Milford chronicle., 1906-05-04
Ca(n1aQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, D.D.

Los Angeles, Cal, April 29.-In this
sermon the preacher takes us back to
that wonderful period of life when the
mind of the child emerging from the
mysterious twilight land, first begins
to think independently. He warns us
to respect these visions of childhood.
The text is Luke ii, 40, "Wist ye not
that must be about My Fathers bust
ness?"
Without doubt one of the most salts
factory pictures ever painted Of Jesus
Christ is that of Hoffman, called
"Christ the Boy Talking With the Doc
tors In the Temple" We have seen
scores of pictures of Jesus Christ. The
Partisan Louvre is full of them. The
Vatican is full of Them The art gal
leries of Antwerp and Brussels and
Berlin and Venice are full Of them.
But. though the greatest artists have
exhausted their genius to reproduce
for us an inspired idea of the Saviour's
face, yet most of them have come far
short of the ideal. They either make
Christ's face too effeminate as did |
Bida Da Vinci and Steinle; or too
much of a Hercules, as did Rubens
and Vandyke; or too grOtesque, as
did Tintoretto and Rembrandt and |
Guido; or too mercenary, as did Ber
nardo, Strozzi and PlockhHwt; or too
stern, as did Dore and Albrecht Durer;
or too agonizing, as did Bouguereau
and Correggio; or too lacArymose, as
did AIRY Scheffer. But toward Hoff-
mans picture there is no division Of
opinion. We are here unit in our
appreciation. When we see Hoffman's
youth standing among the doctors in
the temple we at once say: Eyes. that
is my idea of Jesus the child. That
child looks just as supposed Christ
looked as a boy"
The eyes are big and intelligent.
They seem to be looking far off. They
truly seem to be catching an inspired
vision Of his Fathers business. The
halo about the head, the beautiful curls
falling in graceful curves about those
shoulders, show the human and the d. T,
vine conmingling. The robe about his
1.-the form is as pure and spotless as
his life He seems to stand there as a :
child, and yet he seems to be reaching
far out into the future. All worlds, all !
ages, seem to be his. In contrast to :
this beautiful face, with its wonderful
features. are the astonished and puz-
zled countenances of the baldheaded,
learned sages, who were not accus- c
toned to debate with youths, but only r.
with their compeers in the sanctum
sanctorum of the Hebrew sanhedrin. IL
The Twelfth Year. =
And yet. as l stood watching the y
beautiful face of that Divine Child, this n
question came to me: "Why should -
those Hebrew rabbis wonder at that u
boys intelligence? Should not all men l
and women stand in awe before the u
average boys of the present day? Do IS
not most youths and maidens Of twelve -
summers have inspired visions from q
God, as Christ had an inspired vision? "
Does not God call to them at this crit d, ~
cal age to be about their Fathers busi- -
less?" He does. I want you to study ~
With me this morning some of those - -
childhood visions. Men and women, }"
90, have their times of reaching out - -
o things unseen, but this morning let - -
Is think chiefly of those bright imagin- - -
ngs of youth. This age, the twelfth ~. ~
ear is to me the most important of ~ -,
lfe May we be very careful how we ~
eal with our children when they are y
ntering the sacred portal of their ear -,
= teensl The way they tread the path e 81.
life will in all probability decide the
7ay they shall tread these paths
trough time and through eternity.
Why do I put such an emphasis upon Gu
be age of twelve? Because it is about lu'
be year when the child for the first gu
me let's go of his parents or guardi- .n'
MS hand and begins to climb the u. u.
eights Of the unseen world and to cni 81,
link for himself That is the time o'H
hen he begins for the first time on ~
is own account to ponder about God sle
nd what God wants him to be- Be ~, Ne
IRE that age the child for the most -
art is completely under the control ,1,, 1,a
the father and the mother, but at ~
e twelfth year the parent is astOnish- g
at the strange questions which the
y puts. Suddenly, and seemingly
W will breot ont v,,t,, s,,o1, 1I,ast,s-s act
tbis. mNTotbor ,,,bore 7,-o,, = Ioso-s VOL
was horn ~ ,.N5o+ber where sInII nov
after am dead91 ,NTo+bor - and
Ii live in heaven when my body is nav
Irled in the earth?" Mother, last sec'
ght when l was lying awake in bed as
ade up my mind that Jesus wanted Inc
Q to be a preacher, like Paul and nes
notify, about whom we studied in ture
r Sunday school last week" These uer
estions or statements seem to anu
ring from the lips almost involun- ooI
'ilv. When he first speaks thus you