Middletown transcript., 1899-12-16

I
For hereunto were ye called; because Christ
| iso suffered tir you leaving you example.
Mat ye should follow his steps.
It was Friday morning and the Rev.
Henry Maxwell was trying to finish his
Eunday morning sermon. He had been
interrupted several times and was
| growing nervous as the morning wore
away and the sermon grew very slowly
toward satisfactory finish
"Mary." he called to his wife as he
went up stairs after the last Interrupt
tion. ''if any one comes after this
wish you would say that I am very
busy and cannot come down unless it
is something very important. '
''Yes. Henry. But I am going over
TO visit the kindergarten. and you will
have the house all to yourself :
The minister went up into his study
and shut the door. In few minutes
he heard his wife go out
He settled himself at his desk with a
sigh of relief and began to write His
text was from Peter ii. 81.
For hereunto were ye called; be-
cause Christ also suffered for you, leav-
ing you an example. that ye should fol
low his steps.
He had emphasized in the first part
of his sermon the atonement as per
sonal sacrifice. calling attention to the
fact Of Jesus suffering in various ways.
in his life as well as in his death He
had gone on to emphasize the atone
ment from the side of example giving
illustrations from the life and teaching
of Jesus to show how faith in the Christ
helped to save men because of the pat
tern or character he displayed for their
imitation, He was now on the third
and last point. the necessity of follow
ing Jesus in his sacrifice and example
He had just put down. "(3) Steps
what are theyH'' and was about tc
enumerate them in logical order when
the bell rang sharply 1t was one OF
those clockwork bells and always went
off as clock might go if 1t tried to
strike 12 all ut once
Henry Maxwell sat ut his desk and
frowned little. He made no move
ment to answer the bell Very soon il
rang again Then he rose and walked
over to one of his windows. which com
manded view of the front door
A man was standing on the steps. He
was a young man very shabbily dressed
Looks like a tramp" said the min
lister II suppose I'll have to go down
and
He did not finish the sentence but
went down stairs and opened the front
door
There was q moments pause as the
two men stood facing each other Then
the shabby looking young man said:
I'm out of job. sir. and thought
maybe you might put me in the way Of
getting something
II don't know of anything. Jobs are
scarce. replied the minister. begin
ming to shut the door slowly.
al didn't know but you might per
haps be able to give me line to the
city railway or superintendent of the
shops or something. continued the
Young man, shifting his faded hat from
one hand to the other nervously
1T would be of no use You will
have to excuse me- am very busy this
morning. hope you will find some
thing. Sorry l can't give you some
thing to do here But. keep only
horse and COW and do the work my
self
The Rev. Henry Maxwell closed the
door and heard the man walk down the
steps AS he went up into his study he
saw from his hall window that the man
was going slowly down the street. still |
holding his hat between his hands
There was something in the figure SO
detected. homeless and forsaken that |
the minister hesitated a moment as he
stood looking at it. Then he turned to
his desk and with sigh began the |
writing where he had left off.
he had no more Interruptions, and |
when his wife came in two hours later
the sermon was finished. and the loose
leaves were gathered up and neatly tied !,
together and laid on his Bible, all ready |
for the Sunday morning service.
"a queer thing happened at the kim
dergarten this morning. Henry" said
his wife while they were eating dinner
You know, went over with Mrs
Brown to visit the school. and Just aft
er the games, while the children were
at the tables. the door opened. and
young man came in, holding dirty
hat in both hands He sat down near
the door and never said word, only |
looked at the children He was evident
ly tramp, and Miss Wren and her as
sistant, Miss Kyle, were a little fright
ened at first but he sat there very |
quietly, and after a few minutes he
went out. z
Perhaps he was tired and wanted |
to rest somewhere The same man
called here. / think Did you say he
looked like trampH'
Yes very dusty. shabby and gener-
ally trampike-not more than 80 or 83
years old. l should say.
'tThe same man. said the Rev
Henry Maxwell thoughtfully.
did you finish your sermon. Hen
ryf" his wife asked after pause.
''Yes all done 1t has been very
busy week with me. The two sermons
cost me a good deal of labor !
They win be appreciated by large
audience tomorrow | hope. replied
his wife, smiling What are you GO
ing to preach about in the mornings"
Following Christ take, mp the