The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-04-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Thirteenth Discourse Of the Series
ON "The Marriage Ring"

Ehirteenth Discourse OF tho Series
on "The Marriage Ring"
| The Trials oe Modern Houselrseplne-The
| Weight If Responsibility Attending
forced Economy snd the PsaSs
q Non-Apprssiatise.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmsge, having 70.
turned from his Western trip, occupied
the pulpit Of the Brooklyn Tabernacle for
the delivery of his thirteenth discourse of
| the Marriage Ring" series, the subject of
which was 'sYhe Trials Of Housekeeping"
and the text:
LORI dost Thou not care that my sister
hath left mo to serve alone. Bid her. there.
fore. that she help me.-Luke Z. 20.
Yonder - beautiful village homestead.
The man OF che house is dead, and his
widow IL taxing care of the premises.
This il the widow Martha of Bethany.
Yes. will show you also the pet Of the
hous shold. This il Mary, the younger sis.
ter, with book under her arm, and her
perturbation. Company has come. Christ
stands, outside the door, and, of course,
shere is good deal Of excitement inside
the door. The disarrsnged furniture Is
hastily put aside, and the hair is brushed
back, and the dresses are adjusted as well
Is In 30 short time Mary and Martha can
attend to these matters. They did not
Keep Christ standing at the door until they
we're newly appareled or until they had
deliberately arranged their tresses, then
coming out with their affected surprise
as though they had not heard the
two or three previous knock.
ings, saying: "Why, Is that your"
No. They were ladies, and were always
presentable, although they may not have
always had on their best, for none of us
always have on our best; II we did, our
best would not be worth having on. They
throw open the door and greet Christ
They say: "Good.morning. Master; come
in, end he seated" Christ did not come
alone; He had . group Of friends with
Hin, and such an influx Of city visitors
would throw any country home into
perturbation. suppose also the walk from
the city had been a good appetizer. The
kitchen department that day was q very
important department., and I suppose
that Martha had no sooner greeted the
guests than she fed to that room. Mary
had no anxiety about household affairs.
She had full confidence that Martha could
get up the best dinner in Bethany. She
seemed to say: "Now let us have di-
vision OF labor. Martha, you cook, and I'll
cif aud G,<,r Go 4,
seen great difference between two sis ters.
There is Martha, hard-working, painstak-
ing, a good manager, ever inventive Of
some new pastry, or discovering some-
thing in the art of cooking and housekeep-
ing. There is Mary, also, fond Of CONVEX
sation, literary, SO engaged in deep ques-
tions of ethics she has no time to attend to
the questions of household welfare. 1t is
noon. Mary Is in the parlor with Christ.
Martha is in the kitchen. It would have
been better il they had divided the work,
and then they could have divided the OPP
rortunity Of listening to Jesus; but Mary
monopolizes Christ while Martha swelters
at the fire. 1t was very important thing
that they should have good dinner that
day. Christ was hungry, and he did not
. IL
Alas, me! il the duty had devolved upon
Mary, what . repast that would have
been. But something went wrong in the
kitchen. Perhaps the fire would not burn,
or the bread would not bake, or Martha
scalded her hand, or something was burned
black that ought to have been made brown;
and Martha lost her patience, and for
getting the proprieties of the occasion,
with besweated brow, and, perhaps, with
pitcher in one hand and tongs in
the other, she PUSHES out OF the
kitchen into the presence of Christ,
saying "Lord, dost thou not care
that my sister hath left me to serve
alone?" Christ scolded not a word. II it
were scolding,I should rather have his
scolding than anybody else's blessing.
There was nothing acsrb. He knew Martha
had almost worked herself to death to get
him something to eat, and SO he throws
world of tenderness into his information as
he seems to say: "My dear woman, do not
worry; let the dinner go; sit down on this
ottoman beside Mary, your younger sister.
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and trou-
bled about many things, but one thing is
needful." As Martha throws open that
kitchen door, look in and see . great
many household perplexities and ankle.
ties.
First, there Is the trial Of nor. apprecia.
ton. That 10 what made Martha so mad |
with Mary. The younger sister had no
of her older sisters fatigues. As |
now, men bothered with the anxieties of |
the store, and Office, and shop, or coming |
from the Stock Exchange, they say when
they get home: "Oh, you ought to be in
our factory little while; you ought to
have to manage eight, or ten, or twenty
and then you would know
what trouble and anxiety are" Oh, sir!
the wife and the mother has to conduct at
the same time university, q clothing es-
adjustment, a restaurant, q laundry,
library, while she is health officer, police
and president of her realm. She
must do . thousand things, and do
them well, in order to keep things
going smoothly; and so her brain
and her nerves are taxed to the utmost.
know there are housekeepers who
are so fortunate that they can sit in an
arm chair in the library, or lie on the be-
lated pillow, and throw of all the care
upon subordinates who, having large
wages and great experience, can attend to
all OF the affairs of the household. Those
are the exception. am speaking this
Of the great mass of housekeep-
srs-the women to whom life is a struggle,
md who, at thirty years Of age, look as
though they were forty, and at forty look
rs though they were fifty, and At fifty look
rs though they were sixty. The fallen at
chnlons, and Austerlitz. and Gettysburg,
md Waterloo, are q small number com.