The Grit-advocate., 1900-07-06
THE MARRIAGE FEAST" LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT,
Tho Christian Religion, When Properly
Practiced. the Refuge of the Forlorn
Tho World Invited to . Feast of
Holy Joy.

furnished by the requests that have
reached DR.. Talmage in northern Eu-
rope for a sermon in and out Of the
way places where he did not expect to
find single person who could under
stand him. There, as here, he pre-
sents religion as festivity and invites
All the world to come as guests and
Join in Its holy merriment; text, John
ii. 10, Thou hast kept the good wine
until now"
This chapter invites us to a mar
rtage celebration. 1t Is wedding in
common life, two plain people having
pledged each other, hand and heart.
and their friends having come in for
congratulation. 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
score of artistic garlands fresh from
the hothouse. When a daughter goes
on from home with nothing but
plain fathers blessing and a plain
mothers love. she is missed as much
as though she were princess. 1t
seems hard after the parents have
sheltered her for eighteen years, that
IN a few short months her affections
should have been carried off by anoth-
er, but mother remembers how it was
In her own case when she was young.
and SO she braces up until the we'd
ding has passed and the banqueters
are gone, and she has cry all alone.
Well. we are today at the wedding
in Cana Of Galilee. Jesus and his
mother have been invited. It 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 out
than 1t was supposed would be ac-
'cepted. OF course there is not a suf-
ficient supply of wine. You know that
there is nothing more embarrassing to
housekeeper than scant supply.
Jesus sees the embarrassment and he
comes up Immediately to relieve it. He
sees standing six water pots. He or
ders the servants to fill them with
water. then he waves his hand over
the water, and Immediately 1t is wine
real wine. Taste of it and see for
yourselves. No logwood in it, no
strychnine in it, but first rate wine.
will not now be diverted to the
question so often discussed in my own
country whether it is right to drink
wine. l am describing the scene as it
was. When God makes wine he
makes the very best wine, and 100
gallons Of 1t standing around in these
water pots-wine so good that the
ruler Of the feast tastes 1t and says:
why, this is really better than any
thing We have had. Thou hast kept
the good wine until now" Beautiful
miracle! A prize was offered to the
person who should write the best es-
say about the miracle in Cana Long
manuscripts were presented in the
competition. but poet won the prize
by just this one line descriptive Of the
miracle: THE conscious water saw
its God and blushed'
Hides His Own Griefs
Jesus does not shadow the joys OF
Others with his own griefs. He might
have sat down in that wedding and
said: Il have SO much trouble, so
much poverty, SO much persecution,
and the cross is coming shall not
rejoice, and the gloom of my face and
of my sorrows shall be cast over all
this group" So said not Jesus. He
said to himself: Here are two per-
sons starting out in married life. Let