Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1914 — CALL FOR SERVICE [ARTICLE]

CALL FOR SERVICE

Deep Significance in God’s Questioning of Abel, “Where Is Thy Brother?” | The early chapters of the book of Genesis still keep their hold on human life. Many difficult and puzzling questions are brought to our notice | concerning them, but in spite of ail -? questions these early narratives con- < tain spiritual truths which are do- J scrlptive of man’s perpetual experience. Much in the pages may perplex us, but their pictures never fade from sight, nor lose their meaning for our . There is* the garden, and the first man into whom God breathed a living soul; then the man’s life richened and deepened by the woman at his side; J then the catastrophe of the fall, and the expulsion from the garden, and the angel of God standing with a flaming sword at his gate. Then came the first children, the boys, growing up even as boys do now, with different | characters and following different occupations. Then like a thunderbolt - comes hatred and murder, and there ‘ is the dreadful forsaken plain where one brother lies dead, and the other wanders far with the irrevocable deed ' burning on his soul, answering the | voice of God with the passionate re- i jection of responsibility, "Am I my brother’s keeper?” ■ God’s question, "Where is Abel, thy brother?” suggests that every man is responsible for his brother man. This is not God’s first question. The first was that personal Inquiry which the Holy Spirit still brings home to every heart convicted of tin, .to every man j who desires to hide himself from God, “Where art thou?" But the second question is, "Where is thy brother?" How wide, or bow narrow is that question? May Not Shirk Responsibility. J The family is the divinely established unit of human society, mid it 'ls our ideal of love and service, and yet I have heard people disclaim all responsibility for members of their immediate family. Parents often shirk their responsibility for their children on the ground that they • are powerless to control them, aad'.g many a son has allowed aged parents to suffer privation, denying all responsibility for those who cared for his childhood. Brothers and sisters often cast off some member of the family who has been wayward, and in the spirit of Cain, say, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" God’s answer is that we are; that whether we accept it or not, the responsibility still rests upon our shoulders. - But responsibility reaches further than that immediate family. It rests upon us in some way or other with regard to our friends and acquaintances; with regard to those with whom we | have business relations; the men with whom we work, the men with whom > we travel; our most casual acquaint- | ances. "Where is thy brother?” Where is be morally and spiritually, so far as the influence which you have exercised over him goes? To have laughed at the evil or profane joke; r to have spoken the foolish or the angry word —to say nothing of. far more grievous stumbling blocks than | these—must have had influence over others. God has given us marvelous f opportunities in life of helping others ; to resist temptation, and to stand || firm! How have these opportunities J been used? Have they beeen used at all? “Where is thy brother?" The question Is a searching one. The Bible has a great deal to say about influence, concerning which we talk so ■ much, and which we practice so little. Some heathen people seem to have a greater realization of its power. In the Peking Gazette years ago the governor of one of the central provinces of China reported in regard to a case of parricide, that he itad the houses of all the neighbors /pulled down on the ground that they had failed in their duty to exert 4 good moral influence on the criminal. All Evil Lives Do Harm. Cain’s answer, "Am I my brother’s. keeperr was insolence defying the ; Almighty. In the same spirit men often urge the innocence of their con- •< duct, that they have never done any-JS one any harm. It is the old excuse which is used by careless and wicked S people to salve their conscience. But can it be said of even the best of us that we have never harmed anyone by word or deed or example? Often do we hear it said of a careless and ungodly life, “He never harmed aayone but himself; he was his own 3orst enemy." What a fallacy that | . No man can harm himself without harming others; no man can lead a dissolute life without helping to spread the plague of evil. It is the old ex- ; cuse of Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeperr The spirit of Cain still lives, and J the blood of many a ruined life crieß J out for justice. The spirit is in ev ryg man who refuses to accept the respond.; sjbility for his brother which God has laid upon him- •' > : Osa There is a special responsibility upon the Christian. The question. Where is thy brother? comes to thmO who follow Christ with a special meanIng and emphasis. He who died the cross is our Brother, and ha died to establish brotherhood among men. We are bought by his blood, and wa have accepted his command to love one another. He came to seek and to save the lost, and he was our exam* ; pla. Thomas a Kempls wrote the beafeS tlful devotional book. "The Imitation ’ of Christ,” but the imitation of Christ is after all not so much to manner et Mfe, or in speech, or to vigil and prayan, but tn service to our fellow m«k |