FOR THE SABBATH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 541, 12 February 1913, Page 6

FOR THE SABBATH.

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY

Preaching on Sunday week in St, Luke's Church, Archdeacon Uthwatt, of the Melanesian Mission, detailed some of the reasons why the church should be missionary. The first great and sufficient reason is simple obedience to the command, "Go ye, and teach all nations." That, in itself, is enough, for if Christians are to love and follow their Master, they must be prepared to obey this command. Next, the church has a gospel, i.e., "Good new," which she should proclaim to the world. Also, there are souls to convert and bring to the knowledge of the truth. Incidentally, the preacher stated that men do not now believe that God's mercy will not allow souls to be doomed to everlasting punishment because of their lack of belief when they have had no opportunity of hearing the gospel. Then the church had its three duties to the nation where she is working, to correct and drive away evil and worth revolting customs and to implant good habits and methods of lite; to hersslf, to make the church fully world wide. "The church is ever catholic in intention fhe is not yet catholic in fact; that can only be when all the kindoms of this world shall become the kindoma of Christ and of Hia righteousness"; to our Lord, for all nations bring to the world conception of Christ to their own contributions to the fulness of our knowledge of Him. In the evening the preacher dealt with some common objections to the missionary work. "The people are iiappy enough till the missionary cornea.'' "Their own religion is good enough tor them." He met these by showing tb.e conditions of life in a heathen village in Melanesia, and the changed conditions that are brought about hv the work of the Melanesian Mission. He drew two pictures, the first of an ordinary heathen village. tiers the people live in little villages perched on the side of a hill in a clearing that perhaps is not mere than forty yards square. In a srnali village there would not be more than twenty-five people. The peop'le live lives of absolute squalor, dirt, and misery. They are constantly fighting ! village against village and tribe against tribe. The natural occupa- ! tion of the people is head hunting and 1 righting. The people are in constant dread of a head hunting raid by another village. To guard against this there is a man constantly on watch through each night, who sings all the time to let any possible attacking party know that there is a man awake and on guard. They live in constant dread of their fellow men. They relive in constant dread, too, of their spirits. There are spirits everwyhere, in the trees and streams, in stanea, in their clubs, even in the pebbles on the beach. Nothing happens naturally. Sickness, a good or bad crop, a high wind, death are all due. to the working of spirits, which need propitiation. The natives know nothing of a God, and have no words for lovs, or joy, or forgiveness. They have no motive for this life, and no hope for the life to come. The characteristic marks of a heathen village are fighting, head hunting, cannibalism, hunger, infanticide, dirt and misery. The second picture is in absolute contrast to the former. Here one can imagine the same people now living in a Christian village. They have moved down to the beach and joined a larger Christian community. The first thing that strikes a visitor is its cleanliness. The houses are spread out more on the clean white sand. The people take a pride in their village and keep it clean, planting little walks of hibiscus or croton, and edging the square in the centre of the village with shells. They can live in peace and security.. They need not dread an attack as formerly, and can work in their gardens, obtaining a sufficiency of food. In this village live two or three teachers, who are responsible for the conduct of services, and who are the spiritual leaders and guides of the peopla. They will preach righteousness to the people and take the baptism and confirmation classes. The church is not trying to impose a twentieth century civilisation upon the people, but is giving them Christianity with all that it means. Here, then, the people have a motive for this life, and hope for the life to come They do accept Christianity and try to conform their lives to its teaching. The charactaristic notes of such a Christian village are then, happiness and peace, hope and goodwill, a sufficiency of food and happy relations with other villages. That, then, is the work of the Melanesian Mission. Multiply this one case by nearly four hundred and one finds summed up the work of the mission, scattered through thy various groups of islands that constitute the dioceae. The preacher concluded by appealing to hi 3 hearars for support of the mission's work, asking that the parish should take a deeper interest in this work, remembering the work in their prayers, and, when opportunity offered, supporting it by their alms.