02- The Present Crisis
02 THE PRESENT CRISIS Text, “Then I said, Here am I; send me.”
You may feel that the expression, “The present crisis,” has been so overworked of late as to have become a commonplace and hackneyed phrase, shorn of its power to jog the mind or grip the interest. It suits our purpose, however, and although well worn, it may be made to pass muster by a little brightening up. In the first place, let us remember that ’ ’ crisis ’ ’ is not the same as “peril.” We have too often held it to be so, and the result has been that the suggestion of a crisis brings visions of impending disaster and certain doom. Such fears enter into the question; for a crisis means a turning point, and at every turning point on the road of life, no doubt the dangers ahead are more imminent and perilous. But it brings also immediate and enlarged opportunities to make a better future. A peril passed is but an escape, a crisis may put us on the road to greater achievement, and even set us forward much faster than we could have gone without it. Someone has said that every generation believes itself to be passing through a crisis.
Doubtless every generation that makes any good degree of progress so believes; and there is a sense in which this is true. Always there are present in society elements which unwisely or carelessly handled, bring defeat. And just as truly every generation has at hand the materials with which to construct the Kingdom of God in the earth. But there are times when the elements of life are freer than at other times, and its materials more easily organized; when the removal of those things which are shaken takes place, in order that those things which are not shaken may remain. Who can say that the present generation is not passing through such a crisis? Has the world ever witnessed such a time of revolution, dissolution, and readjustments, economic, political, and social? What is to be the constructive force that will bring together the enduring elements from this broken heap of human hopes and aspirations, and fuse them into a homogeneous whole, even the brotherhood of man.
There is but one power that can do it, and it is not of this earth. Society must be reconstructed upon a religious basis: its materials sorted out if you please by the Holy Spirit, and transfused with the breath of God. And this divine service so sorely needed can be mediated only through men who like Isaiah have seen the Lord. No doubt Isaiah had but recently come from the palace where he had looked upon the form of the dead king, and his spirit was depressed. As lie reflected upon the departed glory of the ruler of Israel, and thought of the difficult times ahead for the kingdom, his mind was filled with forebodings and his body shaken with fear. From the palace now no longer tenanted, he went to the temple. Isaiah had often entered the temple, where he was a regular and frequent worshiper, but never before in the same mood as now, and never perhaps so earnestly seeking divine counsel. Before him stood the altar of burning incense from which arose the fragrant smoke, symbolic of prayer and penitence; and a little farther on was the ark of the covenant over which stood the seraphim, suggestive of divine benevolence and mercy. All these things were familiar to Isaiah, for they had filled an important place in his worship. But today his thoughts ran deeper and his soul mounted higher, and he saw the Lord. The whole earth was full of his glory. And from that time as never before, Isaiah reckoned God in the affairs of mankind, and particularly in his own life, and he became the messenger of the divine evangel which alone could save his country. “While he had no flattering promise that the people would receive his message, he could not have failed to measure correctly the great need of his sinful generation, and he had confidence in Him who had sent him. Hence this mighty prophet set forward the race by his clearcut sermons, and made mankind his debtor. The present world situation presents the same problems as those that confronted Judea in Isaiah’s day. They are magnified a thousand times, but they are the very same when applied to each separate community, and to the question of personal responsibility. Our times demand prophets, therefore. The church needs Christian statesmen.’ I throw out the challenge to the young men of our churches, and from Seventh Day Baptist homes. The conditions that surround you, the opportunities that are before you; the call for strong men in our pulpits and on our mission fields, demand that every young man with heart and mind and purpose shall consider at this time the work of the ministry. I am not saying that every worthy young man shall enter the ministry. The opportunities for service are legion, and they are everywhere. But the need of ministers is so great, and the opportunities there are so rich and give such promise of abundant fruitage, that every thoughtful youth must listen for the divine voice, lest the call of God go unheeded, and the work of the church languish for the lack of worthy and capable ministers. In order, if possible, to help the young men themselves, and, what is quite as important, to help others, to an appreciation of the character of the divine call, let us seek to discover some of its elements, basing our analysis upon the experience of Isaiah. The obvious elements in Isaiah’s vision, which are the fundamental elements also, are three. He had a vision of God, a vision of need, and a vision of opportunity. The man who would preach the gospel of salvation to a lost world today and lead the church to victory, must have a vision of God; of God, high and lifted up, but whose glory fills the earth. To think of God as seated away off somewhere, utterly detached from our earth, is deism, which is always cold and blighting. Many members of our evangelical churches who subscribe to an orthodox creed, nevertheless live as though God were afar off and unrelated to our daily life. On the other hand some have rebounded to the other extreme, and have accepted a sort of pantheistic faith, most assiduously expounded by the followers of Mrs. Eddy, which exalts man, denies the existence of sin, and destroys Christ as the mediator of life. The minister who would meet successfully every crisis of mankind, and of every individual man as well, must come to God through Christ in order that he may get his vision of God from the viewpoint of the Master. God the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is exalted and holy, but compassionate and tender. And these are not separate attributes which can be pigeonholed, and brought out on occasion. God is not at one time judge and at another advocate, but always Our Father, holy and good. In his presence sin cannot abide. No more can the penitent sinner be separated from him. Apart from God there is nothing worth while; with him there is fullness of life and power. May he grant to us a vision of himself, holy and lifted up, and open our eyes to see his glory which fills and irradiates the earth.
Isaiah had a vision of need. So has every prophet and every minister who has power with men. First there is the feeling of personal lack and of utter failure if left to oneself. No one can succeed anywhere in that which is worth while, and especially in the ministry, who feels himself sufficient. A vision of God always brings the knowledge of insufficiency. It is not the basely wicked who feel the sense of sin most. Often it is the purest soul that is most sensitive of failure. Moses pled unworthiness when chosen to be the leader of God’s ancient people, and Amos when called to preach in Israel disclaimed prophetic gifts. Peter felt himself a sinful man in the presence of Jesus, and Paul knew he was strongest when most conscious of his own weakness. The feeling of need always follows a vision of God, and it is the sign of his presence and the assurance of his help. Isaiah felt the need in those around him also. He not only recognized their undone condition, but he could feel the hurt of a brother’s woe, and was even more sensitive than they to the sorrow which their sin was breeding. The sense of the need of God in oneself and in the world is an important factor in the call of the ministry. The world’s need of God was never more apparent than it is now, to those who have the vision to see. The false foundations of society are crumbling, and the systems built thereon are falling about the ears of those who constructed them with such confidence. Our fear for the world just now is due to the fact that the elements in human relationships responsible for this disaster are not confined to central Europe. We are sensible of the failure of a certain type of civilization. We feel the need of something different. But that need is not well-defined. If the world is to profit by its awful experience during the dreadful years of war, prophets must arise, not a few but many, who recognize the need of God on the part of every community and of every man. The vision of God and the vision of need together spell OPPORTUNITY in capital letters. God is always present, and the need of humanity is perennial, therefore the door of opportunity is always open before him who sees. But here again the present world conditions aid our vision. Against the background of a world torn asunder by war, objects stand out in bold relief which before we could not see. Many things are clearer today to him who has vision, and they may be more easily pointed out to him whose sight has been distorted by ignorance or dimmed by selfishness.
Men trained to discern between good and evil are demanded by the unsettled conditions of the present to guide the bewildered hosts of humanity into safety and peace. In the days of Jesus not many mighty were called, but the common people heard him gladly. The growing spirit of democracy makes for progress in the kingdom of God, and gives larger opportunity for the Christian minister. Kings have been tumbling from their tottering thrones, and the passing of absolutism is demonstrating in high places the truthfulness of the principle enunciated by Jesus that he who saves his life will lose it. These conditions increase the church’s opportunity to dominate the worldorder with the saving spirit of self -giving. The breaking down of barriers built up by monarchial ambitions facilitates the flow of a common life through the races of men, and enlarges the opportunity for the spread of the gospel of Christ. The stream of khaki-clad youths of America, running together from every corner of the country, and distributing itself along the battle-pressed frontiers of freedom, is symbolic of the new opportunity for the interflow of the divine life generated in the churches.
Every community has become a world community, and every church is a great church if it has the power of God; for the world is its field of conquest for the Master. Every minister in the remotest district of the country, preaching to his little congregation, and leading his flock in the pastures of divine grace and truth, is a vital and moving factor in the life of this great throbbing world. The world has been shaken up, and shaken apart, and shaken to pieces. There are needed heralds of the Master to throw the gospel magnet into this mass of disintegrated humanity. The power of Jesus to purify and unite mankind is this world’s only hope. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. The collapse of that civilization which was built upon the philosophy of materialism and might, makes way for a renewed trial and a larger application of the principles and spirit of Jesus. His principles are not self-perpetuating. Neither can we trust their administration to some magic hand of fate. Men are needed, flesh and blood men, but men who are filled with the Holy spirit, impelled onward and upward by the divine imperative, and thrilled by a holy passion for a lost world. Ministers must arise who know how to point men to Jesus for salvation, who can organize society on a Christian basis, and who will lead the church triumphantly in the glorious task of a world evangelism.
’ ’ Then I said, Here am I; send me. ’ ’