“AN EASY RELIGION”

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1932, Page 9

“AN EASY RELIGION”

desire of present age

ARCHDEACON EVANS’ CRITICISM. NEED FOR A STAUNCH FAITH. Around “Faithful Unto Death,” from the tenth verse o'f the second chapter of the Book of Revelation, Archdeacon F. G. Evans built a powerful sermon at St. Mary’s Church, New Plymouth, yesterday morning. The occasion was the annual dedication festival of St. Mary’s. A children’s floral service was held at St. Mary’s yesterday afternoon, the Rev. H. S. Fussell, Waitara, preaching. Archdeacon Evans was again the preacher at evensong, taking as his text, “Son, Remember” (Luke 16, 25). “This was the message the Divine Master sent from Heaven to the members of his Church at Smyrna, who were enduring very severe persecution,” said the archdeacon; “It was His way of telling them that the way of suffering was the pathway to glory; that those who endured His trials to the very end could claim the crown of eternal reward. And this was the message He sent to His suffering brethren in every age of the Church’s history: ‘You must travel the same road, however rough it may be. You must manifest a like faithful spirit in all the vicissitudes of your earthly life.’ “The saxpe lesson has been taught in every age of the Church’s life and history. If you study that history you will find that the brightest and noblest saints of God have gained their splendid characters through stress and strain, through conflict, unto the end of life. “But this is not a lesson any of us like to learn.. The average man wants an easy life and an easy religion. Christian people, generally speaking, want a quiet experience, no pangs of conscience, no pain, nothing that will interfere, with their pleasure, no hard work, no battles against anything. They want to sail on quiet seas, and at last to enter the harbour of eternal rest, where they will be splendidly rewarded for doing nothing. “An easy religion! Why, it would be worthless if we had it. Every religion worth anything at all must be hard and difficult. Everything in life worth having is difficult to obtain. Never forget how love of ease and pleasure nearly ruined our Empire, and, indeed, the present civilisation. EMPIRE WAS DRIFTING.

“In the years preceding the war British people were perfectly satisfied with pleasure, ease and commercial success,” continued the archdeacon. “The Empire was- rapidly drifting towards the rocks of national disaster. The London Times said: ‘Our people are satisfied with a low endeavour. They are content to be, without being anything.’ What an indictment! “It led to the war. We are really in a measure responsible for the war. We gave the Germans a false impression. They thought we were not worth considering; they fancied we were a people of no account. Happily the war awoke the Empire. It came like the trumpet of tire Archangel. And the old spirit of England roused itself, and her people did such faithful service unto death that we still survive as an independent people. But at what cost? A million British lives! God forbid that in our grand old church we should fall into such a state of apathy as will lead to disaster and ruin. “To-day we are naturally thinking of the fine old pioneers of Taranaki, who erected this sacred building 87 years ago. On March 25, 1845, the foundation stone of this church was laid, and on September 29, 1846, the building was opened for worship. They were faithful people in those days. They led hard lives, and they did not look upon their religion as an easy one. The great day for the church in this parish was December 3, 1843,-when its first vicar, the Rev. William Bolland, was appointed by Bishop Selwyn. He was only here for a few short years, and yet in that time he did a work that will last forever. He left the impression of his character upon the lives of the early settlers. He passed to his reward at the age of 27. “When the foundation stone was laid in 1845, amidst the joyful excitement of the whole community, two other foundation stones, mystic and invisible, were also laid, extremely important and powerful in their meaning and effect to Xlxis very day—faith and loyalty, faith to trust in the presence and protection of their fathers’ God, and loyalty to the Church and faith in which they believed. WONDERFUL ATMOSPHERE. “This • church stands to-day to proclaim to each generation how well their forbears carried out their early determination. It has given this budding its wonderful atmosphere. . . “What do we think of the result of their work in our day?” asked the preacher. “Was it worth while? Are we going to allow their work to fad by neglect of Divine worship? By indifference to the claims of religion? By forgetting the duty we owe to the young neoole? Shall we make it appear that their work has failed? I often wonder, too what our comrades in the war who laid down their fives to preserve us from the cruel domination of a malignant foe think of us to-day, if they are able to look down upon this country and the world. Would they say: Is it for this we died?’ ' Do they see this poor, distracted country, every man for himself in it? Where is the spirit of unselfishness 9 ' Where is the spirit of conciliation'and sacrifice? Where is the faithfulness to contracts, to solemn vows, to the sanctity of human life, to the claims of religion, and to the higher welfare of the young people? The spirit of selfishness and greed seems triumphant “I want to remind you to-day of tne lives of two outstanding men of modern times who.were faithful and loyal unto death. Captain Scott, who came to this church years ago to unveil the hatchment to the ‘Niger,’ as representing the Royal Navy of England. Whose body lies among the eternal snows of the Antarctic regions, with those of his gallant companions. But his. spirit lives on the last words he wrote m that lonely hut, amid the blinding blizzard of that fearful place, were these: Had I lived I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions, which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies will tell the tale Not very faraway lies the body of his companion, Captain Oates, covered with the snows, and the inscription left behind is ‘Hornby died a very gallant gentleman. Captain Oates, of the Inniskillen Dragoons.’ Was it in vain they died? No No. Their noble examples will fire the imaginations of generations of English youths. , , t. “The other heroic character was Dii Ronald Ross, whom it was our Privilege to meet many years ago in Egypt, where he had largely swept away the mosquito menace. He did not long ago at the age of 75, worn out by painful disease, largely brought on by his undying devotion to the goal he had - set

before him, to rid the world of the cause of malaria. “The great call to-day is for faithful men and women, who will love their church, and deny themselves for it; who are not easily daunted or afraid of ridicule; and these are the ones who will copy the example and take the places of the stalwart church people of old.” .