Possessions long distant ages, man himself' was the hedge defending his property. He stood in the cave mouth, and with club or naked hands des troyed those who tried to break in, Then as a nation men settled down to peaceful agriculture behind the protection of an army. They built} them hedges round their fields and gardens, flimsy things a child might break through. But the hedge was not the simple obstacle it seemed. For behind it lay a great power, strong enough to break or rend the, man who deliberately tried to brea the, hedge. It was the power of the Law. So the strength lay, not in the hedge, but the serpent' lurking there to bite. And that serpent, the Law is so strong and so deadly, because it is the creation of thousands and millions of hedge-builders who will not have their hedges. broken without 1g out punish ment to the culprit. Even David, l-powerful king of Israel, was not above this law. He broke through in his neighbour's hedge and stole. He lost his people's love, his son, his God's support, and was humbled to the dust, God has given free-will to man, to make or mar this world. When the majority of men decide that to prohibit a thing, or demand a thing being done is good for men, that law. What right has one jo Or satisfy his desires at man to put his will before the ma.
expense? Periodically, men or groups of men try to break down the hedges we have made to protect ourselves. But always they find that the serpent is there, to them. indulge in, without penalty from the Jaw. 'There are always mien. and women who are ready and willing to overstep the limit' and. trample Jon the flower beds of lite, Hence the
pent lurking there, the bitter tongue hedges of convention sind the Public. Opinion which can last into misery even the innocent, unconventional, The difference bes tween the savage and the civ lized shan is the one of hedges," East Step from. savagery wes, a new hedge depriving ws, perhaps, of certain amount of personal liberty, ut keeping away s0 much more pleasantness, trouble, or intrusion, break down these hedges. rias would turn the world into a bears garden, In his life day by day Jas" regards. the conventions the edge-bronker nds the text rue.
3. Spiritual Hedges 4 Christian and. Hopeful, in}telis us, found their feet' tired and sore from marching on the hard and dusty highroad. So they were fine ally tempted to ease them by walla ing. barefoot in the cool grass of tha forbidden meadows, Sver the hedge, There they were caught by Gland Despair, and imprisoned in Doubt ing Castle. Glad they were to ged back again, over the hedge, the road, it's never very easy find the high-rond of life, having once abandoned it spiritual hodges, when we. go meee 'Sin' is merely the breaking of
ing those things forbidden us, og not good for our body, or mind, soul. No man can break those hedge without feeling the bite of the serpent. We all suffer in thig world, in some way, the consequent, ces of our sins. As Isaiah says, We all do fade as a leaf, and og, {niqulties, like the mind, have cars There is nothing 84 soul-searing, so withering, aa tinued sin.. Every time we sin, bring to life a serpent that or later will turn and bite us, "Howe ever secret or cunning we are, inh alveated bod, warped mind, or frat foa ured soul, the bite of the se
Most of us are impatient. soma times with the restrictions laid us, We have the spirit of dis obedience in us, and the sense. of adventure that makes. tis want find out for ourselves the taste the forbidden fruit. And like Adam, suffer for it." Sometimes tha dividing Tine between lawful and forbidden is so vague that. we cun! not say for certain which is which [John Wesley's mother gave her sent good test. "Would you judge of and unlawfulness of said, "then take Whatever weakens yang reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures yous Sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things, that is sin td, 2. The Hedge of Convention, oF
Btiquette The old gardener who cared for the terraces and gardens at Versailles was plagued by courtiers trampling over his newly planted flower-beds. Time after time this happened, and the seedlings destroyed. So he went to Louis XIV and told him the sad story. The king sympathize ed with the old man, and gave orders that labels should be placed along the edges of the beds warning people not to tread there—"Keep off the grass" notices! word for such a and from this nce of the word for a set of rules of conduct, rules "warning us" off" dangerous or forbidden ground—tickets of warning—conventions.
Many people have questioned the 1 value or advantage of cons. But in the first place, there must be some unwritten laws! to preserve the sanctity of the Ihoine, the cleanness, of our everyday life, the, amenities of society, fand to deal with all the minor, yn-pleasantnesses men and wonien can!
The Act of Jesus Jesus said that not one jot or and must pass from the law—thatt the hedges must not be, broken and yet He was the greatest breaker off hedges the world has known, He. healed on the Sabbath—broke the, law, He dined with a publican, He spoke with Samaritans, He dise regarded the elaborate forms and'
nals superimposed by the" Pharisees and their kind upon! the Temple service. Ie deliberately' broke the conventions—these een ions. Why?
Because these were not protce+ tions, but hindrances, not hedge, along the way, but obstacles across it, The hedges men build through prejudice, pride and scorn born of social position, empty ceremonial jeustom, and s0 on, these keep man from man, and man from God, Jesus says "Smash them.
But docs not His act si tensify the warning raga other hedges? He shows tha hedges we may—we must break down. The others are necessary Beware!—"Who. 50 breaketh an" hedge, a serpent shall bite him." e
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.