BACCALAUREATE SERMONS SERMON I, 1886 INDIVIDUALITY Then I consulted with myself.- Nehemiah 5: 7. HE condition of things in Jerusalem at this time. THE was already ominous and daily growing worse. In meeting the common danger from foes without, attention had been withdrawn from another danger that was silently, yet rapidly developing within. There were inequalities and oppressions. The rich were taking advantage of the necessities of the poor. Lands were mortgaged and children were sold into bondage. The rich were growing richer and the poor were getting poorer. The pangs of poverty were keenly felt and there was despair of any immediate improvement of their condition. At length a cry arose, a wail of agony and an appeal for redress. There were many notes of complaint yet they were all of one strain. There was an outcry of men and women who were in straits to get bread, who could hardly solve the problem of mere living, who were tearfully parting with everything they held dear to keep soul and body together. If not a bread-riot, it was like the muttering that presages such a storm of human passion. The elements were marshalling for a serious disturbance of the peace and prosperity of the community of which Nehemiah was the head. Well was it that such a large-hearted, self-poised, resolute man was at the helm of affairs or his enterprise might have been shipwrecked on the very verge of suc cess. Nehemiah was indignant. His strong nature roused by the unbrotherly conduct of the wealthy Jews. His own simple statement is "I was very angry.' His whole soul was moved by a deep and intense resentment against the wrong that was done which constrained him to rebuke the wrong-doers. He did not however lose his balance and rush headlong into unwise contention. With equal self-control he adjusted himself to the situation. "Then I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers." He did not take counsel of his clique or club or order. He did not watch to discover what way the prevailing winds were blowing. He had not surrendered his manhood to the keeping of others, be they many or few and therefore when the exigency arose he says "I consulted with myself." Perhaps the example of Nehemiah may emphasize a lesson or two worth learning for those who are just pushing out from the shore with the oars in their own hands. I. Nehemiah's soul was in his own keeping. Personality has been described as "that in man which enables him to say I." Not only can he be distinguished but he distinguishes himself from every other. In a subdued sense that line of Wordsworth might be spoken of every human being - Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart. There is that in each of us which no other shares. It belongs to one alone - it constitutes him what he is. If we have a personality of the same nature as that of others, which we may recognize in them as well as in ourselves, it is none the less true that we are separated from one another by the whole breadth of being. We are conscious of self as existing apart from every other and give expression to the fact in our common modes of speech "I" and "Thou" and "He" or "She." But not only are we distinct from each other as per as sons, but we are diverse from each other as individuals. There are peculiarities of form and feature, of intellect, sensibilities and will that make each of us differ from every other. When we call one thinker, another a philanthropist, another a hero, we are a poet; another a simply labeling them so as to set forth their prominent individual characteristics. You think over your sociates in class and hall and you say of one "He is a keen observer," of another "He has a wonderful memory," of another He will have his own way," of another" He is the soul of honor." You say of one "She has a brilliant imagination," of another, "She has more intellect than she gives herself credit for," of another, "Her cheerful honest face was a perpetual benediction," of another, "She was reverent toward God and every sacred thing." But what is the meaning of these statements? What but this that these are the impressions of their individual characters that have been stamped upon you by your association with them, while similar impressions of your individual character have been fastened in their minds by the fellowship of months and years. But why has the Creator thus set us apart from one another and given us such diverse endowments? Is it not to make monotony impossible? Is not our individuality given us as a charge to keep? Let it not be surrendered at the bidding of any, nor stolen away while we sleep. We but serve our common humanity when we hold our rightful God-given place, when we fill up the deficiencies of one another by using the powers which God has given in the field which God has assigned. There is a proper assertion of one's individuality and of this Nehemiah gives us a right noble example. Sensible of the responsibility of his high position and conscious of his own powers he “consulted with himself” how he should act in this trying hour. He belonged to himself and had not submitted himself to the keeping of another. |