CHURCH AFFAIRS.

Franklin Times, Volume XXII, Issue 91, 5 August 1932, Page 6

CHURCH AFFAIRS.

FAITH AND ADVENTURE. The following sermon was preached in St. Andrew's church recently, from the text S. Luke v. 5 "Nevertheless at thy word I will." Recently I was talking to an old friend about the way in which people are sometimes required to act upon the spur of the moment and succeed, and yet, when they get time to think, are filled with wonder at what they were enabled to do. They say, "I simply had to act and seemed to get the necessary help when it was needed,'and, further they say, 'probably if I had had time to think, I should not have acted, fearing that the position was hopeless.' This has been illustrated again and again. A shipmaster when everything depended upon him for the safety of his ship and all who were onboard; the officer commanding a regiment called upon to advance in face of terrible odds; the medical man when an operation may mean life or death; or in the more prosaic affairs of everyday life—shouldering huge responsibilities in the commercial world. Sometimes it is the matter of speaking or remaining silent. We might multiply incidents Yet the tendency is, when the anxious moment is past, to take to ourselves credit for so acting, instead of humbly recognising the help given. Their Nets Filled. But the instance in the passage re.ferred to in the text is rather different. Our Lord had been sitting in Simon Jeter's boat, speaking to the people on the beach, and when He had finished speaking to them, He suggested to Simon that they—probably Simon and Andrew—should push out into the deeper.-water and put down the nets. They were not very keen about it as they had spent a fruitless night, but out of respect to our Lord they complied, and had no sooner put down the net than it was full of fish. It does not necessarily mean that He attracted the fish there: a shoal of fish might just then have come in, and that was known to Him. The result was instant. Peter suddenly became aware that he was in the presence of one who was more than human,' and this assurance filled him with a sense of unworthiness: "Depart from'me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord." But Jesus reassured him. No doubt if only we could calmly view our difficulties, instead of feeling discouraged, we should, much more often than we do, see in them, great opportunities of being sharers with God in rendering service. But this does not mean that our path will always be a smooth one; even with the best motives and intentions we may find life a difficult way. No one ever had a more singlehearted intention hi all that He did than had our Lord Jesus Christ, and as we study the life of St. Paul how many discouragements we notice about his path, and yet he could say, "I can do all things through Ohri.st which, strengthened me." His chief happiness was the consciousness that He was doing what God intended him to do. His happiness did not depend upon his amount of worldly possessions. Worldly possessions have their attractions, but they are by no means everything. Adventurous Young Man. About GO years ago in a small out of the way village on the North Devonshire coast some beautiful caves were discovered close to the sea: but they could only be aprpoached from the sea, as the cliff above them was a sheer 300 feet. A young man of adventurous spirit named James Hannington, who was spending a holiday there, organised a party and at considerable peril cut a path down the cliff and enabled the caves to be seen by any who visited the village. That young man was then just beginning his life at Oxford. Now %ve must pass over 15 years and the scene is in Africa: James Hannington had now become Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. He has come a 500 mile march from the coast with native companions, and is looking across the Nile where it leaves the great waters of the Victoria Nyanza. The goal of his journey is Uganda a few miles away. He had borne countless privations and faced great dangers in the sure confidence that "if this is God's time for opening up the road, we shall open it up-" But he was suddenly fallen upon by twenty fierce warriors and carried off to a village some distance

away where he was thrown into a hut,

and rev eight days suffered very much from sleeplessness and fever. At the end of this time he was taken back to his men. whom he saw were naked and bound. The Bishop then realised that fins was the end of his adventure.

He and his men had been brought there

■ lo die. But preserving his calmness ! Ihe Bishop said. 'Tell your king that [ I am dying for the people of Uganda, | and that I have bought the road to i Uganda with my life. - ' He knelt down j a ft;un was fired, the Bishop fell forward dead among his dead and dying mom. Uganda has for many years been one oT the greatcsl strongholds

! of Christianity in Africa. | Wlial we-need so much to-day is ; Ihr spirit of adventure as regards our religion. To keep on when others be- | come Indifferent. Young men take great risks in the air, and on the racing track, why cannot they carry this spirit of adventure into their religion!

Whatever our life may lie, God never calls us to do any work for Him without helping us to carry it out. ' But lie looks for our answer, in faith, '•»verlheiess al thy won! I will."