Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-07-02
JOY AT THE WEDDING
The MIRACLE OF CANA REV. DR.. TAI
MAGE'S THEME

Lesson OF Changing the Water Into
Wine Christ Teaches That We
Should Not Shadow joys of Others
With Our own Grfefs.
WASHINGTON. July IA remarkable
Illustration of the ubiQuity of English
speaking people is furnished by the re-
uuests that have reached DR.. Talmage
In northern Europe for a sermon in out
Of the way places where he did not ex-
pect to find q single person who could
understand him. There, as here, he
presents religion as festivity and III
vites 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 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
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 ia
artistic garlands fresh from the hot
house. When d daughter goes off from
home with nothing but plain fathers
blessing and plain mothers love, she
is missed as much as though she were
a princess. 1t seems hard, after the
parents have sheltered her for IS years,
that in q few short months her affec-
tons should have been carried off by
another, but mother remembers how it
was in her own case when she was
young, and so she braces up until the
wedding has passed and the banquet
ers are gone, and she has q cry all
alone.
Well, we are today at the wedding in
Cana of Galilee. Jesus and his mother
have been invited. 1t is evident that
there are more people there than were
expected. Either some people have
come who were not invited or more in
yitatiOns have been sent out than it
was supposed would be accepted. Of
course there is not 4 sufficient supply
of wine. You know that there is moth
ing more embarrassing to a housekeep-
er than q seant supply. Jesus sees the
embarrassment, and he comes up i'm
mediatcly to relieve it. He sees stand
ing six waite" pots. He orders the
servants to FL them with water; then
he waves his hand over the water, and
Immediately it is wine-real wine.
Taste of it and see for yourselves; no
logwood in it. no strychnine in it, but
first rate wine. I Will not now be di-
verted to the question SO often discuss
ed in my own country whether it is
right to drink wine. 1 am describing
the scene as it was. When God makes
wine, he makes the very best wine,
and $50 gallons of it standing around
in these water p0ts-wine so good that
the ruler Of the feast tastes it and
says: why, this is really better than
anything we have hadl Thou hast
kept the good wine until now" Beau
tiful 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 Il poet won the prize
by just this one line descriptive Of the
miracle: The conscious water saw it's
God and blushed."
The Rest Adviser.
We learn from this miracle. in the
first place that Christ has sympathy
with housekeepers. You might have
thought that Jesus would have said:
Il cannot be bothered with this house
hold deficiency CT wine. 1t is not for
me. Lord of heaven and of earth, to be-
come caterer to this feast. I have vast
er things than this to attend to-" Not
so said Jesus. The wine gave out. and
Jesus, by miraculous power. came to
the rescue. Docs there ever come q
Scant supply n YOUR household? Have
you to make very close calculation?
Is it hard work fer you to carry on
things decently and respectfully If
so, don't sit down and cry. Don't go
out and fret. but go to him who stood
IN the house in Cana of Galilee Pray
in the parlor. Pray in the kitchen!
Let there be 10 room in all your house
unconSecrated by the voice of prayer.
If you have a microscope. put under it
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 he will take care of you and feed
you.
a boy asked if he might sweep the
snow from the steps Of q house. The
lady of the household said, Eyes; you
seem very poor" He says, 81 am very
poor" She says, Don't you some
times get discouraged and feel that
God is going to let you starve" The
lad looked up in the woman's face and
said, DO you think God will let me
starve when 1 trust him and then do
the best l cam? Enough theology
for older people! Trust in God and do
the best you can. Amid all the worri-
ments of housekeeping go to him. He