The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-01-27

1850
the house OF God. l am thankful that
! have always been pastor OF churches
where strangers ar e welcome. But !
have entered churches where there was
no hospitality. Astranger would stand
In the vestibule for awhile and then
make a pilgrimage up the long aisle.
No door opened to him until, flushed
and excited and EN- barrassed, he start
ed back again, and coming TO some half
filed pew with a%pologetic air entered
it. while the occupant glared on him
with a look which seemed to say:
"Well, II ! must, | must" Away with
such accursed indecepcy from the
house of God! Let every church that
would maintain large Christian influ-
ence in community culture Sabbath by
Sabbath this beautiful grace OF Chris
tian hospitality.
a good man travelling in the far west
in the wilderness was overtaken by
night and storm, and he put in at a
cabin. He saw firearms along the beams
Of the cabin, and he felt alarmed. He
did not know but that he had fallen
into a den Of thieves. He sat there
greatly per.urbed. After awhile the
man of the house came home with a II
on his shoulder and set 1t down in a
corner, The stranger was still ore
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 to the
stranger: Stranger, we are a rough
and rude people out here, and we work
hard for a living. We make our living
by hunting, and when we come to 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 u
chapter from the Word of God and
making a prayer # YOU don't like such
things, If you will jus st step outside the
door until we get through, I'll be great
ly obliged to you" Of course the stran-
ger tarried in the ROOM, and the old
hunter took hold Of the horns of the
altar and brought do wn the blessing of
God upon his household and upon the
stranger within their gates. Rude but
glorious Christian hospitality!
Arair, this woman of nv text was
great In her kindnes IS toward Go.'s
messenger. Elisha NAV have been a
stranger in that household. but as she
found out he had come on n Divine MIS-
sion he was cordially welcomed. We
have Il great many books in our day
about the hardslips of ministers and
the trials of Christian ministers. |
wish somebody would write n book
about the Joys of the Christian minis
ter, about the sympathies all around
him, about the kindness, about the
genial considerations of him. Does sor-
row come to orr home, and is there II
shadow on the cradle, there are hum
dreds of hands to help, and many who
weary not through the night watching,
and hundreds of prayers going up that
God would restore II e sick. Is there a
burning. trimming cup of calamity
placed on the pastors table, Are there
not many to help him drink of that cup,
and who will not be comfortcd because
he is stricken? Oh. for somebody 10
write a book about the rewards of the
Christian ministry about his sur
roundinps of Christian sympathy!
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