The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-02
SERVICES OF YESTERDAY.
"a Large Attendance at the Tomlinson
Hall Services Last Evening.
Ehe Day at Acton Park-Sermons of Rev
Dr. Sims-Mass Missionary Meeting Last
Evening at Central Christian Church.
THE UNION SERVICES.
Largely Attended and Reverent and Beauti-
full in Their Simplicity.

full in Their Simplicity.
The services last night at Tomlinson Hall were
most reverent and beautiful in their simplicity
They opened with the singing Of Old Hundred.
Prayer was offered by Rev. r. E. Nsghbor, OF the
North Baptist Church. The Scripture lesson was
the seventh chapter of St Luke beginning with
the thirty sixth verse, the amounting of Christ's
feet s'by the woman who was a sinner" IL was
read by DIR. Jenckes with fine meditation and
great clearness The singing by the choir and
MR. Andrew Smith and Miss Nora Dickey. SOLO
5sts, was remarkably good as were the piano ac-
compartments by Miss Keegan. Prayer was
offered by Rev. G.. L. McNutt of the Fourth
Presbyterian Church DIR. Jenckes announced
that the services next Sunday evening would be
conducted by Rev. A. w. Lamport. of Central
avenue ME-. Church. Ths audience contained
many young persons and quite number of Ger
mans. in the latter respect differing somewhat
from previous Sunday night audiences at the
hall
The theme Of the discourse by Rey. John
Baltzly, pastor Of the English Lutheran Church,
was The Function of Purity" and his text was
Rs follows:
And. behold, woman which was in the city, a
sinner, when she knew that He sitting at meat in
u Pharisees house. she brought flask of ointment
and standing behind at his feet weeping she began to
wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with tBe
hair of her head and kissed his feet. and anointed
them with the ointment.-Luke vii, 1878.
It is plain, Mr.. Baltzly said that this woman
never would have ventured into that house to
see the Pharisee. Why did she feel freer with
Jesus? 1t was nc. because he was less pure,
more like herself, than the Pharise Q. The sub
stance of the total impression that Jesus made
upon Paul was that He was without sin. And
the trembling alteration of this woman. sim
ner, amounting and kissing the feet of the Mas
ter, shows that He made the same impress
sion on her. In one way it was
the distance, the difference between him and
her, that drew her to him and to his feet. But
why was she not drawn to the Phariseeg We
may presume that he was fairly good man.
There was distance and difference between him,
too, and this SHINING woman. Yet she never
would have thought Of going to him to weep her
old life out and her life in, because there
much greater difference between her and Jesus
than there was between her and Simon. We
must conclude that it was not Simons purity, in
ITSELF that made him unfit to be helper to the
fallen; that kept him from going to the sinner
and the sinner from coming to him. What was
It, then, that made purity in his case him
drance. whereas with Jesus it mere and
everywhere proved helpful, uplifting-an in
EXPIRATION and power unto salvation. 1t was the
hse made of 1.-THE complexion it was made to
wear. In the one case purity fulfilled its natur
Al function, which is to encourage and to
strengthen in the other case it Gid not fulfill its
function A false function had been provided
for 1t; it was used to make the bad worse, to
make them hopeless and hardened Hear Simon.
He spoke within himself. saying This man, if
he were prophet would have perceived who
and what manner of woman this is
that toucheth him. chat she is asnner' HWhoq'
Manner of woman!" .sToucheth Him!" Do you
wonder that she did not think of going to Simon
when she felt the STRINGS of the impulse toward
new life, and was trying to get the angel
wings in her to lift9
Why purity is generally accompanied by hard
ness and GOODNESS toward the impure; why
Righteousness is oftoner weight to crush the un-
righteous than lever to help them up; why good
people are oftener in the way of the reclaiming
of sinners than CO -workers with Christ in their
reclamation, the instinct Of self preservation
will go far, think, toward explaining. EVIL
communications corrupt" AMI then there is
this: The French have a saying, Every one
that every type of character in Its strength
3 weakness peculiar to itself. Earth gets its
price for what earth gives u.s." Our hardness
toward sinners against chastity is really the
Sign unmistakAble of our domestic purity. Ard
so, while we deprecate the defect we should not
overlook the solid virtue whose existence the de
Feet itself evidences. When we incline to speak
harshly of the stern Puritan spirit that stood
Hester Pryne in the Salem market-place with
the scarlet letter on her breast and her child in
her arms we should not forget that the plen
and women that did this were in truth beautiful
in their lives as respects purity and honor And
we should remember that Priscilla was their
daughter. An English critic f. W. FL. Myers)
lately said: SIT is better that the world should
persecute Shelley than that it should endure
ST. Just"
We want no endurance Of ST. Just; but must
we prosecute Shelleya May we not preserve our
domestic purity and yet be tender with Hester
Pryne9 Jesus knew how to be "tender and
true" He absolutely pure. but He not
hard. If He showed any one thing with particu
lar plainness it was that of the ideal man as one
etricter with himself tisan with others; and not
the less strict with himself because wide in his
mercy and kind in his justice. And he is the
measure of the Christian. We must try to get
His spirit am sure that the use we make of
whatever virtue we may have is not the true use,
80 far as it is not the use He would make of it.
1t is the high privilege Of virtue to reproduce
ttself-to be an inspirer and hope to the vicious.
1t is its privilege to be attractive. to win to itself
that which is unlike it. Jesus draws. You can
pot think of Him as repelling anybody, as frown-
Ing anybody down, as freezing anybody ont, as
drawing in His garment lest the sinner touch it.
Purity in Him fulfilled its natural function.
The shining woman went to Him as the very
place to go for help He had the virtue without
the defect, purity without repelling hardness.
purity IN all its natural helpfuness.
Now, good people of all kinds fail TO make
proper use of their goodness. Sinners do not
think of approaching US when they want en-
couragement to do better They take it for
granted, and with reason, that they will not get
much of anything from the ''unco' good" We
do not invite them to come near u.s. We give
the devil all the mechanical advantage in our
professed warfare with him. He gets all the
odds. The longest lever the devil has is our
contempt for sinners. The stones we cast
at the sinners he uses to build his
wall round them We abandon them
to themselves and to him. no more hop
Ing for them than they hope for themselves.
and now and then we say with Mephstopheles,
''She Is not the first" How faithful to life it is
that Margaret must go to the shrine of the
Mater Dolorosa with her breaking heart
incline, o maiden,
Thou sorrow-laden
Thy gracious countenance upon my pain!"
Her mother dead and who was there for
hAr q % 70 tha ranth ur Of h. ,of