SELF-PLEASING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 55, 27 October 1931, Page 5

SELF-PLEASING

II SERMON AT ST. LUKE'S 1 CURE FOR DISEASE OF ■jj , SOCiAL SYSTEM 'j EXAMPLE OF NAPIER PEOPLE , jj Taking bis text from Rom.. XV: I 1 — 3 "We then tbat are strong ougbt •: to. bear the infirmities of the weak II and not to, please ourselyes. Let every l] one of us please his iieighbour for '* his good to edification: for even Christ pleased not himself," Arehdeacon ,« Chatterton delivered an impresive |j sermon in St. Luke's Church on P Sunday evening. ("The moral disease that has afflicted mankind from his earliest history and caused untold misery iri some form or another to our social system," said ,t Arehdeacon Chatterton, "has been Iself-pleasing and the Christian faith which came into the world to cure 1 the diseases, spiritual and moral from

| which the human race was suffering \ strikes at the root of this ailnient in 1'*' its insistance upon the necessity (if the world's sores are to he healed), of living the life. which Christ lived, III who 'pleased not Himself.' | "As we belxeve in Him and abide '« in Him and He in us, we are promised _ His strength, and in His strength we too 'ought to bear the infirmities of m the weak and not please ourselves.' It I may seem to some an impossible stan- | dard, or if not impossible, at least a 1 very uninteresting and hard life to 1 contemplate. It is only when we I think, not only of the hardness, but 8 rather of the glorious compensations ■ that are associated with such a life, I in its joy-and peace that we rightly 1 understand it. It is recorded of Christ I Himself that 'for the joy set before I Him, He endured the cross.' To His 1 disciples who had to face trials and 1 hardships He said, 'These things have | I spoken unto you, that my joy might I remain in you and that your joy may | be full.' And again He declares 'I 1 am come that they might have life and | that they might have it more abunI dantly.' All these passages show cleari ly that to imagine a truly Christian life to he a dull, monotonous out- | look is very far from the truth, and a { complete travesty of what Christ [ meant by it, in spite of the fact that \ it involved self discipline and refuses to allow mere self pleasing to be its : dominant note. : "I have just returned, as you | know, from attending our Diocesan Synod in Napier, where we had to deal with important matters affect- | ing the Church in the Diocese — and especially those arising from the disaster through which it has passed, from the earthquake and other causes. I had not been there since the earthquake, and no one who has not seen it can fully realise what the people have gone through; neither can anyone fully appreciate the wonderful spirit of the people, if he has not come into its atmosphere, and seen and heard for himself what it means. "I shall never forget the glorious services last Sunday in the new Church that has been built on the exact site of the former building, and which was only completed just in time to be consecrated and used on the occasion of the meeting of Synod. The congregations both morning and evening filled the Church to its utmost capacity. The spiritual atmosphere and the joyous faith and hope were something never to be forgotten, as many remarked afterwards. The large number of men, and especially

young men, was very noticeable, and the devout spirit in the whole service was deeply touching, when one remembered that in those congregations were many who had lost their all, and were beginning life over again under such changed conditions, as might well have broken the spirit of men of less faith and courage. "The Church authorities have with wonderful courage and foresight faced their problems in the true spirit, realising that provision must be made at the earliest moment for adequate means of public worship as an essential element in laying anew the foundations for the future growth and development of their city. No time has been lost, and a wooden Church, by Uo means lacking in beauty, and convenience and capable of holding 500 worshippers has grown up from the ashes of the former beautiful cathedral. The air was full of the sound of glorious hymns of praise and thanksgiving, which expressed the deep feelings of the worshippers in spite

of all their losses, and impressed ail visitors who took part in the services, with the Dean again Ieading the devotions, . who barely escaped with his life from the former cathedral, when, without a moment's warning,_ it eollapsed and became a heap of ruins, the fire which immediately followed, consuming what the earthquake had not destroyed. "One heard no murmurin'gs, no repinings, no grieving over losses, but only thankfulness for mercies and blessings — and a new spirit with which to face the future. It was a

privilege to have taken part in such services, and to address such a eongregation. It was, moreover, a powerful witness to the value of organised religion. The same spirit was noticeable in all the discussions that took place in the Synod. This was well illustrated in the diseussion on the quotas for the Diocese to bear for the carrying on of the missionary wprk of the Church, when a very strong desire was expressed to face an increase in the amount that the Dioeess was prepared to aim at, rather than that this important department of the Church's work should be allowed to suffer. "All this has its valuable lessons which our times need, and these lessons will not be lost. Some years ago just after the war, the Prime Minister of England made use of these words, speafcing of the distracted condition of the nations at that time, 'The Church, es can alone save the people from the disasters which will ensue, if this ; anarchy of will and aim continues. to spread. The doctrines taught by the Churches are the only seeurity against the triumph of human selfishnesS, and human selfishness uricfiecked Will destroy any plans, however perfect which politicans may devise.' "There is no question that the responsibility resting upon the Christian Church to-day is greater than it ever was. Can it bear the strain? Undoubtedly it can, if it is faithful to its Lord and Master. For the individual ffifembets it means this, 'What is our

personal religion worth.' What i's its strength? Upon what is it based.' We piust test our Christian life -by the standard of Christ's cross — Christianity cannot be separated from the cross. Are we prepared to be crucified with Christ, i.e., to suffer pain and loss for the sake of what is right and true? And what is more, to suffer sneers and injustice without murmuring. How ready we are to resent personal injuries or even fancied o'nes, and to consider we have a right to retaliate and to demand an eye for an eye forgetting the ideal that our Master, whom we propose to follow, set before us. As we look at the cross and hear His words 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do,' we see how perfectly He carried out His own teaching. "The German philosopher Nietzsche scorned the teaching of the sermon on the Mount, and caricatured it, and there were many to applaud his genius and to look for his type of superman to dominate the earth, but Jesus, who taught 'bjessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,' and lived what He taught all through His lifq, is still honoured wherever His name has been made.known, whereas the German philisopher is to-day almost forgotten though he died only about 3.0 years ago.

We hear spmetimes . bitter complaintS against the. moral ^goyernment of God, i.e., the innocent suffer for the sins of the , guilty, but again We turn to the Cross. There if ever the ; perfectly innocent one suffered while the guilty ones seenied to. triumph, it must have seemed mysterious enough and difficult to understand for the friends who stood by — but not a word of complaint proceeded .from the lips of the Sufferer Himself. The utter desolation of spirit when the Father's face seemed for the time being hidden from view, which found »expression in the words: "My God why hast thou forsaken m;e," must not be supposed for a moment to imply a charge of divine injustice for soon after the words "Father into Thy hands I commend My spirit" broke from His lips." "In personal religion we can have nothing higher for our text hook than the life of Christ Himself summed up in the words 'He pleased not Himself.' Only when He dwells in our hearts by faith is it possible for His life to be reproduced in ours — -but that is the very secret of the Gospel and must be our aim — one prayer.

And in the application of this teaching to the social problem,s of our time what will this. mean?" "It will mean that we shall put service on a higher plane than we usually do — that we shall esteem; it a greater blessing to give than to receive — that we shall seek the welfare of others and not merely look upon our own things; that in c'ooperation rather than in competition shall we expect to find a solution of our- industrial troubles 'We then,' as 'St. Paul says, "that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves,' a high cideal? It is Christ's ideal for us and Christian Church to witness to .anything lower or ourselves to lose the inspiration that comes with such an ideal. It is Christ's ideal for us and in and through His spirit we can not only make it our aim, but get nearer to it than we have in the past. Only so can this world of ours make real progress.