Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 41, 17 April 1942, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

CSu jp'ied by ibe Whakatan;? Ministers' Association)

THE CAMPAIGN FOR CHRISTIAN ORDER 1942 The campaign lias started and is gathering strength. It is beginning whore it ought to begin—within the Church. If Christianity is to mean anvthing to the world, it must first mean a great deal to those who profess it. It is not enough that we should bear the name, we must live She passionate, eag-r life that the name implies. The world as a whole has either disowned Christianity or ignored it. That is a fact which the history of our time proclaims without explaning. What i-3 the explanation? Is part of it to be found in tlie lack of earnestness and reality in the lives of Christians? Have wc made of our religion a formal affair, a thing of forms and ceremonial? Have we been more concerned with the machinery of worship, rather than its spirit, with the business of carrying cn the Church rather than the task of proclaiming Christ to the Avorld in example rather than precept? Have wc been more concerned with the technical minutiae of theology rather than the proclamation of the gospel of salvation? These are pertinent" questions. They are being asked seriously and faced frankly by the ministers of our Church who have appreciated the importance of first examining, themselves in an endeavour to discover what can be put in a wo,rid situation which is very much wrong. In conferences and retreats throughout the country the ministry is earn est 1 3* and seriously seeking God's way fcr them in this hour. But the questions, but perhaps in different form, must also be asked of the members of our Church. We are the Body of Christ. Have we been fulfilling that function? Have we been satisfied with a Christianity which is much less than Christianity? Have we been so concerned with our duties that wc have lost sight of our priveleges, so pre-occu-pied with the forma! acts of worship that we have forgotten that religion is a rule of life, something to live by and not merely to think abo.ut? Have we forgotten the essential meaning cf the vitally important conviction in the universal priesthood of all believers.

It is, perhaps, true to say that in general the members of our Church have been more concerned in accepting the benefits of the gospel than In transmitting it to others. It is true that we have seen a world in need of salvation, that we have looked across the seas to heathen countries and sent missionaries there to proclaim the living gospel of our Lord. We have seen quite clem-ly that the ways of men have been drifting away from the rule of God. In our search for the cause of that drift, we have laid cur fingers on many facts —the love of pleasure and of luxury, the insistence even in high places that man can live on bread alone, a materialism, and a practising agnosticism which has eaten deep like some corrosive acid into the soul of mankind. But now we are beginning ot sec that these are not the causes of the> world's drift, rather are they the symptoms of a di.sieasc. Our diagnosis has not arrived at the seat of the trouble. Where can that be found? We are finding it. Like the pro-

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

digal, sitting in the midst of squalor and sui'ieiing of our plight, we, too, have ]>con breeding on the limits ol others, hut now we have stopped looking at others —we have eomc to ourselves. And looking there w " have seen where the blame lie.se it is in ourselves. We were the salt of the earth, hut the salt has lost its savour. Hence it not only was spoiled in itself, it 1 ailed to fulfil its function in the world of men.

What can wc do in such a situation? We can arise and go to our Father. There in His presence wc can recapture that gift of redeeming power v There once again cleansed of our sin and filled with the Holy Spirit we can go out to ji stricken world like the Apostles ol old with a message of power and of life. The salt can sweeten the earth again. This then the Campaign is doing in these early days. It is the beginning of a revival, for the Spirit of God is moving in the hearts of His people. Let us not hinder the moving of that Spirit. Let each member of the Church give himself anew in complete surrender to the Eternal God through Jesus Christ. Then by His grace the humblest of us will be greatly used for the overwhelming of the. spirit of evil and the coming of a new day when God name will be honoured and His will ebeved.

YOU NEVER CAN TELL . You never can tell when you send a word, Like an arrow shot from a bow By an archer blind, be it cruel; or kind, Just where it may chance to go. ! t may pierce the heart of your dearest friend, Tipped with its poison or balm; To a stranger's heart in life's great mart It may carry its pain or its calm. You never can tell when you do an act Just what the result will, be; But with every deed you are sowing a seed, I Though the harvest you may not see. Each kindly act is an acorn dropped I'll God's productive soil; You may not know, but the tree shall grow, With shelter fcr those who toil. THANK GOD FOR WORK When loving hands are taken from our clasp, And sorrow comes and takes our hand instead, How we would spurn the uncongenial task And yield to sorrow's mumbling, chilling grasp If it were not for work For work —to keep the home fires burning bright, To care for those who look to us for bread, To do our part throughout the day and night, To carry on in all ways that are right— Thank God for work.