Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-11-17
Calnage
Sermon
BY Rev
Prank De Witt Tslmace. ID.


box the preacher in this sermon draws
lessons of the gratitude which men
should feel for the self sacrifice OF
mothers. sisters and wives. The text is
Mark xiv, s, "She hath done what she
could"
Some people are like the Dead sea
snbmerging the "cities OF the plain"
They have no outlets They would
make all the streams OF the surround
Ing hillsides tributaries TO their reser-
volrs. They would gather into their
depths the waters from the fountains
beneath and from the showers over
head. But. though they take i'm every
thing they can. they never have any
outfowings. They would never give
anything to anybody else unless they
were compelled so to do. Their hands
are like steel traps. They keep the
palms open only as long as they have
nothing on them. But as soon as any,
thing touches their skin their open
palms fly shut and. every finger be-
comes wise and every muscle as rig
Id as band OF steel. Their doctrine is.
What Is yours ought 20 be mine and
what is mine is my own" Truly they
hang on to everything they can. Their
appetites are Omnivorous. But, like
great stagnant pools. they become
stenchful through their immobility.
Their love of other people is completely
circumscribed by their love of self.
Selfish love has even n more con-
temptible characteristic than mere
brutal love for self. As n rule. selfish
men consider II personal reflection on
oil l.
as mean and selfish as they are. When
my one makes a sacrifice for another
they give themselves to fault finding.
are always complaining and always
trying 10 depreciate the good which
that person has tried to do. II man
like Andrew Carnegie endows a libra.
~ they raise protesting voice and
cry, saying: "Wbat is the good of Civ
ing pile of books TO a lot of work
men who never read2 Why does he
not give them loaf of bread instead
of n printed pager II n philanthro-
pist offers 10 give loaf Of bread every
midnight 10 every person who comes
for II they say: what is the good of
feeding lot OF dirty tramps and dead
beats? These men ought to be made
- 10 work as | have TO work." Thus
wherever we turn we find some men.
and, alas, they are many, with these
two miserable characteristics. They
refuse TO do anything for any one else.
and they end fault with all those who
are trying to do what these selfish men
ought TO do.
Some OF these carping. selfish, fault
finding critics were In the home OF 81.
mon the leper in the time OF Christ. as
they are IN the homes OF our modern
Bethanys They never give cent to
any ono II they can help it, and they
hate to see any one else give away n
cent Thus when the woman Of my
text. 30 show her love for Christ, en-
Eered the dining hall and broke an
alabaster box and poured tue ONT
ment or spikenard very precious upon
Christ's head they commenced 70 COM
plain. absurd. absurdr' they cried.
That ointment could have been sold
Tor 800 pence and given TO the poor.
Why all this waste?" Then said Jesus:
"Let her alono. She hath wrought n
good work on me. for yo have the poor
with you always. and whcnsoevcr We
Will We may do them good but mo We
have not always" Then Christ utter.
ed the words OF my text. "She hath
done what she could" That means to
the very best Of her power Sue had
shown her true love for Jesus Christ.
Noble Sacrifice.
Genuine aud significant must have
been the act OF this woman OF my text
70 have brought forth such an encomi-
um from the Saviour's lips But is
Jesus the only being who has had
= baster box OF ointment OF spikenard
very precious? Have not some OF us
been surrounded in our babyhood, In
our boyhood, In our young manhood.
In our middle age and old age. by just
such noble self sacrificing women. who
have for us literally done what they
could? "Yes. Yes" most OF us can
answer, 1--WE have. We have" 1
would like 20 call to recollection some
OF our obligations. some OF the services
that we have received from devoted
women, who would have laid down
their lives II IL had been necessary for
our welfare They literally did all
they could TO bring US 10 our truest
and fullest mental aud physical and
spiritual development
Where shall we begin 10 find these
female characters. who have broken
for us their alabaster boxeof ointment
or spikenard very precious? Naturally
we start with that sweet face that
hovered about our cradle When we
go back TO the dim recolections OF
childhood we remember that mother as
always busy She was either cleaning
the parlors. or making the beds. or 60
ing out TO market. or busy with her
needle at a big basket filled with the
weeks clean washing We never re-
member her asleep unless she was sick
In bed under the doctors care or I'm.
less we crawled under Der covers in
the early morning when we awoke
frightened from dreaming bad dreams.
She was always busy
Turn over the portraits in the family
album. There" you say. ''is my first
picture. Mother told me 1t was taken
just a short time after l was chris
tened. She made that little dress with
her own hands, and she thought so
much OF that dress that she kept it all
her life After she was dead and we
were going through her things l found
It. The lace was just as you see it
there. She must have thought a good
deal OF me to put so much work on
that dress when she had so much to do
And there is my picture taken just aft
er my long attack OF typhoid fever
My, look sick there. don't /? They
tell me she never left my room for six
long weeks The doctors gave me up.
but she never did. They say would
have died but for her And further
more they say that It was her devotion
to me that broke down her health and
made her a-IRelong invalid"
Then you turn over another page OF
the old aihnn, and you say: "Here is
my picture when | was a college boy.
We were having hard time financial |
ly, and used to get awfully discour-