The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-15
International
SundaySchoolLesson
By WILLIAM T. ELIAS.
For September IT is THE Message
of ach."-Malacfli 3:1-4:s
Back of the Collapse


of Malachi. Malachi s:1-4:s
Back of the Collapse
90 pastor. what a sweet sermoni"
exciaims parishioner Of q minister
known to me, after every Sundays
discourse. In telling about it. my
friend said, That phrase sweet SER
mon got on my nerves. At length I
made up my mind I'd preach a sermon
that even this woman could not call
SWEET So one morning l gave the
congregation all that the Westminster
Confession allows concerning eternal
punishment. 1t was terrible SER
mon, full OF all the horrors of sin
and the law. After 1t was over, the
woman came up as usual, smiling as
ever, and said, % pastor, what a
sweet sermon Then I gave up. That
womans judgment and her concep-
ton of religion are beyond me-"
AS many paragrapher has re-
marked, there is more sugar than
salt in much contemporary Christian
ity. That is why it i. fermenting
in itself aid not preserving society
as it should. The reason that we
have so many flabby-minded preach
ers and gelatinous church members
is simply because they think that
Christians are called to be sugar;
whereas they are really meant to be
salt-and salt stings and burns, even
while it cleanses and preserves. 'Ye
are the salt of the EARTH" said Jesus;
land if the salt hath lost its sadness,
where withal shall it be salted?" IL
we get back to the Masters speci-
sermons sweet etorie sweet re-
ligious poems, sweet" Christians, but
we shall have more salt and tang
and life and health and soundness
to all of our religious life.
Nothing "Sweet" About Malachi
.,
talists, the prophet who wrote the
last book in the Old Testament was
not Sweet: indeed, many found him
bitter. To one who looks only. for
sweetness, Malachi has much that
is unpalatable! He is a strong, sturdy.
straight-speaking figure, who is less
concerned about hurting folks feel
ings than about hel. .ng their souls.
Some of his utterances are rough,
and so "unrefined" that fastidious
preachers would not read them aloud
from their pulpits.
prophet stuff. The man who Is going
to do business with men in behalf
of God must be prepared to speak
and the coiner of pleasant phrases
may became a short-term favorite
as a platform lecturer and as fig
never make a true minister OF the
Gospel. Gumption is greater gift
than glibness for the forth-tellers OF
truth. Malachi has a phrase that
should be expounded at least-once
a. wear to every association of preach
ers, reformers and other public speak
ers: Eye have wearied Jehovah with
your words" Earlier he declared,
of the priests of his day, Il have no
pleasure in you, saith Jehovah OF
hosts" There is the whirr and sting
| of the whip of small cords in the Book
| of Malachi. 4
The Malachi mood Is common
among thoughtful mem teday-tho
| they stop short of his conclusion. The
old prophet was fed up on the pro-
fessional religionists, and his opening
remarks sound like the despair of a
| high and honest soul ready to give
them up as a hopeless lot. He scoffed
and rallied and sneered at the faithless
priesthood. They were not genuine.
| Their religion had become perfume
them. Like stupi1 children. they
thought to deceive to all-wise Jeho-
yah with outward forms and rites
| and observances, all the while that
| they were withhold g fro him fun
obedience and loyalty and honor. So
! Malachi fairly splutters. as in explo-
| sive, staccato style, he indicts the
| faithless religious leaders of his time.
Does the Lord Almighty Care?
It is no small thing when religious
observances are insincere. Hypocrisy
in the Church is matter of grave
| concern to the entire world. BAD
| spots on any part of a single apple
/ imperil the whole barrel of fruit. That
| Christians shall be<genuine and loyal
IS important to the state and to bust
ness and to every other department
| of life. If religion does not function
| surely and truly. the whole human
fabric will suffer. 1t was a. collapse
1 - rio IL
| tated the World war: and another col
lapse of even clearer right that multi
i fled the peace. A return to goodness
Is the shortest, straightest way back
to safety and sanity.
| This little excursion into the pages
| of Malachi, the last of the long series
| of OLD Testament Lessons which the
| Sunday schools of the world have been
studying, makes clear the truth which
is written large over every chapter OF
IsraePs history; Jehovah cares about
the conduct of men. This is a root
truth. Usually, it is taken for granted
| or else ignored. 1t is really theme
/ for fullest discussion. If God is in
terested in human beings, and how
they behave, then everything takes on
a new complexion. Work, play, poll
tics, and even the secret thoughts of
mems hearts, are vitality affected by
the truth that what we are and do
is a matter of real interest to the
Lord Most High.
That all embracing teaching IS the
message of Malachi. His indictment
of laxity and faithfulness il On the
basis that it is displeasing and dislpyal
to Jehovah. Nobody, he argues, can
be untrue to himself or unkind to his
ineighbor without affronting God. The
law that really governs life is essen
TALLY the will of God. Punishment
finds its final expression in the dis
0Iaa sure of the lord who il person
ally interested in the character and
conduct of every man and woman.
This Way to anew World.
Nobody has to wear Phi Beta
Kappa Key, or have a diploma hang
ing on his wall. to understand that
back of the collapse of Israel and
Judah, as Malachi points out. as well
as back of the collapse of our own
world, as~the cablegrams scream 1t
at US, lies the collapse of individual
| men and women. The whole is but
] equal to the sum of its parts-@ Quite