The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-11-10

Pastor OF the First Methodist Episcopal
Church. South.
and rascality.. be 1t ever SO shrewdly
carried on. will eventually be disclosed. God
Will cut to the core ~rottenness. He will not
prune, but probe. when heroic measures de-
The text is an arraignment. How is it I
stewardship The steward was detected in
his sins He had lived high, and with a
Now, caught in his infdelity to his trust, he
fnds himself without provisions for the flu
ture. His predicament Is more than en-
said within himself. What shall / do. for
my lord taketh away from me the steward
ship? cannot dig: to beg 1 am ashamed?'
he had no other occupation. I cannot
dig or. as the Revised Version has it, I
have not strength to dig
long that he was disqualified to do any
ashamed A case of genteel poverty. There
they, will run a grocery bill or store &C
mi, is worse than begging; It Aif Is Stealing:
said: I am resolved what I will do. He
soliloquizes; What shall I do? cannot
my myf iord!s % money not w pssii viii ! h1 I do =Gnu my peri
pleSity? All. happy thought. / have il:
will doctor these accounts. SO he called
and said unto the first. How much owest
thou unto my lord? And he said. "A hun
dred measures Of OIL And he said unto
and write fifty Then said he to another.
ANT how much owest thou?' And he said,
said hu npio him measures sTns. Of wheat hes, And ne
1T is appalling, to see how deep men
Of manhood. One lie occasions a series of
falsehoods. One sin fathers a brood. This
unjust steward was prepared to stoop to
anythlng low. sinister and wicked.
Ihe first Step aStray CrimSOnS the cheek
with a burning flush and quickens the
heart with a nervous sensation, but by
degrees the criminal Is hardened 10 his
work and his feelings are petrified and his
conscience dead.
The lord commended the unjust stew
ard; He recognized the sagacity Of his
tricky employe in his dire extremity. He
saw he had invented a shrewd scheme and
smiled at the artiice of the knavc.
Thou mayest no longer he steward"
The lord deoosed the migrate: the brand
Of shame rested upon him. He was no
ests, but was left to care for himself, a
wretch and a vagabcnd.
The parable ends here and the appli-
world. The children of this world are in
their generation wiser than the children of
asn5: rms unscruphious steward was wide
ness matters. See how alert and desperate
he was to reach his desired ends. He was
account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest
be no longer steward He did not beg and
whimpe and give up. but he played the
man. after the worlds fashion. despite his
misery and shame. II he could have com-
manded q thousand pounds he would have
absconded; or II he could have hypothe-
Gated the bonds he would have cashed them
and departed. But in his plight, he did the
only thing he could do. tempered with the
outstanding papers. and made false and
misleading entries on the notes for a con-
THE energetic steward represents the
spirit Of the world. See how the saloons
stand toRether: see how the politicians
pull together: "A long pull. a strong pull.
and a pull all together is their motto.
when the perseverance of the saints
equals the perseverance of the sinners, the
Bile stride.
Another lesson Of the parable is the
proper use Of opportunities. Make to your
selves friends of the mammon of unrighte-
BUSINESS. that when We fail they may receive
you into everlasting habitations.'
AS Gods stewards. we are to make the
pest OF our opportunities. not as this un-
JUST steward did on a base line, but by
means of consecrated wealth and by deeds
OF CHARITY lay up treasures in heaven
NOSE We help. the poor. the orphan. the
aeeo-trophies Of our beneicence. will
greet US In the other world. II not IN E9s