REBUILDING THE WORLD

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21465, 6 May 1935, Page 10

REBUILDING THE WORLD

SERMON PREACHED TO ROTARIANS

SPECIAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S CHURCH

Goodwill between men and nations, imaginative understanding, and religious faith, as the only means of sustaining enthusiasm for the work of building the world according to the vision and. the ideals set before mankind, were the sub-ject-matter of an address given by the Rev. A. C. Watson at St. Paul's Church last evening. The service had special reference to the King's Silver Jubilee. The anthem "Rejoice in the Lord, O Ye People" (Bridge), sung at the coronation of his Majesty, was sung by the choir, and a tenor solo, "Prayer" (Massenet) was sung by Mr E. Rogers. Fifty Rotary Club members attended, and the address- dealt particularly with the ideals of Rotary. Mr Watson took a text from the second chapter of the Book of the Prophet Haggai, containing the words, "Be strong O King, be strong O High Priest, be strong O ye people and work." He described the condition of the Jewish people to which these words had reference. They had suffered 70 years' exile from their country and, allowed at last to return home, they had found their land lying in ruins—shops, houses, temple, everything had been destroyed. The returned exiles had begun the great work of reconstruction, and after 15 years a man of special religious insight named Haggai had brought before them the idea that there was one essential thing yet to be done —the rebuilding of the temple, the great temple in the capital city of Jerusalem. Haggai had had to continue his appeal m the face of the waning enthusiasm of the king, the priests, and the people. H<i believed that the temple was to be the centre of the city's life, and that religion was the centre of the nation's life, the one element common to all, making them one people. The Message To-day

"We ourselves live in an age of rebuilding, of reconstruction," said Mr Watson. "It is just over 15 years since we returned from the frightful exile of the Great War. and many prophets have, appeared in our midst exhorting'"us to build a new world. In these years we have begun to see a vision of something better, something that men have not been privileged to see so Clearly before. We have been shown that tolerance is better than intolerance, that goodwill is better than prejudice, that love is better than hatred, that service is better than selfishness, and that peace is better than war. "Many of us have devoted our lives to institutions, to societies, and organisations which are seeking to make real the vision of a better world. Some of us have grown disheartened, discouraged; the brutal gang of facts has proved too strong for our new-born ideals, and we have allowed .them to wither.. Our enthusiasm has waned and we have fallen back into the old ways. And of course there; are good grounds for disillusionment and despair in our social life and in the sphere of international politics. But the vision has been granted to us of that better world and woe unto us if we turn our backs to the light. Surely there comes to us an appeal similar to the one heard long ago: 'Be strong O King, be strong O High Priest, be strong O ye people and work.' Nature of the Work

"At what, shall we work? Surely at the building of a temple, not made with hands, but in the hearts of men. dedicated to the ideals of tolerance, goodwill, love, service, and peace. Everyone who belongs to the Christian Church is in honour bound to share in the work, and everyone who belongs to the club represented here to-night is seeking to do his part in the great enterprise of temple-building. This demands both work and service. How may this service become a thing for lifelong devotion? "The first way of sustaining enthusiasm is by extending the area of goodwill. Yet as we know, goodwill faces an extraordinarily difficult task in the world to-day. We all want to practise it, but the highway of jii'c seems to be ambushed by prejudice, suspicion, and ingratitude. Christ above all others did not. nromise that it would be easy, but He told us that it is the best way of enlarging our lives, of making them bigger and more useful. To us is given the task of nushing goodwill across all barriers', social and racial, as far as we can make it go."

Goodwill, however, he said was not enough by itself. Imaginative understanding also was necessary, so than the spirit of goodwill towards other people might be directed along the right channels by the use both of imagination and understanding. Goodwill had to be informed, gping about the world with open eyes. We could not have goodwill towards people unless we knew them. Last, and most important, was religious faith. Most people, if not all, believed in international peace but it took real faith in these days to keep on believing. It was when men became convinced that this was God's world, that He had made it for purposes of His own, and that every living person might become a child of God, that men of faith arose and went out to do Christian service