The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-05-21
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A SCHOLARLY DISCOURSE HY THE
REV. Or. C. H. PheEHuRST.
Subject. 1ncon.picuous GreE:ness-A Per
son May Have an Immense Amount
oc Virtue and Yet 1t May Never Arrest
the Worlds Attention.


Nrw YoRE CITY.-D-. Charles 81. PARK
hwst. pastor of the Madison Square Srcs-
byterian Church. preached q sermon, sun
day morning Oh Il subject which might be
termed 'InconspIcuous Greatness. lie
chose as his text Mark xii: H-i4: And
Jesus sat over against the treasury and ne
he'd how the people cast money into the
treasury. and many that were rich cast IN
much. And there came a ccrtaln p3or
widow, ayi she threw in two mites winch
make faTthing. And He called unto Him
His disciples and saith unto them. Verify
| say unto you that this poor widow hath
cast INorc in than al they which have cast
into the treasury: for all they did cast in Of
their abundance, brt she OF her want did
cast in all that shc had. even al her lv-
ing" Dr. Parhhurst said:
Which undoubtedly was m im?IuGent
thing :or the woman to do. IOr pernanS ut
4 later hour OF the same DAY she lad to
borrow. beg or steal in order TO meet the
necessities OF her subsistence. bat bHaHti-
iul intention may still be beautiful even
II it is little careless and uncaIcuiaiiGg: {:
indeed. We Ike it still better If it is not too
careful and too Calculating. The case IS
like that related bv ST. Matthew OF me
woman with her a.abaster box OF ointme 1t.
who Srent-in one sense OF tie word
wastea-a prodigal amount OF money 81
Jesus amounting; it was extraragant aid
reckless. but the recklsssneSs OF it was one
of its charms. for it made only more evt
dent the sweet sincerity of her affection,
and If she had been more economical with
the splkenard less OF the fragrance might
have floated down to our own day.
Jesus presumably Was the only person in
the temple that day that took any account
OF the woman with the two mites. She was
simply one OF a crowd and as uninterestir2
and unpromising probably as are the men,
bers of any crowd, but the iact that she
was. outwardly at least. uninteresting
makes it interesting that Christ was inter-
ested in her. and it is one VI the features
or our Lords character that He was I'M
pressed by unpromising people. Whoever
it might be that He was dealing with he
seemed to feel that He had good deal TO
go upon. No one. we should say. appealed
to Him TO be ordinary. We were speaking
here some time since about the hapha2ard
way one might almost say. i'll which lie
selected His disciples. as though any one
He IAN across that day. when He was walk
ing along the edoe Of the Sea OF GaIilec.
would answer we'll enough for I disciple,
and so for an apostlc-this to be under
stood not rs disparagement OF the position
He selected them to fill. but as recognizing
that even common men were so uncommon
as to be inherently able to fill the position.
He conld doubtless have continued His
walk along the seaside and have selected
another twelve Just as competcnt as the
first twelve. ii He had cared at that time
to have so many. And. certainly. it is not
venturing much to presume that He cou,d
have come into this city. yes. and into this
congregation. and have found dozen peo-
pie with natural qualifications that would
have nude them as capable as Peter. James
and John and the rest to lay, in co-opera-
ton with Himself, the foundations OF the
Christian church.
Probably the most ardent leveler in the
world would not claim that all men are !un-
damen:ally alike, and fundamentally equal.
ard this is not the place, certainly. to be
drawn off into any nice speculation upon
that matter. but apparent differences be-
tween people are not at all TO be taken as
Just measure of their actual differences;
Christs tu!ogies are conspicuous for being
pronounced upon the inconspicuous. and
that is fact to be thought upon as tend
ing to change the attitude or our feelings
toward the submerged ninety.nine per cent.
of the race. And | am urging this po mt
not for the purpose of establishing tte-
ory, but in order that those of You who
are evidently of 4 good deal of account
may sec more reason for respecting and
honoring those whose Claims to Your re.
spect and admiration are OF an undemon-
strative type. Once let them have an open
field and fair chance and perhaps they
will change places with You. This may have
been part of what the Lord had in mind
when He said that ''many that are frs.
shall be last and the last first
The idea has been rather bard ridden
nyerridden-that if the possibilities of cf.
feet are in man o" woman those posslbIil-
ties are eound to come to their realization.
however mtoward NAV be the circum-
stances that stand in their way. 1t was
once elegantly stated by one whose e.o-
quent flcc is still fresh in the memory of
many OF us How many Mi!tons may have
died IN their mothers arms we cannot
state. but the crown-up Mi,tons have been
heard from. Easy 10 say. difficult 10 prove
and c!rincntN Improbable. OF hundred
kennels OF wheat scarce one ever fu.flls
the destiny marked Tor i IN its own conSti-
tutira. hut the niHeiy:iii:c thaJ are ground
~ IN thc i3i;i are each as luii OF the pos
sibiiitiaS o. blade. ear and full corn in the
ear - the one that happens to be
dropped into the furrow. y tropical PAIN
will still be nothing leSf than a palm even
though grown in 4 northern latitude. but
however ahourding may be its native euer-
CicS and vital forces it viii lie UNEQUAL to
the discouragcment Of Shor; days and carly
frOStS.
The apostle Peter has become great
power in the history OF the church and Of
/ Christian civilization. but ii on the day
that Jesus went strolling along the beach.
gathering up disciples. Peter had been out
at sea fishing instead OF iashorc mending
ha nets it is not probable ne would ever
have been heard from. IT is rather impor-
tant to be somewhere near the track when
the train of opportunity goes by. There
is undoubtedly providence IN things, but
at the same time there is an accident in
things in the sense in which that word ac-
cident can be properly used by lis. You
viii recall the incident which st. John
relates as occurring at the pool OF Beth
esda. There was some medicinal property
in the waters OF the 200! perhaps. at any
rate at certain times an angel descended
iato the p0oi and troubled the water and
che one who WAS fortunate enough TO be
the first to get into the water alter it was
troubled was healed of any infrmity from
which he might lie suffering. That Is. the
nan who CHANGED to be closest TO The track
Wien the train OF opportunity went by
could 20 aboard and arrive.
AS already sud. these arg matters 70
dwell unon because the consideration of
them enhances our respect for those about
glg.,