The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-03-25

Ichuci5 VI LILO pSAhOAipi "N w
friends throughout the country to send
81 cash for the Payment of his church
debt had been very generously respond
ed to- and he was receiving letters from
all parts Of the country. All the letters
had been acknowledged by himself and
the treasurer of the church. Following
is report of his sermon;
sUBJECT-THB PoUTINd SON.
TExT-Luke 1928 HE was angry and
would not go in"
Many times have l been asked why l
never preach on the elder son Of the
great parable. All OF us ministers are
accustomed to pursue the younger son.
You can hear his rags hap in many a
sermonic breeze, and the sound Of the
branching pods, for which he is an un'
successful contestant. But / confess
never until to-day could | train the cam
era obscura upon the elder son. I could
not get a good negative for the photo.
graph. The light in the gallery was not
sufficient, or the chemicals were defeC.
tive, or the subject moved in the picture,
l believe l have him now, not side
face, or three. quarter or bust, but a
full length portrait as he appears to me-
The father in the text had not much to
brag of in his boys. The one was rake
and the other churl. Some like one
the best, and some the other, but l like
neither. There is nothing chlvalriC in
the dissoluteness Of the one, nothing no.
BILE in the acrid sobriety of the other.
The one goes down over the starpoard
side, and the other goes down over the
larboard side.
From all the windows of the old home
bursts the minstrelsy. The floor quakes
with the feet of the rustics, whose mo.
tions are always vigorous and resound.
ing. The neighbors had heard of the
arrival of the young adyenturer, and had
come to greet him. l think the house
was crowded with congratulators. The
table must have been loaded, and the
one kind of meat announced must have
had its concommittanCe. Clap go the
Cymbals, thrum go the harps, click 90
the chalices, and up and down to the
feet indoors, while there is sorry spec.
taCle outdoors. The older son stands
there q frigid phlegmatiC; he had just
returned from the fields in substantial
garb. He sees the wild excitement
about the mansion, and asks the servant
who ia fastening by with a goat.skin of
wine on his shoulder what all the fuss is
about. When told his brother had got
back, you would have thought he would
have rushed in to see him, and, If not
Conscientiously opposed to dancing, have
Joined in the Oriental SCottisChe. No,
his brow lowers; his face darkens; his
lips curl, and he stamps the earth in in.
dignation The odors Of the feast which
came out on the air do not sharpen his
appetite, nor does the lively music put
spring into his step. The old father goes
out, bareheaded, to coax him in; but the
son sColds and SCOTS. He Gays: "Fath
or, you put Q premium on vagabondsm.
You never gave me party. have
been at home and worked, and this boy
went off with good clothes, and came
back not fit to be seen.
Oh, what time you make over him.
He breaks your heart and you pay him
for it. That calf to which we had heen
giving extra feed would not be so nice
and fat, if l had known this. Veal is
too good for him. That night, after the
guests had gone, and the son sat telling
where he had been and what he had
seen, and asking what had occurred dur.
ing his absence, the elder son went to
bed disgusted, and slammed the door
after him. The elder son still lives. You
may see him almost every Sunday, yea,
every day of the week. At meeting of
ministers in Germany some one asked
who was the elder son of the parable?
answered. IL know him
very well. l met him yesterday" And
when asked who he meant, he answered
Myself. When yesterday heard of
the salvation of very obnoxious man,
felt irritated." Like other self-righteous
people, he was full Of faults; he was an
migrate; not appreciative of the home
blessings he had enjoyed-for he says
the younger son had devoured his faith.
er's living; yet the father had the home
and cattle and all things left; and the
son instead of being a pauper was
prince. The only perfect people l have
ever found have been utterly obnoxious.
| was never 80 badly cheated in my life |
as by perfect man. he had got clear
up in his devotions, until he was above |
the rules of common honesty. When |
men go TO prayer.meetings and places OF
business, telling how good they are, you
had better keep your hand on your pock.
OF boks. The more genuinely good
man gets, the more humble he is. The
Mississippi river makes less noise than
The brawling mountain rivulet. There
are stores and shops that have more in
q shoW-window than they have on the
shelves. This senior brother stood hug
ging himself at the corner of the house.
We hear much nowadays about higher
life. There are two kinds Of higher life |
One is admirable, the other disgusting.
The one makes man more charitable for
the faults of others; talks little Of him
self and more of Christ and heaven; he
does not bore prayer.meetings with long
prayers, becomes more lovable and kind
and useful, until some day his soul puts
out wing and scars away to eternal rest
The other higher life man carries Bible
under hisarm conspiCuously, INDUCES in
self aCulations; is nuisance to his own
pastor when at home and 10 other pss-
tors when abroad. When addressing re.
ligiOus meetings, talks patronizingly as
though ordinary Christians were beneath
him; that he had to shout at the TOP of
his voice to make them hear, but still
encouraging them to hope that If they
continue to climb, they may some day
get sight of the place where he now is.
A roaring, registering, bouncing sinner is
not so offensive TO me as that higher.life
malformation. For the former there is
hope Of repentance, but for the latter
there iasno hope, for never knew one
Of them to give up his Phariseeism. The
DfOdiQal son saw hia faultg and came