Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-05-10

Text, Luke XIV, s, And he was an
cry and would not 60 In"
Many times have I been asked to
preach sermon about the elder
brother OF the parable. / received a
letter from Canada saying, 'Is the eld-
er son of the parable SO unsympathetic
and so cold that he is not worthy of
recognition" The fact Is that we
ministers pursue the younger son. You
can hear the Tapping of his rags in
many a sermonic breeze and the
branching of the pods for which he
was an unsuccessful contestant.
confess that it has been difficult for me
to train the camera obscura upon the
elder son Of the parable. could not
get a negative of the photograph.
There was not enough light in the gal
lery, or the chemicals were too poor.
or the sitter moved in the picture. But
now think have him, not side face
or three-quarters or the mere bust,
but full length portrait as he appears
to me. The father in the parable OF
the prodigal had nothing to brag OF
In his two sons. The one was rake
and the other a churl. find nothing
admirable in the dissoluteness Of the
one, and find nothing attractive in
the acrid sobriety Of the other. The
one goes down over the larboard side,
and the other goes down over the
starboard side, but they both go down.
From all the windows of the old
homestead bursts tn, minstrelsy. The
floor quakes with the feet of the rus
tics, whose dance is always vigorous
and resounding. The neighbors have
heard of the return Of the younger,
son from his wanderings, and they
have gathered together. The house
is full of congratulators. / suppose
the tables are loaded with luxuries.
not only the one kind Of meat men
toned, but its concomitants. "Clap!"
60 the cymbals, "thrum!" go the
harps, "click!" go the chalices, up and
down go the feet inside, while outside
Is most sorry spectacle.
The senior sons anger.
The senior son stands at the corner
of the house, a frigid phlegmatic. He
has just come in from the fields In
very substantial apparel. Seeing
some wild exhilarations around the
old mansion, he asks of servant pass
ing by with a goat-skin Of wine on his
shoulder what all the fuss Is about
One would have thought that, on
hearing that his younger brother had
got back, he would have gone into
the house and rejoiced, and, II he were
not conscientiously opposed to dane
ing, that he would have joined the ORR
entail schottish. No, there he stands.
His brow lowers: his face darkens;
his lip curls with contempt. He stamps
the ground with Indignation; he sees
nothing at all to attract. The odors
of the feast, coming out on the air,
do not sharpen his appetite. The
lively music does not put any spring
into his step. He is in terrible pout.
He criticises the expense. the injustice
and the morals of the entertainment.
The father rushes out bareheaded and
coaxes him to come In. He will not go
in. He scolds the father. He goes in
to a pasQuinade against the younger
brother, and he makes the most I'M
comely scene. He says, Father, you
put a premium on vagabondism.
staid at home and worked on the farm.
You never made a party for me; you
didn't so much as kill a kid. That
wouldn't have cost half as much as a
calf; but this scapegrace went off in
fine clothes, and he comes back not
fit to be seen, and what time you
make over him! He breaks your heart
and you pay him for it. That calf, to
which we have been giving extra feed
during all these weeks, wouldn't be so
fat and sleek IL had known to what
use you were going to put 1t. That
vagabond deserves to be cowhfded in
stead of banqueted. Veal is too good
for him." That evening, while the
younger SON sat telling his father
about his adventures and asking about
what had occurred on the place since
his departure, the senior brother goes
to bed disguised and slams the door
after him. That senior brother still
lives. You can see him any Sunday,
any day of the week. At a meeting OF
ministers in Germany some one asked
the question, who is that elder son!'
and Krummacher answered, Il know
him; / saw him yesterday" And when
they insisted upon knowing whom he
meant he said, Myself; when l saw
the account of the conversion OF a
most obnoxious man was irritated."
First, the senior brother of the text
stands for the self-congratulatory, self
self-worshipful man. With
the same breath in which he vitupe-
rates against his younger brother he
utters a panegyric for himself. The
man of the text, like ev-
cry other self-righteous man, was full
of faults. He was an migrate, for he
did not appreciate the home blessings
which he had all those years. He
was disobedient, for when the father
told him to come in he staid out. He
was liar for he said that the recreant
son had devoured his fathers living,
when the father, so far from being
reduced to penury, had homestead
left, had instruments of music, had
jewels, had a mansion, and instead OF
being a pauper was prince. This
senior brother, with so many faults OF
his own, was merciless in his criticism
of the younger brother. The only per-
feet people that l have ever known
were utterly obnoxious. / was never
so badly cheated in my life as by a
perfect man. He got so far up In his
devotions that he was clear up above
all the rules of common honesty.
These men that 60 about prowling