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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd 6 partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 32 X 1 2 3 4 5 6 SERMON, PREACHED AT THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, TORONTO, ON THE EVENING OF THE 3rd INSTANT, (THANKS- GIVING DAY,) BY THE REV. E. K. KENDALL, M.A., I'l-o/essor of Mathematics, -<, Canada 'J T SERMON. I. TmoTOY, V. 18. Tlu ScTij,luT, ,aUh " ,*, labourer i, worthy of hi, reward." support o7thpr .? °''' congregations in tho stance-of conjoining with the thankfulness r^ for thra"%,eft l^^eSLri ""r"^' prised by the impulse „? ,1,; ? '1 ?"""'■- ueiect, to the gift you are able to bestnw thl „,.«!,,„.._,• , " poorer man vourselvps wo" ai»7 Douud in duty to bear. " = ^'-" And I have selected the text to which I wish to direct your thoughts to day, because I feel it to be one which puts on its right ground the necessity for making such offerings, aud points out the spirit in which such offerings should be made. There can be no mistake about its mean* ing, , The Apostle does but lend tbe sanction of inspiration to a truth on which our practice is based in the ordinary business of life, a truth which is acted on more in every thing else than in those things which pertain to those who are ♦• your servants for Jesus' sake." A subject might have been selected which would give more scope to the play of fancy, more opportunity if such were desirable for the display of oratorical skill. A theme might have been chosen more calculated to produce an effect on the feelings, to work the hearers up to a state of unhealthy excitement, and, perhaps, by these means to produce a larger collection, if such indeed were the only object of the sermon, which, for an effect of this kind would contrast unfavourably with other still more ques- tionable methods of raising an excitement and collecting money ? But I know of no theme so likely to suggest a sound and healthy view of the mutter to which your attention is directed to-day, — to induce an offering which will have the two- fold effect of blessing those who give as well as those who receive ; an effect which every duty performed faithfully to the Lord and not to men will of necessity produce. I know of no words of the sacred volume which are more likely to recur to your minds again and again, — which will commend themselves as more evidently to the point, — or be more likely to bring forth their fruit not only now but hereafter,— than the plain straight forward, — I had almost said business-like words of the Apostle, «'the labourer is worthy of his hire" for hire rather than reivard is the meaning of the word used here. You will observe that the words are not the Apostle's own words, they are quoted by him to illustrate the very question with which we are occupied to day, the support of the ministers about Koly ■! '■I' Tilings. And thus they are peculiarly appro- priate to our purpose. You will remember ■where the words occur elsewhere in the Scripture. When our Lord sent forth the twelve, and the seventy disciples to preach the Gospel at first, Ho ordered them to take neither scrip nor purse, but to depend for their support on those among whom they sojourned, "for the labourer is worthy of hia hire." And in the 1st Epistle to the Corin- thians, St. Paul, when writing about the susten- tation fund of the ministers, says, in apparent reference to these words of our Lord which he has quoted literally in the text "even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." There is little doubt then that these words of our Lord had ere the date of the Epistles of St. Paul passed into a proverbial expression, that He was well known to have used these words, which St. Luke has re- corded in his Gospel,— St. Luke who was perhaps one of the seventy himself, and was the fritnd and companion of St. Paul, and who wrote his Gospel as is supposed under the immediate supervision of the Apostle,* the Gospel itself possibly referred to by St. Paul, when in 2nd Cor. xviii. he mentions " the brother whose praise i3 in the Gospel." Thus then we have not only the authority of St. Paul, but if that were not enough, the authority of our Lord Himself, as recorded by St. Luke, and also by St. Matthew, an author- ity which derives additional force from the man- ner in which our Lord's words recorded by the Evangelist are quoted and appropriated by the Apostle (and " the testimony of two men is true,") when we apply these words to enforce the necessity of providing those who ^labour in the vineyard with a share of the fruit thereof ; those who feed the flock with their portion of the milk of the flock ; those who, in the verse from which the text is taken, and elsewhere are compared to oxen treading out the corn of the Lord's harvest, with * This opinion, though now discredited, rests on the autboritv of Orieren. JeromH. rhrvanai-om 4!n>>''0'>o '*e'air5«3 Primaaiiis, Ansilm, Cajetan, &cr" ' ' '' ' ^ * f 6 Bmm¥m substance^ ''^n thfNewTes?aVenrr"« ^'"l *'''' cl«e. And the next Tersf ^ S tt" S"^" * ""^ respect or good esteem merelv but 5n Z. • *° recompenceofwork ™^^*''^' out to pecuniary and inSrm r^5 ,'?" '".PP"''' «f then, when aged be oneShe N™ t T " ■""''"y ""^ P'''^ if there mtaSv fi^^L u • ^^°^® ^^0 i»ave used hos- S ose wio f?,lfin? ^^^.'"ir'istered to saints, and ^f^'^'^. I mention these points not merely Cj-rcb,I am indebted '^'"^r.St/Sl^^^l.S^r k I becauHO they are matters of curiosity or informa- tion, or mere critical niceties of no practical value ; for you will see how close a bearing they have on the subject on which I am speaking now. They shew that there was even from the earliest times a definite organization, a central fund ; that from this fund widows were pensioned and clergy paid, and other expenses of missionaries or mes- sengers doubtless defrayed. And though tlie epistles or letters which have come down to us from the Apostles' times are but few and written with other objects than to explain these points to later generations, yet they by incidental allusions, which are specially valuable, afford a good deal of information as to the fact that in the Apostles' time there was order and method, and systematic n rrangement of the funds and expenditure. Thus, observe liow St. Paul in the epistles to the Co- rinthians indirectly tells us the same. He had with a desire to relieve this fund in the Corinthian Chwrch, avoided taking wages of them, though he had done so from other churches, and had wrought with his hands (as we read in Acts, 18,) with Aquila and Priscilla, his occupation being that of a tent maker. Some of his enemies wishing to depre»iiate him and make him contrast unfavour- ably with others, objected that one who took none of the church's wages was not the church's ser- vant, that he could have no claim to be an Apostle, for that if so he would '' -aw his support from the church's fund. The Ap 0.3, therefore, in explain- ing his reasons for waiving his claim, takes care to shew that he was foregoing a right " I only and Barnabas," (1 Cor. iv. G,) are we the only ones who have power to forbear working with our hands, we have a right to the regular pay as well as others. And in vindicating his claim to the Apostolic office he beseeches them in terms which under an irony convey the severest rebuke, that if this were all they had against him they would ♦'forgive him this wrong," (2 Cor. xii. 13,) as if he would say, that by not accepting wages from them as from others he had wronged them. ■ This fund moreover was a liberal one, for the 1 ( 8 ofl'eriugs of christiauH at tirst woro largo, though the amount contributed was optional, at least to Bomo extent. In fact the way in which the greater part of it was raised is mentioned, for it was to consist of offerings on the *• first day of the week as God had prospered them," (1 Cor. xvi. 2,) the proportion which they were expected to contribute being probably one tenth of their worldly gain. Moreover, special collections were made on special occasions, as when the Macedonian and Corinthian Churches sent a contribution to the christians of .Judwa during the famine which had been foretold by Agabus, as it is written in the Acts, St. Paul himself mentioning the subscription in 2 Cor. viii. Perhaps then as now collections were made for special funds on special days. Perhaps ^he Widows' fund, and the Clergy fund, and the fund for Missionary purposes ,vero made the objects of special appeal. But in whatever pro- portions it was raised the general fund was large and the pay of the clergy ample, as appears from the oft mentioned requisite of a minister that he be "not greedy of filthy lucre," (1 Tim. iii., 3,) and the caution against the conduct of those who entered from corrupt motives into the ministry thinking to make a "gain," (1 Tim. vi., 6) of godliness. Now, ray brethren, I have brought forward these particulars, which you will observe rather aflford proof that a system existed, than cucuAe us to follow it into exact details, not because they are the only proofs that in early times the church had a fund out of which the various charitable and uecessary expenses were pa.id, and distribu- tion made to the necessities of saints, for in fact, early history will teach the same with more clear- ness and distinctness. But I think it is well for us to notice that we have scripture warrant that such an organization did exist, and that we are not by our eftbrts now departing from the Apostolic me- thod. And thus when we remark on St. Paul's order that the Elders who rule well, be counted worthy of double, which is probably a way of ex- pressing Uberal pay, (an expression derived from the fact that the first-born were originally the priests of the family, and that they had a double portion,) wo see how well it applies to the text which immediately follows, and is a comment thereon, " the laboui'er is worthy of his reward." It may perhaps be asked why if no more minute details of the system of the early church are known from Scripture, we have dwelt on those indications of a system to be traced in the inspired page. Perhaps we may advantageously derive this lesson, that though in its general features it is advisable and right to go upon the Apostolical model, yet the particulars of the system will vary with the age and circumstances of the Church. There were, doubtless, many provisions made then, with reference to the customs and ways of feeling of eastern Christians, which would be un- necessary or superfluous now, and wo agwin re- quire provision to be made for our condition and circumstances, which would have been unmeaning in earlier times. But there can be no doubt that now as then it is most important that we should work by a system, and thfd the groundwork of that system should be in the words of the text, " The laborer is worthy of his reward." It ia on this ground that we can boldly challenge contri- butions for tho fund for the sustentation of the clergy. It is a false modesty which would shrink from pressing a claim like thu We may despise one who asks alms because ho will not work, and justly so, "for in the sweat of his brow man is to eat bread," and he is guilty of unmanly, no less than unchristian conduct, who shrinks from taking his portion of the common lot of mau» and seeks to eat his bread by the sweat of other men's brows. Or wr may pity with good reason him, who by physical or mental inability, by sickness or infirmity, is thrown on the good oflBces of hia fellow men, being deprived in God's providence of the piivilege of doing active good to man, or engaging in active service of God. But no such feelings can apply to a case like this. It is a thing monstrous and unheard of, that he who works, shall not eat ; that he who labours, shall B 10 not have his wages; that those who are for Christ s sake the servants and ministers of His people should not from those people receive the wages that are their due. There can be no doubt no hesitation about the matter, but the question would seem to be "how is the requisite provision to be made »? The state of the case is summed up m few words, the work is great, the labourers are tew, the recompence in general miserably in- sufficient I could tell you of young men scarcely arrived at the age at which in the Primitive Church they could have been eligible for the sacred office • old men in constitution, broken in health and spirit, by the combined operation of over work Z^ ^^^"^^ *f ^°S *<^ absolute penury. I could tell of the backwoods missionary, with nine con- gregations under his sole charge, even durincr his iThTifl """'^ *7° °^. "'""^ '"^^""g f«^ worship within fifteen miles ot where he lived, travelling night and day, through winter and summer, to preach to the scattered sheep in the wilderness, and happy at least, in this, that though his powers were miserably overtasked, yet the possession of the pittance which the Church Society could afford him ensured him at least daily bread. I could tell you of caseg in which the services which had been performed freely for the love of Christ had to be .discontinued, because though the la- worked without any, he could not afford the bur- den which the necessary means of conveyance Z^^u- "Z^"" '"'"' "'^ P^^P^® '^^^"S unable or unwilling to pay even for the keep of a horse I could tell further of one endeared to his people, by the patient and diligent performance of his duty, who by his efforts built churches in his mission, and aiding the erection of those churches by scanty means of his own, which he could ill attord to spare, was driven to the greatest straits by the inability of the people to do more while the churches were being built ; and, who having been saved from starvation by a small allowance of the Church Society, had to leave his work in two short vears. his ImoUii o.^^" -s--^ — '^^ ^ _, — — .,.v.. goavj, ami viiiu small 11 chance of his ever even partially recovering it T could tell perhaps, did time permit, and were I not speaking from my own knowledge, of cases more distressing than these. But I fo-bear, begging lZ^y'i^^ *^ ''''°"'°'^ *^^* ^'^"^ «as^s must mfa hbly occur m a country like this, with so Bca tered and poor a population, unless some central system act upon the outposts ; that unless there be some vigorous pulsation of the heart the circulation of the stream of life to the extremities must stagnate and cease; and fur- ther, which IS a point by no rv>eans to be neglec- ted, that those who most nf the Gospel teach- mg, those most remote from its sanctifying and humanizing influences, are those who are least able to provide the means of grace, and even if they were able, from ignorance of their value would be least willing to do so, for now as of Him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear w.tliout a preacher, and how can they preach except they be sent." But my brethren there is another side of the question which the text suggests If there be no hire, there will be no labourer: if the hire be small, the quality of the labourer must deteriorate. And already I grieve to say, are indications of this to be traced Perhaps some of you recollect the former letter of the Bishop when he last year pressed the claims of this fund on your notice. Ho remarked that the fact IS not to be overlooked, that in the last few years, notwithstanding the growth of the country the mcrease m the number of clergy has hardly done more than fill up vacancies ; that there S several vacant missions, and that Vue number of places IS considerable where the services of a 3^*""^^ imperatively needed, and anxiously desired. And the reason of this is obvious the precarious and limited provision made for the sup- port of the clergy. It cannot be expected that however great their zeal, and anxiety for the service of Christ, young men can devJte year^ 01 study, and in a /./^.,♦.i 1 jv»xa nni.c.,:4. '' ' ' "1" " '-■•""" J' wauro every other pursuit opens out a prospect of competence at an 12 early age, bo content to expend money on an education fitting them for a profession which holds out in return for a life of toil and hardship, hardly even a security against absolute want. Many a young man as I know, who would gladly <' spend and be spent," (2 Cor. xii. 15.) himself in Christ's service, shrinks from tho risk of ex- posing those near and dear to him to the trials and privations which may not unlikely be their portio.i. Many a young man would be induced, by a certainty however small, to devote his best energies to Christ's service, while with the view before his eyes of the limited, and, what is worse, uncertain support, which the oflFerings of a country congregation afford, he shrinks from a labour which may have no hire. True, there is an alternative which might per- haps enlist more recruits in the paths of the clergy, an alternative from which we cannot but shrink with horrox*. You will remember that it was said that the withholding of the hire, would either lessen the number, or deteriorate the quality of the labourers. Owing to the wise care of our venerable Bishop, and the strictness with which he has insisted on a proper course of previous training, we as yet regret rather the former than the latter of the evils above alluded to ; and can point with con- fidence to the band of young men who have pro- ceeded from our Church University, as not con- trasting unfavourably with those reared under the wing of older and noted institutions, and as being quite as high in character and attainments as could in any reason be expected. But will it be alfvays thus ? Shall we not have to open the door wider yet ? Will a force be put upon us to make us admit into the ranks of our teachers a lower grade yet ? Is it to be with us a taunt as of Israel of old, that of the lowest of the people we make priests to our God ; that we elect into the office of teachers, those who have yet to be taught themselves, on whose teaching the educated portion of the community will look with something approaching contempt, and to whom the unedu- f ■' '-^ 1 ' '^ cated cannot look up, feeling their teachers no better than themselves. Is the age of knowledge and of progress to be the age when the ministers of the Gospel are to bo denied the advantages of knowledge? Is the age of fanciful speculation and of testing as with fire the articles of faith, when assailed by the fallacies of the rationalist or the objections of so called philosophers, to be the age in which the clergy are the last people who are able to grapple with the evil, and leave to the layman, if perchance under such circum- stances one be found, the task of " contending for the faith once delivered to the saints," (Jude 3.) Is the young man who has neither ability nor dilligence to work his way in this stirring country, to be the one who is chosen as a teacher ? Is the elder man who has found other trades fail, from shiftlessness or misconduct, to look to the ministry as that in which he can spend the end of his days, as if there were \?anted no energy, no discretion ? Have we no ambition to retain for ourselves what has for ages been the safeguard and glory of our father-land, an educated and superior order of clergy ; able by precept and example to teach those committed to their charge, the duties, and the deportment of a christian ? Now I do not say that the only way to meet this danger is to add to the sustenance of the clergy, but I do say that it is a most important and absolutely necessary means. Found scholar- ships if you will, they will aid the deserving youth of limited means, they will do a good work in keeping up the intellectual status of your spiritual teachers. Train up your sons for clergymen, and do all you can to help them, if they have any desire for so holy a calling. Tell them of the reward to the faithful steward, and encourage them to seek it. Do all you can to support the other funds which are so vitally necessary to the poor Missionary, the Widows' and Orphans' Fund, the Mission Fund, But above all, as that which will meet the difficulty in the face, and do most to overcome it, support the Sustentation Fund ; increase it and keep it up. u iL!?/^^*^^'^^'^'^^ "'^''^ ^^'^'^ '^"y tiling else tend to draw men into the ranks of the ministry. *u A? T ^T ^>ffic»^l«es to contend with. True that the densely populated and luxurious provinces of Asia Minor and Greece were able without diffi- culty to raise a large fund, even among christians who were not all of the wealthier diss, a fund arger than we can expect or hope to raise. True likewise 13 It now, that we aim not at making a fund so large and provision so ample, as to excite the cupidity of unworthy candidates for the min- stry, (however true it seems to be that too small IS far worse than too liberal support, even as re- gards the character of the clergy, since the toils and privations of a missionary life are of them- selves enough to deter the self-indulgent and «ri?*K ""? • "^'TS °° *^^'^-) True also that among the claims of rival sects and parties, men have arrived at the strange conclusion, that instead of meeting the difficulty they will a^oid it ; that the poor are to preach to themselves ; that in the difficulty of reconciling conflicting claims, no public provision shall be made for the relieiou' ms ruction of the people. Let us meet theS: culty as christians, and as men who feel their privileges as such. Let us try to feel that one of he blessings of being strong, is to be aWeto ♦'bear the infirmities of tho weak," (Rom. xvi ? fumihng the law of Christ, to bear the bu;den of I have spoken to you this evening on the duty tlr^iP^ru ^ ?^ '^'"Sy' ^^^'^"^e the subject is that which has been commended to us as the one which should en-rage our thoughts oa this thanks- «3r T "^"^.""^ ^^° ^"^^^3 tl»e difference WhichGod'smercyinvouchsafinganabundanthar- to .b«w ff,°H"'lV 1 *^i^«0"°try will be anxious to Phew his thankfulness in a real practical way. Consider too that the clergy are those whoE suffered more perhaps than others by the late tllf r'/^'^''./^ ^''' °f ^ ^'^"ll proportion of the slender pittance which the congregation is ^^!fi«.''''J?^; '' '" ?^°y «*««« productive of the greatest distrAnn T,nf n^« :^ -__-i... , -t- i.^i lEv m lionciusion reaa to ; 15 you some of the -wovds with which our venerable Bishop commends this object to our notice, and let those who have so freely received, freely give. "I cannot, on such an occasion, direct their at- tention to a more fitting object for which to be- siow their alms and offerings, on the day of Gen- eral Thanksgiving, than the Sustentation Fund, which, nearly a year ago, was inaugurated in this Diocese. Its object, as my circular at the time stated, is to afford a small stipend to such of the Clergy as have not the benefit of a salary from the Commutation Fund, or from any other source, independent of the voluntary contributions of the Congregations to whom they minister. " About £450 were raised in answer to the ap- peal I then put forth ; and although the sum is not very large, it has, I am happy to say, been made to contribute to the comfort of a very con- siderable number of Clergymen, and to the relief and benefit of many congregations in the Diocese. Under the direction of the Board appointed by me for this purpose, a grant at the rate of £37 10s. per annum has been made to thirteen Clergymen ; — nine from the 1st January last, and four from the 1st July. Care has been taken to distribute these grants as equitably as possible. "Both you and your congregations will share with me, I am sure, the anxiety I feel that these stipends should be kept up ; for the disappoint- ment of those who have been thus assisted would be very grievous if it should be found necessary to reduce them. I hope, however, for even more than this ; and rely upon the liberality of our people on the day of General Thanksgiving, to add to the number of those who shall be benefited from this fund, and even to increase the annual amount of grant to each. •» VVhil3 our congregations in general were last year liberal in their contributions to this good object, I grieve to observe that, in some cases, no collection whatever was made. I should rather give to such the opportunity of retrieving this orror, than auimadvcrt upon it in the manner it deserves. I cannot but feel a confidence that, f 16 upon the occasion of our General Thanksgiving, all mil be forward and generous in the fulfilment of so important and so bounden a duty. All I feel assured, -will try to «hew that thankfulness for the recent bounties of a gracious Providence, m the very abundant harvest the country has been permitted to enjoy, are not words of course, but the expression of a really grateful heart." One word in conclusion— Do not think I wish you to set one object of good pre-eminently above another—that I wish to undervalue the work that ought to be done to aid your ministers for Jesus' sake, not only by money, but by the oflFering of prayer and supplication that wisdom and utter- ance, and zeal and love may be granted them. Nor again, that I ask you to do less for the other funds in connexion with the Church Society than you do now. But I put it to you as men, I put it to you ask- ing you to put yourselves in the labourer's place : would you not think that as men you ought to be paid for your work, that you had a right to receive your Aire, that you would gladly provide for those near and dear to you, as other men do, by dili- gence, economy, and care. Would you not think It hard to work like a slave without pay, and leave others dependent as paupers on the alms of their neighbours. In short, may I not commend ?J°^ ,^^*^ confidence the words of the text, "the labourer is worthy of his hire."