AN EDITOR ON PREACHING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 249, 21 October 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN EDITOR ON PREACHING.

GIVING THE BREAD OF LIFE.

'J"ho following passages are taken from an address to ministers on preaching by Ernest H. Jeffs, the editor of "The Christian World Pulpit": —What the man in the pew wants is—your preaching. Ho wants Leauiy and order and lvverence in worship; but I will dare to use an old, condemned word, and say liint the service of worship is indeed, ;ind in no bad sense, a matter of "preliminaries," leading up to that sacrament ;i t which the worshipper chiefly hopes to be fed with the bread of li-Te: The t-jcrament of preaching. "Preliminaries" is an awkward word, and I do not defend it-. But it does not mean that prayer ;i nd praise are hurried through—that the v, oirship of God i- hurried through—in order that the congregation may get to something it values more. It means that these various modes of approach to God are a preparation of the worshipper for his moment of closest and most truly ■worshipful approach; the moment when, in closest attention of heart and mind alike, he listens for the voice of God speaking to him through the man called and set apart for this great office. Is this to rank preaching too high? How else would you rank it? If you are to 1 . each at all, how else would you rank it? I may claim to be a typical man in ihe pew in at least one respect. When I hear a sermon I instinctively apply it to someone in another pew. The only i-'ort of preaching which touches mo pertmially, as a middle-aged man, is the ] reaching which makes me uncomfort- ; blc. My great concern is that somebody < Ise should ba made comfortable. I always find myself wondering how the sermon is affecting somebody in the congregation—usually somebody younger than myself—who has a great need of making up his mind as to religion and life and duty. There is a sense in which -the man of 45 ought not to need preaching to. -I am not speaking of the man who has been wandering in the far couni ry, who has come to the diet of husks, ;ind who is hovering wistfully or desperately about the door of the Father's house. lam thinking of the man who nas enjoyed "gospel privileges," the man i;i the church, the man who likes sermons —and likes them to be the sort of sermons that he likes. He ought not to want tho preacher to preach for him or to him: he should have made up his mind and taken up his duty: and he might well fill the sermon time with prayer—prayer that the minister may be given the right ■word to help someone -whose need is greater than his own.

BOOK REVIEWS. "The House of Exile" la unlike anyother book about China and the Chinese. The writer, Miss Nora Wain, "left the United States -when she was a young <;irl) was adopted into one of the betterclass Chinese families, and lived In walled courts, hoary with antiquity, till her marriage to an Englishman in the service of tile Chinese Government. What she tells us in this fascinating volume of everyday life in a Chinese family, of flieir religious and other customs, of the divided 6tate of the country, its war lords and prominent political figures, such as Sun Yat Sen, and the Russian, Borodin, is at first hand; she met and was on social terms with these men. The book is most interesting and informing, ;uid is written with rare distinction of style. The publishers are Messrs. Angus and Robertson, of Syduey. A volume of moral philosophy by Michael Kaye, PhJ)., has been published by Messrs. Williams and Norgate. It is <;illed "Human Welfare —The.Social and Educational Essentials." Dr. Kaye says in the preface that he wrote the book with convictions as to the meaning of the good life which he would like to see realised, and which he considers possible of realisation. It is a weighty contribui ion, and is written with a balance, directness and lucidity that make it interesting from beginning to end. It covers a wide field and deals with a number' of matters of moment. Readers will find Dr. Kaye's convictions wise, and his discussion of them thought-provoking. Two of the most valuable chapters of especial interest to teachers are those which deal with altruism towards the child and altruism from the child. . KNOCKING PEOPLE DOWN. There are different ways one can follow in the course of one's life. Some of them,' as, for example, the way of selfishness, are disappointing and fraught with tragedy. Here is what a writer, George Shillito, says about this way:— The way of selfishness, deliberately chosen or unconsciously accepted, promises much in its earlier reaches. The man travelling the selfish way makes it the rule of the road that all he does he do« 3 for himself. Friendships are made or discarded as they serye some private ambition. , The only subjects studied are those that make for some material gain, or some personal glory. Business knows neither chivalry nor mercy. One traveller on this road declared that he "had got on by knocking people down," and after one exploit of the kind excused himself by saying, "I've got into the habit of it." His funeral had the conventional display, but when he went there was no more sorrow for him than for the dead Scrooge in the dream which was not fulfilled.

RELIGION ANJ> HEALTH. Dr. J. A. Hadfield, the distinguished neurologist, has the following passage in his "Psychology and Mental Health":—lt is a striking tribute to the value of Christian faith in mental diseases. Speaking as a student of psychotherapy, i.e., the cure of mental diseases, who as such, has no concern with theology, I am convinced that the Christian religion is one of the m'ost valriihle and potent influences that we posses for producing that harmony and peace of mind and that confidence of soul which is needed to bring health and power to a large number of nervous (persons) . . , . I Lave attempted to cure nervous patients with suggestions of quietness and confidence, but without success until I have linked these suggestions on to that faith in the power of God which is the substance of the Christian's confidence and hope. Then the patient has become strong. 1 A PRAYER. 0 fiod, be merciful unto us, and blees «S and canse Thy face to shine upon ilj?; that Thy way may be known upon earth; Thy saving health among . all rations. O let the nations be glad, and finj,' for joy. Then shall the earti yiel' r i:er increase; and God, even our own Ci-:'., ; hall bless lis. Amen.