The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-05-10

set we all cried out. ''My father, my father
the chariots of Israel and the horsemer
thereof"
Iremark again. a Brooklyn pastorate il
characterized by its happiness.
No city under the sun where people TAXI
such rood care Of their ministers. In pro
portion as the world outside may curse 6
congregation stands close up by the man
whom they believe in. Brooslyn society
has for its foundation two elemeuts-the
Puritanic which always means quiet Sab
hath. and the Hollandish. which means a
worshipful people. On the top OF this an
admixture OF all nationalities-the brawny
Scot the solid English, the vivacious Irish,
the polite French, the philosophic German
and in all this intermingling OF population
the universal dominant theory that a man
can do as he pleases provided he doesn't dis
turb anybody else.
A delightful climate. While it is hard on
bracing. Not an atmosphere made up OF
the discharged gases Of chemical factories or
the miasns Of swamps, but coming painting
right of 5000 miles Of Atlantic Ocean be-
fore ANYBODY else has had q chance to
breathe It'll All through the city society
of kind, genial, generous, ssympathe5lc
people. How they fly to you when you are
in trouble! How they watch over you when
YOU are sicki How tender they are with
YOU when you have buried your dead
Brooklyn is good place to live IN, gooa
place to die in, good place to be buried IN,
q good place from which to rise IN the
beautiful resurrection. ,;..,, -
have "a years Of pastorate. During these
wears how many heartbreaks how many
losses. how many bereavementsi Hardly a
family Of the church that has not been
struck with sorrow. But God has sustained
YOU in the past, and He will sustain you in
the future. I exhort you to be OF good
cheer, On thou of the broken heart. "Weep-
ing may endure for night but joy cometh
in the morning" wish over every door OF
this church we might have written the
word "Sympsthy"-sympathy for all the
young.
We must crowd them in here by thou
sands and propose radiant gospel that
they will take on the spot. We must make
this place so attractive for the young that
young man will come here on Sabbath morn.
ing, put down his hat, brush his hair back
from his forehead, unbuttcn his overcoat
and look around wondering II he has not by
mistake got into heaven. he will see in the
faces Of the old people not the gloom which
some people take for religion, but the sun
shine Of celestial peace, and he will say,
"Why, I wonder if that isn't the same peace
that shone out on the face OF my father and
mother. when they lay dying"
And then there will come q dampuess IN
his eyes through which he can hardly sea,
and be will close his eyes to imprison' the
emotion, but the hot tear will break through
the fringes Of eyelashes and drop upon the
coat sleeve. He will put his head on the
back of the pew in front and sob. Lord
God of the old people, help mel! We ought
TO Law a blot here for the religious capture
of ali the young people In Brooklyn.
Yes. sympathy for the old. They have
their aches and pains and distresses. They
cannot hear or walk or see as well as they
used to. We must be reverential In their
presence. On dark days we must help them
through the aisle and help them find the
place in the hymn book. Some Sabbath
morning we shall miss them from their place,
and we shall say, "Where Is Father So.and-
so to-dayT' and the answer will be: "What,
haven't you heard? The Kings wagons
have taken Jacob up to the palace where his
Joseph is yet alive"
sympathy for business men. Twenty.
four wears Of commercial life In New York
and Brooklyn are enough to tear ones
nerves to pieces. We want to make our
Sabbath service here rescue for all these
martyrs of traffic, focetaste OF the t land
where they have no rents to pay, and there
are no business rivalries, and where riches,
instead of taking wings to fly away, brood
over other riches.
sympathy for the fallen, remembering
that they ought to be pitied as mucn as a
man run over with rail train. The fact IS
that in the temptations and misfortunes OF
life they get run over. You and l In the
same circumstances would have done as
badly. We should have done worse perhaps.
If you and had the same evil surroundings
and the same evil parentage that they had
and the same native horn Proc!tvlt,es 70 evil
that they had, you and I should have been
in the penitentlary or outcasts Of society.
"Non saws some self righteous man, II
couldn't have been overthrown In that way"
You old hypocrite, you would have been the
first to fall!
We want in this church to have sympathy
for the worst man, remembering he Is
brother: sympathy for the worst woman,
remembering she Is sister. II that Is not
the gospel, I do not know what the gospel
is Ah, yes, sympathy for all the troubled,
for the orphans In their exposure for
widowhood with its weak arm fighting for
bread, for the household which erst re-
sounded with merry voices and patterinS
feet now awfully stin-broad-wlnged sym
pathy, like the feathers or the Almighty:
warm -bloodei sympathy, everlasting SYM
pathy; sympathy which shows itself !n the
grasp of the hand, In the glittering tear OF
the eve, In the consoling word Of the
mouth; sympathy of blankets for the cold.
Of bread for the hungry, OF medicine for the
sick, Of rescue for the lost. Sympathy
Let 1t thrill in every sermon. Let it
tremble iu every song. Lett CLEAN In every
tear and in every light. Sympathy Men
and women are sighlng for sympathy,
croaning for sympathy, dying for sym.
pathy, tumbling of into uncleanliness AMI
crime and perdition for lack OF sympathy.
May Col give it to us! Fill all this pulpit
with 1t from step to step. Let the sweep OF
these galleries suggest its encircling arms.
Fill all the house with it. from door to
door. and from foor to ceiling, until there
Is no more room for it, and it shall overflow
into the street, and passersoy on foot and 10
carriage shall feel the thro5 Of It's magnif.
cent benediction.
Let that be our new departure az a
church. Let that be my new departure as
pastor. Sympathy! Gratitute to God de.
mands that this morning mention thu
fact that during all these 81 years I have
missed but one service through sickness.
When l entered the ministry was so deli
cate l did not think would preach three
months, but preaching has agreed with me,
and think the heslthiest thing 10 all the
earth is the religion Of Jesus Christ Bless
the Lord. o my SOUL WHAT ingrates we
are In regard to our health
Imust, IN gratitude to God, also mention
the multitudes to whom have been per.
mitted to preach. 1t is simply miraculous,
the attendance morning by morning, night
by night, and year by year, and long after
people are dainty and exclusive in their
tastes. As for myself, like big crowd.
T would like to see an audience large enough
to scare me! II this gospel is good, the more