St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-08-25
TALMAGES SERMON.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
In New Dress.
A Sermon Bearing Upon the Elder Broth
or and Those Christians Who Have
No Faith in the Conversion
of Prodigals.

The following sermon was delivered by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage at the Piedmont
Chautauqua in Georgia. His text was:
And he was angry. and would not go in
Luke. XIV. %.
Is the elder son of the parable so I'm .
sympathetic and SO cold that he is not
worthy of recognition? The fact is that
we ministers pursue the younger son.
You can hear the Tapping Of his rags in
many a sermonic breeze, and the cranch-
ing Of the pods for which he was an IN
successful contestant. / confess that for
O long time l was unable to train the
camera obscura upon the elder son Of the
parable. never could get a negative for
O photograph. There was not enough
light in the gallery, or the chemicals
were poor, or the sitter moved in the
picture. But now I think l have him.
Not side-face, or three-quarters, or
the mere bust, but full-length portrait
as he appears to me. The father in the
parable Of the prodigal had nothing to
brag of in his two sons. The one was a
rake and the other churl. l find Moth
ing admirable in the dissoluteness of the
one, and find nothing attractive in the
acrid sobriety of the other. The one goes
down over the larboard side and the
other goes down over the starboard side,
but they both go down.:
From the window of the old home stead
bursts the minstrelsy. The floor auakes
with the feet OF the rustics, whose dance
is always vigorous and resounding. The
neighbors have heard Of the return Of the
younger son from his wanderings, and
they have gathered together. The house
As full of congratulations. I suppose the
tables are loaded with Injuries. Not
only the one kind of meat mentioned,
but its concomitants. "Clapp go the
cymbals, ''thrum!" go the harps, "clickW
go the chalices, up and down go the fee t
inside, while outside is most sorry spec
tacle.
The senior son stands at the corner of
the house, a frigid phlegmatic. He has
Just come in from the fields in very sub
stantial apparel. Seeing some wild ex-
hilarations around the old mansion, he
asks of a servant passing by with goat
skin of wine on his shoulder what all the
fuss is about One would have thought
that, on hearing that his younger brother
had got back, he would have gone into the
house and rejoiced, aud if he were lot
conscientiously opposed to dancing, that
he would have joined in the Oriental
schottische. No. There he stands. His
brow lowers. His lip curls with contempt.
He stamps the ground with indig nation.
He sees nothing at all to attract. The
odors of the feast coming out on the air
do not sharpen his appetite. The lively
music does not put any spring into his
step. He is in terrible pout. He crit
icises the expense, the injustice, and the
morals of the entertainment. The father
Tushes out bareheaded and coxes him to
come in. He will not go in He
scolds the father. He goes into a pas
quinade against the younger brother,
and makes the most uncomely scene. He
says:
"Father, you put premium on vaga-
bondism. / staid at home and worked n
the farm. You never made a party for
me; you didn't so much as kill q kid; that
wouldn't have cost half as much as q calf;
but the scapegrace went off in fine
clothes, and he comes back not fit to be
seen, and what time you make over
him! He breaks youi heart, and you pay
him for it. That calf to which we have
been giving extra feed during all these
weeks wouldn't be SO fat and sleek II
had known to what use you were going to
IL it That vagabond deserves to be
.oNhided instead of banqueted. Veal is
too good for him!"
That evening, while the younger son
sat telling his father bouthis advent
ures, and asking about what had occurred
on the place since his departure, the
senior brother goes to bed disguised, and
slams the door after him. That senior
brother still lives. You can see him any
Sunday, any day of the week. At a
meeting of ministers in Germany some
one asked the question: ''Who is that
elder SOM" and Krumacher answered:
81 know him; saw him yesterday"
And when they insisted upon knowing
whom he meant, he said:
Myself. When l saw the account Of
the conversion of most obnoxious man,
] was irritated."
First this senior brother Of the text
stands for the self congratulatory, self
satisfied, self worshipful man. With the
same breath IN which he vituperates
against his younger brother he utters a
for himself. The self
righteous man of my text, like
every other self-righteous man, was
full of faults. He was an migrate,
for he did not appreciate the home
blessings which he had all those years. |
He was disobedient, for when the father |
told him to come in he staid out. He was |
. liar, for he said that the recreant son |
had devoured his fathers living, when |
the father, so far from being reduced to |
penury, had homestead left, had instru-
ments of music, had jewels, had man
sion, and instead of being a pauper was q
prin CO. This senior brother, with SO
many faults Of his own, was merc.less in |
his criticism of the younger brother. The
,nly perfect people that | have ever
Known were utterly obnoxious. I was
lever SO badly cheated in all my life as
by perfect man. He got SO far up in his
levotions that he was clear up above all |
he rules of common honesty. These
men that go about proving among
prayer meetings, and in places Of BUSH
less, telling how good they are-look out
or them; keep your hand on your pocket.
,ook! have noticed that just in proper.
ion as man gets g, i,od he gets humble.
The deep Mississippi does not make as
much noise as the 'brawling mountain
ivulet. There has been many store
hat had more goods in the show window
han inside on the shelves.
This self-righteous man of the text
TODD at the corner of tfsSaoause hugging.I
himself in admiration. Werassa grs~sv7
lea1 in. our day about the higaG life.
Tow. there are two kinds Of higK E~safe
men. The one are admirable, and atnsin
'ther are most repulsive. The one ksad