Repose.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 February 1911, Page 9

Repose.

• Sermon preached at the Cathedral by the Bishop of Waiapu, on January Ist, 1911. S. Matthew, vi., 34, "Take no thought for the morrow." What a splendid prescription we have m this verse from the Sermon on the Mount for many of .the 'ills, from which humanity suffers m this present restles.s age ! It is a restless age m which the old words seem very true. "We see all sights from pole to pole, and . glance and rush and bustle by, and never once possess our souls before we die. 5 ' There is on all sides the growing desire for the stimulus of excitement, and the increasing poweilessness of so many people to find satisfaction m the quiet and reposeful life, and m the simpler and more natural amusements and recreations of home and family life. We read sometimes what is wisely written about the "simple life," we realise the truth and wisdom of it all, and we put it on one side as a sensible but unattainable ideal, and go on as we were before. The artificial becomes as necessary to some natures, as the drunkard considers that drink is to his, and life stimulated by the artificial is bad physically and morally. This craving for excitement, for an artificial stimulus is very conspicuous m our modern recreations, and social life; we need the stimulus of leagues and competitions and endless prizes, and even so we are told, the superadded stimulus of betting m order to tempt men to take any real and continued interest m sport or games. To play the game for the game's sake is losing its hold upon men and women, and we are allowing a baneful parasite to kill out the nobler principle. Instead of i acting upon the principle, "How much can I put into my work and into my play?" we ask "How much can I get out of it?" . • Some people even cannot be induced to support their church or give anything to a charitable object without an assured quid pro quo, m the, form of the stimulus of a bazaar, or art union, or a dance, It is the spirit which

requires and demands these stimuli, and which confuses giving under the stimulus of excitement. — sometimes very unhealthy excitement — with quiet and purposeful giving to God, which is one of the unwholesome tendencies of our modern life, and which is neither improving our religion or our humanity. Think of the number of people to-day who suffer from what we commonly call "nerves." Can we be surprised when we see this craving for excitement increasing m all directions, and the simpler, quieter, more genuine life discounted and out of date? Why has the mental healer come into vogue m these days? Because the times require him, I suppose, because so many of our ailments are due to mental causes, and require to be treated through the mind. And why should we be surprised if the tendency of the age claims its victims from time to time? Why should we be surprised if children are born into the world with a predisposition to "nerves," and unhealthy excitement? If travelling at excessive sp.eedj if flying through the air, etc., demand their toll of victims, so assuredly will over-wrought, overstimulated life; We have no right to blame the Almighty if we lose oiir children, or our health or our children's health, or if our relatives have to be taken care of m a mental hospital. We should honestly study the connection between cause and effect, and then we might sometimes be compelled to arrive at startling results. We ought to be prepared to face the consequences of our own actions, and mode of life, and not blame God because He does not see fit to be always working miracles to save us from the results of our own self -chosen life. The same tendency is very obvious m many people's religion, and want of religion. The stirring of religious emotions is not by any means the deepening of religion. Froth and excitement, and the latest novelty for inducing people to fill an otherwise empty Church may succeed fora time! but do not bring men nearer to the Master or make them desirous .of obeying His Commandments. No doubt the tendency of the^ age shows itself often m opposition to

the true and the real m religion, desires only the outward and conventional, steers clear of main issues, and seeks to minimise the spiritual and unseen, but the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ does not stand or fall by the tendencies of the age, and the Church has no authority and no right to water it down to suit an age for which we are sometimes told, and told truly from one point of view, that it is unsuitable. If the Gospel is unsuitable for the present age, why is it unsuitable? Is it the fault of the Gospel or the age ? "Take no thought for the morrow. That is part of the gospel message, and contains the remedy which a neurotic age requires. What does it mean? Take no anxious thought, don't be always worrying, keep calm, don't lose your head, don't think that you have all the responsibilities of the world or even of your own life and future upon your own shoulders. Remember that there is a God. Live your life to-day. Bear the troubles of to-day as bravely as you can, and don't add to today's troubles and burdens by imagining what to-morrow's are going to be. Don't get into a neurotic state by fussing over what may be or might be and probably never will be. In short, don't leave God, the responsible all Father, out of your calculations. You are nearer and dearer to Him than the birds and the flowers. They are His creatures, but you are His children, and if He is concerned with the welfare of His creatures, don't you think that your religion must be very feeble and shallow if you can't give Him credit for having a Father's interest m His children ? But does the text mean that we are not to make any provision for the future ? Does it mean that we ought not to try and provide for the proverbial "rainy day," or even for old age? Dear friends, we need sometimes a little sanctified commonsense. Insure your lives by all means, Make your wills by all means. Lay up something m store, if you can, by all means, and you will be less likely to worry about the future. When Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," we don't suppose that He intended us to imagine that our "daily bread"

would fall into our mouths without our making use of the brains and muscles which God has given to us m order to work for it, and why then should we suppose that He did not intend us to use the instinct of self-preservation, and the preservation of others, which He Himself has given to us. ? The flowers do anticipate the future, and so do the birds and make provision for those coming after them and we therefore sadly misinterpret the words of our Lord when we regard them as sanctioning a want of regard for the future. It is of God's mercy that we don't know what the future has m store for us, or we might possibly have some excuse for worry and uneasiness and neglecting ; present opportunities. Christ did know what lay before Him, and His human nature suffered m consequence, but He did not shrink from drinking the cup to the very dregs. Why? Because he knew that the cup was held by His Father. "The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it?" He knew that He would be sustained by His Father, because He was carrying out His will and fulfilling His purposes. And is not this the lesson which Christ intended to teach us when He said, "Take no thought for the morrow" ? What many of us want to-day is the rest and repose cure. We say that our lives are too busy and full for repose. Are they really? Sometimes they are too undisciplined and unmethodical as well. Many men's lives have been prolonged, humanly speaking, by cultivating the habit of snatching a few minutes repose m the midst of a strenuous day's work, and what might our lives become if we cultivated the habit of snatching a few minutes spiritual repose each day, for even our ordinary prayers are not always times of real repose ? It is "rest m the Lord that we need," rest, m the assurance that the everlasting arms are beneath us, rest m the realisation of God's Fatherly Providence, rest m the assimilation of the divine love. Who shall separate us from the love of God revealed m Jesus Christ? Who shall snatch us out of God's hands? Surely a good deal of our worry and our

anxiousness is a reflection upon God's loving wisdom and care We shall always have the craving for excitement until we have found the true repose. And, lastly, when I hear hardworked people say that they have no time to come to church, I always pity them because I know they are losing the very best thing both for their souls and bodies. If God had not given to us one day m seven for repose, man would have been compelled to institute a day of rest. We little know what we are doing when we miss " the opportunities of quiet repose and spiritual edification on Sunday. We are not only starving bur souls, but we are decreasing the real powers of mind and body also. Sir Oliver Lodge, the great scientist, has some very sane words on this subject m his book, "Man and the Universe." Beloved, God has spared you to see the beginning of another year, and if you would make good and lasting use of the present year, don't neglect your opportunities of spiritual rest and repose, don't neglect the services of God's Church and, above all, don't neglect the quiet communion with God, m which we are caught up into real union with Him "m Whom we live and move and have our being." I wish you all "A happy New Year. ' ' ' 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."