The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-05-22
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A SCHOLARLY DISCOURSE BY THE
REV. Or. c n. PARkhuRST.
Subject; Ipconspieuous Grestn-ss-A Per
son May Have sn Immense Amount
Of Virtue and Yet IL May Never Arrest
the Worlds Attention.

she Worid's Attention.
New YORK City DR.. Charles II. Park.
hurst, pastor Of the Madison Square Pres
byterlan Church, preached sermon sun
day morning on a subject which might be
termed "lnconsplcuous Greatness" He
chose as his text Mark xii: 4l-44; And
Jesus sat over against the treasury and be-
held how the people cast money into the
treasury, and many that were rich cast IN
much. And there came certain poor
widow, and she threw IN two mites which
make farthing And He called unto Him
His disciples and saith unto them, Verify
i say unto YOU that this poor widow hath
cast more IN than all they which have cast
into the treasury; for all they did cast in OF
their abundance, but she of her want did
cast in all that she had. even all her liv.
ing DR. Parkhurst said
Which undoubtedly was an imprudent
thing for the woman 10 do. for perhaps al
a later hour Of the same day she had 10
borrow. beg or steal in order 10 meet the
necessities OF her subsistence, but heauti
ful intention NAV still be beautiful even
If il is little careless and uncalculating,
indeed. we like IL still better If IL Is not too
careful and too calculating, The case is
like that related bv ST. Matthew of the
woman with her alabaster box OF ointment
who spent-in one sense Of the word
wasted-a prodigal amount of money on
Jesus Amounting: II was eNtravagant and
reckless. but the recklessness Of il was one
Of its charms, for il made only more evi-
dent the sweet sincerity of her affection.
and II she had been more economical with
the spikenard less of the fragrance might
have floated down 10 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 uninteresting
and unpromising probably as are the mem
bers OF any crowd, but the fact that she
was, outwardly at least uninteresting
makes il interesting that Christ was inter.
ested IN her. and II is one Of the features
of our Lords character that He was i'm.
pressed by unpromising people. Whoever
II might be that He was dealing with lie
seemed TO feel that He had good deal 10
90 upon. No one we should saw. appealed
20 Him 20 be ordinary. We were speaking
here some time since about the haphaZard
way, one might almost say, in which He
selected His disciples. as though any one
He ran across that dAy, when He was walk.
ing along the edge Of the Sea OF Galilee.
you'd answer well enough for a discple,
and so for an apostle-this 10 be under
stood not as disparagement OF the position
He selected them TO FIJI, but as recognizing
that even common men were so uncommon
as 10 be inherently able TO fiji the position.
He could doubtless have continued His
walk along the seaside and have selected
another twelve lust as competent as the
first twelve, il He had cared az that time
10 have so many. And, certainly. IL is not
venturing much 10 presume that He could
have come into this city. YES. and into this
congregation, and have found dozen peo-
pie with natural qualifications that would
have made them as capable as Peter. James
and John and the rest 10 lav. in co-onera-
tion with Himself, the foundations of the
Christian church
Probably the most ardent levelor in the
world would not claim that all men are fun.
damentallv alike, and fundamentally equal.
and this ls not the place, certainly, 10 be
drawn oil into any nice speculation upon
that matter, but apparent differences be-
tween people are not at all 10 be taken as
Just measure of their actual differences /:
Christs 6ulogies are conspicuous for being
pronounced upon the inconspicuous, and
that is fact TO be thought upon a. tend
ing TO change the attitude OF our feelings
toward the submerged ninetv-nine per cent.
of the race. And ] am urging this point
not for the purpose of establishing a the.
ory, bat In order that those OF YOU who
are evidently OF good deal Of account
may see more reason for respecting and
honoring those whose claims 20 your re-
spect and admiration are of an undemon
strative type. Once let them have an open
| field and a 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 first
shall be last. and the last first"
The idea has been rather bard ridden
overridden-that If the possibilities OF ef-
feet arc in n man or woman. those possihili.
| ties are bound TO come to their realization.
however untoward NAV be the circum-
stances that stand in their way. IL was
once elegantly stated bv one whose eio-
| quent face is still fresh in the memory Of
| died IN their mothers arms we cannot
state. but the erown-up Millions have been
! heard from" Easy 10 say. difficult 10 prove
and eminentlv improbable OF a hundred
| kernels OF wheat scarce one ever fulfils
the destiny marked for IL in its own consti.
tuition, but the ninety-nine that are ground
IN in the mill are each as full of the pos.
sibilities OF blade, ear and full corn in the
ear" a. the one that happens 20 be
dropped into the furrow. A tropical palm
will still be nothing less than a palm even
| though grown IN a northern latitude, but
! however abounding may be its native ener-
gies and vital forces IL will be unequal TO
! the dlscouragement OF short days and early
frosts.
The apostle Peter has become a great
power in the history OF the church and OF
Christian civilization. but If on the day
that Jesus went strolling along the beach.
gathering up disciples Peter had been out
at sea fishing instead OF inshore mending
his nets II is not probable he would ever
have been heard from. IL is rather impor-
tant 10 be somewhere near the track when
the train Of opportunity goes by. There
is undoubtedly providence in things, but
at the same time there ~ an accident In
things in the sense in which that word ac-
cident can be properly used bv US You
will recall the incident which 81. John
relates as occurring at the poo OF Beth.
esda. There was some medicinal property
in the waters OF the pool perhaps, at any
rate at certain times an angel descended
into the pool and troubled the water and
the one who was fortunate enough 20 be
the first 20 get into the water after IL was
troubled was healed Of any inhrmity from
which he might be suffering That -, the
man who chanced 70 be closest TO the track
when the train Of opportunity went by
could co aboard and arrive.
In Maeaulay's essay on history there oc-
ours this illustration, which, without any
straining. lends itself 10 the matter we are
now considering. AT Lincoln Cathedral
there is a beautiful painted window which
was made by an apprentice out OF the
pieces Of glagr which had been rejected and
thrown away by his master. IL - 20 far
superior 90 every other IN tho church that,
according 20 tradition. the vanquished art
ist killed himself from modification" !"
Which means that the finest window IN the
entire edi6ce was made out OF glass that 90
an inappreciative and Uusvmpathetic eyc
was good for nothing and cast ont as sheer
refuse. The miracle OF the feeding OF the
500 lets Us see among other things that
Christ had a very distinct regard for what
the disciples probably thought we're mere
odds and end and AZ the end Of the re-
past gathered up more than enough crusts
and scraps 90 feed the whole company over
again.
This accounts for the surprises 30 often