The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-03-06
TALMAGE's SERMON.
FAMILIAR ILLUSTRATION PReCEDEs
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE.
TEXT Matthew XIII, 81: Even 40 a
Hen Gathereth Her Chickens Under
wing. and Ye Would Not"-Christ ~
Refuge from Danger and Temptations.

Hen Gatherotn Hof Cnlck0n0 Under
wing. and Ye Would Not-Christ NJ
Refuge from Danger and Temptations.
Copyright, 1902. Louis Klopsch, N. -
Washington, March "A familiar
Illustration from the barnyard is en-
ployed in this discourse by DR.. Tai
mage to show the comfort and protec-
ton that heaven affords to all trust
ing souls. The text is Matthew xiii,
81, Even as hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings and we would
not"
Jerusalem was in sight as Christ
came to the crest of Mount Olivet,
height of 700 feet. Spread out before
bis eyes are the pomp, the wealth, the
wickedness and the coming destruction
of Jerusalem, and he bursts into tears
at the thought of the obduracy of
place that he would gladly have saved,
and apostrophizes, saying, 20 Jerusa-
lem, Jerusalem, how often would have
gathered thy children together. even as
hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and we would mott"
Why did Christ select hen and chick
ems as smile? Next to the Apostle
ness Of the comparison, think 1T was
to help all public teachers in the mat
ter of illustration to get down off their
stills and use comparisons that all can
understand. The plainest bird on earth
is the barnyard fowl. Musicians have
written out in musical scale the song
of lark and robin redbreast and night
ingale, yet the hen of my text hath
nothing that could be taken for song,
but only cluck and cackle. Yet Christ
in the text uttered while looking upon
doomed Jerusalem declares that what
he had wished for that city was like
what the hen does for her chickens.
There is not much poetry about this
winged creature Of God mentioned in
my text, but she is more practical and
more motherly and more suggestive of
good things than many that fly higher
and wear brighter colors.
I am in warm sympathy with the I'M
pretentious old-fashioned hen because,
like most of us, she has to scratch for
a living. She knows at the start the
lesson which most people of good sense
are slow to learn-that the gaining of
livelihood implies work and that sue
cesses do not lie on the surface, but are
to be upturned by positive and contin-
uous effort. The reason that society
and the church and the world are SO
full of failures, SO full of loafers, so
full of deadbeats, is because people
are not wise enough to take the lesson
which the hen would teach them, that
If they would find for themselves and
for those dependent upon them any
thing worth having they must scratch
for it. Solomon said, Go to the ant,
thou sluggard." say, Go to the hen,
thou sluggard. In the Old Testament
God compares himself to an eagle STIR
ring up her nest, and in the New Tesla
ment the Holy Spirit is compared to
descending dove, but Christ in SER
mon that began with cutting sarcasm
for hypocrites and ends with the parox-
ysm of pathos in the text, compares
himself to a hen.
One day in the country we saw sud-
den CONSERVATION in the behavior of
old Doninick. Why the hen should be
so disturbed we could not understand
We could see nothing on the ground
that could terrorize, and we could
see nothing in the air to ruffle the
feathers Of the hen, but the loud,
Wild, affrighted cluck which brought
all her brood at full run under her
feathers made us look again around
and above us, when we saw that high
up and far away there was rapacious
bird wheeling round and round and
down and down, and, not seeing us as
we stood in the shadow, it came nearer
and lower until we saw it's beak was
curved from base to tip and it had two
flames of fire for eyes, and it was a
hawk. But all the chickens We're I'M
der old DominicK's wings, and either
the bird of prey caught glimpse of us,
or not able to find the brood, hud-
died under wing, darted back into the
clouds. So Christ calls with great ear
nestness to all the young. Why. what
is the matter? 1t is bright sunlight.
and there can be no danger. Health is
theirs. A good home is theirs. Plenty
Of food is theirs. Prospect of long life
is theirs. But Christ continues to call
calls with more emphasis and urges
haste and says not second ought to
be lost. Oh, do tell us what is the
matter. All, now see; there are hawks
of temptation in the air, there are ynl-
lures wheeling for their prey, there are
beaks Of death ready to plunge. there
are claws of allurement ready ia
clutch. Now 1 see the peril. Now !
understand the urgency. Now see the
only safety. Would that Christ might
this day take our sons and daughters
into his shelter "as a hen gatheretb
her chickens under her wing"
The fact is that the most of them
will never mind the shelter unless
while they are chickens. It is simple
matter of memorable statistics that
most of those who do not come to
Christ in youth never come at all
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