RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 23717, 26 October 1940, Page 4

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.] “ To bo faithless in duly is to lose all the blessing which is promised to those who are loyal and true. No matter how perilous the duty that comes to you, you cannot decline it, save at your own peril. The only safe way in life’s thronging field is straight on in the path of duty.”

SCHOOL OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. The closing function of the Otago School of Religious Education took the form of a thanksgiving service, followed by a social half-hour. Tho service was conducted by Mr E. J. King, president of the Otago Branch Council of Religious Education. After conducting tho opening worship Mr King expressed the thanks of the students to the members of the staff, who had given unsparingly of their time and knowledge during the year and over a long period of years in order that Sunday school and Bible class workers might be more fully equipped for their task. The address was given by Rev. S. C. Read, lecturer in Old Testament studies. He based his remarks on the words in Haggai ii., 4: “Be strong, all ye people of tho land, and work, for 1 am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts.”' The following is the address:—

There is no more disappointing picture in tho Old Testament than that of the Jewish people after their return from the exile in Babylon. I question whether in the annals of any nation you could find a greater contrast between anticipation and realisation. When the exiles wore becoming weary of their long captivity it was announced that the day of deliverance was drawing near. Soon the caravans of rejoicing pilgrims would be wending their way across the desert to Jerusalem. Zion would be rebuilt, its temple would be restored to its former glory; there would be an overflowing population, which would enjoy endless peace and prosperity. All this is described in the wonderfully inspiring poetry of Micah and Ezekiel. Yet we find that after the exiles had returned and were settled in Jerusalem the picture was very different from that which the prophets had painted. The sight of tlio ruined city seemed to blight their hopes and dampen their enthusiasm. They became depressed and disheartened. The social evils which had contributed to the nation’s downfall in a previous generation began to reappear. There was a good deal of poverty and unemployment following several had harvests. Fifteen years after tho return the temple, which was to he a great religious centre, not only for the Jews, but for the surrounding nations, was still unbuilt, although a half-hearted attempt had been made to lay the foundations. Haggai’s chief work was that of persuading the people to rebuild the temple. He has been described as a man of one idea, and his idea was souhd. He know that his people needed tlio temple as a symbol of God’s presence, and that until it was erected there would bo no improvement in their religious life. He met with considerable opposition, but in tho end his faith and persistence were rewarded and tho work was completed. His story shows the duty of all men of faith in an age of adversity. When he first suggested that they should begin the work, they said, “It is not the time for the Lord’s house to be built.” They expected that God would show them m some striking and unmistakable way that He was ready to help them. On that side of their life which had to do with God they were waiting, yet, as Haggai pointed out, they were busy building houses for themselves. They were psychologists only in the matter of religion. They were very practical when it came to the places in which they had to live. They said that the time was not yet; the prophet replied, “ The time has come, for God is with you.”

The living message which comes to us from this ancient book is clear. When duty calls it is of the essence of disobedience to wait for a set time. In these times Christian people feel their powerlessness to do anything which could halt the progress of those forces which threaten to overwhelm the world. International affairs grow more tangled each day, and some take up a fatalistic attitude, becoming shock-proof ns far as bad news is concerned. There are times when ail of us are tempted to sit down, numbed and helpless, to do nothing, to doubt the efficacy of prayer. Perhaps we feel that our comparatively small tasks in Christian service can hardly make much difference. To talk in terms of advance in the spiritual front sounds quixotic in the extreme. It is not the time for us to build.

A well-known Presbyterian Minister in London tells liow a member of the church remarked to him, “ Don’t you think it wildly venturesome for the Church to be trying to maintain- its foreign missions when the country is engaged in a life and death struggle?” He replied: “It may be wildly venturesome, but it could not bo more wildly venturesome than when our Lord said, ‘Go ye and teach the nations.’ He was standing then in a country already under the heel of a conqueror, but we are free.” “Be strong and work,” God says, " for I am with you.”. That is God’s answer when man declares that the set time has not come.

In this way Haggai dealt with the first difficulty, and the work was commenced. But as the building began to take shape its poverty was compared with the splendour of its predecessor and the contrast was painful. The people were thinking only of the material glory of the ancient temple. But such does not make a House of God. The new temple, less ambitious in design and in decoration, erected under the promise of God’s presence, would be a rallying place for pious Jews from all over the world. Almost since the beginning of time men have longed for a return of the good old days, but the history written during those days does not always convince us that they woro good. The last war was blamed for the chaotic condition of the years that followed, the materialistic outlook of mankind and the lowering of the moral standard. Yet at the beginning of this century -a well-known preacher and writer, Dr F. B. Meyer, said he felt that hostile influences were more vigorously vibrant than ever before —scepticism, immorality, indifference to all religious teaching. In the spiritual realm man often desires experiences like those of the past. It is impossible to unlock the present with the rusty key of the past. There is always a better thing at hand than anything the past has seen, better, that is, for to-day, for the present time. Is God not calling us in tho present hour just as clearly, although we do not witness the same stirring scenes and evidences of His power P Therefore His word to us is the same by which He spoke through His servant Haggai, “ Be strong and work. Now is tho time to build.” Another difficulty with which the prophet had to contend was their fear of the surrounding nations. Tho prophet called on them to cease looking at the foes and to look at God who would overthrow their enemies and break their power. This is a message which we need for the correction of our fear, for we hear even men of faith saying that those that are against us are mighty and strong. Yes, the forces of evil are strong, but God will overthrow them. Unless we can believe this the foundation on which our Christian faith rests must crumble to dust. God in Jesus Christ took to Himself a human body, lived among men, and shared their lot. He encountered the fierce onslaught of the world evil, which hanged Him on a criminal’s cross. Yet He turned the shame, defeat, and suffering of that cross into history’s supremo triumph and a throne. The message of the resurrection is that if men crucify justice and righteousness and love, trampling them under their heels, they will certainly rise again as Jesus rose on the third day. That is our warrant for declaring that although those who are against us are mighty and strong, God will yet vindicate righteousness, justice, and truth. That is our warrant tor the faith and confidence with which we obey the Ford’s command. “ Bo strong and work,” fortified by tho promise, “ For I am with you.”