The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-17
os AGELEs. Cal. September 1s-In

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 this sermon the preacher describes
 1 mans mission of helpfulness to his fellows and indicates the lines upon which that mission may be carried out The text is John xii. A. Loose him and let him go."
 Never was human leader in closer touch with his followers than Jesus Christ. He walked and ate and slept with his dis cples He was closer than that. He shared their joys and sorrows and pri- vations. He set them an example of self sacrifice. He never asked his followers to make any sacrifice which he himself was not willing to make. If they wept, he wept with them. If they were a-hun- gered, he starved with them. When he warned them that they might have to lay down their lives for his sake, he set them the example of martyrdom by yield ing himself to the cross. One of the greatest elements which bind human heart to another heart is the willingness of man to make sacrifices for a friend or a neighbor.
 In our own history we have seen an example of this fraternal leadership George B. Mcclellan, the most popular commander the army of the Potamoc ever had, was beloved by his men on that &C., count. Let me give you an incident how this devoted general gripped the af- fections of his army with links of steel. The northern army was making forced march from Harrison Landing to New port News. Toward the evening hour 1t was miles away from it's destination. The soldiers. marching four abreast, came to 11 IAarn but just deep enough to wet their feet if they waded through it.
 Near to the ford a large tree had fallen, and the trunk had bridged the stream. The soldiers. dropping into single file, were crossing over the tree trunk. This. of course, took extra time. The lines in the rear, marching rapidly forward, became congested. The whole brigade was becoming disorgapized. With that three or four officers on horseback bore up to the ford. At once they saw the diff culty. Then one of those officers in the dusk cried out: Wade right through. my men. Wade right through. Never mind about getting your feet wet Wade right through" With that one of the private soldiers surlily grumbled back, Wade through yourself and don't sit there on horseback with dry feet telling us how to get wet" Hardly were the words out of the soldiers lips than this officer leaped off his horse and waded through, saying: Come on, menl We must not block the line. Wade right through" When the officer turned the men saw he was their sturdy little commander, George B. Me Clellan. They at once raised cheer and waded through, and the disorder in the rear ranks ceased. Mcclellan never asked his soldiers to do what he himself was not ready to do. The result was he was idolized by his army as but few men have ever been. When he was superseded some of the strongest of men wept as children.
 Christ Sought Cooperation.
 But. though Christ never asked his fol- lowers to make any sacrifice which he himself was unwilling to make, yet as study the miracles of Christ I find that almost without exception he sought CO., operation from those whom he would help. He was willing to feed the multi tude with few loaves and fishes, but he made the disciples distribute the bread and the fish and collect the fragments that remained. He was ready to give his disciples a great catch of fish on Lake Galilee. but he made them launch their boat out into the deep and let down the net and bring the fish to hand. He was ready and willing to resurrect the dead Lazarus, but he called upon the bystand- CTS to loose the graveclothes which bound him hand and foot Not until they obeyed could the brother of Mary and Martha go forth free. What Christ did of old Christ Is doing today He is ready to save men, but he expects his disciples to help him In mans liberation mental, financial. moral, physical and spiritual. I want to shaw how we can aid in the emancipation of helpless men, as the dis cples took off the graveclothes of resur- rected Lazarus to loose him and let him go."
 Christ bids us help liberate the intellec- tual man who is struggling in his men, tai difficulties. He wants us to cut asun- der the old bonds of prejudice with which they are born and which are gripping them almost as powerfully as the off, cer's handcuffs hold the criminal by his side He would have us not laugh at or sheer at or ridieule the doubter and the skeptic and the atheist. He bids us not hurl our taunts at the poor mental crip- ples who, with hot, blistering feet, are painfully limping over the awful deserts of blighting agnosticism. But he bids us go to our brethren in mental or intellec- tual difficulties and kindly and gently and lovingly, yet firmly, lead them out of the
 bogs and the quagmires and quicksands in which they have fallen and in which they are struggling today. Oh, the awful trag- edy of being mentally blinded and being uHdDte LO get u TlSnt COnCtpllOH Ol OOu. Yet there are thousands of men and wom- en who by constitution of brain and in- te1lect are natural born doubters. They suspect the sincerity of every good work and therefore they naturally doubt Gods goodness and love.
 Incident of Michael Angelo.
 An incident in the life of Michael Angelo we'll illustrates how you and I have to continually run up against and overcome mems prejudices. The Floren- tine master had already chiseled some of his greatest pieces of sculpture, but, strange to say, there were a great many Florentines, as there are men in our day, who could not see any perfection in any picture or piece of statuary unless 1t was hundreds of years old, so Michael Angelo, to convert his critics, made new statue. He then broke off one of the arms of that statue and kept 1t. Then he stained the rest of the statute and buried 1t under one of the old churches and then had one of his friends find 1t. At once all the art critics of Florence gathered around this exhumed piece of stone and declared it was one of the finest pieces of sculpture ever chiseled by man. "Ohr' they cried. "Where can we find modern sculptor able to mold a body like that? After Florence had praised this statue for some month Mi- chael Angelo came forward with the broken arm of white marble which he had kept in his studio. He fitted 1t on the exhumed statue and he declared: T can make statue as good as that. See, have made this one myselfl The broken arm Is perfect fit.'' His critics were confounded, as they well might be, but as l read that story I did not condemn those Florentines as many have done. l said to myself: "Yes, those men who criticised the rising sculptor were natural