Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-03-15
SERMONS OF THE DAY

/ subject: "The Christian Home''-A F1acs
For the Genesis and Rounding Out oi
Character-The Family Circle . Haven
of Refuge From the Worlds Storms.
TEXT: LET them learn first to show
piety at home. e."-I Timothy ", 4.
During the summer months the tendency
ls to the fields, to visitation, to foreign
travel and the watering places, and the
ocean steamers are thronGed, but in the
winter It is rather to gather in domestic
circles, and during these months we spend
many OF the hours within doors, and the
apostle comes to US and says that We ought
to exercise Christian behavior amid all
such circumstances. "Let them learn first
to show piety at home.''
There are a great many people longing
for some grand sphere in which to serve
God. They admire Luther at the diet of
Worms, and only wish that they had some
such great opportunity in which to display
their Christian prowess. They admire
Paul making Felix tremble, and they only
wish that they had some such grand occa-
sion in which to preach righteousness.
temperance and judgment to come. All
their Christian heroism. Now, the apostle
practically says: Il will show you place
where you can exhibit all that is grand and
beautiful and glorious in Christian charac-
ter and that is the domestic circle. Let
them learn first to show piety at home" I"
II one Is not faithful in An Insignificant
sphere, he will not be faithful in a resound-
ing sphere. IPeter will not help the Grip
pie at the gate OF the temple, he will
never be able to preach 5000 into the king
dom at the Pentecost. II Paul will not
take pains to instruct in the wav Of saliva
ba iai af ho
he will never. make Felix tremble. He
who Is not faithful in skirmish would not
he faithful in an Armageddon. The fact
is, we are all placed in just the position in
which we can most grandly serve God, and
we ought not to be chiefly thoughtful
about some sphere Of usefulness which we
may after a while gain, but the all absorb
ing question with !. ou and with me ough.
to be, Lord, what wilt Thou have me now
and here to do?"
There is one word in st. Paurs adjurs-
tion around which the most OF our
"home." Ask ten different men the mean
ing Of that word and they will give you
ten different definitions. To one 1t means
love at the hearth, plenty at the table. iu-
dustry at the work stand. intelligence at
the books, devotion at the alter. In that
household discord never sounds its war
whoop. and deception never tricks with its
the door and smile at the chair, peace
lowering like wings, Joy clapping its hands
with laughter. Life is a tranquil lake.
Piliowed on the ripples sleep the shadows.
Ask another man what home is and he will
tell it is want looking out Of a cheerless
bread tray. The damp air shivering with
curses. No Bible on the shelf. Children
robbers and murderers in embryo OBJ
scene songs their lullaby. Every face a
picture OF ruin. Want in the background
and sin staring from the front. No Sab
bath wave rolling over that doorsilI. Ves-
tibule Of the pit. Shadow of internal
chains. Fagots for an unending funeral
pile. Awful word. 1t is spelled with
curses, it weeps with ruin, it chokes with
woe, II sweats with the death agony OF de-
spair. The word "home" In the one case
means everything bright. The word
shall speak now Of home as a test Of
character, home as a refuge, home as a po-
litical safeguard, home as a school, and
home as a type Of heaven. And in the
first place, home Is powerful test Of char
aeter. The disposition in public may be in
gay costume, while In private it is disha-
billie. As play actors may appear in one
way on the stage and may appear in an.
other way behind the scenes, so private
character may be very different from pub
lie character. Private character is often
public character turned wrong side out.
A man may receive you into his parlor as
though he was a distillation of smiles, and
yet his heart may be swamp Of nettles.
There are business men who all day long
are mild and courteous, and genial and
good natured in commercial life, damming
back their irritability and their petulsnce
and their discomfort, but at nightfall the
dam breaks. and scolding pours forth in
floods and freshets. .
As at sunset sometimes the wind rises, so
after q sunshiny day there may be a tenn
pestuous night. There are people who in
public act the philanthropist who at home
act the Nero with respect to their slippers
and their gown. Audubon. the great Orni-
biologist, with gun and pencil went
through the forests OF America to bring
down and to sketch the beautiful birds, and
after years Of toll and exposure completed
his manuscript. and put it in a trunk in
Philadelphia and went off for few days of
recreation and rest and came back and
found that the rats had utterly destroyed
the manuscript, but without any discom-
posure and without any fret or bad temper
he again picked up his gun and his pencil
and visited again all the great forests Of
America and reproduced his immortal
work. And yet there are people with the
ten-thousandth part Of that loss who :are
utterly irreconcilable, who at the loss Of a
pencil or an article OF raiment will blow as
long and loud and sharp as q northeast
storm. Now, that man who Is affable in
public and who Is irritable in private Is
making fraudulent and overissue of stock.
and he is as bad as bank that might have
with no specie in the vault. Let US learn
to show piety at home. II we have it not
there, We have It not anywhere. II we have
not genuine grace in the family circle, all
our outward and public plausibility merely
springs from the fear Of the world or from
the Shiny, putrid pool Of our own selfish
ness. tell you the home is mighty test
of character. What you are at home You
are everywhere, whether you demonstrate
1t or not.
Again, home is a refuge. Life is the
United States army on the national road
to Mexico-a long march, with ever and
anon a skirmish and a battle. At eventide
we pitch our tent and stack the arms, we
hang up the war cap, and our head on the
knapsack we sleep until the morning buSle
calls US to march to the action. How
pleasant 1t is to rehearse the victories and
the surprises and the attacks OF the day
seated by the still campfire OF the home
circle! Yea, life is stormy sea. With
shivered masts and torn sails and hulk
Blessed harborl There We go for repairs
in the drydock. The candle in the window
Is to the toiling man the lighthouse guild
ing him into port. Children go forth to
meet their fathers as pilots at the Narrows
take the hand of ships. The dOorsill OF the
homo Is the wharf where heavy life is un
laden. There is the place where We may
talk Of what We have done without being
charged with self adulation. There is the
place where We may lounge without being
thought ungraceful. There is the place
where We may express affection withou
being thought silly. There is the place
where We may forget our annoyances ami
exasperations and troubles. Forlorn earth
pilgrim, NO home? Then die. That is bet
ter. The grave Is brighter and grandei
and more glorious than this world with no
tent from marching, with NO harsor from
the storm, with no place Of rest from this
scene of greed and gouge and loss ano
gain. God pity the man or the woman whc
has no homei
Further. home is a political sa:egr ard.
The safety of the State must be built OF
the safety Of the home. Why cannol
France come to a placid reruhlicl Mae
.iauon appoints MS ministry, and all France
is a1uake lest the republic be smothered.
Gambette dies. and there are hundreds Of
kbN,, 1a ne -h~ o~fv