The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-04-21
International
SunddySchoolLesson
-
By William r. EILIs

For Aprl 2s is. 'rUzziah's Pride and
Punishment" III Cronoicles 26:
A Man Too Big For God.
Since the new--director general OF
the motion picture industry In Amer
lea. Mr.. (vyill(tEaNs. is a Sunday school
man, ana kho%rs enis Bible, 1t ia to be
hoped that Ne<w3iil turn to thS5dra-
fAaGa ev4prs in old Testament history
for better material than is commonly
put on the screen The story of King
Joash was one such drama: that OF his
grandson. King Uzziah. was another
even more human and general in its
appeal. By means of the story of
Uzziah there may be depicted the ca
reer of the modern American self
made man. who rises from strength
TO might, and then, at his height, falls
into folly.
A page from real life is this story,
to be duplicated in almost every city
of our time 1t starts out with the
record OF a devout youth of noble
impulses and religious loyalty, eager
to do the right There was no sign OF
the terrible end OF Uzziah in the
earlier career of the boy king OF
Judah, who came TO the throne when
but sixteen years old He was anbi-
tious only to serve his country and
God. So fine was his earlier record
that he ranks among the most con-
structive OF hts nations history.
q
HE loved husbandry," Is one char
acterization of this king. as we read of
his paintings and his enlargings. He
was builder OF cities, and a restorer
of waste and captured places AS a
soldier, he equipped his forces well,
ventions, in order to fortify Jerusalem
anew. He made In Jerusalem en-
gines. invented by skillful men. to be
upon the towers and upon the battle
,, =
great stones
These giant catapults link Uzziah
with our own world war less than. one
other phrase in the Lesson which is
likely to be overlooked-''He built
EIath, and restored it to Judah" Now
Elath was the scene of some of the
I1cst romantic and least Known cpl
sodes of the war in the East The
town. now a poor Arab village. lies at
the head of the Gulf of Akaba, which
Is the principal arm of the Red Sea,
forming the Sinai Peninsula. So Won
derful is the harbor, as King Solomon
well knew, that great ships ,may
anchor close to shore There the
British Tarships gathered secretly.
and landed arms and supplies and
gold and men, for the romantic cam
paign of the Bedouin against the
Turks and the Germans. The whole
region is one of mystery and elusive
charm; 1t was better known to Moses
than to the British war office. Di-
rectly up from it lies the wonderful
rock city of Petra, lost to human
knowledge for a thousand years. Some
day students of the Bible may travel
freely in this region: escaped a mas
sacre by only one day when I went
there. Old Petra knew Uzziah's name
better than the. modern world Knows
Petra's name. His fame ran from the
builder. a great and constructive
statesman
A "BiS=Oty" Big Man.
Southern colored folk have a de-
scriptive word of their own COMA ge,-
"biggoty." That describes the type of
person who. whether big or not. feels
and acts ''biegoty." or self-impoTtant.
The selfmade man is prone to be-
come "biggoty.' OF. as another honely
designation has it, too big for his
satirized as "a self-made man proud
of the job" How often are sterling
qualities obscured by this spirit of
vanity and boastfulness.
Because men have risen above their
former circumstances, or above their
surroundings. they SOM timeS feel
themselves to be above the common
obligations and moralities of life. 1t
has come to be almost an accepted
condition that the big business and
public men. and writer's and others in
the peoples eye, shall not feel them
selves bound by the conventional code
of conduct 1t is almost expected that
they shall regard themselves as
above the law Even the church
sometimes winks at moral and ethical
laxity in big men-which is a horrible
sin on the part OF the church
Now this seems to have been the
state into which King Uzziah had
grown. After half century of noble
reign, he fell prey TO sinful pride.
His vanity destroyed in a day the good
name OF fifty years Recollection
brings to mind more. than one figure
of our own time. once held in honor,
who now walk apart from their fell
lows. "unwept, unhonOred and un-
sung" because they thought them
selves able to flout the laws of God
and man They cast off the marriage
ties, they abandoned the ideal OF their
youth, they profaned the sanctities.
only to learn at the end that no man
Is great enough to take liberties with !
the eternal integrities. There is a
way that seemeth right to a man. but
the end thereof are the ways of death"
a Common Insult 70 God.
Perhaps the commonest heresy of {
our American church life is the notion,
not often stated in explicit terms, that !
God Is especially pleased to have the |
of rich or eminent persons I
When the minister speaks of ''our best |
people" he too often means only the !
richest people. So far as have been
able to observe. in a rather wide ex-
perience. the terms leading laymen'' !
means wealthy Iaymen. In conuotes |
nothing of real leadership or piety or
religious zeal. Who has not heard the /
politicians brother public men quoted |
flattertngly because he has spoken I
favorably and patronisingly OF re-
ngion?
This fashion of patting the Lord !
Almighty on the, head is enough to [
bring swift punishment for sacrilege, ]
even as it did in the case of Uzziah. /
God asks allegiance from high as well I
as from low: the practice of some /
churches Of making office holders out I
of 'iufluentiaf' men who have not /
Confessed Christ and are not members |