Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-06-11
EVERYONE mas SPECIAL cHORE
Rev. Byron n. stauRer breaches ON
Gods ErraudbOys.


Gods ErraudbOys.
Rev. Byron II. stauffer had a, unique
text for his sermon on Gods Errand Boys"
at the First Methodist church last night.
The text was Genesis xiv. 80; But he
said. ! will not eat until 1 have told mine
Grand"
we have plenty OF sermons about Abrs-
ham" said Mr.. Stauffer. and every time
we preachers pronounce a man and woman
husband and wife, we are apt to pray
that they live as Isaac and Rebecca, but
we have few words for this unnamed
servant who carried out Abrahsms orders
and went east on a great errand to ne
gotiate a wedding. He is really the hero
OF this eastern love story, and, though
800 years are between him and us, the
words with which he refused meat until
he had transacted his business stand out
as twentieth century motto: i will not
eat until | have told mine Grand
''The errand boy furnishes an illustra-
ton OF all lifes best work. There is the
little telegraph messenger carrying an en-
velope 1t may have in it Buy $4,000
July wheat or John died this morning or
Mother, I'll be home a. m. Burlington.
He is brother to that young man see
going up Sixteenth street about FIVE min
utes before 3, carrying satchel all sagEed
down with the weight OF geld and silver
An important errand at the bank is his!
And he is brother to that United States
consul ! saw the other week on his way
to Singapore, to do Uncle Sans errands
Yes. he's brother. too, to the ambas-
sador to the court of st. James. SO are
we all runners carrying our letters awhile,
handing them over to others for further
deliveries and sitting down to rest with all
those who have faithfully done their err
rands during 10000 years.
For whom are you an errand boy? The
man of the text was working for the great
Abraham. For whom are we working?
If life is merely an errand Of dollars and
cents, then we are only so many ma
chimes, but IL we realize that we are really
doing chores for the kingdom of God, then
life becomes grand and ennobliug.
What is the errand? l cannot tell, but 1t
is assigned you with the full assurance
that you are able to perform it. l know
a man who had struggled for years against
the conviction that he should preach, The
other year he started, late in life, to pre-
pare for the ministry, and he Is happy,
gloriously happy, on his $500 circuit. But
1 know another who preached eight years
and then resigned to teach school, and
when l saw him last he declared he had
found his place
Perhaps your great errand has not yet
come to you. Think you Fitzhugh Lees
great work was in the civil war? Oh, no.
After he had reached the dreaded so mark
he found his task in Havana. You may
have overlooked your errand; carried 1t
around in your pocket. like you did the
letter your wife gave you to mail. You
may have thought 1t unimportant and de-
cided to wait for larger tasks. oh, what
a mistake to make!
II do not know which member of Presi-
dent Roosevelt's cabinet is most interesting
TO you. but you will find the name Of my
favorite in the postofice. He is George
J B. Cortelyou, postmaster general. Like his
great predecessor, Benjamin Franklin, he
seems to be ever intent on doing the task
set before him. So he rose from depart
ment stenographer without pull, but
with a powerful 'pushp
Maybe your errand should be that of a
little crippled girl I saw at the wierdest
| wedding 1 ever attended. The ceremony
was held in the basement of a great bust
ness block. The guests were many and
| the tables were laden with the greatest
assortment that bakeries and butcher shops
could furnish in ready-to-eat products. The
| groom was a returned miner, and he had
money to spend. A bright idea to spend
some more gold came to him and he bought
a great bottle of perfume for the guests
He puzzled his brain good deal to know
how to distribute the fragrance until he
struck the plan of having this little crippled
girl stand at the door with an atomizeI
and spray each arrival
"Perhaps-yes undoubtedly-our errand IL
to scatter perfume.
1.-THE text gives a hint as to the true
spirit of the errand lads Of life. You will
see the feeling of Importance that thi'
man had. His errand was everything. Al
things must bend before it, Are you afrait
Of being called conceited? You need no
be that. but you must regard your worl
important or no one else will"