Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-01-12
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
HOUSEHOLD CARES" LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
Lord, Dost Thou Not Care That MY
Luke; Chapter N, Verse 40.

stead. The man of the house Is dead,
and his widow is taking charge of the
premises. This is the widow, Martha
of Bethany. Yes, will show you also
the pet OF the household. This is
Mary. the younger sister, with book
under her arm, and her face having no
appearance of anxiety or care. Com
pany has come. Christ stands outside
the door, and, of course, there Is a
good deal of excitement inside the
door. The disarranged furniture is
hastily put aside, and the hair is
brushed back, and the dresses are ad-
Justed as we'll as, in SO short time,
Mary and Martha can attend to these
matters. They did not keep Christ
standing at the door until they were
newly apparelled, or until they had
deliberately arranged their tresses, then
coming out with their affected sur
prise as though they had not heard the
Two or three previous knockings, say
ing: why, Is that your" No. They
were ladies. and were always presenta-
Ole. although they may not have al
ways had on their best, for none OF US
always has on our best; If we Ord, our
best would not be worth having on.
Ihey throw open the door, and greet
Christ. They say: "Good-morning,
Master; come in and be seated" Christ
did not come alone; He had a group OF
friends with him. and such an influx
OF city visitors would throw any coun-
try home into perturbation. l suppose
also the walk from the city had been
q good appetizer. The kitchen depart
mont that day was a very important
department, and 1 suppose that Mar
tina had no sooner greeted the guests
than she fed to that room. Mary had
no worriment about household affairs.
She had full confidence that Martha
could get up the best dinner In Beth
any. She seems to say: Now let us
nave division of labor, Martha, you
cook, and I'll sit down and be good"
SO you have often seen great diff
ference between two sisters.
TneIe is Martha, hard-working,
oainstaking, a good manager, ever in
ventive of some new pastry, or discov-
ering something in the art of cookery
and housekeeping. There is Mary, al
so fond of conversation, literary, so
engaged in deep questions Of ethics
she has no time to attend to the ques-
lions of household welfare. 1t is noon.
Mary is in the parlor with Christ.
Martha Is in the kitchen. 1t would
have been better if they had divided
the work. and then they could have
divided the opportunity of listening to
Jesus; but Mary monopolizes Christ,
while Martha swelters at the fire. 1t
was very important thing that they
should have good dinner that day.
Christ was hungry, and he did not
often have a luxurious entertainment.
Alas me! If the duty had devolved upon
Mary, what a repast that would have
been! But something went wrong in
the kitchen. Perhaps the fire would
not burn, or the bread would not bake,
or Martha scalded her hand, or some
thing was burned black that ought to
have been made brown; and Martha
lost her patience. and forgetting the
proprieties Of the occasion, with be-
sweated brow, and perhaps with
pitcher in one hand and tongs in the
other, she rushes out of the kitchen in
to the presence of Christ, saying:
Lord. dost Thou not care that my sis
ter hath left me to serve alone?"
Christ scolded not a word. If it were
scolding, should rather have his
scolding than anybody else's blessing.
There was nothing acerb. He knew
Martha had almost worked herself to
death to get him something to eat, and
so he throws world of tenderness in
to his intonation as he seems to say:
my dear woman, do not worry; let the
dinner go; sit down on this ottoman
beside Mary, your younger sister.
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and
troubled about many things. but one
thing is needful." AS Martha throws
open that kitchen door l look in and
see a great many household perplexi-
ties and anxieties.
First, there is the trial Of non-ap-
probation. That Is what made Martha
80 mad with Mary. The younger sister
had no estimate of her older sisters
fatigues. AS now, men bothered with
the anxieties of the store, and office,
and shop, or coming from the StockEx-
change, say when they get home: "Oh,
you ought to be in our factory a little
while; you ought to have to manage
eight, or ten, or twenty subordinates.
and then you would know what trouble
and anxiety are" Oh. sir, the wife
and the mother has to conduct at the
same time university, a clothing es-
Enlistment, restaurant, a laundry.
a library, while she is health officer.
police, and president Of her realm! She
must do a thousand things, and do
them we'll, in order to keep things
going smoothly; and so her brain and
her nerves are taxed to the utmost.
I know there are housekeepers who
are so fortunate that they can sit in an
armchair in thte library, or lie on the
belated pillow, and throw off all the
care upon subordinates who, having
large wages and great experience. can
attend to all the affairs of the house
hold. Those are the exceptions. ! am
6peaking now of the great mass of