SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144854, 4 December 1915, Page 4

SUNDAY READING

Notes of a sermon preached by the REV. A, B. CHAPPELL, M.A., in me U luteley Jieinonal (Jhurcu CHRIST’S THREEFOLD INVI- - ATiO.x. Text: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye snail find; Knock, ana ■it snau be opeueu unto you; lor every one that askem roemvetn; and ne mat seeketu undeui; auu 10 bun mat knocketu it shall be opened.”— iviatmew, vii., ■ 1 -8Already our thought about this quotation Irani Christ's laiaous Sermon on me Mount has to unit in it more than a mere poetic elaboration oi His declaration oi the accessible and beneficent goodness ol man’s Heavenly Father. It is such an elaboration, ol course, in keeping wim me Hebrew parallelism so cnaraeieristic of Biblical poetry, for it was the uiterance of One who loved and used mat noble vehicle ol expression. Bat ills tnpie-tongued charge inis m earn of its notes an arresting significance. It is like a chord of throe Mines, each of winch contributes to the toial tiled bui has its own individual value and character. Corresponding to the ihrce elements in our conscious life, this charge appeals .-i’h ecssivciy to our powers of feeling a.ui thought and will: its "Ask” appeals especially to our feeling of dependence, its "Seek” to our powers of mind, and its "Knock” to tho activities of oar will. Thus it is a call to our whole bring to be linked to God. Anything short of that full-orbed dedication of ourselves to God is, as wo have seen, unworthy irrehgion, and .the patient culture of these several elements is the retogn.sed DUTY OF EVERY MAN within the range of Christ’s conscious inliueucc. Rc.igiou is not a matter ol either feeling or tuoiiglit or win: it is an three, lis prannra is nut cither the emoi.ous or mo intellect or tile conscience; it includes them all. We are too orten sat.sued wan me part, with one aspect, miukiug that to be all. An Augustine, born with a riotously emotional temperament auu giving way in unregenci iue years to temptations appeauug to itcsniy exc.temeiu, snows tne tame emotional bias in Ins alter years oi roi.gion. He gratifies a passion for son-aualysus and emotional sensation, and is still a typical man oi feeling. Sfo a Descartes places the empnasis partially in mlenect, doubling ms doubts way, in a progress of uncompromising scepticism mat leads him at last to a secure foundation lor reasoned faith. Again, a Canylo {with an absorbing gospel of work) or a Damien (living and dying amid Molokai’s lepers at the impulse of devout service) exemplifies supremely the active side of religion. But when fully known it is found to possess the sides that some have neglected or despised. Come with me up tho three m.ics of busu-coveied road that separate Apia from Vailuna, Robert Louis Stevenson's Samoan homo. The evening shadows Hil the way with mystery, ami we can .well sympathise with the terrors of the native passer-by. In the dim distance tho monotonous droning of tho native drums tells of a raiding band abroad to meet a hostile tribe. As we approach the hill where the little homestead stands a war conch sounds in quick succession. AVhat is it? Como quietly, for it is the call to prayer, i-ooking iu through tho open door w r e see the family and attendants taking their places, the family at one cud of the large hall, the natives in a wide semi-circle beneath the great hall lamp. A young man reads a chapter from the Samoan Bible; ono or two hymns iu tho same tongue are sung; and iu concert the Lord’s Prayer, also in Samoan, is recited. But before that general recital a wan, spare man, with dark hair falling well back from the temples, kneels and offers a prayer in English. It is Stevenson himself, and tho words are easily followed as they leave those expressive lips; "Wo come before Thee, 0 Lord, at the end of Thy day with thanksgiving. Our beloved in the far parts of the earth, those who are now beginning the labours of the day what time we end thorn, and those with whom tho sun now’ stands at the point of noon, bless, help, console, and prosper them. Our guard is relieved, the service of the day is over, and the hour come to rest. AVe resign into Thy bauds our sleeping bodies, our cold hearths and open doors. Give us to awake with smiles, give us to labour smiling. As the sun returns in the east, so let our patience be renewed with dawn; as the sun lightens’the world, so let <• ;• loving kindness make bright this house of our habitation.” A hush falls upon our spirits as we listen, a hush more profound than tho quiet of the night without, This is religion, we think. Yes, and no. The part is not the whole. There is more than this. It is gpodxto pray, to ass to commune. That, is a way to God—a way fori, all'who. can take it. Let uifclisten again, this time to the ancient aftiriuer with tho “long gre beard ancj Hirtertag eye,” as he tells to the wedding-guest his weird tale of tho shiptbat-wasso horribly overtaken because .of .'thqjpdaying of an albatross. The recital.riends: ".) * 0 sweetey than the marriage feast. ’Tis sweeter far to me. To walk together to the kirk With a 'goodly company! To walk)together to the Kirk, And all. together pray, While bach »i his great Father bends, Old men, and babes, and loving friends, And youths and maidens gay!

Farewell, farewell I but this I tell To thee, thou Wedding-Guest 1 He prayeth well, who lovoth well Both man and bird and beast. Ho praycth best, who loveth best All things both girat and small; For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all. That is religion, _ too, without a doubt. But it is another religion not as inclusive of the contemplative devoutness of that Vailima home as it is of the world-wide active love that the “Ancient Mariner” learned? The truth is that religion's ministry to our life is seen in the culture of elements in oni» make-up that we are in danger of neglecting. The dwellers in the City of God submit themselves to a discipline and seek the perfection of an Example that emphasise the glory of a balanced development. But how do we enter the City? Through the gateway that matches our own sntitude. . This triple-toned chord

of Christ’s appeal, while it calls to an i ordered and beautiful development of our natures, has in it the different notes that summon diverse temperaments. It is not only Christ’s appeal for the whole man; it is also His j APPEAL TO ALL MEN. \ I Tho ideal man, fully developed and evenly balanced, has been as yef unknown apart from Christ. We are in the making. We find ourselves with need to cultivate certain elements and restrain others. Feeling, intellect, will—we are bundles of these three, and the predominance of ono or other element m the bundle gives us certain temperaments, bents, aptitudes. Some of us exemplify the emotional type, others the intellective, others again the active. We are to strive after the perfection of Christ iu its evenness, but Hong the line of our own natures God will meet us. To the man of feeling Christ says—“ Ask; it shall bo given.” To the man of intellect Ho says—“ Sock: you shall find.” To the active man He says—“ Knock; it shall be opened.” We do not all enter His kingdom in the same way. Some pray, and blessedly the gift of God comes. Some think, and light gloriously breaks. Some knock, and "the kingdom of heaven sufforeth violence and tho violent take it by force.” ACCORDING TO TEMPERAMENT we find our way into the experience of a Curist.an culture mat - makes us evermore .ippiwcn tho porlecuou of the Son of uod. This is the City of John's dream, the City that bad twelve gates; "on me east were tnree gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west Hired gates.” It lies four-square, picturing not onh its own balance ana symmetry, but also im universal uccessib.iily. i'rom all nations and lands “streams in the countless host." But ns item tho four points of Urn compass the J City is seen, us separate three gates i in each far-stretch,ng- wall invite the j diverse temperaments oi men —emo- , tumal. intellectual, active. Into the J City whoso fellowship will aid perfect | development each typo passes by its own appropriate gale. Ihe kingdom of heaven on earth has a place and |

A GATEWAY FOR. EVERY ONE OF US. In the Master’s fellowship there is room loalay iur quite as money a company as gathered to mm at His own tad' by Galilee’s snore. He can turn work for ns ail, sailed u> our aptitudes. He will provide par.-ants and experiences tor us all, adapted lo oui needs. This gives to us a lesson ,u charity, a iu,on that His d.seipie.need to-day as some needed it “m mo day of His flesh,” • "We saw others casting out devils, and we forbade Loom —aaiionti :e ~,.j lions of Thunder —"shall not arc be called down on them trout heaven;'‘ There was only the fire ol love in His heart for such unattached he;p.-is.

"Ollier sheep 1 have, 1 ' Herald, "iriuen are not of this fold.” "Temperamental differences have been mistaken lor grades of spirituality,” and a pernicious habit long ago grow of looking upon saints of a particular type ns tho pattern for all otners: but the Cnurcb is awaking to see l! m. (hero is room in Christ's conception of it for all types of temperament. AVe all have some measure of selfunderstanding, and know what aptitudes are ours. Let us not be kept from the discipleship of the Alaster by the standards others may set for us. The question of our relationship with Him resolves itself finallv into a matter between ourselves and Him.

Potcr, given a glimpse of the service to which his Master called him, secs John following, and asks, "Lord, what shall this man do?” Christ's reply is emphatic; “H I will that ho tarry till I come, what is that to Thee? Follow thou Ale.” ' So Ho beckons us each, although recardfql of others; we, regardless then of others, should each licc-d Him.

He will sympathise with our needs and moot them. Do feelings dominate ns? AA’o may bring them, .to H;m. Are intellectual difficulties in the way? AA’o may—we must—face them. Honesty Ho asks, and to smother our doubts would be to do dishonour to Him. Are we striving lo attain nnd longing to achieve? He who found a place Tor Simon the Zealot will welcome and emnloy ns. AA’o must be true to our own nature in our coming to Him. “Ask, and it shall be given von; seek, and yo shall find; knock, and it shall ho opened unto you; for every one that asketh receivetb; and ho that seckoth findeth; .and to him that knockotb it shall bo opened.”