The Key West Citizen Newspaper, December 6, 1947, Page 5

wand People of/Key West and of the Navy Guest, President Truman, and His Party Aiflie Sermon of Christ, is considered by nearly everyone who knows of it--ministers, business men, mechanics, farmers. teachers, fishermen, nurses, lawyers, doctors, plain-every-day people everywhere—-to be the most im- Ahéwhole of the human record. Lately, more.emphasis has been put upon it, by schools and churches and other iledstill more, reprinted, studied and lived. In plain English, Christ's Sermon on The Mount is for Everyone. he th ye il ot ks ur rte to ne sh fe pu pt ho be like them. For God, who is yoursFatliers knows what you need before you ask him. This;:therefore, is the way you are to pray: . . ve Our heavenly Father, ‘ Your name is. sacred. Your kingdom is at hand. Your will is done for heaven and earth. You give us today bread for the day, And teach us to forgive others~their debts to us; and repay our for- giveness. And you do not subject us to tempta- tion, But lead us away from devils and fears, toward thyself, For our kingdom and our power are in thee forever! “For if you forgive others when. they. offend you, your heavenly Father will forgive you tea,:;and abide in you. But if you do not forgive others when they offend you, your heavenly Father cannot come to you to forgive you for your offenses. , a Ades “When you fast, do not put on a gloomy look, like the hypocrites, for they neglect their. personal appearance to show people that they are fasting... I tell:you, that is all the reward they will get.’ But when you-fast, perfume your hair and wash your face, so that no one may see that you are fasting, except your Father whois unseen, and, your Father who sees what is secret, will reward you. “Do not store up your riches on earth, where moths and rust destroy them,.and_where thieves break in and steal them, but store up your riches in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. For wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is sound, your whole body will be light, but if your eye is diseasedy your whole body will be dark. If, therefore, your very¥ight is dark- ness, how deep the darkness will be! { “No man can have two masters, for ke will either hate one and love the other, or stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God-and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about life, wonder- ing what you will have to eat or drink,or about your body, wondering what you will have to weaty Is not ie more important than food, and the: body: than clothes? Look at the wild birds. They do not sow or reap, or store their food in barns, and yet your heaventy Father feeds them. Are you not of more account than: they? But which of you with all his worry can add a single hourato his life? Why should you worry about clothing: See how the wild flowers grow. They do not toil or spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was never dressed like one of them. But if God so beauti- fully dresses the wild grass, which is alive today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more surely clothe you, you who have a little faith? So do not “What shall we have to eat?’ or ‘What shall Misi. 4 ‘ are? | Ror we have to drink?’ or ‘What shall we have to wear Fe the heathen-are in panting 2 » all things of which nad ee rir Father knows well om: you need all this. But you must make his kingdom, and - rightness before him, your greatesb care, -_ you wil have all these other things besides. So dex not prise about tomorrow, for. tomorrow will have worries of its Let each day be content with its ownstasks. “Pass no more judgments upon other peaple, so that worry and say, own. you may not have will be judged by will pay you back the standard you judge. by and men with the same measure you:have used judgment passed upon-yats For you , ~o*'> with them. Why do you keep looking at the speck in ‘© your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the dirt that .. isin your own? How can you say to you brother, ‘Just let. me get that speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is dirt in your own? You hypocrite! First get the chunk of dirt out of your own eye, and then you can see to get the speck out of your brother’s eye.‘ — “Do not give what is sacred to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.« Ask,’ and what you ask will be given you. ‘Search, and you will find what you search for. Knock, and the door will open to you. But do not knock and run away. For it is Cee always the one who really asks who receives, and the one who searches patiently who finds, and the one who knocks faithfully to whom the door opens. Which of you men when his son asks him for some bread will give him astone?. Or if ke asks for a fish, wilbhe give him a snake? So if you, bad: as:‘you are; know enough to give your chil- ees ud “dren ‘what is good;show much more surely will your Father in heaven give what is good to those'who ask him ve Min a oforitl: Therefore, you must always treat other people _. as you would like to have them treat you, -for this sums worker 50 teup the baw andthe Prophets..." “Go in at the narrow gate, thé’ Neédle’s Eye. For the road that leads to destruction is broad and spacious, and there are many who go in by it. But the gate is nar- row and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are oS" few that find it. % ALES gt _f “Beware of the false prophets, who come to. you disguised as sheep but are ravenous wolves underneath. You can tell them by their fruit. ‘Do people pick grapes wee Poy, a Sb va ee neetn an Off thorns, or figs off thistles? Just.se-any-sound tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit, no sound tree can bear bad fruit, and no poor tree can bear good fruit. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and burned. So you can tell them by their fruit. Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord! Lord!’ will get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only thosé who do the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that Day, ‘Lord! Lord! Was it not in your name that we prophesied, and by your name that we drove out demons, and by your name that we did many mighty acts?? Then I will say 4ece ny oplainly to those talkers, ‘I never knew you! Go away sos ot from me, you who do wrong!’ tent ta cee SB yeryone, therefore, who listens to this teaching w ~~ Ns eft iine und acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who te Scoy > David? ix house on rock. And the rain fell, and the rivers Use 408 Hoge: and the winds blew, and beat about that house, and tt Uid not go down, for its foundations were on rock. And ‘anyone who listens to this teaching of niine and does not act upon it, will be like a foolish man who built his house gu on sand. -And the rain fell and the rivers rose, and the ns winds blew and beat about that house, and it went down, tek and its downfall was complete.” acnitig ts ged sae at wa ''« not like their scribes. Horizon « ¢ «JESUS OF NAZARETH, called Christ, brought good news and simple religion. He asked for faith. His believers would have « .« nothing impossible, Bad faith stunts men, The faithful gain full fan growth in Christ. Sree Chriot seed, of faith, would mi aria Dave.danex peace, build new tr mphs. would partake of permanent life. The perfect son, the complete man, which Jesus portrayed, could not be absolute—or his teaching would crack under test like When Jesus had finished speaking, the crowds were astonished at ‘his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and Whoever would follow him, and nourish in his own heart the ‘ er hardships with grown up faith, He would grow up to the dignity of the son of man—understand how to be a son of God. He cheap plaster. His teaching is like the greatest welded span, made of durable alloy. It has allowance for shock and expatision and abutments in granite. He saw the bedrock, that every human being has decent character, and that the dirt and bruises its gets must be cleaned up, healed. He saw the water in the bedrock, brotherhood, and how to make it flow. Forgive and help; pray, as-grown up men and women. q Christ is eternal, and divine, and proves the divi kind. Christ sees, shows us, God in the bright light of human improvement; predicts greater works than Jesus’—and yet greater. Christ is keén toward nature and men, the teacher with the farthest sight. He is not shrewd toward men. Man is his own being and he understands man. To trust a man is to prove himself. Be-- lieving is seeing. To touch a man’s heart and rebuild him is to prove himself. A woman whose inner life was twisted, who was dead on her feet, is reborn—goes forward straight. Chapters 5, 6, 7 of Matthew’s account are simple and clear. They do not bewail ills nor feed arguments. They are not priest- craft. They point out wrongs and cures. They show what right and wrong mean: good fruit and bad; how to-overcome bad with good. Do we love the trimmings most or the tree? . To render. serv. ices is greater than to hold services. Rites that are simple and common are of God, and whoever makes them so serves well. Christ's forecast is accurate. The Kingdom of God is at hand, straight ahead. To clear away what is fruitless is painstak- ing work. But it is worth it. For then the greatest good news is in clear sight—something like radium set free. from slag, freed from patents and copyrights, free to heal. Plain words and patince produce their kind and underwrite God’s Kingdom, Subtle rebuke and strong words make false pride, sharp temper. When: people~speak: gently “and-tell-each- other, they rise unto Christ. When they try to tell each other off, they fall into the fire. Just as honest work plus faith builds a home, a shop, « farm, and cheap short cuts make a fire trap; se arrogance or patience beget their kind: iron walls or fruitful fields. By common religion and plain usefulness this sermon is the most valuable thing we have. Its words come easily and reveal thrist fully, in spirit and truth. They are the clearest description of life grown up, lived in mature love. What the will of God in gravity is to buildings, and in weather to crops, the will of God in love is to human relations. Christ’s: Sermon on The Mount is not conceived in cold fact. It is practical —a challenge that rings true because the human truth about God is love. A bent shaft is not true, nor a twisted wheel. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall niake you free.” All worship and thoughts of what is highest, by all of the men and women and dren in all lands, is finally one: a common faith. That fai ts fullness, and the brotherhood it brings, is described in this record. When we go back to the documents, we must look back of the documents—to men and their life and lands, and God. Jesus once cautioned his disciples, “. . .me you have not al- ways with you.” Yet Christ said, “Always I am with-you!” From the cave man to the high thoughts of Akhenaten, King of Egypt; through cruel kings, to Moses’ God and commandments; through the demon of despair, to Zoroaster of Persia, and his God of light and truth, Mazda; through a torn, degenerate Jerusalem to the great prophet Jevemiah; through extravagance and suffering to Buddha—Light of Asia; through ignorance and hard headedness and a broken dynasty to Confucius of China—Founder of the Golden Rule; through superstitions, tyranny, complacency, brute conquer- ing and fighting back, to the Christ and His followers; or Muham- mad and his followers; the word of the Highest is as one, and the savior is one God. To all people whose yearning is for brotherhood, and whose faith is in one world, the Lord is one God. “AIL of your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be their peace.” nity of man- TiTYATIT EAA AAAI AIIM ARIA AMARA AtIAnIATIAnAmAAmZ mi ARAM