The Sabbath Hour

Northern Advocate, 1 October 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Sabbath Hour

Being a sermon preached by Rev. C. Cannell Hoskin in Trinity Congregational Church, Whangarei.

■ Text: “But the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wrath, and his anger burned in him.”—Esther 1:12. T“i STHER is the centred figure in this book which bears her name. 1 But a great deal can be said for the wonderful woman who appears in the opening scenes of the story. Vashti was a great and good woman, whose

'name ought always to be held in honour. b I—First of all, Vashti was a good ; ,woman. She was a heathen, and she • lived amid scenes of unparalleled i wickedness, but she managed to retain tier goodness. Her husband, like many freat Eastern princes cf the time, was ftven over to debauchery. Naturally, ilsAs underlings .would imitate his bad example, so that the atmosphere of the |, palace would be foul and distasteful |||o a pure-minded woman. Vashti’s | purity is all the more remarkable IJ/'when .we remember that she was |y trained under a heathen ethical code. • Well, this great and good queen ccrI tainly. reminds us that it is possible II to live a good life even when surI rounded by evil in many forms. In | every walk of life —business or home or pleasure—-we are encompassed by | temptation to do wrong, but it is pos- | sible to live as a good Christian then, i; Great Bfibjle. characters like Isaiah and H Jeremiah and Daniel did not live lives |: of seclusion. They lived in evil days, I but they were true in word and deed

to the God Whom they worshipped. Mary Slessor lived in a poor slum tenement house, and her father was a drunkard, but she lived a good Christian life and became a great missionary. Surely Christians are called upon to be, good in a world abounding in evil with which they cannot help ■ It' is .yepy .easy to be moulded. according to one's surroundings, to give up the struggle to be good. But a fall isn’t inevitable; goodness is possible. Just recently, I was reading; of a blind girl who lived in a vile Tasmanian tavern many years ago. It was a place frequented by rough characters. Bad language was the accepted thing, and many a brawl took place when the men were drun|c. In „that evil place the sweet blind girl > lived a life of wonderful beauty and sweetness. Nov/

Beauty In A Palace

Christians do not live sheltered lives. It is not possible or desirable for us to withdraw from everyday activities and live as hermits in complete isolation, There is no- island for each Christian to. live a solitary life upon as did Robinson Crusoe. Most of us are called upon to mix with a great many people every day of cur lives, and we cannot choose our own company. The man living or working alongside you may be a foul-mouthed beast. The woman whom you must meet each day may have a mind overflowing with the filth of the world.

And you cannot escape these people; you must meet them daily. But there is no reason to be contaminated by them. Vashti’s surroundings were of the worst. At last came the climax. Her husband had arranged a great banquet for his friends and workers, and it went on until he Was sc muddled with drink that he forget the respect due to his pure-minded wife. The chamberlains were sent to instruct her to display her beauty to the company as if she were a dancing slave girl. The outraged queen, wrapped in the garments of her untarnished womanhood, refused thus to demean herself. Her purity was preserved intact. When you find good living difficult, remember Vashti. Take inspiration from her noble example of pure living m evil surroundings. Remember, too, that in Christ we have One Who can keep us pure. He associated with harlots and taxgatherers, and yet remained unsoiled; and He can help us to be Christians in a non-Christian world.

ll.—Secondly, Vashti was a brave woman. When faced by darkening danger, she preferred threatening death to immodesty. Her husband, an autocratic Eastern potentate, could have ordered her instant execution. He did ordfer her banishment from the palace, and Vashti went willingly to oblivion, nnd perhaps poyerty. You ■ wouldn’t expect a heathen woman to value her virtue as. high as that, but she did. So she sets an example in bravely standing for the right. Bravery should be one of the characteristics of every Christian. Stephen and the Christian martyrs who followed him have set a lofty standard in this. We may net be expected to face lions in the arena, or death by burning at the stake, but there is I still a call for us to witness bravely, to the truths of the Gospel. It is strange, but true, that goodness sometimes arouses antagonism. General Evangeline Booth, when a sweet, clean 1 girl in her teens, went to the dirty, crowded slum streets in East London. She went to tell the wretched denizens of that squalid area of One Who could help them and fill their lives 1 with a new brightness. Young Evangeline wanted to do good, but it only ' made the crowds antagonistic. They | stoned her and pelted her with filth. We shall find a similar antagonism if we try to live consistent lives for , Christ and our fellow-men. Bravery f will be needed.

Today opposition to Christianity is increasing. It is no longer the conventional thing to be a church-goer and, at least, a nominal Christian. Secularisation is marching on, and is capturing State, business and pleasure. It is not easy to make one’s Christian position known today, for such a disclosure may mean unpleasantness, if not actual persecution. To make oneself known as a Christian means sometimes the loss of position; it usually means the loss of many of one’s friends. But we have help. Vashti seemed to stand alone In her position. We do not stand alone, for we have a Helper to inspire us and to strengthen us and to be a Friend to us. Trust Him. and you will line! it easy to live the good life, and to make bravely the sacrifices which He calls upon you to make.