SUNDAY READING.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1916, Page 9

SUNDAY READING.

ADVERTISEMENT IN RELIGION. SERMON PREACHED' -BY REV. A. 11. COLVILE, M.A., at St. Mary's Church, New Plymouth, on Sunday, January 16. "That, they may see your good works."—Matthew V., 16. "That they may see your good works" —what do these words seem to imply? Advertisement? Advertisement in religion? Does not the idea at first sight repel us? Does not the thought at once leap into our minds, "Oh, we don't want it. there; it would be degrading to religion; it would spoil all its beauty. Did not our Lord over and over again refuse to advertise Himself? Did lie not forbid others, those whom He had healed, and -His disciples themselves, to advertise Him? "See thou tell no man." "He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known." At no time did He put Himself forward until the time came to suffer and to die. And surely there is at least one thing in modern life that we can and must- keep free from all taint of the sordid, free from the blatant assertion of advertisement, and that is our religion. The modern up-to-date advertiser spares nothing. Let our religion at least be sacred.

Wait a moment, my friends: it is quite true that our Lord never advertised Himself. We can say wfth perfect truth and with great reverence that He was the least assertive Teacher who has ever lived: and yet how has His religion grown and spread and gripped the world? Is it not -ny some sort of advertisement? Are there not words of His about a light shining before men, a candle deliberately placed where peopl# could see it, a city set upon a hill, a talent that was not to be hidden in a napkin, and, in the language of the text, "good works" that were to be seen ot men, words that seem to show that foT all His meekness and humility and hatred of sell-assertion in prayer and fasting and almsgiving,

OUR LORD DTD BELIEVE IN THE 'POWER OF ADVERTISEMENT? But of what sort? Think for a moment —what is the; true function of advertisement? Mo6t business men would say, I suppose, "It is absolutely sary; we could not do without it." It does not enter very largely, as anyone can see, into the perfectly legitimate method of honest trade and sound business. It is a sign of vitality and enterprise. It requires an outlay of capital; it has to be administered with diligence, carefulness and watchfulness; It helps to inform the public, it attracts custom and it stimulates business—in a word, it is necessary to worldly success. Now, is' there anything corresponding to this in religion? Certainly there must be if our religion is real and vital and not merely ornamental. What we have got to understand is that religion, if it is real, is intensely practical. And by that term "practical" I do not mean that the whole of a true religion consists of "going about doing good to others," and nothing else. People say sometimes, "Ah, that js the practical side of religion." My friends, every side of a true religion is practical; it is eminently a business affair, for it concerns the gravest possible issues of life, and death, profit and loss, failure or success for every individual Christian, and no one could have driven this home to us more earnestly, more emphatically than our Lord Himself when He said, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" The "man in the street." as he is sometimes called, is inclined to regard religion as the affair of the clergy or of a few leisured people who have nothing much to do, not a. thing to be taken seriously by hard-working, practical men. I want to repeat emphatically that

•KI-.UUU'.N MI-UN* BI'SINKsS.

that it is "the" great business of life, and deals with life's most practical concerns, for it affects the most important possession of man —his immortal soul—and tells him that he is to make his plans not for a few short years of earthly existence, but for eternity. That is business, most practical business. 1 know that people very often don't understand this until it is thrust upon them, brought home, so to speak,* to their very doors. Is not this war, e.g., a great business proposition not only for the country, but for every individual? Do not the most vital personal issues of freedom or enslavement depend on if- vn-nlt? Why. the very humblest British citizen would find his life altered if we were t,> fail. And yet, one thinks sometimes, it would require an actual bombardment of Auckland and Wellington. or the landing of an enemy army corps on these shores to bring its tremendous practical reality home to some people. Then, indeed, everything else would sink into insignificance, and even a few rs'-ejuwUivj* and the '•fast and-furious iuu- ul a enrmv:: might be abandon?.! in consc.i.i ■■■■ r-. Vi.

if. is with religion. Its intense pra-tic-a! importance is often forgotten until we get hard up against something big, something that threatens our happiness and would deefro/ our peace and shake us out ot our groove. Then we begin to underslaiid; and probably there is mj one who has ever faced death for themselves, or the loss of one they love, ot has felt the grip of deadly temptation, or has drained the cup of sorrow to the dregs, but would tell ns that in the race of these elemental issues of life and death, all other business fades into insignificance, and religion stands out as "the" great business of life.

Very well, then. If this is so, if religion is the great practical business oi life, must there not in it that advertisement which in the worldly business of to-day is pronounced to be indispensable. Yes; but when we talk of the advertisement of a business or trade or firm, we do not mean the advertisement of individual members concerned in that business. You do not advertise the names or qualities of a head clerk, let us say, or a commercial traveller. Therefore, if one of you snys in his heart, "No advertisement in religion for me." I entirely agree with you if yon mean no personal ostentation, no parade of religious duties in order to win golden opinions of your neighbors. As T have said, no one denounced ostentation in religion more vehemently than our Lord Jesus Christ. "Take heed that yon do not your righteousness before men to be seer, of them."

AT)VKRTISK\f!CT WES XOT MKAX SF.UV\mT.?.TISE\[KXT. Nor dn T moan by advertisement in religion the endeavor to make soma particular church attractive by ornate ritual, or elaborate music, or sensational preaching. That is r.oi n Iverti.-ement in religion. It is si.mp\ v. '.v.y ing. The idle and curious itiav he attracted to pi'clt a church, and t'heri? will always be those who will enjoy religious music, what is called "a sacred concert,"

quite apart from any thought of religion itself, and there will be always those who delight in listening to oratory, without in any way committing themselves to Christ, or making any alteration in their habits. They are like people who stare at the show window without going in to buy. Ko, my triends; the less we have to ilu with that sort of advertisement the better.

I What, then, is the true principle of advertisement? It is to secure that there shall be continually presented to the notice of the public a reminder of some commodity, some invention, or newspaper, or firm, or company, something that people can't get away from. If. is well-known, as the result of long experience, that that which is being continually presented to the eye gradually effects a lodgment in the subconscious mind. It produces a familiarity with the na'me and with the thing advertised. People, as I said, can't get away from it, and when they are looking out for this or that article they are predisposed to apply to the firm which has sedulously advertised it to the eyes of passers-by. Now, when our Lord said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works," he seems to me to be transferring the same principle to the practical business of religion. "That they may see your good works," said Christ. People need religion, lam perfectly sure of that, though many are unconscious of the need. They wander about in all directions seeking it, thougll some hardly know- what they are seeking. And it is more than anything, far, far more than the most brilliant sermons, our individual lives that will impress them. It is fatally easy, as we know, for an individual life to advertise bad things. The outside public may see church people just as frivolous as worldly-minded, just as pleasure-rov-ing. just as bad-tempered or unreliable, just as consistent shirkers of the cross as if they made no Christian profession at all, and on the subconscious mind of the public is impressed the uselessness, the futility of religion. On the other hand, people are equally liable to be influenced, thank Cod, by the constant spectacle of good deeds coming out of religious profession, by the constant witness of strong, upright characters, of pure lives, of clean conversation. A .young man. eg., who can go into camp to-day and live with his mates' a straight, clean, helpful life, with no ostentation or parade, is

THE MOST SPLENDID ADVERTISE MENT OF RELIGION you could possibly find. And in a town like our own we cannot possibly over-rate the power # of this sort of advertisement. Our religion must be rubbed in to people by our lives. The subconscious mind of the public has to hcappealed to continually. The power of Christ over all life for goodness, for happiness, for eternal welfare, must quietly but unceasingly be insisted on before the eyes of our little world. That is true advertisement. And you and I, my friends, have to apply this principle to our own lives. We need not think that religion will grow and spread in our own lives automatically while we take no trouble at ali about it. AVe have got to advertise. There are heaps of other things advertising themselves to our hearts and minds—great flaring, shrieking placards, or subtle, suggestive notices nailed up for our mind's vision to rest on wherever we may turn. Pleasures, interests of all sorts, amusements, grudges, jealousies, fears, these things as you know are always advertising themselves, and they are quite capable of driving all our religion from our thoughts. So we must advertise our religion insistently, continually to our own hearts. 'Regular and reverent prayer that detaches our minds from the world; regular church-going that impresses on our sub conscious mind the thought of God's claim on our lives; the receiving of the Holy Communion, which fixes our thoughts on the life and power of Jesus and joins us in unity with our brethren. 'People say sometimes that these things are not necessary to religion. I say they are. They act as an advertisement for Christ to the human soul. Without such advertisement it is easy to forget, as thousands of people do forget. My friends, don t let your soul sink into apathy, forgetfulness and indifference. Advertise to it the things of eternal life, the highest riches, the greatest gifts and powers, and so will you save and keep your soul alive.

It is this constant appeal to the subconscious mind which may be called the principle of advertisement in religion. It is the fulfilment of a great law of our nature, and a part of God's ordinance for our highest welfare. And, my friends, it is at once our safety and our means of progress. For if at a time of great crisis, in some fierce temptation, in some deep sorrow*, in some difficult choice the soul is to turn freely and naturally to Clod; it will be the result of advertisement, i.e., tlie result of continual reminders, repeated, insistent, untiring, of the love and power and holiness of God tlio_ Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the true principle of advc; : i-.-"',i'nt in the religion of Christ will i- for the good of our own souls and ior •,!'■' winning of the whole world for the Kingdom of God.