A Jewish Sermon

Orville Wright, co-inventor with his brother Wilbur of the first plane to

really fly, was looking at the headlines of a newspaper with David Lefkowitz

a well-known Jewish preacher back in 1918. The headlines told of a terrible

air battle between German and America aces. Orville said, "We thought that

our invention of the heavier-than-air flying machine would advance the

happiness of man, but it has been the swift messenger of death." After a long

pause he went on-"I fear we gave this to mankind before we were ready to

control its use for blessing rather than for a curse; our spiritual and religious

development have lagged behind the fast pace of science." Lefkowitz said

that Orville saw, "The sputtering of the candle of the Lord while the fierce

bright light of science shown across the world."

This is one area where Jews and Christians clearly agree, and that is that

our world has turned away from the spiritual, and it has turned toward the

material. The Jews agree that the world is sick and that man's sin has

polluted the stream of history, and that a return to God is the only cure. In a

sermon on Ezek. 47:12 Lefkowitz said that many have prepared remedies for

the world's sickness, but the only one that will work is the one Ezekiel writes

about. Ezekiel is a prophet who speaks in pictures, and in this chapter he

paints a picture of a river, which gives life, new strength and vitality. It is a

river with the power of regeneration, and what is its secret? Verse 12 reveals

the secret in the phrase, "Because the water flows from the sanctuary."

Lefkowitz says, "In plain words, the prophet Ezekiel feels certain that the ills

of society in his day or any other day can only be cured by spiritual

means-out of the sanctuary."

The Jews recognize that modern man in his quest for power, wealth and

conquest over the forces of nature has ended up spiritually empty. God's

moral law in the universe condemns man to pay a heavy penalty for such

folly. The Jews believed strongly in man's responsibility and in his ability to

fulfill God's will if he chooses. Lefkowitz says of the world's judgments, "It is

not honest thinking to regard these as visitations of God which we are

powerless to prevent. They are clearly of our own making..." If men do not

turn to the sanctuary and stand in the stream of the water flowing from God,

Ezekiel says they will not become fresh and fertile soil, but will become salt.

Israel's history reveals this over and over again. Man is responsible for the

mess he is in. God has a cure, and the task of the Jew, as they see it, is to help

the sick world see its need of God's cure. They feel they are the people that

God is calling to minister to the needs of men, and the poetry they use could

be used as a missionary call in a Christian church.

The voice of God is calling its summons onto men,

As once He called at Zion, so now He calls again.

Whom shall I send to succor my people and their need?

Whom shall I send to shatter the bonds of lust and greed?

We hear, O Lord, Thy summons and answer here are we,

Send us upon Thine errand, let us Thy servants be.

Take us and make us holy; teach us Thy will and way;

Speak, and behold, we answer, "Command and we obey."

This response to the call is the ideal. The real is far different, but

Judaism has high goals. Abraham Caplan in his testimony called Beyond

Humanism says, "The hope of Moses that every Jew become a prophet is

essential to the viability of every religion. Jewish life today is in danger of

being choked by professionalism. We cannot live indefinitely off our

"heritage," no matter how skillfully the capital of the past is managed for us

by others." It is clear that Jews feel the same need as Christians. They feel

that God is the answer. They feel that they are His people to spread the news,

but they feel they are failing because the majority are spectators. Their

proclamation of principles and their problems are very similar to those of

Christians. The great difference is on the person of Christ.

The value of reading Jewish sermons is that it makes you aware of the

rich heritage we have received from them. It makes you realize that the Old

Testament revelation is far more broad and inclusive than we may think.

There is hardly a subject that a Christian can preach on from the New

Testament that cannot be found in the Old Testament. The Jews can match