Answer to Confession – Sunday, May 19, 1940
The world scene which lies before us, and those events of the past quarter century which have led up to it, have cause the spread of cynicism and unbelief. In all nations and among all peoples we find the question rising – Why would an All-wise and just and merciful God permit such events to transpire? Failing to find the answer that brings peace to their troubled hearts, men, ‘in increasing numbers, lose faith and hope and understanding, and cry out in the bitterness against a Providence, the existence of whom they deny.
Let answer here be made to all who find themselves in such skepticism and confusion: One of the first and most far reaching principles of all the scheme of life is the free agency of man. It was so in the heavens before time began and shall continue to be so worlds without end. In other words, the Lord God, our Father In Heaven, does not force men to be good. If He did, there would be no reward for being good, and no development would come therefrom. Take note of the child whose parents make all decisions for him and who do not permit him any freedom, any choice, any independent development. Men grow by doing even though they make mistakes – and they do not grow by being forced into someone else’s mold, nor by being coerced to exemplary behavior. And so the Lord God gives men commandments – rules of life – principles – guides for conduct, and it is given unto each man to determine to what extent he will live by those rules. That these fundamentals have been largely ignored, the present world scene eloquently testifies, but it cannot be charged to the Lord our Creator. It is of our own making – us, and our fathers, and our neighbors throughout all the world.
How long it will be permitted to continue, no man knows, but of this we may be sure – the innocent who suffer with the guilty will not be forgotten; the Lord, God, is able in His own time, to overrule all things for good; the words of all of the prophets will yet be fulfilled; and when man’s cup of iniquity is full, and his heart can no longer distinguish between right and wrong, or good and evil, the consummation of all things will be at hand, the Savior’s reign of righteousness will be ushered in, each man will be dealt with according to his deeds in the flesh, and there will be a new Heaven and a new earth as John beheld on Patmos, In the meantime, the righteous need never fear, but must endure to the end – but it shall not be well with the wicked.
The world has seen many dark days before this, but however long and however deep the distress and however profound and seemingly impenetrable the ignorance and wickedness, truth and enlightenment have always emerged – and that is our peace-giving trust and our immovable conviction. The song with which the choir closes harks to one such time and is often called the chorale of the Reformation. We hear the Chorale and Finale from the “Meistersingers” by Richard Wagner “Awake, the dawn of day is breaking,”
May 19, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,561