The Penn's Grove record., 1893-08-25
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon.


TEXT "And ii fell on a day that Elisht
passed 10 ShuReDl, rhere ICds a great no
mdn."-II Kings w.. &.
The hotel of our time had no counterpart
In any entertainment of olden time. The
vast majority Of travellers must then be en-.
lertainod Mt private abode. Here comes
Elisha, a servant Of the Lord. on a divine
mission, and he must find shelter. A bal.
cony overlooking the valley Esdraelon is Of
Tered him in a private house, and 1t Is es.
pecially furnished for his ~occupancy--a chaif
tosit on, a table from which to eat, a candle-
stick by which to read and a bed onwhich to
slumber-the whole establishment belonging
to a great and good woman.
Her husband. 1t seems, was a godly man,
but he was entirely overshadowed by his
wife's eXcellencies, just as now you some
times find In a household the wife the centre
OF dignity and influence and power, not by
any arrogance or presumption, but by
superior intellect and force of moral nature
welding domestic affairs and Mt the same
.imo supervising all financial and business
affairs, the wife's hand o n the shuttle. on the
| banking house, on the worldly business,
You see hundreds of men who are successful
only because there Is n reason at home why
they are successful.
II u man marry a good, honest soul, he
makes his fortune. II he marry u fool, the
Lord help himi The wife may be the silent
partner in the firm, there may be only
masculine voices down on exchange, but
here oftentime comes from the home circle
= potential and elevating influence.
This woman of my text was the superior of
her husband. He, as lar as 1 can under
stand, was what we often see in our day-a
man of large fortune and only q modicum of
brain, intensely quiet, sitting n long while in
The same place without moving hand or foot
If you say ''yes," responding eyes = If
Tou say "no," responding ''no"-inane, eyes
half shut, mouth wide open, maintaining his
position in society only because he has q
large patrimony. But his wife, my text says,
was a great woman.
Her name has not come down to us. She
belonged to that collection OF people who
need no name to distinguish them. What
would title Of duchess or princess or queen
what would escutcheon or cleaning diadem
-be to this woman Of my text, who, by her
Intelligence and her behavior, challenges the
admiration Of all ages? Long after the bril-
iant women of the court of Louis XIV have
been forgotten, and the brilliant women of
he court OF Spain have been forgotten, and
The brilliant women who sat on mighty thrones
have been forgotten, some grandfather will
put on his spectacles, Int holding the book
The other side the light read to his %grandchil.
iren the story Of this great woman of Shu-
nem who was so kind and courteous and
Christian to the good prophet Elisha. Yes,
Ihe was a great woman.
In the first place, she was great In her
nospitalities. Uncivilized and barbarious
nations honor this virtue. Jupiter had the
Iurname of the hospitable, and he was said
especially to avenge the wrongs OF etrang-
ers. Homer exalted 1t In his verse.
The Arabs are punctilious upon this subject,
and among som of their tribes 1t Is not until
he ninth day OF tarrying that the occupant
has q right to ask his guest, ''Who and
whence art thou If this virtue Is so hon
sred even among barbarians, how ought 1t to
be- honored among those OF us who believe
b the Bible, which commands us to use hos
pitality one toward another without grudg-
ngp
OF course l do not mean under this cover
% give any idea that 1 approve of that va
Erant class who go around from place to
place ranging their whole lifetime perhaps
ander the auspices Of some benevolent or
philanthropic society, quartering themselves
On Christian families, with a great pile OF
trunks In the hall and carpetbag portentous Of
Iarrying. There Is many a country parson-
AGE that looks out week by week upon the
ominous arrival of wagon with creaking
wheel and lank horse and dilapidated driver,
,ome under the auspices of some charitable
Institution to spend a few weeks and canvass
he neighborhood. Let no such religious
ramps take advantage of this beautiful vir-
ue of Christian hospitality.
Not so much the sumptuousnes OF your
iiet and the regality of your abode will i'm
press the frtand or the stranger that steps
,cross your threshold as the warmth OF your
greeting, the informally Of your reception,
he reiteration by grasp and by look and bya
thousand attentions, insignificant attentions,
II your earnestness Of welcome. There will
10 high appreciation Of your welcome,
although you have nothing but the brazen
iandlestick and the plain chair to offer Elisha
when he comes TO Shunem.
NfOat bnat,tffn1 Ia fhta ~ - at h-..GAIs4.
when shown in the house of God. 1 am
thankful that I m pastor OF a church where
strangers are always welcome, and there is
not a State In the Union In which I have not
heard the rffability OF the ushers of our
thurch compimented. But l have entered
shurches were there was nc hospitality. A
aranger would stand in the vestibuie for
awhile and then make pilgrimage up the
ong aisle. No door opened TO him until,
flushed and excited and embarrassed, he
ltarted bac again, and coming to half
piled pew with apologetfc air entered it,
while the occupants glared On him with a
box which seemed to say, "Well, II 1 must,
| must" Away with such accursed in
i~ecency from the house of Godl Let every
.hurch that would maintain large Christian
influence In community culture Sabbath by
tabbaththis beautiful grace of Christian hos
dtality.
A good mar travelling in the far west, In
The wilderness, was overtaken by night and
torn, and he put In at a cabin. He saw fire.
arms along the beams of the cabin and he
felt alarmed. He did not know but that he
had fallen into a den of thieves. He sat
there greatly perturbed. After awhile the
man of the house came home with a gun on
his shoulder and set 1t down In a corner.
The stranger was still more alarmed. After
awhile the man Of the house whispered with
his wife, and the stranger thought his de-
struction was being planned
Then the man OF the house came forward
and said to the stranger stranger, we are
q rough and rude people out here, and we
work hard for a living. We make our living
by hunting, and when we come to the night
fall we are tined, and we are apt to go to bed |
early, and before retiring we are always in
the habit of reading a chapter from the word
of God and making a prayer. II you don't |
like such things, II you will just step outside
the door until we get through I'll be greatly |
obliged TO YOU" OF course the stranger tar |
rled in the room, and the old hunter took
hold of the horns OF the altar and brought
down the blessing of God upon his house
hold and upon the stranger within their
gates. Rude but glorious Christian hospi- |
tality.
Agpin, this woman In my text was great in
her kindness toward God messenger. Elisha
may have been a stranger In that HOUSEHOLD, |
but as she found out he had come on q divine
mission ne was cOruidlly WtlcOmt. We nave l
a great many books in our day about the |
hardships Of ministers and the trials OF
Christian ministers. l wish somebody would
write a book about the joys of the Christian
minister-abou the sympathies all around
him, about the kindnesses, about the genial
considerations OF him
Does sorrow come to orr home and Is there
a shadow on the cradle, there are hundreds
OF hands to help, and many who weary not
through the long night Watching, and hun.
dreds of prayers going up that God would
restore the sick. Is there O burning, brim-
ming cup OF calamity placed on the pastors
table, are there not many to help him to
drink OF that cup and who will not be com.
iorted because he is stricken2 Oh, for some
body to write q book about the rewards Of
the Christian minister-abou his surround
lngs OF Christian sympathy.
1hls woman OF the text was only a type o.
thousands of men and women who come
down from the mansion and from the cot t.
do kindness to the Lords servants. sup
pose the men ofShunam had to pay the bills.
but II wasthe large hearted Christian sympa.
thias OF the women OF Shunem that looked
after the Lords messenger. |
Again, this woman in the text was great In !