Inspiring Sermon by Dr. Abbott

The Rev. Lyman Abbott D.D., h.'90, of New York, preached in Appleton Chapel last evening on the text "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Ever since the earlier history of the Hebrews, said Dr. Abbott, there has always been a belief in the world that a Golden Age would someday manifest itself. The people were reluctant to accept Christ's simple doctrine, mainly because they did not want to. The following years, however, saw the Kingdom of God placed by the impatient people first in the Roman Empire, then in the Church, and even in the monasteries. But corruption and selfishness arose even within the cloistered walls.

We are unconsciously swinging back to the simple faith of the apostles, that Christ's Kingdom is at hand, and the more firmly we realize this fact, the more religious, the more celestial becomes our religion. Christ never intended to prepare men in this life for a future existence; his fondest hope and prayer was to prepare men to live here on earth.

There has been unmistakable forces in this country which have brought about this change of opinion. The ever-present question is: How shall these seventy millions of people soon to become a hundred millions, live together in peace, in happiness and in honor? In other words, how can we bring the Kingdom of God to hand in these United States?

Likewise, this change in viewpoint has resulted in changes in our religious thinking. Today a man should hold first and foremost in his ideals the welfare and salvation of the community in which he has been placed. The call of God to you is not so much to save your souls, but to strive to bring in God's Kingdom, as we think of it in Heaven, by ministering to the needs of our own communities. In this twentieth century, do not judge a man by what he thinks or feels but by what he is and is doing to make the world better.

Some people say the church is losing its power, that we are losing our faith. However true that may be, from their standpoint, I venture to say that we are losing that mediaeval habit of dreaming of the celestial opportunities of day-after-tomorrow. Immortality as revealed by our faith, should mean a man's living now, not that he is going to live at some future time. I count it far better to deserve immortality and not to have it than to have it and not deserve it.

Finally, to be a believer in Christ is to believe in our fellowmen, in God and in God's Kingdom; to be His follower is to give the best one has in establishing His Kingdom