Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-03-07
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WASHINGTON. March "a familiar
Illustration from the barnyard is en-
ployed in this discourse by DIR. Tai
mage to show the comfort and protec-
ton that heaven affords to all trusting
souls. The text is Matthew xiii, 81,
Even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and We would not"
Jerusalem was in sight as Christ
came TO the crest of Mount olivet. a
height OF 700 feet. The splendors OF
the religious capital OF the whole earth
irradiated the landscape. There is the
temple. Yonder is the kings palace.
Spread out before his eyes are the
the coming destruction of Jerusalem,
and he bursts into tears at the thought
OF the obduracy of a place that he
would gladly have saved and apcstro-
phizes, saying, 20 Jerusalem, Jeru-
salem, how often would 1 have gath
cred thy children together. even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and We would notr'
Why did Christ select hen and chick
ems as a smile? Next to the Apostle
ness OF the comparison. think it was
TO help all public teachers in the mat
ter OF Illustration to get down of their
stills and use comparisons that all can
understand. The plainest bird on earth
Is the barnyard fowl. Its only adorn-
ments are the red comb In its head
dress and the wattles under the throat
Il has no grandeur Of genealogy. All
we know is that its ancestors came
from India, some of them from q
height of 1000 feet on the sides Of the
Himalayas. 1t has no pretension OF
nest like the eagles eyrie. Il has no
luster OF plumage like the goldfinch.
Possessing anatomy that allows flight,
yet about the last thing it wants to do
is to fly, and In retreat uses foot al
most as much as wing. 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 a song,
but only cluck and cackie. 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.
Chrtsts Simple TeachtnEH-
Christ was thus simple in his teach
ings. and yet how hard It is for us who
are Sunday school instructors and ed
itors and preachers and reformers and
those who would gain the ears OF audi
ences to attain that heavenly and d.
vine art OF simplicity We have to run
a course OF literary disorders as chill
dren n course of physical disorders.
We come out of school and college
loaded down with Greek mythologies
and out OF the theological seminary
weighed down with what the learned
fathers said aud we fly with wings OF
eagles and famingoes and albatrosses,
and it takes a good while before we
can come down TO Christ's similitudes,
the candle under the bushel, the salt
that has lost its SAVIOR. the net thrown
into the sea. the spittle on the eyes OF
the blind man and the hen and chick
ems.
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
gooc things than many that fly higher
and wear brighter colors- She is not
prima donna OF the skies nor strut of
beauty In the aisle OF the forest. She
does not cut circle under the sun like
the Rocky mountain eagle, but stays
at home TO look after family affairs.
She does not swoop like the condor OF
the cordilleras TO transport rabbit
from the valley TO the top OF the crags,
but just scratches for living.
am In warm sympathy with the IN
pretentious old fashioned hen because.
like most OF US. she has to scratch for
n living. She knows at the start the
lesson which most people OF good sense
are slow to learn-that the gaining of a
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
fun or failures. so full OF loafers, SO
full or deadbeats is because people
are not wise enough to take the lesson
which any hen would teach them that
II they would find for themselves and
Tor those dependent upon them any
thing worth having they much scratch
Tor 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 q
descending dove, but Christ In a SER
mon that began with cutting sarcasm
for hypocrites and ends with the parox.
ysm or pathos In the text compares |
himself to hen.
Hawks Of Temptation. \
One day In the country we saw sud- |
zen conservation In the behavior Of |
old Dominick- Why the hen should be |
so disturbed we could not understand. |
We looked about to see If a neighbours |
dog We're invading the farm We look |
ed up to see If q stormcloud were hoy |
ering- We could see nothing on the |
ground that could terrorize, and we |
could see nothing in the air to ruff1e |
the feathers OF the hen, but the loud, |
wild. afrighted cluck which brought |
all her brood at full run under her
Feathers made Us look again around |
and above us, when we say 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. 1t came nearer
ana lower until we saw its beak was
curved from base to tip and it had two
names Of fire for eyes and it was a
nawk. But all the chickens were un-
DER Old Dominick's wings, and either
the bird OF prey caught a 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,
ana 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
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