The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1957-03-07


the sermon which is presented today At the time
we were not sure where Rev Lines was located
We have since learned that he is pastor of Grace
Episcopal Church, Camden, S. c. This sermon
was delivered by Rev Lines on December 80
1856 following an incident in which a member
of his congregation was beaten severity by I'M
known assaants. The Editor)
TEXT: g. they were afraid to ask him"
ST. Mark 9:32,
Jesus had been teaching his disciples, "The
Son of Man will be delivered into the hands
Of men, and they will kill him; and when he
is killed, after three days he will rise"
"But the disciples did not understand the
saying, and they were afraid to ask him"
We are living in a climate of fear The
starkness of it impresses any thoughtful and
humane person. To ignore it can on1y result
in more fear, and in more suffering
Fear covers South Carolina like the frost.
It kills tender shoots of new growth It chills
the hearts of men
are becoming increasingly repressive. AS we
say In the prayer Of confession, "The remem-
brance of our misdoings is grievous unto us;
the burden of them is intolarable Have
mercy upon us, most merciful Father: for thy
Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake
We are anxious and fearful and the root
OF our anxiety and fearfulness is our sin
The prevalence of fear is indisputable. |
have too many mothers and fathers tell me
directly and personally Of their fears to
have any doubt about this If anyone thinks
otherwise. | have to say that he is living in
dream world The fact is that fear is pre-
valent
Men are afraid of violence. Of violence
from their own kind. We hear the words of
Jesus to his disciples when he saw the gath
ering clouds of violence around him: He
that hath no sword, let him sell his garment
and buy one" ok. 22:36).
Men are fearful of the present. A great
deal OF our natural human sympathy is forced
under cover because men are suspicious of
one another
Men are afraid to express righteous in
dlgnation The loss of the capacity for in
dlgnatlon is the impoverishment and death
OF the human spirit 1t is like admitting that
the devil probably has great deal of RIGHT
on his side
Men are fearful of the future They keen
telling me: 1T is going to get worse before
1t gets better" 1t is bad enough now. We had
better go in penitence to God and ask Him
to remember His mercies of old time, and
not to afflict us SO grievously
Men are fearful of the opinions of their
fellow men. Of course, evil men should be
fearful OF the opinions of their fellow men
But Tor men who want to follow Christ. and
to show in positive and tangible ways their
love and concern for their fellows-for them
to be fearful of the opinions of others is a
terrible condition. For Christians to fear soc
lal ostraclsm reminds us of the first centuries
OF the Church, when to love the Lord was to
be hated Of men
Men are afaid to speak to one another.
NOT long ago an acquaintance said to me: II
would like to talk to you about a problem
tnat IS troubling me. Do you think | dare
come to your house, or would that be danger
Gus for your"
My friends is this kind of Nazi or Com
munist tyranny over the freedom of men to
be accepted here in South Carolina? A man
should be free to choose his own associates.
and we should not judge man by his as
soclates so long as he is himself moral and
honorable. You remember that Jesus was
violently criticized by the self-righteous