Waiapu Church Gazette. TUESDAY, NOV. 1, 1910. The Mission.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 November 1910, Page 8

Waiapu Church Gazette. TUESDAY, NOV. 1, 1910. The Mission.

How much more those two words mean to many of us to-day than they did a month ago 1 Many had prayed earnestly for the Mission for months beforehand, and some believed that a blessing was at hand and some doubted. But what is the verdict of those who really came to the Mission for a message, for an inspiration, for spiritual help ? What is the verdict of those who attended those quiet, plain Services, with a real Soul hunger? Is it not something like this? (i) It was a revelation. A revelation of what .? A revelation of God Himself. God seemed more real than He had ever seemed before. God seemed nearer than He had ever seemed before. God seemed more appealing than He had ever seemed before. God seemed more injured than He had ever seemed before. God seemed more necessary than He b.ftd ever seeded before. God seemed

more Fatherlike than He had ever seemed before. (2) It was a revelation of ourselves. Why ? Because we dared to see ourselves m the light of God, because we came into the Presence of God, humbly, honestly, and sinceroly. Because we felt that we were standing on " holy ground " where it was useless to dissemble and "cloke" our Sins. Because we were caught up into the very atmosphere of reality and Heaven and God. Because we felt the paltriness of excusing and fencing and touching things on the surface when we were m the very midst of the Divine realities which underlie and interpenetrate the things which are temporal. (3) It was a revelation of the vast possibilities of human nature. It helped to show us our littleness, and the littleness of the trifles which fill up so large a part of our lives. Tt helped us to see that God has made us for Himself, and that nothing short of God can satisfy human nature when we really come to ourselves, and really develop our God given instincts. We saw heights above us which once were completely hidden m mist, we saw peaks of holiness and service once seemed only dim shadows. We saw the road more clearly defined between the plains and the heights, and we learnt that the true and straight road was the road of simplicity, faith, assimilation, and perseverance. We realized how vain was the complex life which we once thought was the one thing needful, and we saw more clearly than we had seen before that it is through a real and a simple faith that we touch God and rise to the appreciation of Divine realities. (4) It was a revelation of the power of the old Gospel Story to satisfy the deepest needs of the human soul. There was no rhetoric, no blowing of trumpets, no seducing advertisement, no mere emotionalism, no cant. It was just the simple message spoken m a simple, earnest way, but we knew, we felt that it satisfied our utmost needs. It was indeed " the power of God unto Salvation." It laid us bare and clothed us again as we had never been clothed before. We saw Jesus m His convicting, forgiving, restoring and renewing love. We saw how truly Christ is Christianity and

Christianity is Christ. We saw how truly our Church life is the Gospel m action ; the application of the merits of the Atonement and the Resurrection and the Ascension to individual Souls. We saw how our Church life might be m Very deed a life "m Jesus," and how m the Sacraments we are privileged to touch the very life of Jesus. (5) It was a revelation of the meaning and power of prayer. What meant those intercessions increasing m number day by day? It was indeed a Mission of Prayer, a besieging of the Throne of Grace, The vory atmosphere was full of prayer and it was an atmosphere that could be felt. The old difficulties seemed to wither up before the manifestation of power. It showed to us what a mighty force we had )jy our very sides and how little we had made use of it. It showed to us very clearly that the way to understand prayer and the meaning and power of prayer was to pray and not waste time m criticizing "He that wills to do God's will, shall know of the doctrine." It . showed to us how prayer was one great link binding earth and heaven together. (d>) It was a revelation of the blessings which are waiting to come down m all their invigorating power when we are ready to receive them. " Be still and know that I am God." In that stillness we felt the hand of God, we felt something of the heart of God. Why should we not be m a chronic state of the spirit which assimilated the Mission teaching 1 Why should we not practice thejpabit of stillness, waiting, listening, expectancy 1 It was not man who spoke to us m the Mission, it was the Holy Spirit, "the Still Small Voice." If that Voice is to continue speaking to .us, we must cultivate the spirit of detachment, we must wait upon God as well as speak to Him, we must be listeners as well as talkers, we must assimilate and "inwardly digest" as well as read. It is far easier to feel the blessings of the Mission than to talk about them. It seems almost profane to talk about the results of the Mission. One thing is certain, viz., that the Mission can never end, and the day of the great unveiling can alone show us the results of the Mission. " Thanks be to Qoc( for H|s unspeakable gift,'*