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"V A.
The Nazarene's Program
Not Ceremony, but Service Out of a Heart of Love
(Sormon tlolivored at tho Foundry Methodist
church, Washington, D. C August 2, 1914, by
Rev. H. F. Huntington, of Pawnee City, Neb.).
Botwoon tho Mediterranean sea and tho Ara
bian desert lies a strip of land called Palestine,
which in tho days of tho Christ, stretched from
Dan to Boorshoba. This little country is isolated
from tho rest of tho world by rugged mountains
on tho north, tho desert on tho east,, tho wilder
ness on tho south, and tho sea on tho west. Tho
Jews, who claimed tho land as theirs, had been
in bondage to Egypt, later in bondage in Baby
lon, and in thQ days of tho Nazarono were sub
ject to tho world power which had its center in
Romo. v
In tho northern part of this land, in the prov
ince of Galileo, was a little town of no import
ance, and, it seems, of bad repute. The Romans
of that porlod would not have considered that
any good could como out of Israel, and the Jews,
In turn, thought that nothing good could come
out of Nazareth. Nazareth was tho despised of
the despised.
Thero lived in Nazareth a pious and kindly
Israelite by tho name of Joseph with Mary his
wife, Although of tho lineage of David, they
wore peasant folk who lived a simple life. We
easily presume, and with no little reason, that
their homo was in a' cabin, and that their fare
was of a humblo sort. In that home, with no
halo about his head, there grow up a lad who
attracted no attention for precocity. From the
day Joseph took Mary and thG young child and
fled into Egypt, to the day he entered upon his
public coreor at the age of thirty, we have but
ono glimpse of him. That was at the age of
twelve when hoTeasoned with the doctors in the
temple.
Returning to Nazareth tho son of Mary con
tinued subject to his parents, ho played and
worked, ran errands and attended school, and
loarned tho traditions of his race, as did the
other boys of tho village.
What could be expected of one who came from
uoh an insignificant country, from among de
spised people, from a. village despised by that
despised people, and from peasant parentage?
Yos, the land was small, but it was the bridge
between the civilizations of tho earth.; with Mes
opotamia on the east, Egypt on the south and
Europe on the west. The race was despised, and
yet where waB there a bettor rwe, with richer
traditions, and higher ideals? The Greeks con
. trlbuted philosophy, tho Romans government,
but the Jews contributed that which is of more
value to the world than ajl else, they contrib
uted the idea of Jehovah God. The parents of
tho Nazarene wore peasants, but where could
better blood and greater love be found? And
these, good blood and true love, are a richer
heritage than royal robes and jeweled crown.
And tho town? Despised as the town was it
afforded a better atmosphere for the growth of
a world figure than did Jerusalem itself. The
simple, unconventional life of Nazareth was in
striking contrast to the complex, and stereotyped
life of Jerusalem. Tho simple life in Nazareth,
a life of thought and toil, prepared tho Naz
arene to tear the husks of tradition from the
germ of truth.
Palestine was a world in a miniature. From
tho tropical climate of the region about the
Dead sea to tho snow clad summit of Mount
Hormon, there was every variety of climate with
a corresponding variety in vegetable and animal
life. From this epitomized world came the Naz-
arone with a universal religion suited to the
needs of all men, in all lands, and for all times.
Before the religion of Jehovah could be given
to mankind as a world religion it had to be
freed from the dead letter of Judaism. To do
that Jesus broke with tho established order, and
as a result died for the Truth.
It is one thing to judge a man o tlie past who
went against tho ideas and convictions of his
day; it is quite another thing to judge such a
man when he is a contemporary. We judge the
times of the Nazarene In the light which the
Nazarene brought, but it was not so with his
contemporaries. They had not had that light.
According to th0 religious standards of his
day Jesus was a Sabbath breaker. Fidelity to
the Sabbath was a Jewish virtue which was much
boasted. Jewish spldiers had allowed them
selves to bo slaughtered rather than resist an at
tack on tho Sabbath. If men had died rather
than break tho holy day, could not Jesus' dis
ciples suffer tho inconvenience of hunger rather
than break the day? Going through the grain
field they plucked tho heads and rubbed out the
grain in their hands. All food for tho Sabbath.
should havo been prepared the day before, and
this was equivalent to reaping and threshing.
It was a gross violation of tho law. But man
had mado tho traditions, whilo God had made
nature, and the laws of nature which God made
were higher than tho ceremonial laws which
man had made. The Sabbath was made for
man, and not, man for tho Sabbath.
In tho synagogues ho broke again with the
religionists by healing a man on the Sabbath,
day. It was only a withered hand, and might
have waited until the following day. But his
critics would have hauled a sheep out ot the pit
on tho Sabbath, and a man was worth more than
a sheep. Life is of great value, and why should
this man wait another day to have his hand re
stored? ,
On tho Sabbath Jesus' saw in the synagogue
a woman who had suffered for eighteen years.
She was bent together. Jesus had compassion
on her and laying his hand upon her, healed
her. But instead of rejoicing to see the woman
straighten up, the ruler of the synagogue was
indignant because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.
It was the spirit of tho prodigal's brother and
of Jonah.
On the Sabbath day by the pool at the sheep
gate in Jerusalem Jesus found a man who had
been "for . thirty-eight years in his infirmity."
Jesus again broke tho Jewish law by healing a
man. At Jesus' command the man carried his
bed away with him, and thus ho too broke tho
Sabbath. In spite of his great miracles there
wer0 those who said that he was not of God
because he did not keep the Sabbath (John 9:
16). It all resolves itself into this, that the
Sabbath was nothing to Jesus except as it might
minister to the needs of men. The Nazarene's
concern was for man's welfare because he loved
men, and that is why he clashed with the de
fenders of tradition who loved traditions more
than they loved men. It may be that we have
spent more time and energy as the champion
defenders of a day than w0 have spent as the
champions of tho highest Interests of men. The
Nazarene was interested in men, not in institu
tions, except as they ministered to men. Fol
lowing his example we will seek for all men the
Sabbath rest for tho sake of men.
Jesus broke with the traditions of the elders
in the matter of the ceremonial washing of
hands, and charged the hypocrites who accused
him with a more serious dffense. The command
ment of, God said, "Honor thy father and thy
mother"; but when a needy parent came asking
for help, they put their religion before the
claims of parents and declared that their prop
erty had been pledged to God. But the washing
of hands was nothing compared with honor
and love for parents. The ceremonial washing
of hands was swept aside because it contributed
nothing to life, and man was not made for cere
mony. The Pharisees bathed after returning from
the market place. In fact it required so much
time to keep them from being defiled that only
those with leisure could be holy. The man who
had to toil from early to late must be defiled
much of the time and that idea is not yet elim
inated from tho religious conceptions of some
A certain priest is spending his life delivering a
great message to multitudes of people through
out this country. Another priest speaking of him
declared that ho was doing more good than if
he remained in his parish, yet it was a mistake
so far as the good of the priest was concerned,
because traveling about all tho while, he did not
havo time to load a priestly life. But Jesus'
teaching leads us to the conclusion that holiness
which is incompatible with a busy, useful life is
not holiness at all. The Nazarene, himself a
toiler, loved toilers.
Tho religionists of the Nazareno's day were
too holy to associate with sinners, and when
Jesus ate with publicans and sinners he was se
verely criticised. The ceremonial holiness of
tho religious leaders put them in a class by
themselves, but Jesus was not ceremoniously
lioly, his holiness was tho holiness of love and
he loved tho sinner as much as the saint.
The sinners needed him, so ho mingled
with the sinners and actually ate with them,
talked with them, and let them know that ho
loved them. In declaring that he desired mercy
and not sacrifice, he was in line with Hosea (6:6)
who represented God as saying, "I desire good
ness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of
God more than burnt-offerings." . Because
Jesus ate with sinners and did not observe the
system of fasting, they called him a friend, of
publicans and sinners, a glutton and a wine
bibbler. It is easily seen that to havo added Christian
ity to Judaism would havo been like putting new
cloth' on an old garment. Judaism stood for
ceremonialism, Christianity stands for life. The
danger which threatens any religion is that it
may become stereotyped and formal. Ono won
ders if Jesus were to appear in America as he
did in Judea, whether he would not causo as
great consternation among the religionsists of
today as he did among the religionists then. One
denomination can not mingle with another be
cause that other denomination sings hymns in
stead of psalms, and singing psalms is a vital
part of life; ono denomination can not unite
with another on account of the modo of baptism,
and baptism, especially a given mode of baptism,
is a vital part of life; or they are kept apart
because of th6 difference of attitude assumed in
time of prayer, as if striking an attitude was
prayer; or they are kept apart because of a dif
ference in name, as if vital religion was con
tained in a name. About the middle of the six
teenth century a denomination split on the ques
tion of buttons and pockets, and nine-tenths of
the issues which keep the evangelical churches
apart today have as little to do with the religion
of the Nazarene. What a spectacle we must pre
sent before a Christ who made mercy, lustice,
service, and love the requirements of God! Fivo
church spires in a town of as many hundred
people, and three of those churches partially
supported by missionary money. Wo build altar
against altar while great areas of our country
are , wholly without tho church, while hundreds
of thousands of foreigners in our own land do
not have the gospel, to say nothing of millions
living in total ignorance of the fact that the
Christ lived and revealed a loving God to a sin
sick world. Not only that, but the greatest obsta
cle to the federation of the church in the foreign
field is the "traditions of the elders" in the
church at home.
A religion 'in which ceremony is the prominent
thing makes it possible for a man to be a good
religionist and at tho same time a thief and a
murderer. Witness the money changers in the
temple, and the mob before the house of Pilate.
That was long ago. Yes, that was long ago, but
the tendency to put law for life is the same in
every age. .
If the following story is not a true one, it is,
nevertheless, within the realm- of possibility,
and the like of it happens daily: A robber was
holding up a train. The passengers wero lined
ap'in the aisle With their arms above their heads,
the bold outlaw was going through their pock
ets. He came to onQ who said, "Yon would not
rob a clergyman, would you?" "To what church
do you belong?" asked the bandit. Arid when
he was told, he said, "You make take your arms
down, I belong to tho same church."
Whenever a church overshadows love for God
and man with requirements which are outside
of life, it entourages men to be religious rather
than. Christian. When a man can cheat his fel
low man on Saturday, and crowd his way up
to the communion table on Sunday, there is
something radically wrong with his conception
of the teachings of the Nazarene. Wo need
moro of the spirit of Him who swept ceremon
ialism aside and put in its place service " that
flows out of a heart of love.
Jesus' program was a program of service. This
is what he-said when he stood up in tho syna
gogue in Nazareth to read: "The spirit of tho
Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to
preach good tidings to the poor; he hath sent
mo. to proclaim release to the captives, and re
covering ,of sight to tho blind, to set at liberty
them that ar0 bruised, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord." And then he startled his old
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