World of Religion

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22961, 12 February 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

World of Religion

By PHILEMON

"THE GOSPEL IS NEWS"

THOSE who keep in touch with church life are deeply impressed at the growing anxiety about the character of the message delivered from the pulpit and the spirit in which it is set forth. Judging by the religious press and the correspondence which it from time to time publishes there is a general conviction that the fundamental truths, upon the acceptance of which the very future of religion depends,' are not sufficiently expounded to the people and that their faith in them i' 3 too readily taken for granted.

And there is also a feeling that; the very heart of the Gospel, as it is contained in the New Testament, is somehow often missed and that the perils of rejecting it are glossed over. The sense of urgency, that gives glow and convincing power to the message, has become dulled and the offer ol: salvation is made rather as' a desirable option than a matter of grave a,nd immediate concern. Wo are not careful just now to estimate the value of these criticisms, but rather to put in a plea for a more importunate pressing home of the truth upon the attention and conscience of the hearer.

Imperishable Pictures It would do us all good to take a second look at the imperishable pictures of urgency which the Scriptures contain —Aaron running with the burning censer in his hands between the living and the dead if he might stay the plague; Moses willing that his name should be blotted out of the covenant that the rebellious nation might bo spared. Paul—"l am in sore pain, I suffer endless anguish of heart, I could wish myself accursed and banished from Christ for the sake of my brothers"; and beyond all these is One, whose spirit they in measure possessed, and who in His last urgent hour of sacrifice "became a curse ,for us."

There surely is the spirit which, if widely generated among the Christian people, would in time make all things new in the Church. It is not that wo disbelieve the truth committed to our charge, but that Ave do not hold it passionately enough. Wo do not remember that the Gospel is news —news about God, news about forgiveness and overcoming power, news about brotherhood in a Kingdom that has come to the door, neAvs to bo cried from tho housetops. A Remarkable Zeal The quality of tho truth which it i" given to the pulpit to utter, will, if onco clearly seen, make commonplace utterance impossible. The ardent Communist is willing to seem beside .himself in his eagnerness to bring in a new world. A score of cults, competing with the Christian faith, are served bv men and women with a zeal which the Church might well covet for its propaganda. ■ ■„ ■ V The politician on occasion seeks the people's suffrages from door to dopr. What then should be the urgency with which such incomparable and life-deter-mining truth as that of Christianity, both for the individual and for the world, should be presented to the intellect and heart of man P

If the preacher really believes that God has spoken, that in Christ is found the Life and Hope'of men, that tho secret of progress lies in a regeneration of the individual soiil and that the way to a is to be found only iftiVjfclio principles' of qin*>| Lord's teaching,*.he will Cdpie rightvto. the heart of hisJmessage attd speak as' a burdened and commissioned than. : In Grave Peril For, say what we will, the men and women whom the Church is bidden, to reach are in grave peril-and darkness without the truth. It will not bo all

the same in the long run if they never hear it, or hearing make light of it. In so far as they knowingly reject it they are "lost" men. The word startles us as it drops from our pen, so seldom it is uttered to-day. But it is Christ's word for just such people as surround us and are met with in business, in pleasure, in friendly intercourse.

To Him "lost" men were not necessarily evil men as the world counts badness. Publicans and Binners, He said, were lost, but so were priests and Levites; respectable elder brothers might be lost not less than youths at the swine-trough; pleasant worldlings, keen and prosperous money-makers, inen and women skilled in keeping at arm's length' the Church and all it stands for—these, too, were the "lost." Ho came "to seek and to save." We shall never get much further in our evangelism until we have rediscovered what Jesus meant by this sad and suggestive word.

The Whole Truth In all her great hours the Church has had courage to speak the whole truth without fear and indifferent to worldly repute. She has been clear in her own mind that there is something to be caved from and that Christ alone can save. We turn over the pages of Wesley's Journal, the great evangelist, whoso bi-centenary is about to be celebrated with world-wide attention, and iind the constantly recurring phrase that he "offered Christ" to the people, and wo know with what intensity of concern the offer was made, and with what prevailing power. An "offer" is something that may be accepted or rejected, but at least it brings the person who receives it to the point where a decision must be made. And maybe, while much of our modern preaching is of a high order, it fails just at the cirtical moment when the soul's decision for God hangs in the balance.

Dr. Niemoller's Trial The trial of Dr. Niemoller is at last proceeding amid characteristic mystery and secrecy. The public knows neither the court before which he appears, nor the charge laid against nim. The Reichspost in November last stated that a "special ecclesiastical court would be set up, since the ordinary courts have acquitted too many of the Confessional pastors." In the same month another prominent journal forecast that the charge would be high treason and that the trial would be before a special People's Court. The same journal suggested that Dr. Goebbels was referring to Pastor Niemoller, when he said in a recent' speech that certain "gentlemen pastors" would ho treated in the same way as Communist traitors. The New York Times states that the army chaplains in Germany have been interesting themselves on Dr. Niemoller's behalf and that a statement of defence extending to over a hundred pages- lias been prepared by his attorneys, which contains many testimonies from high naval and military officers. , : "Friends" of the Cathedral

In recent years groups known as tho "Friends" of the .Cathedral have been formed in many English dioceses,' their aim being to assist in maintaining the fabric of these ancient buildings, to restore where necessary their, ancient paintings and decorations, and generally to make the House of God central and influential in the community. There are now thirty of such groups and the large sum of £200,000 has been >raised for the ends they, serve. $ The shortest sermon on record is said {Jo. have been preached by J)ean Swift text, "He that hath pity upon thti;poar lendetli to the Lord; and that ' which lie hath given will He pay him again." The sermon was: "Now. my brethren, if you like the sequrity, down with .yout; money." No one will complain that it was too long or that it lacked point.