Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-22
A BLESSED MISTAKE.
MARY MAapALENE BY THE RlFLED
SARcoPHAeUS.

Nscf' LIZ AniHihgc NActures tne working
Day Christ Ia Common AppareI-The
Scars of Ea-th-Glorious Thoughts In
spired by the Resurrection of Christ.
WASHINGTON, April 1S.-This sermon of
DR.. Talmage will set its readers TO think
ing on new lines and will make this sea-
son of Easter moro inspiring than ever.
The text is John Xxx, 10, "She, supposing
him to be the gardener"
Here are Mary Magdalene and Christ,
just after his resurrection. For 1000
years grim and CHASTITY tyrant had been
killing people and dragging them into his
cold palace. He had passion for human
skulls. For 40 centuries he had been un-
hindered in his work. He had taken down
kings and queens and conquerors and
those without fame. In that cold palace
there were shelves of skulls, and pillars OF
skulls, and altars of skulls, and even the
chalices at the table were made Of bleached
skulls To the skeleton of Abel he had
added tho skeleton of all the ages, and nc
one had disputed his right until one Good
Friday, about 1857 years ago, as near as
can calculate it, mighty stranger came
to the door of that awful palace, rolled
back the door and went in, and, seizing
the tyrant, threw him to the pavement and
put upon the tyrant's neck the heel of tri.
umph.
Then the mighty stranger, exploring all
the CHASTITY furniture of the place and
walking through the labyrintbs, and open.
ing the dark cellars of mystery and tarry.
ing under a roof the ribs of which were
made of human bones-tarrying for two
nights and day, the nights very dark
and the day very dismal, he seized the two
chief pillars of that awful palace and
rocked them until it began to fall, and
then laying hold of the ponderous front
gate, hoisted it from its hinges and
marched forth, crying, 81 am the Resur
rection" That event we celebrate this
Faster morn, Handelian and Beethoven
miracles Of sound added to this floral dec
oration which has set the place abloom.
Scene at the Tomb.
There arc three or four things which the
world and\the church have not noticed in
regard to the resurrection of Christ First
our Lord in gardeners attire Mary Mag
dalene grief struck, stands by the rifled
sarcOphagus Of Christ and turns around
hoping she can find the track of the sacri
legious resurrectionist who has despoile6
the grave, and she finds some one in work
ing apparel come forth as If to water the
flowers or uproot the weeds from the gar
den or set to reclimbing the fallen vine
some one in working apparel, his gar
ments perhaps having the sign of the dust
and the dirt Of the occupation.
Mary Magdalene, on her face the rain OF
a fresh shower of weeping, turns to this
workman aild charges him with the desc.
Grafton of the tomb, when, lol the stranger
responds, flinging his whole soul into one
word which trembles with all the sweetest
rhythm Of earth and heaven, saying,
"Mary!" In that popularity of accentua-
tion all the incognito fell off, and she
found that instead of talking with an
humble gardener of Asia Minor she was
6diking With him who owns all the hang
ing gardens of heaven. Consultations the
clusters Of forgetmenots, the sunfowel
the chief Of all, the morning sky and mid
night aurora, 1aring terraces of beauty,
blazing like summer wall with corona,
tion roses and giants of battle. Blessed
and glorious mistake of Mary Magdalene
"She supposing him to be the gardener ~
What does that meanP 1t means that VIC
have an everyday Christ for everyday
work in everyday apparel Not on Sab
bath morning in our most secmly apparel
are we moro attractive to Christ than we
are in our everyday work dress, manag
ing our merchandise, shifting our anvil
plowing our field, tending the flying shut
ties, mending the garments for our house.
hold, providing food for our families OF
toiling with weary pen or weary pencil OF
weary chisel. A working day Christ in
working day apparel for us in our every.
day toll. Pu ! into the highest strain OF
this Easter anthem, "Supposing him to
be the gardener"
If Christ had appeared at daybreak with
q crown upon his head, that would have
seemed to suggest especial sympathy for
monarchs; If Christ had appeared in chain
of gold and with robe diamonded, that
would have seemed to be especial sympa-
thy for the affiuent; if Christ had appear.
ed with soldiers sash and sword dangling
at his side, that would have seemed to i'm.
ply especial sympathy for warriors; but
when l find Christ in gardeners habit,
with perhaps the fakes of the earth and OF
the upturned soil upon his garments, then
l spell it out that he has hearty and pa
thetic understanding with everyday work
and everyday anxiety and everyday ia
tigue.
In Working Clothes.
Roll it down in comfort all through
these aisles. A working day Christ in
working day apparel. Tell it in the dark
est corridor of the mountain to the poor
miner. Tell it to the factory maid in most
unventilated establishment at Lowell OF
Lancaster. Tell it to the clearer of rough
est new ground in western wilderness.
Tell it to the sewing woman, a stitch in
the side for every stitch in the garment,
some Of their cruel employers having no
right to think that they will get through
the door Of heaven any more than they
could through the eye of broken needle
which has just dropped on the bare floor
from the pricked and bleeding fingers of
the consumptive sewing girl. Away with
your talk about hypostatic union, and So
teriology of the council Of Trent. and the
metaphysics Of religion which would freeze
practical Christianity out of the world,
but pass along this gardeners coat to all
nations that they may touch the hem of it
and feel the thrill of the Christly brother
hood. Not supposing the man to be Caesar,
not supposing him to be Socrates, but
"supposing him to be the gardener"
Oh, that is what helped Joseph Wedg-
wood, toiling amid the heat and the dust
of the potteries, until he could make for
Queen Charlotte the first royal table serv-
ice Of English manufacture! That was
what helped James Watt, scoled at and
caricatured until he could put on wheels
the thunderbolt of power which roars by
day and night in every furnace of the loco
motive engines of America. That is what
helped Hugh Miller, toiling amid the quar-
,.ioc Gro1a nrtu until n1rorr 1nnl- hnnn m q