But alone you came
into this world, alone you will go out.
Alone you must try to make excuses
to your Maker.
Bishop Johnson is little weary of
the demand for a certain amount of
money to save a certain number of
souls. Only a few are susceptible.
When he was younger he was much
worried by those who told him bla-
family. Il have no use for religion"
He knows men who have no use for
music or art, and now when they
make such a declaration, he says:
Neither has COW. Go chew your
cud, with the graveyard as your goal"
You might as well try to sell over
coats in the tropics as to waste time
on them.
Religion isn't popular. There is no
quick and easy way to salvation.
Spiritual combat is the toughest Job
man ever undertook, for he must fight
himself, and the bishop is sure that
each man knows more mean things
about himself than he does about any
body else
You may pay five dollars to weep
over the trials of a make-believe or
phan on the stage, and feel surprised
at how kind-hearted you are. But the
speaker feels that the test of religion
is another matter. Would you give
five dollars for the real orphan in the
alley? If more people married for
the good they can do each other and
God, there would be fewer divorces.
Religion is not an absence of vices.
The only two in the New Testament
we are sure God took to heaven were
a beggar and a thief. We are told that
Lazarus woke up in Abraham's bosom;
and to the thief on the cross. Christ
said; To-day thou shalt be with me
in paradise"
incompetence is rampant in the h,-
man race today, and an effort is being
made to stabilize it. But Bishop John
son believes that as sure as water
will find its level, so sure will the eff
fort fail
In speaking of preachers, he said
that some folks think them queer. But
he says you ought to see the congre-
cations There are more shepherds in
our asylum than men of any other
class. It's the sheep, he said. that
does 1t, The inference is plain. How
much response can man get from a
congregation if the request is out of
the routine order of things?
You've soul and it's worth culti-
Vating. You may be too busy or TOO
tired, or too sulky to do what e. Ill.