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(a
Sermon, For Passover 5604.)
O
Thou exalted and holy One, who dwellest with those who are humble in
spirit, who art in the midst of the righteous though they be the lowly
of the earth! we beseech Thee to let thy presence dwell in the
assemblies of thy heritage, the people whom Thou didst redeem unto thy
own glory and praise, that they may be full of thy knowledge and be a
guiding star to the sons of man, leading them in lowly sincerity to the
footstool of thy glorious majesty. O give us thy countenance which is
the only light unto salvation, and strengthen us that we may be firm in
action when we pursue righteousness, and unwavering in resistance when
temptation may threaten to allure us unto the path of sin. Be Thou
our Stay and Teacher, our God and our Refuge of defence; that we may be
able to live according to thy will, and be accounted worthy subjects in
thy eternal kingdom on the day Thou sittest as the Refiner of silver,
and purifiest the house of Levi like silver and like gold, when Thou
wilt call unto Thyself those who are truly Thine, to abide in thy
presence, even as the stars for everlasting, in deathless joy, in
unchanging holiness. May this be thy will, O our God and Redeemer, even
for thy own name's sale which is fearful among nations. Amen!
Brethren!
When
we cast our eyes abroad and behold the thousand ills which beset our
course from our first entrance into the world till we leave it; when we
consider that naked were we ushered into earthly life and naked must we
descend to the tomb: the mournful reflection forces itself unbidden into
our mind that we were born for trouble and tribulation, and that life
has not sufficient charms to compensate us for the multitude of
vexations to which we are constantly subject. Let us begin any walk of
life, any scientific pursuit, any mercantile speculation—and let our
plans be ever so well laid, let our experience and forethought be ever
so matured: some unforeseen disappointment, some occurrence against
which we had no means of guarding will frustrate our efforts at the very
moment when we believe ourselves at the point of succeeding. And even
let us succeed; no sooner is our end gained, than we are tired of the
success for which we have been toiling perhaps for years; fruition
destroys, almost invariably, the excessive joy of anticipation; for all
earthly things look larger when "distance lends enchantment to the
view," than when a close proximity enables us to examine and to
define their exact proportions.—Ask the man of wealth, who has been
toiling for half a century to amass gold and precious stones, to fill
his warehouses with the produce of the farthest India and the spices of
the Eastern isles; whose ships come freighted with the fat of the
monsters of the deep, and the peltry of the denizens of the forest;
whose houses and possessions are scattered in town and country: ask him,
whether his desires are gratified, whether the longings of his heart are
stilled, now, when he surveys his vast substance, to any greater degree
than when he left his father's house, where poverty and an humble lot
were his, to court the smiles of fickle fortune in a distant land. Then
he was restless to remove the inconvenience of an humble lot, to
overcome the pressure of poverty; and now, he feels the cares of
accumulated wealth, he fears to lose his hard earnings, he fancies that
he must amass yet more to preserve the fruits of his labour; and were it
even that he be content, he feels the langour of indolence, the want of
something to do to occupy his leisure hours; he is now too old to enjoy,
and still he cannot busy himself more with those darling schemes which
filled up all the moments of his younger years. Is such a one absolutely
happier, because he has wealth? Yes, he may boast of his acquisitions,
he may bless himself in his heart, because he has succeeded where so
many failed; he may ascribe to his own genius that he has extended
substance, and heaps of gold, and herds and flocks that cover the plain
and mountain, and ships that whiten the ocean with their sails; but
inwardly he feels the sting, the unsatisfied craving for something which
neither wealth nor success can supply; because peace is not resulting
from a pursuit where every thing is made to yield to one absorbing
controlling thought.
Still
this is the nature of man, not that he is, what may be termed,
avaricious—that is, overfond of acquiring; but that he is endowed with
an irrepressible restlessness which is not satisfied whilst there is
something attainable yet unattained. The God who made him, endowed him
among other impulses with that peculiar sensation, which will always
incite him to action, to thought, and make him desire for a change of
some sort,—for a variety which a uniform pursuit, a uniform success,
and uniform series of enjoyments could never satisfactorily fill up in
his heart. Man was born for labour, for exertion; these are his natural
elements in which alone he can be said to exist; for indolence and
leisure will always fail to amuse and impart health, as soon as one
feels inaction and want of employment insupportable evils. Man is,
accordingly, placed here to labour, to be busied in some pursuit, which
will demand the sacrifice of his time and bodily energies for its proper
execution; and hence, as soon as he is in possession of something he
ardently craved, and which at one time appeared to be the height of his
desire or ambition: he sees another thing, or he feels the necessity for
some new acquisition, which has now become equally necessary for his
happiness as the things which he craved hitherto and which are now
within his possession.
But
mere worldly objects, call them wealth, power, or enjoyment, are so
unsubstantial in their nature that, possess them in their utmost extent,
you will still find that they have supplied not one of the desires for
which your soul craves, for which she feels that she ought to be active.
We do not wish to inculcate that there is any wrong in the idea of
labouring for wealth or power, to enjoy the good things which the
Creator has so bountifully supplied in every part of his creation; for
if this were so He would not have provided substances which we could
possess; He would not have allotted dominion to his favourites over
their fellow-men; He would not have endowed all nature with objects
which administer to our pleasure by delighting the taste, the sight, the
hearing, the smell. It would be derogating from the goodness of the Lord
to presume, that what He has so wisely and skillfully brought forth, were
merely here to deceive and to mislead.
No,
brethren! we may enjoy life, and labour with perfect ease of conscience,
for the obtaining of that which will render us independent of the aid of
others and place us in a situation wherein we may lead and direct others
through our example and precept. But we should take heed that we place
not our reliance for happiness on these things solely; for thus we would
transform the means into the main object of our existence. Only reflect
how unsatisfied the richest man always is; how he fears of losing what
he has amassed; how he labours to build up the fortunes of others after
all his wants are amply satisfied; how he, should he even cease from
labour, finds the unemployed time hang heavily on his hands, because
opportunity for acquiring more fails him, or because increasing
infirmity of age denies him the strength for farther exertion. Only
reflect how many mortifications attend the man of power at the height of
his elevation; how many elements are always at work to pull down what he
so toilsomely builds up; how impotent he is in the hour of sickness or
when death enters his abode. Only reflect how vain are enjoyments; how
the very use of our natural functions, in tasting to overflowing the cup
of pleasure, renders us liable to premature decay; how the eagerness to
live in the gay world destroys the happiness of the hours of solitude
which the most courted, the most feasted individual must pass in his own
chamber however he may endeavour to be always surrounded with those
persons and those appliances which he fancies can alone render life
agreeable.
Were
there even then no future; as some worldlings would gladly persuade
themselves, they would still have cause to look elsewhere than in
worldly pursuits for that something, if it could perchance be
found, would add some true enjoyment to their favourite passion, be this
in the possession of wealth, of power, or of pleasure, which could
sweeten for them the time of old age, of sickness and of solitude, of
those hours, when the pursuit of wealth becomes too burdensome, when
power fails to appease its nominal possessor, when pleasure refuses to
gratify its votary.—But how frightful must be the reflection of all
who are instructed that there is an hereafter, when the agonizing
thought forces itself upon their conviction that all their treasures are
of the earth,— all their power only the fleeting kind which
constitutes earthly dominion,—all their enjoyments only those which
result from animal pleasures! Where are they to seek for that wealth
which is imperishable? for that power which conquers even death? for
that enjoyment which leaves no sting behind? Let them then turn to the
Lord, for He is able to confer this wealth which we ought to desire,
this power which is to sustain our sinking spirit, this pleasure in
things imperishable; and He has provided them abundantly, without stint
or measure as much and more so than those goods which fade whilst we
revel in their contemplation! O there is goodness in store for all who
seek, for all who come! the doors are ready to be opened;—come ye
only, all who are heavily laden, or ye whose step is light, whose
shoulders unburthened!—come all—knock at the gates of mercy, and the
portals will fly open—wide—to receive you, to let you pass unto the
home of peace, of joy, of happiness—even unto the presence of the
Lord, where dwells the light which shines for all, for ever, where is
the life without end, duration unto everlasting.
Full
often have preachers descanted on the subject; many is the time that the
moralist has cried out wo over the worldly delusions which he beholds
around him; but still there is cause to continue the theme, to again
utter that testimony in the hearing of all which the prophets of old
denounced against those who see themselves only amidst the sons of man,
and who live as though to them alone the earth was given. The sin of
selfishness was not witnessed in ancient times alone; the pursuit of
worldly advantages as the chief end of life is not chargeable to the
days of the prophets only; the same defects are witnessed now, man has
not grown wiser as he has advanced in scientific knowledge; and
therefore the warning voice has to be lifted up again, from time to
time, to warn people, to admonish them that their path is not leading
heavenward, that they are defective in a correct apprehension of their
best interests, that they are travelling on the road to perdition. Ay,
the world does not listen, a deaf ear is turned to the voice of
admonition; but what is that to the one who has received a commission to
speak? is he to stand bargaining, as it were, for the amount of success
which he claims as due to his persuasive eloquence, before he will
consent to do the work of his mission? He may indeed feel his own
unworthiness, be conscious how small the gift is which has been
vouchsafed to him; but with whatever defects he may have to contend, be
they inherent in himself, his station, or those among whom he is called
on to labour in the cause, he cannot desist, with any degree of safety
to his own happiness and future salvation, from proclaiming aloud that
he has discovered transgression among those who ought to be faithful,
that wrath is impending, unless the repentance and amendment follow soon
upon the voice of instruction which is uttered aloud in the public
ear.—Ay, who hears? who heeds? A1as the number is small; the words are
spoken, their truth is admitted, but the heart remains unmoved, and the
heedlessness is continued as before, and sin is perversely pursued as
though it were the road of salvation, and the world is purchased at all
risks, at every price, as if it could insure everlasting happiness. And
he who warns his friends of their danger, the physician of the soul who
would gladly snatch the brand from the burning, is denounced for his
boldness, for his unwarranted daring, as men term it, to interfere in
the private concerns of others. But to a moralist, sins publicly
committed are not private affairs; they are poisonous exhalations which,
spreading from the spot where they took their root, carry corruption in
every direction; and it is his province to oppose his strength, feeble
though it be, to arrest the destroyer, or to force him back into his
former limits. But if he should succeed in arousing the attention to the
imminent danger, if he should see the number of the anxious inquirers
after salvation increase: let him not glorify himself at the result of
his labours, as human pride is even in this holy work but too apt to
arrogate to itself undue praise; but let him ascribe the victory to the
Lord of his life, who thought fit to prosper his exertions in the cause
of righteousness.
Let
me therefore admonish you, beloved brethren, though you may perhaps with
justice be able to turn the admonition back on myself, unworthy as I may
be from many errors in my own life to censure others;—let me entreat
you, to weigh well and prayerfully, whether as individuals or as a
community, you do not place too high a value upon the things of this
world, and esteem too lightly the everlasting concerns of the immortal
soul. It has been said by those who are not of our communion, and you
can judge for yourselves whether with truth or not, that we are overfond
of the pursuit of wealth, that in this we lose sight of the higher
principles of an elevated religious conviction; that love for
distinction will lead us to swerve from the path of the law of Israel,
and that desire for imitation will induce us to copy the customs which
are strictly prohibited in the Bible. Unfortunately we cannot deny the
whole of these charges; in fact they are true in every essential; and to
get money, mere money, we have neglected the Sabbaths and festivals of
the Lord's ordaining; we hold temporal distinction of so great value
that many deny their religion in order to secure it; and so much do we
crave to be similar to the gentiles, that we are at times ashamed to
avow our peculiar opinions, and copy in our conduct all the customs and
usages of the world, although in so doing we act counter to the law of
Israel. Such things are daily seen; and a casual observer, who might
know nothing of the deep-seated faith of all Israel, who be ignorant
with how much tenacity the greatest sinner (I am tempted to say) among
us, clings to the main principles of our faith, would be drawn to the
belief that speculative infidelity were becoming every day more
prevalent among us, so little of a healthy religious spirit is
discoverable in our conduct. But it is not speculative infidelity which
is our bane; we are convinced of the truth of our religion, we value it,
in expression at least, as the pure emanation of Divine Wisdom. Our
course, however, may be termed, with the strictest truth, practical
infidelity, or in other words, our actions are in opposition to our
professed opinions; we with our mouth say "we believe," and
our whole conduct is a practical denial of our professions. What use is
there in my believing that the Lord God is one, when the next moment I
join in worship those who gainsay this fundamental truth, and believe in
a plurality of the godhead? What benefit can result from my asserting
that the Sabbath is a sign between God and Israel, when the next moment
I turn around and refuse to abstain from labour, because my resting
might occasion me some pecuniary loss, by so much as abstinence would
withhold from me? What beneficial result can accrue, either to myself or
others, when I admit that the prohibition of certain articles of food is
a wise institution, and of God, when the next moment I let the least
excuse be enough to induce me to partake of what I hold unlawful, or
allow it to be placed upon my table for others to eat, simply because
such things are fashionable, and are put upon the festive boards of
those who are not bound by the law? Independently of such things being
sinful, they are ridiculous, unworthy of a man or woman endowed with the
least share of common sense; for next in importance to doing whatever
God has asked of us from a spirit of filial reverence, it is the duty
required of every person who possesses a sound reason to act
consistently with himself, and to let his conduct be an exponent of his
professed principles. But we modern Jews do not do so. We profess a
sincere belief—and show a heart overflowing with sin. And how
mortifying is it to a sincere Jew to be asked by a simple-minded
gentile, who perhaps knows not how deeply his questions wound the soul,
"How it happens that such persons, who are also Jew, violate the
Sabbath? attend habitually gentile worship? or eat the flesh of the
swine, shell-fish, and other kinds of food which other Jews and the
Bible abominate? What can one answer to such queries? But that the
offenders have not been properly educated, or that they have been so
long absent from the fellowship of Israel, as to become indifferent to
religious observance. But how heart-rending is this confession! Jews
estranged from their God by want of education! loving mammon instead of
eternal life, because they know not that gold is perishable and that
eternity is ever-enduring; that wealth must be left this side of the
grave, whilst sin or righteousness bears fruit to everlasting!
Israelites turn traitors to their faith, because they know not
what the Lord has ordained for his servants; so that they swerve from
the fellowship of Israel and join themselves in worship and conduct with
the nations of the earth! Sons of Abraham so mingled up with the
gentiles, so long absent from the house of God, that they have ceased to
feel any reluctance in partaking of the "flesh of the swine, of the
creeping things, and of the mouse;" so long absent from the house
of their heavenly Father that they feel like strangers when they enter
his sacred courts! And why is all this? why does religion lack its
votaries? Because gold is worshipped! because we bend the knee to the
idol of sensuality! because we feel as though it were a shame to be
known as Jews! O that our brothers, yea our American brothers, our
brothers who belong in name at least to this holy edifice erected and
dedicated to the worship of the one God,—O that they might feel
in its full truth, how unsubstantial all their worldly labours are,
which do not tell to promote the glory of our Sovereign's kingdom! how
utterly worthless are all mere sensual enjoyments over which the spirit of a saving faith does not
preside! O that they might feel the joy of being Israelites, not merely
by descent, a circumstance over which they themselves could have no
control, but in spirit, in thoughts, in words, in action; how would they
then cling to the hopes which have never failed, to the truth which has
never deceived; yes, then would they love that faith which sees the
perfection and end of all things in the wisdom of God from whom we have
sprung; they would then learn to lean upon Him, in all troubles, in all
joys; they would then be glad in his salvation, inasmuch as He ordained
life in the observance of his just precepts; they would then overleap
all barriers which covetousness, worldly pride, unworthy ambition, place
in their way, and bar unto them the outlets of salvation; they would
then be glad to dispense with useless wealth, with senseless pleasures,
with vain strivings, the end of which is sorrow, which lead to
temptation, from temptation to sin, and from sin to endless misery. For
behold! two roads are open to us, the road of life in the law, salvation
through obedience,—and the road of death through sin, condemnation
through refusal to obey. Each of us is placed, every moment he lives, at
the junction of these diverging roads; every moment I say, for we can
enter the path of righteousness whenever we please, though we have
sinned; the road of evil is open to us though to the last hour of our
life we have been pious; we are then placed at the junction of these
diverging roads,—one side presents to us labour, seeking, care, but
the end is life and salvation; the other appears easy, tempting, gay,
but the end is death and misery. The pains, the trials, the solicitude
on the one side are terminated after a brief space, and we awake in an
undying glorious eternity; the ease, the pleasures, the gayeties of the
other are also soon ended, and we pass away and awaken to misery, to
shame, to torment. These are not idle words of a heated fancy, to
frighten the timid and unlearned; they are the ideas which are consonant
both to reason and Scripture, they are the words of alarm which each
should address to his own soul, whenever temptation would threaten to
allure him unto the way of sin. Let each then reflect that ages of
remorse can be purchased by the sinful enjoyment of an hour; so also can
a happy eternity be bought by an hour's triumph over sin; as our wise
men teach יש קונה
עולמו בשעה
אחת "Some one buys his futurity in one hour.''
Were it indeed that we had no means of resisting the evil, that we were
irresistibly drawn by one uniform course of dire necessity, no such
responsibility could with any justice be imposed on us. But there is no
fate which controls our actions for bad or for good, we ourselves
resolve and act, we are free, and as free agents alone are we held
accountable. Children therefore under the control of their parents, men
absolutely ignorant, if any such can be found, (which is hardly
possible,) of the requirements which religion asks, or persons who for
the moment act under an unavoidable necessity, are not held responsible
for the wrong they do; but remove the necessity, let the children become
adults, point out to the ignorant "what the Lord asks of
them," and the full force of obligation is at once established with
regard to them no less than to others; they are warned, and their blood
will be on their own heads if they die in their sin.—And every day the
spirit of God appeals to us through the pages "of the book which He
has written," to remember that we are dust, accountable to Him for
the preservation of the purity of our soul, which we ought to return
pure and unspotted as we received her at his hands. For the soul is the
highest gift of God to his creatures, she is sent hither to work for her
own salvation; she has freedom of will; but above all she is guided by
the revelation of her Creator, she is directed to the road which is
called righteousness by the evident words of Scripture; and she is
petitioned, as it were, by the Spirit of truth: "Choose then life
that thou mayest live." Here then are the duty, means and incentive
placed all together before our eyes; and we are traitors to ourselves if
we suffer the world and its allurements to withdraw us, unto the road of
sin, which has nothing, neither reason nor religion to plead for it, and
which, when pursued with unvarying success to the very end, terminates
abruptly in the death of the body, this all can see, and must conduce to
the condemnation of the soul, as she in this manner comes before the
heavenly tribunal without virtue, without good deeds to plead on her
behalf, before a tribunal where no concealment, no evasion will help the
too late repentant.
"But
why," some one may ask, "are we to follow so many observances
which other religions do not impose upon their votaries?" This
objection can weigh nothing, if viewed by the light of reason upon the
basis of revelation. Look at our origin. When Egypt was a mighty nation,
Jacob came to that land with seventy persons. There we increased
speedily unto a numerous people, and the land was full of us. Anon the
king of that land laid a heavy yoke on us, and we were held in a
hopeless bondage for many years. It was then that the glory of the Lord
made itself manifest; our chains were broken, and we went forth
rejoicing and redeemed, trusting in and upheld by the power of our
Father. We are thus emphatically the ransomed of the Lord, his servants
whom He brought forth from thralldom, and as such we ought of right to be
devoted to his service, willing to follow his guidance, whithersoever He
may lead us. We are not able to penetrate his wisdom, to discover how
the acts of each of us may ultimately bring about the great change for
which all good men look,—one people and one God over all the earth;
but this much every child can see, that the Lord must have some great
purpose to accomplish for which He preserved our nation for so many
centuries. We ought therefore to rejoice that we have obtained the means
to be pleasing unto Him by our conduct, that He vouchsafed to teach us
what it is He wishes us to do; and as Israelites we should hasten to
sacrifice every thing upon the altar of our faith, wealth, distinction,
pleasure, even life itself, to prove that we are not unworthy
individually and collectively of the great salvation which the Lord
wrought for us when He redeemed us from bondage. It is for this reason
that the law often reminds us of our former abject state and says, among
other things:
וזכרת
כי עבד היית
בארץ מצרים
ושמרת ועשית
את החקים
האלה׃ דברים
ט״ז י״ב׃
"And
thou shalt remember that thou hast been a servant in the land of Egypt,
observe therefore and do these ordinances."—Deut. 16. 12.
What
a glorious destiny! To be redeemed from the bondage of cruel men to be
servants of the Most Merciful! To become from an abject degradation the
light of the world. Let us therefore value this glorious redemption; let
us be Israelites as the law demands, true in poverty, faithful in
prosperity, obedient in all things, even in the moments of pleasure;
resisting temptation even if it promise power and distinction. Let then
a lot ever so humble be ours, we shall not require any thing more, we
are upholden by God, his servants, his children, and our reward is sure,
we shall be received by him, to be shielded and guarded in a life
without end, in bliss without measure. Amen.
Nisan
11, (April 3rd,) 5604. |
