Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-05-04
CalnnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Tslmaes, D. D.

Los Angeles. Cal, April 9O.-fn this
sermon the preacher draws from the
old story a powerful lesson on the sins
Of modern society ana shows the way
of escape from such sins and their con-
sequences. The text Is Luke xvii, 80,
Remember Lots wife"
Truth Ia truth at all times. But truth
Is never more powerfully driven home
to the cOnsciences Of men than when
illustrated by parable or symbolized by
biography or exemplified by anecdote.
Christ always symbolizes truth in q
very simple way. Today he appears to
us. as we'll as to the Pharisees of old,
and says: Men, you know the history
of Lots wife. With great opportunity
Of usefulness, yet she became false to
her trust. DO not make the sinful mis-.
takes she made. DO not have her doom
your doom. BY yonder pillar Of salt
learn that the wages Of sin Ia always
death. Repent Of your sins while there
Is yet time Repent as John the Bap-
fist exhorted you to repent Come and
bow at Gods mercy seat. and bow
now" May God teach us one and all
10 linger only long enough In the plains
Of Sodom and Gomorrah to learn the
mighty gospel lesson that there IL no
safety anywhere for sinful man out
side the protecting and forgiving love
of Jesus Christ.
Like Lots wife. the most Of Us!
Why? We are freed from the bitter
temptations which. as pack Of hun
CRY wolves. follow in the wake Of
merciless poverty. We have never
known what It is to arise in the morn
ing and have nothing to eat. We have
never known what 1t is to SILVER in
cold because we could not afford n
warm garment for our backs. We
never knew what It was to stagger
about a great city after the hours Of
midnight in a snowstOrm because we
did not know where to lay our heads
and then had to apply to the police
station and sleep with lot Of filthy,
dirty tramps upon the stone floors.
with our ragged shoes under our heads
for a pillow. We may not have been
able to count our sheep by the thou
sands and our herds OF horses and
cattle by the hundreds, as Lots wife
did. We may not have servants ga
lore and messengers to do our slightest
bidding. But, like Lots wife when
she and her husband separated from
the Abrahamic household, we have al
ways had enough food to eat, enough
clothing to wear and comfortable
place in which to slumber. We have
never been in position where hunger
was gnawing at our vitais and where
temptation came snariing and snap
ping at our heels in our desperate
struggle for a physical existence. We
never knew what it was to long to
earn our bread by the sweat Of our
brow and never be able to crunch a
crumb.
Deserves Pity.
Even murder. the worst Of crimes.
has degrees Of turpitude. God pity the
man who 10 placed in the awful posi-
ton of one who realizes that he has to
slay his brother or die himself God
pity the starving shipwrecked sailor
who crouches upon the edge Of a raft
In the middle Of the Atlantic ocean
watching his companion at the other
side Of the raft, who Is hunger mad
like himself. God pity him as be leaps
forward as tiger might leap upon the
back Of a trembling fawn and buries
his teeth In the jugular vein Of his
friend and drinks the flowing blood in
fiendish glee as q mountain lioness
would bury her teeth in the soft fur
Of rabbit or fat prairie dog. tell
you. my friends. God has different
standards Of judgment for sin. 1t
makes great deal Of difference how
he condemns us for sin II, ON the one
hand, we. like Lots wife, have fnan-
cial plenty and IT, on the other hand.
we are poor. hungry outcasts. with no
work and no means Of earning any
kind Of an honest livelihood. To sin for
pleasure and to sin because you do not
know which way to turn for food are
two entirely different propositions in
Gods economy.
Oh, the temptations that come to
some men on account Of their struggles
for physical existence! I was never
more impressed with the awfulness OF
such temptations than when reading
this tragic story: Some years after the
overthrow Of Napoleon a banquet was
being given In London to the British
officers who had fought under yelling.
ton at Waterloo. During their dinner
the old commander. then the most hon
ored man in England. took out of his
pocket beautifully jeweled snuffbox
which had been presented to him by
bis sovereign. In order that his com.
panions in arms might SEQ 1t he passed
1t down the table. A short time after
Wellington asked where 1t was, and no
one could ind 1t. The jeweled snuffbox
had disappeared. OF course all the ohl-
GERS present felt that there was thief
among them. Some one proposed that
tine doors be locked and every one
searched. Much to the surprise Of the
company, an honored ex.colonel Of a
line regiment refused to be searched.
Evidence. OF course pointed to him as
lhe guilty man. but on account Of old
associations sake wellington let him 20.
That night when the great duke was
undressing for bed much to his sur.
prise he found the jeweled snuffbox
in his pocket. 1t had not been stolen.
He had absentmindedly thrust It into
his pocket At once Wellington order
ed bis carriage and rode to the resi-.