The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-09-13


REV. JOSEPH X. DIXON, ID. d.
rs not this the carpenter, the son of
Mary'-Mark vi:3.-"She supposing
him to be the gardner, said unto him."
John Xxx: 15
In opening his sermon, DR.. Dixon
graphically described two paintings by
Bradford, illustrating arctic scenes, one
beneath the pitiless and icy thrall of
winter, the other glorified by the splen-
dor of the brief summer sun shine. He
then said:
There are two pictures of labor paint
ed by the same hand, penciled by inspi-
rations, hanging in the studio of God's
revelations to man, in the Old Gallery,
the other in the New. The first picture
here is cold and forbdding, the other
strong and stern, the black lines Of a
curse written on the foreground and IN
the back ground thunder clouds have
opened in their fury and before their
gloom two retreating figures are seen
seeking a hiding place. This is a descrip-
tion of the picture, by the artist: And
unto Adam he said, because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and
hast eaten of the tree cursed is
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of they nte
in the sweat of thy brow shalt
thout eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return"
THE SECOND SCENE.
Another and brighter picture hangs be-
fore us. Man seemed doomed to ignoole
and inevitable toll drudging amid thorns
and thistes. But Christ came in babes
irt1 In tat Lear hn "a r.
penters trade and daily wrought at his
self-appointed task. The divine God
STOPPING to ply saw and WELD a ham
mer is indeed a sight for the angels of
heaven to hush their song in wonder and
awe. 1t is a painting hung. in the gal
lery of the world upon which the toilers
of every age may look with wonder and
drink in courage and hope
1t was the universal custom of the Jews
to teach their sons a trade. One of their
proverbs was that "he who taught not his
son trade taught him to be a thief" 1t
is not unlikely that the bushel, the lamp
stand and the plough of which he spoke
| had been fashioned by his own hands,
| suggesting the illustrations afterward
| employed. In his full acceptance of the
| lot of humanity he accepted humble and
| regular labor as the lot of his life. If
| labor was first imposed as a curse it is
turned by this life example with bless
| ing and a benediCtion.
We too often get sentimental notions
| about the life of the Redeemer, some OF
| which are true, but they are not the
| whole truth That he loved and keenly
studied nature was true, but not the
| whole truth. He knew all sides of life
| He loved the city clothed with splendor
| he watched the sparrow that while un'
| loved of man took its daily food from g
| loving Fathers hand He watched the
| tlon -inn hn 10
the fields turning to gold for the reaper
the tares amid the wheat.
HE KNEW THEIR WOES.
The man who led his flock out for pas
| ture had also a sweet fascination fol
Christ for some day, He, the great shep
herd, was to lay down his life for tn,
! sheep on the slope of the Mount o
olives we had studied the birds as they
built nests, and the fox as he entered hi
lair. More than this, the Master went il
among the woes and heartaches of hu
manity.
The hands that toi,ed at the carpenter
bench were one day to be pierced by nail
for the salvation of the world. He VIII,
stopped to fashion an OK yoke, made tn
world and all things in it, and by tn
greatness of the work we can judge o
the dignity of the workmen-Christ tn
workingman's frlend-thus all labor i
consecrated and made noble by the dig
nifty of the carpenter.
Hard industry Is no longer a degrade
ton, but transfigured by the example o
earth's noblest Toiler. Who dare say tina
the Nazareth carpenter who toiled ther
eighteen hundred years ago is not tn
friend of every faithful workingman tn
world over? This Christly friendship 1
given to the toiler and not the shirkeT
Since the Lord God put man in the gar
Il - don lyA 4
since Christ worked at the carpenter
trade, He has meant that all labor shoul
be crowned with laurels more unfadin
than the victor on any hard fought field.
What a noble field has been that of tn
inventor bringing to the present stage o
perfection tools in that branch of labo
of which the Master was a representativ
and how much better the products o
that labor today than when He wrought
who taught men how TO toll and not b
ashamed Of their toll. or all the disciple
perhaps none save Judas were without
trade, and his life cost him his life an
the ignoring Of history. You often hea
the phrase, He is an artisan" Let m
forever write It, "He is an artist" Dow
here amid smoke and ascending steam
have watched with wonder some ma
with grimy face and hands mould int
beauty of symmetry piece of machiner
that would fit exactly, when II left hi
hands the place Tor which IT was intend
ed, and / have wanted to take his black
ened hand and put in 1t sceptre becaus
he was an artist In sand and molten iror
When a man ploughs a straight furrow @
plants a straight row of corn that man
a farm artist. The man who can mi
mortar so that 1t will stick is an artis
; without which the most titanic pieces c
masonary would come to naught.
DID HIS WORK WELL.
The carpenter of Nazareth did His wor
well. If a sloveniy piece of workman
ship be an untruth and there are man
dishonest workmen, who we have neve
; heard utter word. the work that pro
ceeded from their hands is a standin
falsehood. Christ is friend only to hor
est toll
Idleness is poisoned fountain tina
embitters the whole stream, | care nc