The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 50

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50 ‘The Lutheran Pioneer.

His perfections will transform us into His likeness.
Even in this life, when we study the Bible, our
hearts are irresistibly drawn to our God, whom
we then see through a glass, darkly, thus being led
to become more and more like Him. But in the
future world the divine image shall again shine in
us in its pristine glory and purity, as the Psalmist,
addressing God, exclaims: “I will behold Thy face
in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake
[from the slumber of death] with Thy likeness.”
What a precious hope!

We know this, as our text states. When in the
cold winter our eyes are becoming weary of looking
at snow and ice, we have the assurance that spring
is near. In summer, when we suffer from extreme
heat or are depressed by a drought and are longing
for cooler weather, we feel certain that fall will in
due time set in. For the divine promise is sure:
“While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and
day and night, shall not cease.” ‘Thus we also
know, because of the divine promise, that the present
world will pass away, and that God will create a
new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth right-
eousness. Then, then it will become manifest that
we are His children, who shall then have been made
perfect. Glorious hope!

Hence we who have this hope of becoming al-
together pure and holy like Christ should even now
purify ourselves (v. 3), this being our daily happy
task. The children of God in the old covenant
were commanded to purify themselves externally
and ceremonially. We should purify ourselves
spiritually, inwardly, in our hearts. The result
will be that we shall also conduct ourselves out-
wardly in a decent and God-pleasing manner. We
should in this sense, by daily contrition and repen-
tance, purify ourselves from wicked acts, evil prac-
tises, hateful or otherwise objectionable words,
thoughts, and desires. We should also wean our
eyes from looking at persons or objects covetously
or in any other way which is prohibited. It be-
hooves us who have this great hope to do this.
And in doing this we seek to become more and
more like Christ even in this life; for He is
pure (v.3).

I close with Luther’s words: “Christ has re-
deemed me, .. . that I should be His own and
live under Him in His kingdom, and serve and
obey Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence,
and blessedness.... ‘his is most certainly true.”

H. OsterHvs.

A Challenge,

IV.

Is the Church guarding the interests of the
Negro that leaves the South to find a new home
in the North? We feel certain that our Mission
Board intends to stand by his interests as far as
it can do so with the means it has at hand. It has

had the Chicago field looked over, it is keeping a—

watchful eye on Philadelphia, and the Superinten-
dent himself just recently made a survey of the
Detroit field. The fact that we have a number of
flourishing stations north of Mason and Dixon’s line
plainly proves that we do not feel ourselves tied
to the Southland. ‘The mission at Yonkers owes
its existence to the fact that a number of our people
from Virginia moved there and were followed to
their new home by their Church. And we are sure
that if circumstances arise in other centers of a
similar nature, our people will he taken care of.

Just recently we read an item bringing the in-
formation that the Lutheran Minneapolis City Mis-
sion has begun work among the Negroes in that
city. A well-educated Negro has received cate-
chetical instruction and is preparing to enter a
theological seminary in order to become a minister.

Many, if not most of the colored people that
have immigrated to the North are affiliated with
the Methodist or Baptist churches, and we have
been informed that in many cases they bring their
preachers right with them to their new homes. The
latter surely speaks well for the Negroes. But it
appears that these denominations have not been
able to provide the incoming multitudes with the
needed places of worship. Thus, for example, the
invaders from Dixie who found their way to Frank-
lin, Pa., found a mule stable the only building
available for the Sunday worship. A church in
Philadelphia with a seating capacity of 1,000 has
a membership of 4,000. Besides, the invaders from
the rural districts of the South will find that many
of the church-members are in no special rush to
shake hands with them when they visit the services.
While the North may afford greater educational
facilities to the Negro than the South, and while
labor may command a greater price than it does
on the plantations and in the factories of the old
home, yet there are many things she colored family
should consider before it decides to leave the old
plantation for some manufacturing city of the

North. In most cases he gives wp more than he
gains. Industrially he will get along fairly well,
or ane