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GUARDING OUR SUNDAY .Substance of the Address given by the Rev. S. W. McKibbin in the 2CH Forum of the Air, Wavcrley Methodist Church, March 20, 1949One of the facts emerging from the current controversies on the Sunday question throughout Australia is the discovery that a very large proportion of people who oppose any attempt to fix the Continental Sunday on this nation do not regard themselves as strict Sabbatarians, nor would they make much profession of religion. Indeed some of the interpretations of Sunday observance by the Churches perplex and puzzle them. Nevertheless, they are deeply aware that Sunday contains values which are basic to the welfare of the nation as a whole, and are convinced that the loss of it would be a tragedy of the first magnitude. This surprise has been as pleasant to defenders of Sunday as it has been unpleasant to those who want to change the nature of the day for their own whims or private ends. Comparatively recently, by a community vote, despite the strong effort of Sunday iconoclasts, the Greater Newcastle Municipality twice turned down a proposal to open public parks and playgrounds for organised Sunday sport. More recently still, in Sydney, determined pressure groups of sporting bodies and their friends received a definite rebuff because they failed to convince a sufficient number of Labour and Reform Aldermen on the City Council, and particularly, an evidently strong-minded Lord Mayor, that the innovation of commercialised sport on the Lord’s Day would be a very good thing either for sport or for the community.All this confirms the view that the time has come in the history of our land for a Round Table Conference of Church Leaders from every Church, together with representatives of great public bodies and men of goodwill to take measures to educate and stiffen public opinion in an endeavour to save Sunday from becoming just another weekly holiday. This would not be regarded as a spiritual standard for Sabbath Observance for anybody. It would be an attempt, however, to establish a norm of Public thinking and conduct to help safeguard many of the sanctions which the day holds. Sunday is not only a time of great spiritual opportunity for thousands whom it inspires and uplifts, it is a social institution also which preserves values fundamental to the life of the nation. An understanding public opinion should seek to protect it from destruction, and place safeguards around it in much the same way as we would put a strong fence around a beautiful and valuable park to save it from spoliation. The Church through the ages has been given the responsibility of safeguarding Sunday, and that responsibility is upon her now. I think, therefore, she has a right to remind the average citizen of the importance of this task, and to call upon him to consider his share in it. There should be a far greater appreciation of her attitude, and an expectation that she will never shirk her task despite all the criticism levelled against her by the unenlightened, the indifferent, and the self-interested.REST PERIODSThink, for instance, of the problem of guarding the people’s rest period. I recall years ago the time when the Unions of Newcastle actually made pleas the Churches to help them in their fight against being compelled bv a certain great enterprise to work on Sunday for ordinarv pay. It was recognised, of course, that a certain amount of work must go on, but if employers of necessity made inroads upon the workers’ weekly rest, then they should be obliged to make greater compensation. The Churches quickly responded—and with success. But if the Churches frown upon employers who would rob the workers of their weekly rest, they are equally entitled to sharplv criticise and expose those workers who would rob their fellow-workers of Sunday rest not for production, but for their own selfish amusement and pleasure, for the benefit of professional players who seek large gates, and for bookmakers who ‘cash in big' on the occasion. There should be a more determined backing of the Churches by equal-minded people when they insist that on Sunday the weekly burden shall be lifted as much as possible from the toilers; that the “sound of grinding shall become low, and the hum of industry cease”.—to afford a chance for the human body and mind to acquire new strength for the tasks of life.FREEDOM TO WORSHIPThe Church wants real freedom to worship and teach also. The issues of worship and religious training of children are too vital for the nation be assassinated by selfish interests. Some time ago my friend. Rev. Gordon Smee. told me that 98% of the children passing through the Children's Court came from homes with no religious background at all. There is almost an entire absence of Sunday school children from the world of child delinquency. Yet Sunday sport is destroying our Sunday schools. We had better underline this: Sunday sport and Sunday schools don't go together.And this also: it is the non-church-going element which is responsible for juvenile crime. The community ignores facts like this to its undoing.Lastly, the tremendous value to citizenship which arises from the character of people who use Sunday worship to re-kindle faith and to clarify their vision of eternal things, is a social phenomenon which has long been remarked upon by historians. It is a tragedy when otherwise intelligent people treat lightly those competitive elements of all kinds which cut across the stated hours of worship, and make it increasingly difficult for men and women to throw back the noise and confusion of our resounding world in order to listen to the deep undertones of life.Just this little story and I am finished. A Rector was going to Church one morning when he met two men laden with golf sticks. “What, gentlemen,” he said, “not worshipping God this morning? They were frank and honest enough not to say, “Oh, we can wrorship Him in the open, you know.” They said instead, “Well, to tell you the truth, Padre, we did think of going to Church, but were undecided. So we resolved to toss up. Heads we go to Church, tails we play golf. You know, Padre, we had to toss sixteen times before she came down tails!” Quite funny, I admit, and it tickled me when I heard it first. But actually it is just another of those little comic interludes which, when multiplied, change their nature and help to bring about what is becoming one of the major tragedies of modem times—the loss of Sunday—at the very time a worried and nerve-racked -world needs its healing and re-invigorating ministries most.ALTERNATIVESAt the Forum at which Mr. McKibbin spoke the Rev. Alan Walker handed him a question from a listener which ran as follows: “Would you not say it was better for young people to play organised sport on Sunday than to hang round street corners?” Mr. McKibbin replied: “It is really amusing how some people believe that they are justified in doing a wrong thing on the score that if they did not do that wrong thing they would probably do something worse. Of course the solution of the problem is that they should do something better, not something worse.This week we had a wedding at our home. A very dear old friend of ours volunteered to guard some valuable presents for the afternoon. He probably went to sleep while we were away at the breakfast. Let us suppose that a burglar has broken in, and made off with most of the valuable presents. He is soon caught and brought to the Magistrate. The case is proved against him. Indeed he quite cheerfully admits his guilt. Everybody, naturally, is waiting to hear what the sentence is, and the Magistrate begins: “Prisoner at the Bar, you have been found guilty of stealing valuable presents. There are some benighted people here who think that you should receive a fairly severe sentence, but so far as I am concerned I have a different idea of it all. I want to congratulate you upon your moderation and forbearance. You certainly did steal presents when the old gentleman was asleep; but it does not seem to appeal to these benighted people that you could have done a very much worse thing— you could have murdered him.—but you did not. I have much pleasure, therefore, in saying you are acquitted, and you will receive £5 out of consolidated revenue for your enterprise and virtue.The sustained laughter and applause made it clear that the answer had gone home.
Newspaper Details
Sydney Methodist
Sydney, New South Wales, AU
Sat, Apr 23, 1949
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Andrew S.
AU 23 Aug 2021
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