Chapter 7: Are You Saved From Sin?
That night, the whole of District 12 - including Katniss - was gathered at the Church to hear Reverend Hawthorne's sermon. The choir was enthusiastically singing the first hymn.
Are you saved from sin, ready to meet your Lord?
Has his blood made you free from the avenging sword?
Get down upon your knees, accept the saving grace!
Are you ready to meet your Saviour face to face?
Free from sin, yes Lord! Free from sin am I
And I'm going to meet him with the saints on high.
Upon the hymn's conclusion, Hawthorne slapped his hand down on the pulpit, signaling the start of his sermon.
"I ain't gonna take no text tonight," he began. "And I ain't gonna preach no regular sermon. The Lord spoke to me this afternoon and he said, 'Hawthorne, there's gonna be a lot of lost souls at that meeting tonight - don't take no text. I'll put the words in your mouth! So lay down your Bible and speak through me. So, the Lord spoke to me this afternoon, and that's what I aim to do! I want to see the biggest baptism yet tomorrow evening, when we gather at the usual place at sundown!"
"Amen, amen, grant it Lord, grant it Lord!" the Elders intoned.
Hawthorne then gave a fire and brimstone speech:
"I'm fixing to tell ya 'bout a feller I know what was young and smart and rich, 'cept he never put much thought on his poor lost soul, or where he'd spend eternity. One time when I was preaching in Seven, I was called to his home one night, and there he lay there all sweating with his eyes all staring with fright. He grabbed me by the hand and said 'They tell me I'm a dying man, and I might not get through the night. It seems my poor heart's done run out too soon and I wanna make everything right. I ain't lived such a bad life – I ain't drank nor smoke nor swore. But I'm all afeared of dying – I'm sure this something more!'" Hawthorne paused impressively. "Well, there was, brethren and sistern, there was. He weren't saved – that was it! And he died that night, plum scared to death and his soul went to eternal fire. Now there's many of you this very night what's in the same fix as this poor man. Where will your soul be tonight, if you was suddenly took away? Where will you spend eternity?! With the saints of the Lord that surrounds his throne, or down below where there's screaming and wailing and gnashing of teeth? Down in the bottomless pit where they holler for water to ease parched tongues and there ain't none to be had? Is that where you'd be?! Is that where you'd be?!" Hawthorne, whose voice by now had almost reached a feverish pitch, calmed - even as his congregation remained hanging on his every word. "Yes, my brethren, you'd better think on it. There ain't a one of us what couldn't be took at any time. Not one of us – and I'm including myself! Are you prepared? When they open them judgement books up there, which side of the page will you be on? Tonight ain't too soon, and tomorrow might be too late. Tomorrow might be too late." His eyes fixed on Katniss as he delivered the last lines.
"Now, while the congregation sings another hymn, I want all those souls that need saving to meet God and I here at the altar."
The choir began their hymn:
Come, sinner, tonight's the night
To take a stand for God and the right.
Cast Satan out, regain your sight.
Come, sinner, tonight's the night.
Come, sinner, salvation is free
A gift from God on Calvary.
That cross it sheds redeeming light.
Don't tarry, sinner, tonight's the night.
Come, yes, come, and meet him here.
Be washed in the blood that was bought so dear.
Don't wait till darkness turns into light.
Come, sinner, tonight's the night.
During the hymn, many parishioners did obey Hawthorne's entreaty, but Katniss was not among them. Hawthorne and everyone else noted this, and it made the preacher call more desperately for others as the hymn became more frenzied. The song ended, but Katniss had still not budged from her seat in the back. Hawthorne decided to call on Katniss directly.
"There's one in our midst tonight who pays no mind to the wooing of God in her heart! I've wrestled with the devil for her soul and prayed that she'd accept the saving grace of the lamb! That she'd put aside her sinful and shameful ways - and still she don't heed my pleading!" Hawthorne now looked at Katniss directly and implored her: "Give over, sister, while the congregation sings one more verse. Publicly confess your sins and ask forgiveness of the Lord and these good people here tonight."
Another verse of Come Sinner was initiated - and as it progressed, a change seemed to come about the whole congregation. Katniss stared right into Hawthorne's eyes, then - almost as if in a trance - she stood and began to walk down the aisle toward the altar, toward him. Hawthorne, his arms splayed wide, gave a triumphant smile. The congregation became more frenzied, indeed more demonic, directly begging Katniss as she approached Hawthorne. Just when she was mere feet from the preacher, Katniss snapped out of her trance.
"NO! NO! NO!" she wailed and she ran out of the church. Hawthorne stared after her, stunned that she had resisted his siren call. Barely holding in his anger, he bellowed to the rest of the congregation:
"Receive the benediction! The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord make his face to shine upon you! The Lord be gracious unto you and give you peace!"
A/N: The preacher's sermon (commonly called "I'm fixing to tell ya") is a magnificent aria. Look up 'Olin Blitch's revival aria and you can get several hits on YouTube; Olin Blitch is the character on which Gale's persona is based.