Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-11-30

ing; as the newspaper boy not long
ago, supporting his mother for some
years, his invalid mother, when Of
fered by gentleman fifty cents to get
some especial paper, and he got it and
rushed up in his anxiety to deliver 1t,
and was crushed under the wheels OF
the train, and lay on the grass with
only strength enough to say, ooh,
what will become Of my poor, sick
mother now?"
Vicarious suffering? The world is
full Of it. An engineer said to me on
a locomotive in Dakota: I'VE men seem
to be coming to better appreciation
than We used to. Did you see that
account the other day Of an engineer,
who to save his passengers, stuck 10
his place, and when he was found dead
in the locomotive, which was found up
side down, he was found still smiling,
the hand on the air brake?" And as
the engineer said it to me, he put his
hand on the air brake to illustrate his
meaning, and / looked at him anu
thought, you would be just as much
of hero in the same crisis"
Paul preached until midnight, and
Eutychus got sound asleep, and fell
out of a window and broke his neck.
Some would say, Good for HIM" l
would rather be sympathetic like Paul,
and resuscitate him. That accident is
often quoted now in religious circles
as a warning against somnolence in
church. 1t is just as much warn
ing to ministers against prolixity. Eu-
tychus was wrong in his somnolence,
but Paul made a mistake when he kept
on until midnight. He ought to have
stopped at II o'clock and there would
have been no accident. If Paul might
have gone on until too great length, let
all those of us who are now preaching
the gospel remember that there is a
limit to religious discourse, OF ought
to be, and that in our time we have
no apostolic power or miracles. Ma
poleon, in an address of seven min
utes. thrilled his army and thrilled
Europe. Christ's sermon on the mount
the model sermon-was less than
eighteen minutes long at ordinary
mode Of delivery. 1t is not electricity
scattered all over the sky that strikes,
but electricity gathered into a thun-
derbolt and hurled; and it Is not re-
ligious truths scattered over, spread
out over a vast reach of time, but re-
ligious truth projected in compact
form that flashes light upon the soul
and rives its Indifference.
When the coming sermon arrives IN
this land and in the Christian church
the sermon which is to arouse the
world and startle the nations and usher
in the kingdom-it will be brief SER
mon. Hear it, all theological students,
all We just entering upon religious
work, all we men and women who IN
Sabbath schools and other departments
are toiling for Christ and the salvation
of immortals. Brevity! Brevity!
But / remark also that the coming
sermon of which / speak will be a
popular sermon. There are those in
these times who speak of popular SER
mon as though there must be some
thing wrong about it. AS these critics
are dull themselves, the world gets the
impression that sermon is good in
proportion as it is stupid. Christ was
the most popular preacher the world
ever saw, and. considering the small
number OF the worlds population. had
the largest audiences ever gathered,
He never preached anywhere without
making great sensation. People
rushed out in the wilderness to hear
him. reckless Of their physical
necessities. So great was their anxiety
to hear Christ, that, taking no food
with them, they would have tainted
and starved had not Christ performed
a miracle and fed them. Why did SO
many people take the truth at Christ's
hands? Because they all understood II
He illustrated his subject by hen and
her chickens. by bushel measure. by
a handful of salt, by birds flight and
by lily's aroma. All the people knew
what he meant. and they fiocked to
him. And when the coming sermon of
the Christian church appears, it will
not be Princetonian, not Roches,erIan
not Andoverian, not Middletonian. bu;
Olivetic-plain. practical. unique, earn
est. comprehensive of all the woes
wants. sins. sorrows and necessities OF
an auditory.
We hear great deal of discussion
now all over the land about why peo.
pie do not go to church. Some say IL
is because Christianity Is dying out,
and because people do not believe in
the truth of Gods word, and all that.
They are false reasons. The reasoa {.
because our sermons are not interest
ing and practical, and sympathetic and
helpful. Some one might as we'll tell
the whole truth on this subject, and so
will tell it, The sermon of the flu
ture-the Gospel sermon to come forth
and shake the nations. and lift people
out of darkness-will be popular SER
mon just for the simple reason that Il
Will meet the woes and the wants and
the anxieties of the people. There are
In all our denominations ecclesiastical
mummies. sitting around to frown
upon the fresh young pulpits OF Amer