St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-19

and scorn, though 1t would place stigma
upon Jesus that would forever discredit Him
as prophet and Savior but the designation
has ever since been worn by Him as a mark of
| honor.
Unconsciously they placed en- his brow one
of his brightest crowns. 1t is startling fact
that even after 1,S00 years it has not lost it's
wonder that the Savior of the world was a
| carpenter. This is not what the Jews ex-
pected, and 1t is not what we would expect.
| They looked and longed for a Savior who
would come as a royal conqueror, wearing
public robes and marshallng great armies to
break the iron rule of Rome and raise them to
political power and splendor. We would look
for great scholar and statesman with wis
dom and eloquence to move the world. But
Jesus came neither as the one nor as the other,
but as carpenter. Gods ways are not as our
ways This question is the only gleam of light
we have from the life of Jesus from the
twelfth to the thirtiest year Of His age. OF
this long period, comprising more than half
Of His life, not word is recorded to tell us
what He doing except this word carpen-
| ter. But an artist with a single sweep of
his pencil or brush will sometimes draw the
outline of his picture, so this word paints in
outline the life of Jesus during this period.
1t sketches the life of One who did not separate
Himself frcm His fellow men, but knitted Him.
self into the humblest human relations. It
shows common toiler, working at hum
! BILE trade and living contentedly in honest
poverty. There is color enough in this word
| to paint complete picture of Christ's outer
! life. 1t is worth more than all the apocryphal
gospels that are full of absurd stories of His
youth. What are some of the lessons from
this pregnant word?
First, we see that Jesus engaged in uee-
full work. He was a producer, as the word
| translated, carpenter, literally means. He Gre
ated wealth, and added to the comforts of His
| fellow men. There were more and better
| houses in Nazareth, or more ploughs and OK
yokes on the surrounding farms because He
| lived than there otherwise would have been.
| This was a true part of the ministry, by
| which He helped to save the world from cold
| and hunger. Every one ought to be doing
something that will add to the welfare of the
| world. There and women who are
| non-producers and mere consumers. They
are not doing anything that is useful to others,
bur are simply living in idleness and pleas
| ure. They consume food and clothing and
| luXur1es; they require many people to serve
| them, but they never serve others. The world
| is never the richer for their having lived in 1t
! by grain of wheat or a nobler thought No
| man or woman has a right to live such life,
whether tramp or millionaire Others are
worse than non-producers, who are destroyers
| of wealth, or who rob others of their wealth.
| Gambling and speculation produce nothing,
! but only deprive others of what they have
produced. A lottery, whether run in Louisi-
ana, in store, in church, is simply an
arrangement by which a number of people
| oo1Y l1iro to axxyLo c+ao
They all thieves in principle. Every one
| ought to test his life by the standard of pro-
ductiveness for human welfare. "Sure good,'
says Ruskin, "is first in feeding people, then
in dressing people, then in lodging people,
and lastly in rightly pleasing people, with arts
or sciences, any other subject of thought
Second, we see that Jesus was content to
stay in the ranks of common toilers. His
reputed father a carpenter, and he con-
| tinued in the same calling. He did not hunt
| around for some more rapid way Of making
money, and aim at becoming great capital
ist but he eontentedly toiled There is
a great deal said in these days about getting
on in the world" by which it is meant that
| young men should get off the farms and out
| Of the trades into the professions and offices,
| and that everybody should get rich. The i'm
! preston is created and sown in the very air
that no boy is worth anything unless he
| means to be, and gives promise Of becoming
| great capitalist, or great lawyer, or pro-
| fessional man. 1t is undoubtedly true that
| every one should endeavor to develop his pow
| ers to the fullest measure in useful service,
| and this noble ambition should especially
| inspire the young. But the cry Of getting
| in the world" generally sets up false ideas and
hopes, and works great harm.
| 1t is physically impossible that all of us
| could get on in the sense intended. There
| can be only one president of the United
| IN
! must remain in humber stations. All young
men cannot become professional snen, for
| the great mass of them must work on farms
| and in the trades. We cannot all get rich,
| for there is not enough wealth to go around.
| So the gospel Of success begets false hopes
| which in ninety cases out of 100 must be dis
| appointed.
But, worse STILL it sets up false standard
| of manhood 1t measures worth by wealth,
| and attainment by conspicuousness of posi-
| tion. But the truth Is that men, in getting
up in this sense often get down.
| The true standard of manhood is something
| immeasurably better than wealth, and some
| thing that every one attain. 81 believe"
| says Charles Kingsley, that a might
| be as tailor, or as carpenter, every inch
| of him saint, scholar, and gentleman"
| A saint, a scholar and a gentleman; these
| are the qualities that constitute a true man,
and every man, whatever his station IN life,
| can have them. Jesus was truly saint,
| a scholar and a gentleman while making
ploughs and ox-yokes while preaching the
| sermon ON the mount This is the truth
! contained In much of the teaching Of such
men as Ruskin and Tolstoi, and 1t is truth
| that is much needed in this day of vulgar
wealth and success. Instead of keeping UP
this everlasting cry about getting on in the
world" and teaching it to our children, let
! us know that most OF US stay where we are,
| and that in the humblest station we can de-
velop the highest manhood, and may every
one of US be saint, q scholar and gentle
| man.
Third, what now, is the relation Of the
| church of today to Jesus the carpenter? 1t is
| a literal and would be ludicrous, were 1t not
| such terrible, fact that If Jesus were TO ap-
| pear unknown in His carpenters clothes in
| some churches bearing His name today, He
| would be given the cold shoulder and might
| even be hustled out. The church that was
| founded by carpenter whom the common
people heard gladly and whose gospel was first
| preached by fishermen, that began by level
| ing all human distinctions and gathering in
| the poor has begun the process Of sitting out
| the better classes and is in danger Of becom-
| ing the exclusive possession and privilege Of
| the rich. Workingmen instinctively feel this,
and they are publicly saying 1t. They say
| big sinners are secure In the church II they
| are only rich enough. They say that mis-
| sion churches built FOR them are an insult
| to them as long as rich churches draw the
| line against the poor at their own doors.
| This charge does not lie equally against all
| churches, nor only very rich churches. The
| same spirit may be in your church and mine.
| If we by any means make any distinctions
| among people and make 1t more easy for
| some to worship in our church than for
| 9th hao NJ cfP