Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-01-20

appreciation Of your welcome. though
You have nothing but the brazen can
dlestick and the plain chair to offer
Elisha when he comes to Shunem- Most
beautiful H. this grace Of hospitality
when shown in the house Of God | am
thankful that have always been pastor
of churches where strangers are well
come But l have entered churches
where there was no hospitality. A
stranger would stand in the vestibule
for awhile. and then make. pilgrimage
up the long aisle No door opened to
him until. flushed and excited and en-
barrassed, he started back again and
coming to some half filed pew. with
apologetic air entered it, while the oc'
cupant glared on him with look which
seemed to say. "Well, if | must, ]
must. Away with such acoursed in
decency from the house Of God. Let ey-
cry church that would maintain large
Christian influence in community cul-
ture Sabbath by Sabbath this beautiful
grace of Christian hospitality.
A good man travelling in the far west,
in the wilderness, was overtaken by
night and storm, and he put in Mt a
cabin. He saw firearms along the beams
Of the cabin, and he felt alarmed. He
didNnot know but that he had fallen
into a den of thieves He sat there great
" perturbed- After awhile the man Of
the house came home with gun on his
shoulder and set it down in a corner
The stranger was still more alarmed
After awhile the man Of the house
whispered with his wife, and the
stranger thought his destruction was
being planned Then the man Of the
house came forward and said 10 the
stranger: stranger, we are rough
aud rude people out here. and we work
hard for a living We make our living
by hunting, and when we come 20 the
nightfall we are tired and we are apt
to 90 to bed early and before retiring
we are always in the habit Of reading a
chapter from the word Of God and max
ing a prayer. If you don't like such
things, if you will just step outside the
door until we get through I'll be great
" obliged to you" Of course the
stranger tarried in the room, and the
Did hunter took hold Of the horns Of the
altar and brought down the blessing OF
God upon his household and upon the
stranger within their gates. Rude but
WOman's Sympathy.
Again, this woman of my text was i
yreat in her kindness toward God 8
messenger. Elisha may have been q
stranger in that household, but as she
found out he had come or divine mis-
sion he was cordially welcomed. We
have q great many books in our day
about the hardships of ministers and
the trials Of Christian ministers Iwish
somebody would write a book about the
lows Of the Christian minister, about
the sympathies all around about him,
about the kindness, about the genial
considerations Of him Does sorrow
come 10 our home and is there shadow
on the cradle. there are hundreds OF
hands to help and many who weary not
through the night watching and hun
dreds Of prayers going up that God
would restore the sick. Is there burn
ing. brimming cup Of calamity placed
on the pastors table are there not
many to help him drink Of that cup and
who will not be comforted because he
is strickenf Oh, for somebody to write
book about the rewards Of the Chris.
tian ministry-about his surroundings
Of Christian sympathy
This woman Of the text was only a
type Of thousands Of men and women
who come down from mansion and from
cot TO do kindness TO the Lord serV'
ants. | could tell you Of something that
you might think romance. a young
man graduated from New Brunswick
Theological seminary was called to
village church He had not the means
to furnish the parsonage After three
or four weeks of preaching a committee
of the officers Of the church waited on
him and told him he looked tired and
thought he had better take a vacation
of few days The young pastor took
il "a an intimation that his work was
done OF not acceptable He took the va
cation. and at the end Of a few days
came back. when an old elder said
Here is the key of the parsonage We
have been cleaning it up. You had bet
ter 20 up and look at it. y So the young
pastor took the key, went up to the par
sonage. opened the door, and lott was
carpeted. and there was the hatrack all
ready for the canes and the umbrellas
and the overcoats. and on the left hand
of the hall was the parlor, sotaed
chaired, pictured He passed on to the
other side of the hall. and there was
the study table in the center Of the floor
with stationery upon it, bookshelyes
built, long ranges Of new volumes Tar
bevond the reach Of the means Of the
younQ pastor, many Of these volumes
The young pastor went up stairs ana
found all the sleeping apartments fur,
nished. came down stairs and entered
the pantry. and there were the spices
| and the coffees, and the sugars, and the
groceries for six months. He went down
| into the cellar. and there was the coal
for all the coming winter. He went INTO
the dining hall, and there was the table
already set-the glass and the silver.
vara He went into the kitchen and
there were all the culinary implements
and a great stove. The young pastor
lifted one lid of the stove, and he found
the fuel all ready for ignition. Putting
back the cover of the stove. he saw IN
another part of it lucifer match and
all that young man had to do in start
ing to keep house was to strike the
match You tell me that is apocryphaL'
Oh. no, that was my own experience
Oh. tho kindnesses oh. the enlarged
sympathies sometimes clustered around
those who enter the gospel ministry !
suppose the man of Shunem had to pay
the bills, but 1t was the large hearted
Christian sympathies Of the woman ol
shunem that looked after the Lord
| messenger
a.. n..~ Trouble.