Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-04-28

| subject: 'An Everyday Christi
TEXT: "|he. supposng Hum to be the gar.
! dener john xx.. Is
| Here are Mary Magdairne aid Christ. jus,
after His resurrection. For 40 o wears
| grim and csastiv tvrant had he-n killing
| people and dragging them into his cold pal
ace. III" had Il pass on for human skulls
| For tory centuries h. had been unhindered
| in his work. H. ha taken down kings and
queens aud couqu"rors an those without
| lame. In that cold palace there were
shelves OF skulls an pillars Of skulls and
altHri OF skulls an even the chalices at the
tab u were IN lde OF bleache skulls. To the
skeleton of Abel he ha aided the skeletons
| OF NIL the ages. and no one hal disputed his
right until one Good Friday, about 1867
wears ago. rs near as l can calculate it, a
VI ghfy Stranger came to the door of thar
awful place. rolled back the door, and went
in, and snizing the iyrant. threw him to the
pavement ant put upon the tyrnnt's neck
tn" heel of triumph.
| Then the Mighty Stranger exploring all
the Sha>tiy fnrnilur OF the place and walk
! ing through the l1hyrintbS, and opening The
dark cellars of mystery and tarrying under a
roof the RIBS Of " lich wers made Of human
| bOnes-tarrying for two nights aud a dav
the nights very dark and the day very dis
NAL. He seiZ 1t the two chief pillars OF that
awful palace an rocked them until Ii began
| to fall, an tn IN. laying hol of the ponder
ous front gate. hoisted il from its hinges and
marche forth crying, II am the resurrec-
| tiOn." That ev mt celebrate this Easter
morn, Handeliln and Bee.hovpan miracles
| OF SCUM AL led to this floral decoration
which has set the place abloom.
| There are thrs. or four things which the
worl ami the church have not noticed in re-
gard to the resurrection of Christ. First
| our Lord in gardeners attire. Mary Mag
daiene. grief struck, stands by the rified sar-
| cophaSus OF Christ AMI turns around, hop
luz she can find the tracks of the sacrileSous
resurrectionist who has despoiied the grave,
and she fin is some one in working apparel
come forth as IL 10 water the flowers or up
root the weeds from the garden or set TO re-
| climbing the falling vina-some one in
working apparel, His garments. perhaps.
having the sign of the dust and the dirt OF
the occupation.
! Mary Magdaiene, on her face the rain OF
fresh shower OF weeping, turns TO this work
man and charges him with the desecrltion
OF the tomb, when, 10! the stranger responds,
ntnging His whole soul into one word which
tre:nble- with all the sweetest rhythm OF
earth and heaven. saying. "Mary!" In that
popularity OF accentuation all the inrognIto
fell of, and she found that instead OF talking
with an humble gardener of Asia Minor, she
was talking with Him who owns all the hang
'ng gardens OF heaven. Consultations The
clusters o. tOrgetmenots, the sunfiower the
| 'hi'A W tnr iiOiutup shy dll
aurora, haring terraces of beauty, blazing
like a summer wall with coronation roses
and giants of battle. Blessed and glorious
mistake of Mary Magialene, 'She. suppos-
| Ing Him 10 he the gardener" What does
that mean? It means that we have an every
day Christ for everyday work in everyday
apparel Not on Sabbath morning in our
most s-emiy apparel are we more attractive
to Christ nan We IN our everyday work
dress, managing our merchandise, smiling
our anvil, plOwing our fieid, tending the iy-
Ing shuttles. mending the garments for our
household, providing food for our families
or tOi;ing with weary pen or weary pencil or
weary chissi. working day Christ IN work.
ing day apparel for US in our everyday toll.
Put it into the highest strain of this Easter
anthem. "Supposing Him to be the gardener"
| LII Christ had appeared at daybreak with a
crown upon His head, that would have
seemed to suggest especial sympathy for
monarchs. II Christ had appeared in chain
Of goii and with robe diamonde !, that would
have SCENE TO he especial sympathy for the
afiuent. II Christ mad appeared with SOL
dier's sash and sword dangling at His side,
that would have seemed to imply especial
| sympathy for warriors. But when l find
Christ in gardeners habit, with perhaps the
| flakes of the earth ard of the up urned soil
upon His garments, then 1 spell it out that
He Jas hearty and pathetic understanding
with everyday work and everyday anxiety
| and everyday fatigue.
| Roll it down in comfort all through these
aisles working day Christ in working
day apparel. Tell it in the darkest corridor
| of The mountain to the poor miner. Tell ii
10 the factory maid in most unventilated
| esta 'lishment at Lowell or Lancaster. Tell
| Ii to the clearer of toughest new ground in
western wilderness. Tell 1t to the sewing
| wO ran, a stitch in the side for every stitch
in the garment, some of their cruel en-
| ployers having no right to think that they
will get through the door of heaven any
more than they could through the eye of "a
broken nee lie which has Just dropped on the
bare floor from the pricked and bleeding
fingers of the cnnsnmptive sowing girl.
| Away with your talk about hypostatic union
and soteriology of the council of Trent and
he metaphysics OF religion which would
| freeze practical Christianity out of the world
but pass along this gardeners coat to all
nations that thev may touch the hem of it
and feel the thrill of the Christiy brother
hood. Not supposing the man to be Caesar.
not supposing Him TO he Socrates, but "sup-
posing Him 10 ne the gardener.
Oh, that is what helped Joseph Wedgwood,
toiling amid the heat and the dust OF the
potteries, until he could make for Queen
Charlotte the first royal table service of Eng
lish manufacture. That was what heIped
James Watt, scoffed at and caricatured until
he could put on wheels the thunderbolt of
power which roars by day and by night in
every furnace of the locomotive engine OF
7,
toiling amid The quarries of Cromarty, untii
every rock became to him volume of the
worlds biography. and he found tie foot
steps OF tn. CrriIor in the old ell sandstone.
o.. the world wants a Christ tor the office,
| Christ Tor the XIII ichen. a Christ for the shop
| a Christ for the banking house, a Christ ioi
the garden. While sp ,dins and irrigating the
territory! On, of course We want to se.
Christ at last in royal robe and hediamonied
| IL celestial equ stran mounting the white
hors.. but from this Easter of 1897 to our
last Easter on earth We most need to see
Christ as Mary Ma Sdaien- saw Hin at the
daysreak, "supposing Him to be the gar
dener."
Ano her thing which the church and the
world have not noticed in regard to the res
direction of Christ is that He made His frs
post mortem appearances to one VINO had beeI
the seven deviied Mary MaGjalene. On.
would have supposed He would have mad
HIS first iosihumous appearance to n woman
who had always been iIlustrious for good
ne-s.
There are sanity women who have alway
been saintly-ssintiy III girlhood, sanity IL
infancy, always sanity. in nearly all ou
families there have been sanity aunts. Il
my family circle it was sanity aunt Phebe
in yours sanity aunt Martha or sanity aun
Ruth. One always sainiy. But not so wa
the one spoken of in the text.
While you are not to confound her with
The repentant courte5an VINO nau made ne
! long locks do the work OF towel at Christ
foot washing, you are not to forget that sh
was exercised of seven devils. What capi
tai of demonology she must have been! Wba
a chorus OF all diapolism! Seven devils
two for the eyt and Two for the hands an
, two for the feet and one for the tongue
Sewn devils; yet all these are extrpatet
and now she is rs good once she was baC
. ami Christ bonof- her with the first posthu
nous appearance. What does that mean?
Why. 1t means for worst sinner create:
grace; 1t means those lowest down sha
come. perhaps, highest up; it means that III
] G ock mat 81 riEes IL at midnight may strik
I IL at midnoon; il means that the grace
, God Is seven times stronger than sin, MAJ
= NacJaiene the seven deviled became MAJ
t1agda!ene fyro s'vsn engeied. n meaI
that when the Lord meets US Mt last He W
not throw up to Us what We have been.
He said t. her was, Mary Many peop