The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-09-21
THE MARRIAGE FEAST
Joyous Features of the Christian
Religion Clearly Presented.
Dir. Tnimngc Invites the Whole
World to Join In Its Holy
Mcrrimcnt--The Wedding
In Cana.

t''lA IlbHi, l3b, bN Louis klOpSCn
Washington. July l.
\ remarkable illustration Of the
ubiquity of English-spcaking people
is furnished by the requests that have
reached Dr. Talmagc in northern Eu-
rope for a sermon in out-of-the-way
PAGES where he did not expect TO find
a single person who could understand
him. There. as here he presents re-
ligion as a feStiyity and invites ali the
world to come as guests and join in
its holy merriment: text. John H.. 10:
Thou hast kept the good wine until
now"
This chapter invites US TO a marriage
celebration. 1t is a wedding in COM
mon life, two plain people having
pledged each other, hand and heart,
and their friends having come in for
congratuiation. The Joy is not the less
because there is no pretension. In each
other they find all the future they
want. The daisy in the cup on the
table may mean as much as "A score ot
artistic garlands fresh from the hot
house. When daughter goes off from
home with nothing but plain fathers
blessing and plain mothers love. she
is missed as much as though she were
princess. 1t seems hard. after the
parents have sheltered her for Is years.
that i'm few short months her af-
fcctionS should have been carried off
hy another. but mother remembers
how il was i'm her own case when She
Was Young. and so she braces up un-
III the wedding has passed and the
lWnqueters are gone. and she has cry
all alone.
Wen. we are to-day at the wedding
i'm Cana of Gali.ce. Jesus and His
mother have been invited. il is evil
dent that there are more people there
than were expected. Either some peo-
pie have come who were not invited
or more invitations have been sent ont
than IL was supposed would be ac-
ccpted. OF course there is not a sufli-
cicnt supply of wine. You know that
there is nothing more embarrassing 10
a housekeeper than a scant supply
Jesus sees the embarrassment, and he
comes up Immediately to relieve it. He
sees standing six water pots. lie or
ders the servants to fiji them with
water. then He waves His hand over
the water. and Immediately il is vine
real wine. Taste of it and see for YOUR
selves. No logwOod in il. no strychnine
i1f a.
be- diverted TO the question so often
discussed i'm my own country whether
it is right to drink wine. | am de-
scribing the scene as il was. When God
makes wine. He makes the very best
wine. and 130 gallons Of it standing
around in these water pots-wne 50
GOOD that the ruler Of the feast tastes
IL and SAYS: "Why. this is really bet
ter than anything we have had. Thou
hast kept the good wine until now.
Beautiful miracle. \ prize was offered
TO the person who should write the
best essay about the miracle in Cana.
Long manuscripts were presented in
the competition. but a poet won the
prize by just this one line descriptive
OF the miracle: "The conscious water
saw its God and blushed.'
We learn from this miracle, in the
first place. that Christ has sympathy
with housekecpers. You might have
thought that Jesus would have said:
81 cannot be bothered with this house
hold deficiency of wine. II is not for
me. Lord Of Heaven and Of earth, to
become caterer to this feast. ! have
vaster things than this TO attend to.
Not so said Jesus The wine gave out.
and Jesus by miraculous power came
10 the rescue. Does there ever come
scant supply in your houschold'
Have YOU TO make a very close calcu,a-
tion? 1t is hard work for you to carry
on things decently and respectaDly'
If so. don't sit down and cry. Don't 60
ont and fret. but 90 to Him who stood
i'm the house in Cana Of Galilee Pray
in the parlor. Pray in the Kitchen.
Let there be no room in your house
unconsecrated by the voice of PRAYER.
If YOU have a microscope. put under IL
one drop of water and see the insects
floating about. and when you see that
God makes them and cares for them
and feeds them come TO the conclusion
that lie will take care Of you and feed
you.
learn also from this miracle that
Christ does things in abundance. !
think a small supply Of wine would
have made up for the deficiency
think. certainly. they must have had
enough for half the guests. One gal
Ion of wine will do; certainly five gal
Ions will be enough; certainly ten. But
Jesus goes on. and lie gives them 30
gallons and 40 gallons and so gallons
and ~ gallons and 100 gallons and I'D
rallonS of the very best wine. 1t IS
inst like Him-doing everything on the
largest and most generous scale. Does
Christ. our Creator, 20 forth to make
loaves? He makes them by the whole
forest full: notched like the fern or sill
vered ike the aspen or broad Ike the
palm: thickets in the tropics. Oregon
forests. Does He go forth to make
flowers? He makes plenty Of them;
thcv fame from the hedge. they hang
from the top Of the grapevine in BIOS
SONS. they roll IN the blue wave Of the
violcts. they toss their white surf IN
the spiraea-enough for every child's
hand "A fower-enough to make for
every brow claplet, enough with
beauty to cover up the ghastliness OF
all the grave.
- - ......;in rcllnr,, nj inno II