AWAITING THE VISION

Evening Post, Issue 29, 3 August 1936, Page 11

AWAITING THE VISION

IN TRYING TIMES

LOYALTY & COURAGE

BISHOP HOLLAND'S SERMON

Before beginning his sermon at St. Paul's Fro-Cathedral last night, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Holland, Bishop of Wellington, expressed his thanks for the kindness and generosity of the parishioners and members of St. Paul's congregation for the. way in which they had made strangers in New Zealand feel, at home. ' Dealing with his text, he said that even in his sermon there must be a personal note, for he could not forget that the consecration service last Sunday had been charged for him with the vision of what his work might be, Of what the Church of which he had been given the oversight might be, and 'of what the country which he had come to serve might be, otherwise that service -would have been devoid of all meaning if vision was the source and heart of all Christian service. The congregation and himself were one in that whatever the nature of the service they gave, it arose from vision which had come as a goal to be reached, of an'end to be achieved. The text was. "If the vision tarry, wait for it; for it will come, and it will not be late—Habakkuk, 2:3. "Therefore I speak to you as well as to myself, and I face the question which must inevitably arise: Why is it that so often visions do not come ■true?" said Bishop Holland. "They seem to fade, and consequently we grow tired of waiting. This is one of the facts of life. It always has been; it must be faced and dealt with. "Now here is one of God's prophets facing that very thing; the circumstances are applicable to our own days; they were dark and trying times for his own people. He had promised them God's help, and assured them of His love. They were beginning to say it was all nonsense—God really did not help them; let us toss the vision away; it is something that cannot happen in this dusty workaday of drab realities. -And the prophet's answer was, 'Do not toss the visiqn away; still hold' to it; still work for it; still believe in it; still expect it; show loyalty, tenacity of purpose; common courage.' That is ■ God's message. Waiting is one of the hardest things in the world. What was the purpose of the rum ration in the Great War? To tide men over the agonising, tense atmosphere of the minutes before the zero hour;, that moment when life with all its hopes had to be thrown upon the hazard of a dash to the enemy|s trenches. A MOTHER'S EXAMPLE. "Yet God often asks us to wait, but. not just in idleness, dawdling about waiting for Him to do something. Many a wife or mother who knows the agony of the illness of a dear one can teach us that lesson. The doctor says 'We can do\ nothing more; we imist just wait,' but she does not wait in idleness. Quietly, bravely, she- does the hundred and one little things that careful nursing means—bathing the face, arranging the bed-clothes, giving medicine, and doing other household duties. ; "; "It is there that T begin to see what God's 'waiting' means. Never give in; hoping, trusting, cool and patient; doing everything that love can dictate, and leaving the issue in God's hands. Apply, that to.our job; as Christians. God has given us a vision of His Kingdom, coming in our lives and in the world, of His:-will being done as hi Heaven, soon earth. It is pnly, as that vision has gripped us that we are truly His" .followers. It ,is only, as His Church is on fire to achieve that vision that .it is of the slightest use in the world today. It is only as that vision dawns, that pur religion becomes anything but a dull, uninteresting, futile extra that really doesn't matter. "ENTHDRONED IN EVERY HEART." "If.'you have had a glin\ps^ of the wonderful thing that life would be if ; Christ was enthroned in every heart and?every land, you would consecrate your~ lives to that vision, and then realise, the need?of the patience and -. courage that Habakkuk suggests. Today -,7e have to face the grim fact that human nature is much more crabbed and stubborn than we often, think. Evils have far deeper roots than we imagine and won't comt! up with one short pull like a plant of ragwort; and the road to our ideals is much longer than it looked when we set out upon it. : ■•'■ "If you read that new account-of 'the international situation in Gunlher's •; 'Inside Europe,' you will be appalled at the proof it gives of the seeming mystery, of the powers of evil in the affairs of European nations. But does that mean that we are to give up all> hope, and sink back, and let the blind forces of evil control the march of events in the life of ourselves and of the nations? ■ - A modern poet gives us a great message about this:— . Kot for us are content and quiet and peace of mind. For we go seeking a city . That wa shall nevor find: Only the road anci the dawn, The sun and the wind, and the rain, Ana me \ratch-flro under the stars, '.""'■'■ An(3 sleep and tho road again. > W« travel the duty road, till the light; Of the day Is dim, And the sunset shows us spires Away on tho world's rlrm "FIGHTING AND ASPIRING." "That is the spirit in which as Christians we have to wait—always on the road, always fighting and aspiringout perhaps never seeing more than the stars, away on the world's rim. It is a fine thing to be a member of that great army which never flinches even though victory seems delayed Even though our efforts seem so fruitless they are not in vain. "A chaplain at the front after a sham attack which had ended in horrible slaughter of the unit which he looked after was swept away in hot anger and ■ said to his divisional commander, 'Look . Jit my boys! Look at my boys!' The general put his hand on the chaplain's shoulder Pnd said in broken tones, 'God I knows, padre, that I did not wish this; I but, because, of this, the enemy's line is broken miles away!' And so, by our grit and valour and courage and fight-! ing for God, and for the vision that is shown us, we are steadily sapping the powers of evil in the world and doing our bit to bring the great victory nearer."