, 1886-05-30
MR.. BEECHER'S SERMON.
THE ORTHODOXY OF CHRIST SHOWN
IN HIS SYMPATHY.


BROOKLYN, May SD-Rev. Henry Wari
Beecher preached this morning from tho
text Mark viii, 22-25: '.Ani they bring a
blind man unto him, and besought him to
touch him. And hs took the blind man by
the hand, and led him out of the town; and
when he had spit ON his eyes. and put his
hands upon him, he asked him II he saw
ought. AMI he looked up. and said, ! see
men as trees, walking. After that he put
his hands again upon his eyes, and made him
look up: and he was restored and saw every
man clearly"
This, said Mr.. Beecher, was not a single
ease. Christ was accustomed to touch those
that He healed. A personal contact and
intimacy was established.
Thosa that initiate Christ must not omit
this chief charm Of His popularity, namely,
that He humbled Himself. He preached
His doctrines II mself through His person
nifty. 1t went out to the poor. to the crimi-
mails. When the woman of the town
had been melted by the hearing OF His
discourse and the b,holding of His
life, never did virtue seem so beauti-
full to her as when she hal seen
Chris'; never did the befoulment of
purity seem 20 unutterably base as after she
had heard and beheld Christ. Never did her
COINCIDENCE rise TO do its cleansing work so as
when He had been the Heal of the right and
true life. All there was OF womanhood In
her rose up, and irresponsibly and probably
thoughtless, with sp~ontaneity, she came be-
hind Him and bathed His feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hair of her head.
She brought no paraphernalia, no insignia,
nothing; she burst into tears, and as she had
nothing be ter to dry His feet she dried
them with the locks o. her hair. and then
she anointei Him. Did He rebuke heri
E~ar.tAl - ~A..,l III Dr,koIIu liz Hi
ciples did not know what would turn IN.
and they did not know exactly what to say,
but the Pharisecs saw it, and said This
man don't know what sort of n woman He Is
dealing with: He may be called n
prophet, but n prophet would know more
thar that" No, He was not a prophet, but
He was n God, and He never repealed her;
but He read to the host such a lesson of the
want of hospitality and want OF sympathy
as he never forgot.
1t Il characteristic OF His orthodoxy that
it was shown in sympathy for mems sinful
ness. sympathy for their breaking down in
the trie beliefs. 1t went so far that He de-
rlared tina. the want of 1t constituted an
unforgivable crime. Thu thing that brought
The woes and denunciations on the Scribes
and Pharisess was that they used their re-
ligion to separate themselves from the sym
pathy Of their fellow men; to classify them
selves; to pus n cold barrier bet ween them
selves and others; as IL the fundamental
doctrine of orthodoxy had been violated
when th, flow of the heart was check ID. He
died between two thieves; and | sometimes
am afraid that Christ is cruciil ID yet be
tween The two thieve, Of orthodoxy and
propiiety; as when they won't let little
children come together. but for the
sake Of orthodoxy anil regularity, ward them
oil unless they have got the catsch SIN and
the confession by henrt-they are all the
worse Off IL hoy have. This is an allusion
to the Sunday school children,' parade in
Brook YIN next Wednesday, the managers re-
fu lug TO let Universalist and Unitarian
CHI ldren join Men in crowds are lost, be-
cause no one is found to take them by the
hand There is many a man perishes
for the want of the sacred touch.
TIL re is many "A man that is ig-
norant bccnu'a there is none TO take him
by The hand and lead him aside and open his
eyes, holding his hand meanwhile There l.
many IA man dies because no one can take him
by the hnni and lift him out from the swo n
or from the IA sault demoniac.
That which m II heed above everything
aud ab We all Others they neel it who are
furth st from grace and goodnes. What
they neel above everything else is not to
have people ass by them because they are
good and tn So are bal; it is to have SOM
body that can come TO them in their
badness and say; Dear soul, / love
thee; give ms thine hand;' and then, with
tn, IAN that carries the tides Of the
very heart, take them by the hand AMI
lift them mp. That might save multitules.
7 ere are multitudes that might be saved IL
there was somebody that would taxi care of
til m for the 9 eat necessity Of sin and vice
is the want Il somebody to love, and loving,
to Lad tho way, to bslp; aid oh, now
many mn nave been led A faith
full wife, always praying. always gener-
Gus, always patient, going away to
hid, her own anguish, yet holding on, and AS
the dark steps descend the dark way still
calling and holding out the hand OF love and
of hop. BY and by Col gives them to her
and in the Judgment day the testimony will
b., Cory TO God who saved me.
but 1t was by the hand OF my
WIFE, How many children have been saved
by that hanl unclaspable of a mothers love.
How many Ter oas have neeled as a
.oul remedy the touch, the warm
glow and touch OF sympathy and of
love. Men give themselves with all ardor
to men when they save them. And what is
the secret Of n revival OF religion, so far as it
has blessings to IL. 1t is that then the regu-
lnrity Of the church Is disturbed; then it is
that new fac,s, new crowds and new hymns
come, and men throw away all tho old-fash-
toned regu'atinn prophet es, and they go out
to speak with their neighbors; they are them
selves enk ndie l.. and they take hold of men
personally, man and man, and say: Come
with m, and let US go 10 Jesus" The mo-
ment the fountain of sympathy is opened
and kindled, that very moment men begin to
a tho h,tfar .xnU and kaOip 3, ba inclined
to walk in IT, And II there Is somebody to
hold tn 'ir fc,ble steps. or somebody to touch
their eyes twice. they are brought into light
and life, knowledge and JOY.
The pulpit is n good thing, l believe, but
the pulpit, you know. is like a man-of-war
two miles OIL, bo~mbarding, AMI with long
reaching balls. When they hit, they do bust
ness, but they do not hit half SO often rs they
miss. THE foolishne's OF preaching" says
Paul; not the preaching of fooli,hness, but
the foolishncss OF preaching; its irrelevancy.
Though one Of tho be,t things that can be
done at present. but totally irrele-
want so far rs the whole work Is
concerned. The "foolishness OF prea ching"
But. after al, the preaching teaches men
how to go 10 til ,se that are in need of them,
and take them y tho hand-the s~anctity OF
touch, the omnipotence OF t~ouch-that is the
way IN preach ihe Sospel, tnat IL the
way it Is preached in the family,
and that is the reason why the family
is so much h CHER than the community
itself; 1t 10 the mothers touch, the fathers
touch. Even when they perish 1t remains
in the memory. and MS n stove Is warm long
after the fuel has gone out, so the memory OF
love glow LONG n ter the parsons that loved
hay gone out II sight nnl out OF life
All ih ol6gy shout lead men TO a touching
That ttare-t oil Combinations.
True delicacy of flavor with true efficacy