Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-02-07

igals return; when he saw the eyes Of
his father gllstenlng with love and his
checks flushing with holy thankful
ness, he would have rejOiced for his
fathers sake if he had not been selfish
and would not have tried to stab the
old man to the heart. Did he not say
in effect: Yes. we shall drive that dis
solute debauchee back to his swine
trough. Then we can have the pleas
ure of seeing father again restlessly
pacing the floor through the long,
weary hours of the night" Did he not
want to hear that dear, old, gentle, for
giving father again moan over his way
ward boy as David mourned over his
dead son Absalom?
II that elder brother had been the
right kind Of son, he would have seen
what JOY came into the fathers heart
at the return Of his repentnnt son. He
would have Immediately said What
difference does money make IL can
only make father happy? Away with
the question of dollars and cents If my
5rAther's return is only true return"
SO every Christian today, if he is the
right kind of a Christian, does not
think about the social condition of his
repentant fellow man. He Immediately
says, when the publican bows at the
mercy seaC: "Oh, the joy and the rap
ture of heaven. Oh. the look of tri-
umphant love which is upon my Divine
Fathers face. Oh, the celestial music
which in great tidal waves of sound is
rolling through the golden bOulevards
of the New Jerusalem. Oh, the an
gelic voices in heaven which are every
were shouting the glad tidings: The
prodigal has returned! The pr)digal
has returned to his Fathers housev"
The Lack of Faith.
The elder brothers conduct also
shows a lack Of faith in his father. He
refuses to believe that his Divine Fa-
thers love is powerful enough to
change a sinner into saint. Infidelity
often intrenches itself in the pew and
behind the church pulpit. Some church
members, and some ministers Of the
gospel, are Only theOrZing when they
profess to believe that Jesus Christ can
pardon sin. They profess to believe
that Christ can transform the seven
deviled Marys into the Marys who are
willing to sit at his feet and worship,
but these skeptical elder brothers go
forth into the great, wide, sinful world
and by their practical behavior scatter
their ideal spiritual theories to the four
winds.
When the reformed drunkard comes
home, they cry out: "What is the good
of letting that unprincipled loafer into
the house? He is just like other drunk
ards. He is only repenting for a little
while so that he may get some money
out Of us and go forth on another
spree. Drive him out at once. Let
him 90 to the poorhOuse, where he be-
longs" When the young girl who has
led q dissolute life wants to lead a
pure life, instead Of finding the willing
arms Of forgiveness held out to her by
her elder sisters she finds only the shut
doors Of a contemptuous rebuke. Why?
Because the cynical elder sisters do
not believe that a prodigal woman with
a black past can ever. even by divine
power, be changed into a sainted wom-
an with a spotless future. The Grim
inal has served his penitentiary term
and is liberated from the stone cell. Is
the great world at large ready to for
give him and receive him back into
honorable employment If he repents?
Oh, no. The elder brothers and elder
sisters are so bitter against the ex-con-
victs that many repentant one has
deliberately returned to his crimes be-
cause he could earn living in no 9TH
er way. When a visiting minister,
some years ago. asked a convict If he
would not like to be free, this answer
was given: "Why should | want to be
free? Is the honest world ready to re-
ceive me with an Outstretched hand Of
love? No. In the worlds eyes the
striped suit of the convict always COW
ers a heart of total depravity. Because
l have once done wrong the world is
never willing to believe that | am will
ing to do right. | must always live an
outcast | must die a criminal" My
brothers and sisters, can it be possible
that we do not believe that the love Of
God is powerful enough to save men?
Can 1t be possible that you and do
not believe the omnipotent hand of
Christ is able to lift the viest OF sin
ners out of their sins if they will only
reach up for that saving hand? Can
we not have at heart as much faith in
Chrlsts power to save a repentant
white man as Robert Moffat had in
Christs power to save repentant
black man? Would that we might all
in our dealings with the prodigal son
be like that great African missionary
when he wrote upon the white leaf OF
a young girls album these suggestive
words:
Ny album Is in savage breasts,
Where passion reigns and darkness rests
without one ray of light;
To write the name of Jesus there,
To point to worlds. both bright and fair,
And see the pagans bow in prayer
Is all my souls delight.
The elder brother does not realize
fully that his Divine Father is show
ing more magnanimity in bearing with
his respectable meanness than in well
coming back the repentent prodigal
boy. feel sorry for the wife who is
married to a drunkard or to a gambler
or to a dissolute clubman. That must
be a crushing cross for a mother to car
ry for the sake of her children-to feel
that for the baby's welfare she must
associate with man from whom the
law courts Of the land would give her
a divorce If she only presented her evil
dence. But, though this may be true,
1 feel almost as sorry for a wife who
has to live with one Of those cross
grained, sneering, irritating, fault find
ing, Jealous husbands who are wearing
hon