ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 520, 2 May 1933, Page 6

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

the influence of christ in national relations SERMON BY REV. J. C. YOUNG The confusion and distress rife throughout the world is causing economists, sociologists and others to write profusely on the subject, and volumes are rapidly multiplying in which panaceas of every description and hue are promised which, if adopted by grateful nations, will quickly bring life back to normal and cause the misery and want that has spread over the face of the earth to vanish lilce a dream. In a sermon preached in St. John's Church on Sunday evening, the Rev. J. C. Young, however, approached the problem from an entirely different angle to that most frequently fol" lowed. He struck deeply at the vtery heart of the difficulty. Of what use, for instance, were power and disarmament conferences if the social life of the nations continued to be saturated with the canker of ill-will, of racial and seetarian hate. If Christ returned to earth He would not urge the League 'of Nations to meet and continue academic discussions that ultimately fly into thin air; but would insist cn an individual recognition of the Golden Rule. He would press earnestly upon all the necessity of higher character culture and make of society one compact whole in which the predominant aim would be mutual trust and goodwill, based on the deeper consciousness and experiences of life. A scheme so vast and so com-. pletely regardful for others is not to be quickly realised, and at the best realised only in part; but the church should lead the way. As long as the church was rent by seetarian strife 1 it failed in its mission. The supreme ' task to which the church should devote its energies was the building up of character, character on which the spiritual mark had set its seal. The correction of personal weaknesses such as pride, envy, vanity, selfishness, was within the province of . the church. Its membership implied ' responsibility which in many cases was too lightly regarded, and its followers very often had nothing to dis-

tinguish them from the world in general. "A man is known by his attitude to his fellows," was one of the maxims in Mr. Young's sermon that made his utterances on Sunday evening memorable and that furnished to each one of his hearers an incentive toward a deeper introspection and to play a greater part in the tasks that lie ahead. The reconstruction of. the world was not to be left entirely to governments, to select committees or eouncils; but each man, each woman, in whatever sphere of.life they are placed, could take an honourable, a useful, and a necessary. part in the work of once again making the world a fit place to live in.