The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-04-06
Or. TALMAeE,s EAsTER SERMON At
THE TABERNACLE.

y
The lily is the queen Of Bible flowers. The
rose may have disputed her throne In modern
times, and won it; but the rose originally
had only five petals. 1t was under the long
continued and intense gaze Of the world that
the rose blushed into its present beauty. In
the Bible train, cassia and hyssop and frank
incense and myrrh and spikenard and cam
phire and the rose follow the lily. Fourteen
times in the Bible is the lily mentioned; only
twice the rose. The rose may now have
wider empire, but the lily reigned in the time
of Esther, in the time of Solomon, In the
time of Christ.
Cesar had his throne on the hills The
lily had her throne in the valley. In the
greatest sermon that was ever preached,
there was only one flower, and that a lily. The
Bedford dreamer, John Bunyan, entered the
house of the interpreter, and was shown q
cluster of flowers, and was told to consider
the liliesn
We may study or reject other sciences at
our option. 1t is so with astronomy, it is so
with chemistry, it is so with Jurisprudence,
it is so with physiology, it is so with geology;
but the science of botany Christ commands
us to study when he says: Consider the
lilies" Measure them from root to tip Of
petal. Inhale their breath. Notice the
gracefulness of their poise. Hear the whis-
per of the white lips of the Eastern and Of
the red lips of the American lily.
Belonging to this royal family of lilies Is
the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the Lady
Washington of the Sierras, the Golden Band
lily, the Giant lily of Nepaul, the Turks Cap
lily, the African lily from the Cape of Good
Hope. All these lilies have the royal blood
in their veins But take the lilies of my
text this morning as typical of all flowers,
and this Easter day, garlanded with all this
opulence of floral beauty, seems to address us,
saying: Consider the lilies, consider the
azalias, consider the fuchsias, consider the
geraniums, consider the ivies, consider the
hyacinths, consider the heliotropes, consider
the oIeanders." With differential and CRATE
full and intelligent and worshipful souls, con-
slider them Not with insipid sentimentalism,
or with sophomore vaporing, but for grand
and practical and everyday and, II need be,
homely uses, consider them.
The flowers are the angels Of the grass
They all have voices. When the clouds
speak, they thunder; when the whirlwiDds
speak, they scream; when the cataracts
speak they roar; but when the flowers speak,
they always whisper. stand here to inter-
pref their message. What have you to say,
oh We angels Of the grass, to this worshipful
multitude2
This morning mean to discuss what fiow-
ers are good for. That Is my subject: What
are flowers good for7
l. l remark, In the first place, they are
good for lessons Of Gods providential care.
That was Christ's first thought All these
flowers seem to address us today, saying:
"God will give you apparel and food. We
have no wheel with which to spin, no loom
with which to weave, no sickle with which
to harvest, no well sweep with which to draw
water; but God slal1es our thirst with the
dew, and God feeds us with the bread of the
sunshine, and God has appareled us with
more than Solomonic regality We are
prophetesses of adequate wardrobe. II God
so clothed us, the grass of the field, will he
not much more clothe you. oh ye of little
faithP'
Men and women of worldly anxieties, take
this message home with you. How long has
God taken care of youa Quarter of the
journey of life9 half the journey Of ife9
three-quarters the journey of lifel Can you
not trust him the rest of the way7 God does
not promise you anything like that which
the Roman emperor had on his table at vast
expense-500 nightingales' tongues-but he
has promised to take care of you. BE has
promised you the necessities, not the lux
uries-bread, not cake If God so luxuri-
antly clothes the grass of the field, win he
not provide for you, his living and immortal
children7 He will
No wonder Martin Luther always had a
flower on his writing desk for inspira-
ton. Through the cracks Of the prison
floor a flower grew up to cheer Picci-
ola. Mungo Park, the great traveller and
explorer, had his life saved by a flower.
He sank down in the desert to die,
but seeing a flower near by it suggested
Gods merciful care, and he got up with new
courage and travelled on to safety. said
the flowers are the angels of the grass. add
now they are the evangels Of the sky.
H. If you insist on asking me the question:
What are flowers good fort respond, they
are good for the bridal day. The bride must
have them on her brow, and she must have
them in her hand. The marriage altar must
be covered with them. A wedding without
flowers would be as inappropriate as a we'd
ding without music. At such time they are
for congratulation and prophecies Of good.
So much of the pathway of life is covered
up with thorns, we ought to cover the begin
ming with orange blossoms.
Flowers are appropriate on such occasions,
for in ninety mine out of a hundred cases it is
the very best thing that could have happened.
The world may criticise and pronounce it an
inaptitude, and may lift its eyebrows in sur
prise and think it might suggest something
better; but the God who sees the twenty,
forty, fifty years of welded life before they
have begun aTranges all for the best SO
that flowers, in almost all cases, are appro-
pirate for the marriage day. The divergences
Of disposition will become correspondence,
reckleSsness will become prudence, frivolity
will be turned into practically.
There has been many an aged widowed
soul who had carefully locked bureau, and
In the bureau box, and in the box folded
paper, and in the folded paper half blown
rose, slightly fragrant, discolored, carefully
pressed. She put it there forty or fifty years
ago. On the anniversary day of her wedding
she win 60 to the bureau, she viii lift the
box, she will unfold the paper and to her
eyes will be exposed the half blown bud, and
the memories Of the past viii rush upon her,
and tear viii drop upon the flower; and
suddenly it is TRANSPORTED, and there is a
stir in the dust Of the anther, and it rounds
/ out, and it is full Of life, and 1t begins to
| tremble in the procession up the church aisle
| and the dead music Of a half century ago
comes throbbing through the air; and van
ished faces reappear, and right hands arr
/ Joined, and manly voice promises: az vii
for better or worse, and the wedding marcel
thunders a salvo Of JOY at the departing
crowd; but sigh on that anniversary day
scatters the scene. Under the deep fetcheC
breath, the altar, the flowers, the congratu
lating groups are scattered, and there 4
nothing left but trembling hand holding /
faded rosebud, which is put into the paper
and then into the box and the box CAREFUL,
placed in the bureau, and with sharp, sud
den click of the lock the scene Is over.
All, my friends, let not the prophecies O
the flowers on your wedding day be falls
prophecies. Be blind to each others faults
Make the most of each others excellences
Above all, do not both get mad at oncei Re
member the vows, the ring on the third fingel
Of the left hand, and the benediction Of tn
/ Gala lilies
III. II you insist on asking me the question
What are flowers good fort answer, they
ere good to honor and comfort the obseQuies