146 Twenty-Eighth Annual Commencement
A list of the parables emphasizing the supreme worth of
personality would include: The Two Debtors, The Un-
merciful Servant, The Unjust Steward, The Rich Man and
the Beggar, The Good Samaritan, The Friend at Midnight,
The Importunate Widow, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Son,
The Last Judgment. In all of these parables Jesus is saying,
Human personality is the thing of supreme worth.
If we turn to the miracles we discover that the vast major-
ity were in behalf of handicapped personalities, personalities
that we too frequently have passed by even though we pro-
fessed to be trying to do what Jesus was trying to do, viz.,
bring the Kingdom of God near to men.
If these teachings of Jesus have any meaning for our day,
He is pleading with us that in the foundation of the new
house in which more than two billion people are to live, we
shall give large place to the supreme worth of human per-
sonality. The needs and rights of the underprivileged in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America must come before the
claims of empire or nations or class; else we are building a
house whose foundations are of sand, a house that cannot
stand against the rains, floods, and winds of tomorrow. The
underprivileged people of the world are on the march. On
their banners are inscribed the words, “We demand to be
treated as persons.”
We shall mention one other word of Jesus that would be
rock in the foundation of our new house, and that is His
word concerning the unity of mankind.
IV. HIS WORD CONCERNING THE UNITY OF MANKIND
What more convincing illustration can we find than in the
prayer He taught His disciples. We are to begin our prayer
by saying, “Our Father.” We are to pray, “Give us our daily
bread.” We are to continue by seeking deliverance from our
sins, and our temptations and the evil that confronts us.