RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 229, 27 September 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PRESENT-DAY OUTLOOK. HEIGHT OF SELF-SACRIFICE. GOSPEL OF RESURRECTION. The following is from a sermon preached, in St. Matthew's Church by the Ven. Archdeacon Mac Murray, VicarGeneral.. The sermon was hased on three texts: "It is laid up for men once to die," "We give thanks to God. for the hope which is laid, up for you in heaven," "There is laid up for me a crown of -righteousness." "We have to-day dedicated a memorial of a young soldier, who laid down his life for his King and country in the Great War. This young soldier had won the respect and affection of his comrades, and when he laid down his life, 300 of these subscribed, so that in some fitting place in his homeland a memorial of their comrade should remind future generations of his sacrifice—in the hope that the laying down of his life might be a seed from which a rich harvest of self-denial might be yielded. When Christ was about to lay down His life, He spoke of it as a seed: 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it die it beareth much fruit.' "It was very sad that so many of our young men were called upon to lay down 011 the battlefields and in hospitals far from home and friends. There is only one thing that would have been more sad, and that is, if he and 100,000 other young New Zealanders who went to the'war had selfishly failed to rise to the height of self-saerifice involved in their adventure. Our Lord, by His death upon the cross, has stamped self-sacri-fiee as the noblest quality of mannoblest, because most God-like —but we, who were too old to be accepted for service, were able to say of our lads, as one bereaved father is reported to have said when he heard of his son's death: 'Trust him, he would not fail. 5 Lesson of the Battlefields. "Yet it is sad that so many should have died in the Great War. Last year I visited battlefields in Palestine, France and Belgium and paid my homage to ihe fallen soldiers in the British war c<- icteries in those countries. Not till then was it possible for me to realise what an awful harvest death had gathered in —and as one thought of the sorrows of fathers and mothers and wives and children, when the dread news went home the effect was almost overwhelming. One could only say: Tread softly here, go reverently and slow! Tea, Jet your soul go down upon its knees, And with bowed head and heart abased, strive hard To grasp the future gain In this sad loss. "I want you to notice what the Bible says of what is laid up for them: 'It is laid up for men once to die,' 'We give thanks to God . . . for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,' 'There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.' It is rather. startling to realise that God has laid up for men once to die! We know it is true that all of us must die, but it is not easy to realise that our loving Father in heaven has laid up for us what our human nature shrinks from- As one visited the war cemeteries with their thousands of ordered graves, and when one stood before the Menin Gate at Ypres, literally covered with the names of men who had fallen; ,in the presence of these evidences of the power of death, one was in danger of thinking that death was the Iving of Kings and Lord of Lords —as if lie were indeed the Lord God Omnipotent —but in the little chapel in the war ccmetery at Jerusalem there was a lesson taught that drove such thoughts away. From that chapel we could see the city where our Lord wae crucified— and on the inside wall of the chapel a painting of an empty tomb with two angels, one at the head and the other nt°the feet where the Body of Jesus had lain. Thus eloquently is the Gospel of the Resurrection, preached in the midst of the 3000 graves of men who had laid down their lives—and so with St. Paul I could 'thank God for the hope laid up' for our fallen soldiers 'in heaven.'

Easter Gladness. "Death knits as many ties with the future life as it breaks in this. Death is not really a break in the chain of God's mercies, but rather a needful link between God's mercies here and His mercies hereafter. And since our Great High Priest, who laid down His life for ris men and for our salvation, has gone before lis —having tasted death for every man, atoning for men's sins and taking away death's sting and the grave's victory, so wo realise that the dreariness and sot diduees of death has given way to Ei.ster brightness and gladness. Death no longer chills the love or mars the faith of the Christian. Grenefell, who was killed at Ypres, wrote of the soldier about to die: The thundering line of battle stands, And in tho air death moans and sings; And day shall clasp him with strong hands, And night shall fold him in soft wings. "But it is the hands of the Great Strong Christ that receives the dying soul. "Do not forget that our lads who laid down their lives in their rendezvous with death, only changed early their experience of God's mercies in this life, for the more glorious mercies laid up for them in the life to come —for God reigns in heaven and on earth.

God Reigns.

"When the King addressed the bishops at the Lambeth Conference a few weeks ago, he wound up his message with the slogan 'God Reigns.' And so in this age of fallen empires, of crumbling socigl and financial systems, of shattered iaiths, there is nothing so important for us as to stand where the King stands in his confession of faith, 'God Reigns,' and to realise with St. Paul God's good purpose even in death: 'There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.' "

General Higgins, head of the Salvation Army, has left England for a short South African campaign. On his return iu November all the commissioners and lieutenant-commissioners are to meet in council in London "to consult on many matters affecting the welfare of the organisation." The council will doubtless discuss the question of a new Salvation Army constitution, on which a committee of inquiry has been engaged for over a year. Several members of the Booth family will attend the council, including Jiif-:t> Eva Booth, Commissioner Catherine Booth, and Commissioner Booth-Hcilbcrg. Atfk

HUM AX, YET IMPOSSIBLE

(By S.)

On one occasion when he was in sore trouble David wished, he tells us, that he had the wings of a dove, that he might fly away and be at rest. It was a natural longing, as we all know from experience. We know that we should pray for patience and strength to fulfil out lot—to be and to do what it requires and allows, rather than to envy others, and yet how seldom wo offer the prayer, and how often we give expression to the bitter and envious feeling of the moment. How bitterly we sometimes feel what seems to us the injustice of life. How wearied we get of the drudgery and monotony of our commonplace tasks. And how we long at times to escape from our lot. It is all very human, yet it is neither wise nor profitable to give way to such feelings. And for two reasons. For one thing because it is right and fitting that we should remain at the post of duty to meet the responsibilities that devolve upon us. (Alas for those who are so unfortunately situated as to have no posts of duty.) And, for another, because it is thus we learn patience and endurance and develop the man and the woman in us. Instead, then, of sighing for what, though it is natural, is yet vain and foolish, we should try and do our duty and learn what Providence has to teach us. It is thus we shall get what we need most, and that is not rest from our cares and responsibilities, but rest in them. There is an _ old fable of how the birds got their wings. That is very suggestive. At first they seemed to them to be burdens, but tlicy took them up, carried them on their shoulders, and wrapped them around their heart, and, behold! they grey to their shoulders, were transformed into pinions, and. instead of them down, bore them on high. That is not a mere fable; it is a parable. It teaches us that we shall find wings in doing our duty patiently and faithfully, and that what we may be tempted to think will depress and crush us, will, if we are wise and brave, uplift and strengthen us. Of the truth of this our Lord is the supreme proof. There is this, too, that we should do, and here again He is our great example; we should seek strength and inspiration in praver, and how easy it is. We can commune with God in our bed. We can retire to our room and shut to the door. We can enter the Sanctuary and have fellowship with kindred spirits and with our Heavenly Father. It is thus the strength that is ebbing from lis will be renewed, and that instead of becoming the storm-battered wrecks of circumstances, we shall be resolute and victorious men and women.

CURRENT NOTES.

It is practically a century and a half since Robert Raikes started the first Sunday School. For a number of years the movement was opposed, the opponents including even some ministers. The Vatican, to give further indication of its independence as a State, is issuing its own coinage. The issue will be made and limited under arrangements with the Italian Treasury. Until 50 years ago the Popes had issued coins for nearly a thousand years. In your occupations, try to possess your soul in peacc. It is not a good plan to be in haste to perforin any action that it may be the sooner over. On the contrary, you should accustom yourself to do whatever you have to do with tranquillity, in order that you may retain the possession of yourself and of settled peace. —Madame Guyon. " Canon Garland, of Ireland, says that the offering of money at Divine Service is as much an act of worship as prayer or the singing of hymns. As money is secular, every day life is a symbol of what we possess, so when offered to God, it is a symbol of, or represents the amount of labour or goods which we then give to God. We can judge our labour for God's service, and the portion of goods we give Him by the coins we offer.

The Archbishop of Canterbury invited Lord Sands and the Rev. Dr. John White, as representing the Church of Scotland, to be present at the great decennial Lambeth Conference recently held. Lord Sands is a Scottish judge, and one of the most popular laymen in Scotland, and Dr. White was the Moderator of the Union Assembly of almost a year ago. Sermons and addresses about kindness to animals are being preached in a number of Auckland and suburban churches this month. The motto of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is:. "We speak for those that cannot speak for themselves." The object of the society is to prevent cruclty, and to promote the just treatment of animals. The society appreciates reports of cases of cruelty, and, when it is desired, keeps all information private and confidential. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, the wellknown London exponent of the Scriptures, enters upon his duties as Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Gordon College of Theology and Missions, Boston, Mass.,'on October 1. He will give an evening public lecture once a week in a Boston auditorium. Dr. Morgan is to combine his new duties with the pastorate (which he already holds) of the Tabcrnacle Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald had a remarkable reception at Oberammergau, where ho witnessed the Passion Play. When be entered the theatre at eight o'clock in the morning hundreds of people stood to greet him. A great crowd awaited his exit at noon and again at six o'clock. Mr. Mac Donald appeared to be deeply moved by the play, which he followed with rapt attention. Many Germans closed in around his car, and one of them was heard to remark, "Peace is secure while that religious man remains in power."

An important commission, presided over by Dr. A. D. Lindsay, Master of Balliol College, Oxford, is going to India in the autumn, under the auspices of the International Missionary Council, to study the present position of higher Christian education there. This commission is going out as a result of an urgent request received from an educational conference attended by Indian Christian leaders and missionaries at Agra last year. This conference was actuated by a sense that the Christian colleges in India were failing fully to fulfil their purpose, and that in view of the growing competition and rising standards of Government and other institutions there were probably too many colleges and that greater concentration was needed, the commission will conduct an inquiry 7° curriculum and the efficiency of the Christian colleges, their resources and their relation to Government education.