SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1924, Page 13

SUNDAY READING.

THE DOOM OF THE DO-NOTHING. “In solemn truth I tell yon, that in so far as you withheld such iser,vices from one of the humblest of these, you withheld them from Me, and these shall depart in the punishment of the ages.”—St. Matthew, xxv., 45. (Dr. Wayniouth’s translation ), (Rev. A. H. ■Oollins, New Plymouth.) These! “These ehall depart.” Who are these, pray, and what is their offence? The doom is so deep and so dark that we are driven to ask, what is the story of their crime? Surely the men who go down to perdition under such a weight of woe must be criminals of no ordinary type. The startling thing is to discover that the words are not spoken of a rough gang of footpads and midnight desperadoes —men with matted hair, restless eyes, and red, wet knife, but of a company of smug, respectable Temple worshippers. If you look behind the text you will not find a single face that suggests the criminal class. They belonged to "the elect.” They held positions of honour in the city, and thev wore a vast expanse of moral shirt front. They were men who died amid an odour of sanctity and were laid to rest under as many pious platitudes as could .be carved on a single headstone. Yet these amiable and estimable persons are driven from the face of Love, and driven down to Gehenna! Why? What evil- had they done? They had done nothing. Their crime was just that. They called Christ Master and Lord and did nothing. They professed faith in His name, but ‘•faith I without works is dead,” and the Jait-h of these immaculate do-nothings was of (that order. The sin against which this 1 passage girds with Such terrific energy is the common sin of doing nothing; the sin of keeping oneself to oneself; the sin of staying at home and just -minding one’s own business; the sin of absorption in personal profit and pleasure, aye, and personal religion, and caring nothing for the needs, sorrows, sins of others. ETHICS OF SOCIAL SERVICES. Jesus Christ was speaking to the Twelve. It was part of His last message, and He says that on the Great Day of Assize, the final issue of life will turn on the presence or absence of kindness expressed in the terms of social service, and not on any question of orthodox or heterodox belief. The doom is dreadful, ibut the sin is one of the commonest. It is not difficult for most of us to avoid open and scandalous crime. The ordinary rules of good breeding, and the desire to stand well with our fellows is sufficient to restrain in the evil hour. But that is not enough. We may not break either of the Ten Commandments, and yet live •.entirely evil lives. We may simply live .in the assertion of our own rights, and the enjoyment of our own pleasure, and all the time be* doing a great wrong. There are shortcomings as well as transgressions. There are sins of "omission” as well as since of "commission. We need to voluntarily take np duties whioh are unwelcome, and tasks that are irksome. We need to seek out the "hungry” for sympathy; the "naked ’ of virtue; and the ‘-imprisoned'’ in doubt; for we have only to overlook tire claims of humanity to fail in the Christian .life. We have only to turn a deaf ear Ito human need, and a blind eye to social iwrongs, and refuse to believe others | are wretched because we-are well off, in

[order to disown Christ. We have only Ito settle down in the enjoyment of our [good things, ami ignore Dives at the gate to earn the rich man’s fate. 1 There are all kinds of help we can give in Christ’s name, just because there are »so many forms of human need. But it ought to cost us something to l»e Christian in a world like this., and if we are inclined io be satisfied with the mere avoidance of positive sins, and make no sacrifices, such as pity and cliarit v demand, we should re-read this story, and bethink us of the Doom of the Do-Nothing. You remember the tetory of the rich young ruler, whose life on the outward side was strictly moral, ■yet would not sacrifice to serve Christ in the service of the needy® Our Great Master would have ue see some greater object in life than toil like a beaver, to gather like a bee. and hoard like a squirrel. Christ said little about some things we call “sins,” but He said a great deal aibout ladk of love and .service. He was never hard on publicans and sinners, but He said some very stern things of men who made long prayers and gave the slip to mercy and charitv. ’THE SOUL OF RELIGION. Dostoevsky, the Russian novelist, tells a weird sto-ry of a woman \£ho was highly respectable. She died and was sent to perdition. She was very surprised, and made a great hubbub at the gates of Hades. The Eternal Father heard the noise and enquired the reason. An angel answered: ‘•Someone has gone to Hell who thinks she ought not to be there.” The Eternal Father said: “That’s not very likely.” But fu? the noise continued. He bade an angel, “Just go and see whether there had really been a mistake.” The woman declared she had been highly respectable and respected. "Ask her.” said the Eternal Father, "whether she has ever done anything kind to anybody.” She had to think a long time and said she had been highly respectable and respected. "But ■have you done anything kind,” said the angel. After a long time her face brightened, and she said: "Yes: T once gave an onion to a tramp.” When the Eternal Father heard the report. He said: “An onion is always something. Take that onion, and bid her hold on to it .and you will draw her up to heaven.” “Here is your onion.” cried ■the angel, “hold on to it and T will draw you up.” As the woman began to rise, others held on to her skirts. When she saw that the woman said, “Let go! Let go! it is my onion.” When she said “It •is mv onion,” the onion broke and they all fell back to the Pit; and now no matter how much noise the woman makes the Eternal Father takes no notice. Maybe you think the story rather queer. But is it queer? Is it not the story of the sheep and the goats over again? So many of us are Tike the old country squire who would have been equally shocked to hear Christianity questioned or see it practised! Can we not understand that the soul of religion i-s just to ibe kind and considerate of others? The Eternal really cares about that. A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. The doom of the Do-Nothing! Let me try to tell you wQiy. Let me show you the sin of living so. A simple illustration may help to make the reason plain. A man is boating on the ‘ lake yonder, and sees another boat cap- ’

size. The people are struggling in the water and calling for help. It is only a question of minutes, and they will go down; but the man turns his head away and. pulls in the opposite direction, and the people are drowned. Is that a crime? Why should it be? The man did not •upset the boat; he did not thrust them into the water. He did nothing. That’s all. But you would scorn him. A man is passing your house, and detects the smell of fire, sees the smoke, and hears the crackle. Your wife and children are in the building and he does nothing. I-s that a crime? Why should he do anything? He did not kindle the flame. Yet such conduct would evoke universal execration. The fact of doing nothing would be judged a crime against humanity; for there are circumstances which make doing nothing a capital offence. Well, apply the parable. • We live in a world of peril and need. It is not simply squalid misery, crass ignorance, and brutal vice that appeal to us; there are hopeless and joyless lives that call for sympathy and help. A town may be mismanaged! because capable citizens are absorbed in their own things and will not serve the community. Hotels flourish and young fellows go to the dogs, because superfine Christians will not vote. There are children untaught the simplest facts of the Bible because there are no teachers. Half the population of the world, is living in ignorance of the Christian Gospel, within a few days’ steam of New Zealand, A SERVICE WITHIN OUR POWERS. Is it culpable to live in a world like this, simply As spectators at a show? Is it culpable to attend church and sing hymns and say prayers and do nothing? Is it wonderful if Christ, who lived eo strenuously, will say of such, “I never knew you.” For you will notice the service required is not beyond our powers. We are not expected to do impossible things. Hunger not fed, thirst not slaked, nakedness not covered, sickness not tended. That’s all. I am not held blameworthy for not writing poetry like Homer; for not preaching like Maclaren o” Parker; but I am held blameworthy if I fail to be courteous and kind and gentle. There is a passage in the Book of the Revelation which tells how the face of the Master will rise on the face of the nations; and men- irill cower and cry for the rocks to fall on them, and hide them. Perhaps you wonder why. You need not wonder. I have seen faces in this life which shamed me. I sa-w Alfred Saker, of the. Canieroons River. His skin was yellow as parchment. He was worn to a shadow. I heard him utter the thrilling wish: “Oh. that I had another life to give to Africa’'’; and that face shining like a candle in a porphrey vase, shames my missionary sloth. I saw and heard J. B. Gough, and it rebukes my lack of temperance zeal. I saw Spurgeon, and his face smites my lack of evangelism. DI SPAR IT Y r BETWEEN CREED AND CONDUCT. The diligence of some in serving •Christ is the condemnation of the DoNothing. But the thought that grips me is the disparity between the creed and the conduct of the Do-Nothing. Froude said of Sir Robert Cecil that “he believed in God in a sort of a way!” The irony of that sentence. It means that his belief had no driving power. His religion had no deep conviction, no passion, and there is a lot of religion like that. A good churchman is supposed to believe in •The Thirty-Nine Articles.” He may hold them quite sincerely, but the test question is this, “What does his creed do for him?” Mohammed had one article in his creed, and with that one article he revolutionised Arabia. Luther had one article, and with it he shook Europe. Calvin had one article in his creed, and with it he ruled Geneva. Never mind telling us how many opinions you hold. What is the truth you hold to your finger tips, and the marrow of your bones? Tell ns that and we shall know the real working force of your life. “I believe in God the Father.” Splendid! “I believe in Jesus Christ His Unique Son." Glorious! “I believe in the Holy Ghost!” Sublime! Well, what has it done for you ? I SERVICE THE TEST OF RELIGION. Kipling has some stinging lines. H,e 'imagines a Do-Nothing coming to heaven’s gate:— "And he came to the gate within the wall. V'here Peter holds, the keys: Stand up, stand up. now Tomlinson, And answer loud and high, The good you did for the sake of men, Gn little earth so lonej This I have read in a book,’ he said, •And this was told to me. And I have thought what another man thought Of a prince of Muscovy.’ And Peter twirled the jangling keys, In weariness and wrath. ‘Ye have read ye have heard, ye have thought,’ he said, ‘And the tale is yet to run. By the worth of the body that once ye had. Give answer—What have ye done!’” Ah! that is the question. The test of down-right, worth-while religion does not lie in the realm of rhapsody and dreams and speculations, but in actual, definite, practical service. Christ’s word to each one of us is, “Stop fooling and do something!”