The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-03
SETTLE BEFORE 1T Is TOO LATE
a Thanksgiving Sermon By Rev. F. v
Stevens Pastor Congregational Church,
Wellington, Kan.

This Thanksgiving day is partly relig
ious and partly civic. We are assembled
as worshipers In a sanctuary of the Lord
Yet we are here not by ecclesiastical man
date, but by proclamation of the president
of the United States and Of the governor
of the commonwealth. We are met rs
worshipers of God, but also as citizens of q
nation We are together in a joint meet
ing OF church and state-met In response
TO an earnest invitation from the one
whose chief function is not to invite, but
TO command and compel. In this we see
the recognition of the interdependence OF
church and state. the voluntary character
of the relation and the heartiness of the
union.
This double nature of Thanksgiving day.
being partly civic and partly ecclesiastical,
has given character to the services Of the
day. 1t directs our thought toward out
ward blessings. 1t tends to inspire our
gratitude for the gifts Of Gods providence
for civil and religious freedom, for ma
tional prosperity; for the bounties OF God :
gifts from earth and sea and cloud and
soil; for the blessings of home and school
and church; of health and personal com
forts and Joys; for deliverance from war
and pestilence and scourge and famine,
and for other blessings too multitudlnous
TO be reckoned up in order
This same circumstance often prompts
speakers on this day to consider those con-
ditions which tend to perpetuate and en-
large these outward blessings, and hence
the frequency and fitness of addresses on
national topics by men who feel that they
have a message for the people on such
matters.
In keeping with the spirit and purport
OF the day we have with bowed heads and
glad hearts rendered thanksgiving to God
Tor the blessings Of the year. Aud In re-
Sponse 20 the request Of the proclamation
a.,
The poor and destitute. And now, in keep
ing also with the character Of the day, !
ask your thoughtful consideration of n
matter which concerns our property and
wellbeng alike AS citizens Of the state and
children Of God. | am not going 10 speak
on any great theme OF national import
ance, but on one of local interest: yet
none the less important because local. !
purpose to speak on the blessings of
fixed and permanent abiding place 1
mean a fixed and permanent abiding place
in this world. not in the world 10 come.
And / shall limit my reflections to the
blessings of a fixed and permanent abiding
place in Kansas
Nv first impulse is not TO take a text:
but to substitute therefor pen picture of
four prairie schooners' met at a crossing
one schooner headed north, another south,
another east. and another west: the child
ren all squalling from hunger and cold
the mothers piuched and haggard from
worry and exposure and want. and the
men all yelling, "Hurrah for Kansas. the
garden of Eden. the paradise of the world.'
This picture suggests one thought that |
wish TO bring out: but the thought which
] wish TO emphasize by way of contrast is
en- bodied in these words of Jehovah,
recorded in the Prophecy of jeremiah, the
42d chapter, at the 10th verse: If we will
still abide in this land, then will / build
Il 4
plant you ana not pluck you up; for |
repent me of the evil / have done unto
you"
jeremiah delivered this message of
Jehovah to the people or Israel at n time
when they were tempted to abandon their
fertile fields and beautiful villages, and go
down south into Egypt. Their land had
been laid waste Y war devastated by
caterpillars and lOCustS, impoverished 10 |
the point of famine by drought. Priest |
ridden and misruled by impotent kings: |
reduced in numbers and strength by the |
fall of the northern kingdom, and threat |
ened by the hordes of the Babylonian |
army, their hearts melted within Them |
and they longed for rest and peace. and /
pined for the flesh pots of Egypt. They
were planning to break up their life
in Palestine and migrate southwark !
Jehovah looking down upon this con
templated movement of His people. and
seeing the disasters that would follow iU, !
sends TO them this reassuring and com
forting message: that il they would still |
dwell in the land where He had placed |
them, He would build them up as peo- |
pie, and not tear them down: He would /
plant them, aud not pluck them up. He /
further announces that He repents of the 4
evils which He has done unto them: which /
probably means tnat in the future His /
providence viii be more favorable to them: /
upon condition of their obedience He will 4
ward of the wars and famiues aud Desti- I
lences and droughts which have afflicted /
them. The Jews faithlessness to their /
promise. and their manifold disObediences 4
TO the express commands Of God, and the /
caiamitous consequences are well known to |
you all
Now, however great the dissimilaritv |
between the condition of the Jews at the (
time this message was sent them and our
own present condition, the similarity of (
condition is sufficiently striking 10 arrest f.
our attention and lead us TO inquire if the !
message is not for us too. These people |
were menaced by foreign and carnal foe
from the east and north, who were coming
down to eat up Gods people as they ate
bread. We too, are menaced by q foreign
and carnal foe from the east and north
who would drink up Gods people as they
drink beer. They had been devastated bv
caterpillar aud canker worm and locust:
we by potato bug and grasshopper and
chintz bug. hey had been reduced to
straits by repeated droughts as we have.
They had fair land of great fame at the
south, whose glitjering prospects were
tempting them TO abandon their sacred |
homes in Palestine, that they might enjoy
Its riches. Such 81 south land have we
and such glittering temptation is ours.
The warning OF Gud 10 those who thus set |
Their face toward that ancient Oklahoma
was that they should there suffer the same |
Ills they sought to escape at home, only in
greater degree. What has been the voice |
of God : providence to the people of Kan |
SaS IN this mattery Ask the prairie
schooner headed north. The message of
God 10 the isreelitiSh people in this their
situation SO similar TO our own was If |
you stiil abide in this land, then will / /
bnlld You aud not pun YOU down; and l
VIII plant You ana not pluck YOU up | /
wonder how dIlereaJ from this is Gods
promise 10 the people OF Kansas now.
At ihis time of testing of Israel. God
said 10 them; Il repent me of the evil /
that | have done unto you.' May it not
be that after these years Of testing and
sitting by scourge and drought. that God
intends TO favor his people here with more
plenteous rain and harvests? Ii istoo rea-
sonable a hope TO be dismissed as ground
less
This deep and fertile soil of ours. this
surprisingly rich ana varied vegetation,
IN $ golden climate. these bright gorgeous
skies, csu suggest nothing else TO reason
able minds, bus the material basis of a
elNll cation, last ng magnificent, glorious
IN all the tIiumphs OF modern achieve
ment. be blood stained history Of our
people points TO such consummation But
In the erection of this grand temple Of
cvilizauon, the divine architect is meet
ing, among others, one difficulty which I
wi! now mention, viz; the migratory