THE RICHER LIFE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 14, 17 July 1939, Page 4

THE RICHER LIFE

DANGER OF EASY OPTIMISM

Taking as his subject "The Day of Wrath," the Rev. G. M. McKenzie, preaching at St. Michael and All Angels' Church, Kelburn, yesterday, said that Zephaniah was the great herald of universal judgment. In vivid language he described the sin of Jerusalem to which he brought the word of God. "It shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jcrsua--Icm with candles; and I will punish the men that aro settled on their lees, that say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil."

"The prophet draws his metaphor, 'settled on their lees,' from the winemaking industry," said Mr. McKenzie. "When the berry is crushed in large vats, ihe heavier matter naturally sinks to the bottom. The juice is then poured into a fresh vat and again allowed *o remain until tlie sediment sinks. This process is continued until all taste of the lees or sediment is extracted from the wine.

"The prophet seems to be suggesting that change is necessary to right development. Those who do not have sufficient changes are not purified. Men who are never disturbed come to the conclusion taht 'The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil.' While such men do not deny God in their creeds, they actually do so in their lives. Zephaniah maintains that moral atheism is the fruit of an easy life, and that the only way out of spiritual inertia is trouble and distress. And the history of man would seem to bear out his contention. It is in times of trouble and distress that the spiritual life of a nation seems to be most alive and active.

"But Zephaniah's message is more than one of judgment; it concerns the right attitude to trouble and distress. His teaching is that 'Mercy rejoiceth against judgment,' if the message of judgment is responded to by those who 'are settled on their Ices.' John Ruskin says that the saddest thing in life is 'wasted suffering.' He echoes Zephaniah who would have lis see suffering and distress not as the hand of a ruthless destroyer, but the hand of a friend who would shake us off the lees of self into purer and richer experiences of life. It is part of our Christian faith that, though God does not send trouble and distress to His people, He does enable us to bring a richer and a fuller life out of trouble and distress if we see them as warnings against that easy optimism which says tht God does nothing. Trouble and distress which do not yield this beneficent result are, to nation and individual alike, wasted suffering."