The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 7, 1901, Page 2

THE SUNDAY CALL East The Rueskrrection Is the Great Toundaticn Stone of the Christian Farth. By Father Yorke ASTER is the greatest fi known istian people is the early celebration of the Resur- 1 of Christ from the dead. 1t es the place of the old Jewi which commemo ed the de- e chosen people from ge. It is the promise of from the bonds of death, the ¥ of our triumph over the all- conquering grave. O grave, where is thy ¥ O-death, where is thy sting? Christ was betrayed, mocked, scourged é upon. He nailed to the dicd. He was laid In a nger's sepulcher. The door thereof was sealed and the Roman soldiers were rd. His enemies athed free- iigh priest’s prophecy was ful- was necessary that one man But in vain are all precautions God. C} wae offered becat was his own will. He died because it was his pleasure. to go hand in hand yugh the gates of the grave all And now, chalice we nk the he bitter cup of death. mu.t and to seal his power, own he ris: refre good time hed with sleep, and the sepulcher victorious comes forth from th, and leading captivity The Resurrection is no lated fact in 11 his preaching Christ's Toward it pointed was the complement to passi; "he Son of man shall beydeliv- s to be put to death shall rise again.” asked him for 2 When his adversaries gign, a proof, a miracle to bring in the divine power testimony to his mis gion, he answered them: *“A wicked and £ s. generation seeketh a sign, bu 1 be given it, save th sig f Jonas the prophet. For J s in the whale's belly thre: days ,2nd three nights, so shall the s be in the heart of the earth hree days and three nights.” This was the supreme the supreme te: and Destroy this temple and in three 1 will b it up again.” His ene- were work their will upon him, were to bring him down with 1gno- miny to the grave, and then, when all seemed lost, when his days were cut off, when his caree was ended, he would break their be sunder, he would ris voke come forth in his the world the liv- cast their would nd stand before of the Resurrection therefore is the great ation stone of the Christian faith. ist’s own proof of the divinity jon. The who preached his who sealed their belief with led themselves martyrs, i for they rrection, to him, that they had e same table with him, ave, me of them had put their » the place of the nalls and into made by the soldier’s spear. s that nerved them to nd well does the t ‘be not most mis éare all things; “Jf Chr e wea the fesurrection is the model of our Even as he rose from the ection. dead so shall we. On the last day the Visho: kiel shall be fulfilled and the spirit shall blow from the four winds of heaven on the dust of all the children of Adam, and the sea shall give up her end we all shall stand clothed in proper flesh, and with our we see our Redcemer and our A.dge Redeemer and as Judge he shall that last day, glorious as when first Easter Sunday swooned and became as d~ad men e effulgence of His majesty. Ha2 s Redeemer of thoss: who have their lives on his, =: Judge of have Cespised his commands dead eves s} As come o on the the Roman se wh ected his warnings. Trere is a gleey and a resurrection Here now in our lives we vesture with which we shall sthed. Our fate is in our own ist is our model. He is rich the cl weave then be har in grace and power, so that what we can- not of ourselves accomplish, we can se- cure with his help. Happy for us if this ay we take that highest help or can give, to wit, himself— ¢ food in whose strength, lke 1d, we may reach the mountain e commuczion of his ‘body and od by which we are made verily bone bone and flesh of his flesh—for stery is the seed of immortality of the Resurrect.on which e ¥ is the final criumph ovcr sin and death, the resarrection unto glory that knows no enl 8 Prophegy for the Euture. By Rev. W. K. Guthrie. ASTER busiest brings the minister his days whatever denomina- tion he m: belong to. /At this time he looks for the springing the seed he has been sowing winter months. And words ¢ during cannot describe the glad thankfulness of Lis heart if he sees one young life and then another springing forth from the bard ground of worldiness and striving upward toward the light of heaven. All life is beautiful, but the most beautiful life of all is the godly life. The life whose secret source is hidden deep with Christ in God. This life is ever beautiful, for it is like the plant which sends its roots deep down to the living water, and thus is independ- ent of the passing showers of circum- stance. Presbyterians have never that active interest in Christmas Easter which is shown in some of the other churches. And the réason of this is not far to seek; for these names con- vey to them the memory of tyranny and bloodshed—and those things that are writ- in biood do not soon fade out! When in Edinburgh last vear it was with a pride that humbled and yet made manifested ten strong that I was able to show my wife the name of one of my ancestors on the martyrs’ monument in Grayfriars church- ard of Edinburgh. He was one of 48,000 otchmen who gave up their lives for faith in the testing days _of the yvenant. But Scotchmen, 1 am glad to 1y, know how' to forget and forgive as wel member. For centuries the names Christmas and Easter have been associated by them with papacy and epis- and hence with bitter persecution. But those days, we believe, are gone for- copacy ever, and abiding thankfulness for the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior, is obliterating the old Bcars— and thus there is manifested among Pres- byterians a growing desire to obsepve these seasons, for when all church organi- tions, with thel failures and mistakes, have passed away the resurrection Christ and of his people will be the theme of endless jpy. W. K. GUTHRIE. Minister First Presbyterian Church. Raster SuGGestis Hepse. By Rev. J. George Gibsoin. HE writer was educated among Baptists who were afraid of East They said it belonged to the Kor Catholic church. We have discovered when this church laid Easter day does not belong than another. an never claim to it. one church more fact that belongs to the world. to any Easter is The aster to Christmas. life 1t We prefer world wicked has Christmas. with its is a crowded itself into it is mixed holiday season. In some places with merriment that is neither sober or instructive. People go into debt for the Easter has no meaning If yvou gifts they offer. except to the thoughtful. observe it in a religious se observe it at all It those who do not think of life, death and ey is 3 to meani immortality. It is appropriate that the: subjects should claim our attention to the exclusion of all others, at least once a year. We prefer Easter to Christmas because it is a consummation. Christ a be- ginning. Beginn are full of uncer- tainty. A beginning contains a doubt as well as a prophecy. What will the cnd be? Where there is doubt there is u The Babe of Bethlehem did not seem - Iy to succeed. Easter the climax of that history. It is victory at -last "ought the fight, the battle won.” We worship now the truly s sful life. Even if it is all a story, as some would have us believe, it 1s a story with a beau- tiful and helpful ending. The shadow of the cross was on the cradle. It on every cradle. The glory of the crown shines on Easter. Between the cralle ana the crown there was the perfect obedienca is to the Father's will. The completed life suggests the consecration of Christ and the faithfulness of the Father. We prefer Easter to Christmas bc it s suitable to every one’s experience. The world's great heart may not be Christian, but it appreciates the truth or Easter. It reeds the truth, therefore it accepts it. Christmas teHs of a birth, but there are thousands of homes in which there is no child. ere are multitudes who, through their own choice, will never be fathers or mothers. Child life is beau- tiful to them, but not necessary to their happiness. But who has not lost a friend? Who has not parted with a dear one at the grave? Who has not, wept at the going down of the sun and feared to enter the shadows alone? In every life there are vanished hands and musical voices that have been hushed into silence. Will the organ peal forth again? Will the sun rise? Shall hand clasp hand and friends be reunited alter the shadows lift? Hope! Ah, what a place would the world be withoat hope! Easter suggests hope. Tt is spring to a wintry, weary world. “Dust to dust, ashes ‘o ashes!” This is the voice of experience. Onc by one the lights of life go out. One by one the friends of schocl and home pass away. ‘*Ashes to ashe: And even the ashes lose their glow and become cold. “The heart is both dark and sad. “Thy brother shall ri agai Do you really think so? We want to believe it and we do believe it, even if we are not professing Christians, We deck our churches with flowers. Flowers are not sectarian.” Neither is the truth that “the Lord is risen.” Flowers are beautiful, even the wild ones. Every life has its opportunities to be beautiful in its sphere. Flowers speak of infinite caré. The Great Gardener watches over all, whether in the hothouse or the fleld. All get from him their power to live and become perfect. He fs’with the seeds in the ~old dark edrth, making them germi- nate, and with the sun-that kisses thém into beauty. Only trust in him, and all the mysterles will find somewhere. use Some like the crucifix. I prefer the emply eross. Jesus was on the cross. Tha: experience is past. The cross Is emply now Thea bid me not that form extended For my Redeemer own, Who, 1o the highest heavens ascended, In glory fills the throne. The friend of sinners ‘s alive. Our Jesus is mot an idol with blind eyes and cold hands. He has passed from the cross and tomb and the message he has for us is, “Lo. T am with you always until the end of the ages.” J. GEORGE GIBSON, P:sor Emmanuci Baptist Chuich and their meaning gthe world. Gre afi‘:er Power Christianitl. of By Rev. 5. D. Hutsinpiller T seems K the beautiful idea cf us u wihappy that Jaster should be observed by aer a pagan name. But as Jesus came to destroy but to fulfill,” it may not be so unhappy after all to fill the name of the pa stival with out- not bursts of our Christlan joy over the resur- Lerd and the promise of recticn of o our immortality. We need:not conter for this great event in history. It a gerts itself in the growing and conquer- ing Christianity, of whose doctrines the literal raising of the body of the Naz- arene is a cardinal part. If the sun is shining to-fay ‘2t 11 o'clock we need not contend dogmatically thateit rose at’ ¢ this morning. Let him who may dispute the sun’s rising at a cértain hour and un- der certain details of manifestation; its increasing warmth and brilliancy carry the logic of its rising with its glorius fullness of sunshine now. So with the in- croasing life and approximate universal influence of the system of Christianity lies the logica! assumption that its majestic founder did rise from the dead, even as he said and as his disciples have boldly afirmed for nineteen centuries. The increasing life and power of Chris- tlanity is more manifest on this glad Easter day than ever before; never be- fore was 4he supreme idea of a supreme perscnal God so w.despread and so deep- ly wrought into the thoyght and life ot The great and valiant army of naturalists and scientists, so many o< whom some two decades ago were look- ing into nature finding naught but mys- tery bevond nature's own mute voice, are now, with Fisk and others, finding that all is penetrated and inspirited with a supreme intelligence—that is “‘God over all and In all,” and this is a discovery of a resurrection indeed and in fact. The God of all life is the God of life at tha Arimathean’s tomb. A growing, beautiful brotherhood in religion is large at th's Easter time. I think we, Protestants and Roman Catholics, are getting a litt's closer togethen much more sc as the 1isin Lovd becomes cur basis of uni- Tr and we draw near like Mary to see only him as the chiel of xs aii who claim to be his disciples. There is mfre reverential respect for oné-another as w2 press all to the obeying of our Maste who recommissions us all on each Eastor day to gostcach all nations of his life and light. The mission of Easter is the Christ- life in our life, and thus our immortality. It is a beautiful anniversary of the transcendent sequel to death. It is the proclamation to us, each and all, of the victory that the goad and true and nobly beautiful in us may have over the base and ugly and sinful in us. Yes, it is the promise of a universal society regener- ated. pure, so lovirg and free from the ignoble. He is risen, and all humanity may by him rise to goodness, virtue and happiness. 8. D. Pastor C HUTSINPILLER, ntral M. E. Church. Raster 2 Time cf Universal Joy. By Rabbi Nieto. SHOULD not be surprised if it be some day discovered that even in prehistoric times the peoples of the earth celebrated this season of the vear., So universal is the gladness that the sun again shines in . his full strergth and majesty, that the earth ‘wears again her smiling face of greenest joy and that the trees and shrubs will be laden down with fragrant and beautiful blossome, and all be alive that but a short while since seamed dead, that we feel bound to assune that the springtide was observed as a religious season from time immemorial. In ancient Babylonia it was the new, year season, and hymns of glo- rious praise were sung telling of the sun's victory over darkness. The Hebrews at this season celebrate the victory of free- dom over slayery, thus investing the fes- tival with a higher ideal. The Christian church infused into it the idea of resur- rection, of which, indeed, to all ancients it must have been typical. After the leth- argic slumber of winter the earth burst forth again into life. Everywhere spring is a gladsome period. The heaviness and gloom of winter passed. man steps forth into the warm sunshine more elastic and moie fit. JACOB NIETO. 4 How Christ Qame 10 His Tarcne. By Rev. R. C. Brooks. NE week before the morning the Lord Je: first Easter s entered Jerusalem amid the acclaims of a great multitude, who hailed him as king, strewing in his pathway the emblematic branches of the palm. The possession of a throne from which to rule the world—this was the dream of all men. To Roman Jew alike the vision of universal empire was the dream of life. The Roman citizen was eager to complete the almost finished universal sway of Rome. The faithful son of Israel waited for theé Messiah, who should make the Jew ruler over all nations. Had not the hour come when this man of Nazer- eth—the most remarkable among the sons- of men—should restore the kingdem to 1srael? So thought many. But disap- pointed and impatient with ohe who counted of little worth the applause of men, in less than a weék they joined the Jrucify Him,” and the vision of ‘the moment was completely eclipsed. History has strongly reversed the verdict which his own generation finally passed upon Jesus, and the fanatic of Galilee, as they counted him, whose life was a failure judged by any ordinary standard, men are now beginning to see lived the one supremely successful life. Indeed the most majestic and thrilling fact in human history is the coronation from every de- partment of human activity of this man of Nazareth—the Christ of Calvary—until all the world joins in the coronation, and thé crowning goes on from age to age. Poetry and painting, sculpture and musie, science and phiflosophy, literature and life, have bzought their crowns to place upon his head. How came Christ to such a throne? He organized no army, he sought to found no empire, he established no school, he wrote no book, and yvet before the Roman cagles perished his kingdom included a greater population than ancient Rome. How did it come about? He loved men and gave himself for them. That is the whole story. When he saw distress he brought relief and com- fort. When his friends were unfaithful he loved them to the end. When Peter denied, he euswered the denial with a and “a + awhile, as mysteriously disappeared. look of love; when Judas betrayed, he answered the betrayer with the epithet of love—‘‘friend”’; when Thomas doubted, he met bis unbelief with love. Not even his enemies could quench that unfailing « spirit. When they laid him upon the cross and drove the nails through his quivering hands he prayed for mercy, not for him- self, but for them. When at length he entered the waiting heaven he left the story of his unquenchable victorious love for his disciples to tell the world. That was thelr equipment and their in- spiration. Into the heart of that Roman world, where frightful wickedness was enthroned, came this new symbol of royal authority—a spirit of self-forgetful love that proposed to hold the world in check by the power of a sacrificial life. Before the might of that incarnate spirit it mattered not how* fierce the temper of sin. The very persecutions that broke forth agalnst it remain as the amazing demonstration of its commanding power. At length the empire vielded to this new and amazing cnergy which streamed in upon it until the religion of Jesus—simple as it seemed, without the aid of army or navy or senate or treasury. and wanting in_ every equipment of secular power— wrought an unmeasured change. Since the supreme achievements of these early days, art’and literature and science have joined 'the triumphal march following Christ up the hill of time, and history has crowned such sacrificial d n as the greatest of all the virtues. But let us not forget how Christ came to his throne. Not by his matchless and altogether unique power, which he never employed for his own advancement: not by his unparalleled knowledge of the things of God. but by his matchless gen- tleness, his sympathetic love, his obedience even unto death. The way to the throne was the way of the cross, and he is king who wins a throne that from it he ma bless the world and become a servant unto man. RAYMOND €. BROOKS, Pastor Pilgrim Congregational Church, ©akland. R Sermon on the Emety Tome. By Rev. A. T. Needham. ATT. 28:6. “He is not here; for he is risen, as®he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Mark ard Luke inform us that the women entered the tomb, and saw for themselves that the body which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had con- veved to the sepulcher was not there. They are reproached by the angels for ‘their evident unbelief, indicated in their expectancy to find the body, and their manifest purpose to embalm it. Here in this vacont tomb they may ask “How are the dcad raised? and with what body do they come?” but the how of the resurrec- tion will aiways be unanswered by the creature man. All we have to do with is the fact. a body was laid there inani- mate, that body not there, was r removed by human hands, but it does ap- pear again to the disciples, and the unbe- Heving ameng them are appealed to thus— “Pehold my hands and rgy feet, that it is myee!f; handle me, and "see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, a see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.” (Luke 24:39, 40.) 1t was not the raising of a mere germ: for there was no residue of matter where the body had lain. It was not a mere phantom or spirit: for it had bodil parts that were tangible; and yet that body came into the room where Christ's disciples were assembled, the door being shut, and after conversing with them The whole thing Ts mysterious to the disciples, and yet palpable fact. Their senses and their regson are cognizant of the actual facts, but there their limited powers leave them. Shall they doubt the report of their senses, and disregard the conclu- sicns of their reason, and deny the facts because the how of their occurrence berond their knowiedge? With such pal- pable evidences of an actual resurrection it is not Ineredible that * all that are in the graves shall hear thé voice” of Him that created them, ‘““and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resur- rection of life; and they that have done evil, urto the resurrection of damna- tion.” (John 5:28, 29.) The mystery of creation is bevond our ken, and why doubt if the resurrection also corfound our feeble powers. Shall the fact that is seen be denied because the how of its existence is Incomprehensi- ble? Let us not stultify ourselves by our denials, or our doubts. X There is in the National Museum a glass czse on which are these words: “The body of a man weighing 154 pounds.” There is no body in sight, but there are jars, bottles and parcels, these containing fatty substances, liquids, gases and chem- jcals which together comprise the ingre- dients of which the human body is com- posed. Mix these together, and still the mechanical structure of the body will be lackin: impart the structure, and still the vital principle will be wanting: ana the whole thing will be but inanimate clay. After man has done his utmost to create the human body, he will be com- pelled to. confess “I am fearfully ana wonderiully made.’” These bodies of ours which have heen so ‘important a part of ourselves, that ‘have been with us in every vicissitude of life, have come to have a pecullar rela- tion to every experience of the soul, and are not to be cast aside with as little feel- ing as when we throw off a wornout gar- ment. I know not what in these bodies may be adapted to the conditions in the world beyond; but it Is a joy to me to know that that which in the grave “is sown in corruption, it shall be raised in incorruption.” It—the thing buried—shall not wholly pass away; it shall rise again The old home rehabilitated will not be without its sources of pleasure and con- solation and delightful association. ‘Whatever it may be to others, it Is a delight to me {o contemplate the empty grave, as dispossessed of its tenant, and companion forever. “For when he shall never know pain nor decay, is to be my companion foréver. “For when He shall appear we shall be like him,” whose re- surrection is the earnest of ours. ARNOLD T. NEEDHAM, Pastor Eighth Aveauc M. E. East Oakland. " Chureln, ¢t Thougbhts and Sermons From [Prominent altfornian Divines. The Meaning That Easter Has Qome to Rave at the Bresent Day. By George C. Adams, D.D. HE observance of Easter has been a growth. There is no Divine com- d for it; to the Jew it probab ems to taking place of the Passover, and .n Latia for it even is bor feast. It simply be a usurper, races the name rowed from tha from great lave of the early the ret the great fact ¢ connected with grew rrrection it. disciples for the a.. thoughts an grew up in diversity, Christians of Jewish & one day and those of Gen- origin obser! tiie birth another; then they got to calling each oth: sort of Christian warfare that has so p history arose, yvears interfered with the Christ rit. Fhe Council of Nicaea. in A. D. 3%, tried make all Christians They succeeded as names and that often ap- hard ared and for many to remedy this and observe the same day. but not as to the spirit. of years later came the Refor- the separation of Protestant to the form Hundreds mation and from Catholic. The feeling was so strong that especlally among Scotch Presby- terians and English Dissenters nothing was allowed that in any way reminded them of Romish worship. It is difficult now for us to appreciate the terrible ab- horrerce our Puritan ancestors had of all forms and ceremonles; we are llable to do them injustice because we forget the age in which they lived and the in- fluences under which their worship had been established. Any kind of separation between those who have been accustomed to worship together leads to extremes, and minor uifferences are magnified and made to stand for that which they never meant before. So, Protestants would put no crosses on their churches, allow no forms or ceremonies In thelr services, observe no special days, simply because it would savor of the worship from which they had separated themselves. For many years a large part of the church missed the in- spiration of Christmas and Easter, just pecause it would seem to lead back to the church they had left. We ought to be thankful that we are not living in a controversial age. The world has progressed and to-day Protes- tant and can meet on common ground; we believe in the same Savior; we worship the same Father: the same days have significancé for us. Each of us loves his own church and its traditions and forms, and expects to stick to it: but a larger appreciation has appeared than has ever existed before; we are drawing olic nearer to the Master we serve, and as we do so we draw nearer to one another. And so the Eastgr sunshine falls on churches of all denominations decorated beautifully as love and abundant blos- soms can combine to express the theught of resurrection, and throngs of worship- ers arrayed in their best crowd all these and hymns of praise and prayersy nksgiving ascend to God from ail slike. Let the s preached in ali these churches be printed in one book and person who does not knew any the preachers to select the different and he will find it a dif- ficult task: many of those sermons will ot contain a word that might not be preached in any church of any denomina- tion in- the city. So the Easter of to-day stands for Christian unity, the real unity, not forced, not brought about by planning, but the same spirit animating those of diverse views, and for least one day in the ar bringing the same thought home to all. All the tracts that have been printed, all the efforts of self appointed reformers have not approached within a thousand miles what has been accomplished In bringing together the disciples of Jesus by one thought and purpose permeating the whole great church. The moment we be- gin to try to argue ourselves together we succeed In arguing ourselves farther apart; but when we drop all that, and simply follow the leading of a great spiritual thought, and allow the love of God to have a chance at us, we are one church. We are not likely to become one by looking at each other and seeking some common ground: the future unity of the chureh is to come by the sunshine, not the north wind, by melting together, not freezing together. We will foster every- thing that helps us to forget some things and remember others: we will make Easter as bright and helpful as we know how to make it, and we will pray God for his blessing on all who bear his name, wh ther they worship with us or speak our shibboleth or not. Easter emphasizes the fact that belief in Christ Is more deep seated in humanity than we sometimes suppose; when we have eliminafed all that is not strictiy religious, the new clothing, the thoughts of spring, the special music, all that goes to make the day a special one aside from its real significance, there remains this, that we are all rejoicing in the thought of the resurrection and the conquest over the grave. There is @ deep seated prin- ciple that is moving us all: whether we have ever sald So or not we are consclous that the love of our Heavenly Fath- er is about us and we are rejoicing that it has been so manifested that it is clear to us.’ Thousands of people who never see the inside of a church for the rest of the year forget to go fishing or ting and for onee go to church: we wish they would 20 every Sunday; we be- lieve it would rest them more than any- thing else, but it is a significant fact that they go this day. and they look for- ward to it and plan for it for weeks before and talk about it for weeks after. Deep down under the seeming careléssness of men is the sense of need of a Savior and gladness in the thought of what he has done. GEOR . ADAMS, D. D., Pastor First Congregational Church. /] ons ask some of denominations at >