The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-13

I
to squirm out of his lap. The two boys.
leaning on his knee. have not once at
tempted to pull each others hair Then,
as Christ talks on, | think he brings the
spiritual lessons so near home that tears
roll down the fathers and mothers
cheeks. Then the little family knelt for
the good night prayer, and the family
| alter was started. Were all those words
| of Jesus lost words? Were all those SEN
fences which he spoke only short lived
sentences and ephemeral In their inhu
ence2 If you think thus then you must
say that all the prayers which the Wis
| iting pastor utters by the sickbed, all
the quiet talks the Christian mother
has with her boy after the rest of the
family have gone to bed, all the words of
advice the Sunday school teacher gives
to her scholars are ephemeral words and
short lived words. No. The unwritten
words and deeds of Jesus live. They never
died. They lived and they continue to
live In the lives of the men and the
women and the children to whom he
spake.
Turn to the gospel of John and read
there the account of the conversation
Jesus had with the woman of Samaria
by Jacobs well. Christ was a-wearied.
He sat down to rest by this famous well
while His disciples went into Sychar 20
buy bread This well is about two miles
from Sychar, as | remember 1t Alright.
Now, while Christ was there a woman
of Samaria, q social outcast. came to
draw water While she was there jesus
talked to her. In other words, that whole
conversation as recorded in John did MT
occupy over six minutes Yet the dis
ciples must have been away from Jesus
a teast an hour. Do you not believe
at least an hour. Do you not believe
than five minutes? Do you believe that
all the words He spoke to her and she
spoke to Him were wasted words? No.
| MOI They were not. AS they talked I
believe she told Jesus the whole history
of her life. | believe she told him how
when a young girl she was tempted and
morally fell Then she repented and
tried to rise again. Then her old friends
burned their backs upon her The doors
of purity were slammed shut in her face.
And as she talked I think ! can see the
great tears of sympathy roll down the
Saviours cheeks. Were the words of
! comfort lie spoke to her wasted words?
II they were. then all efforts which are
/ being put forth In our Florence Critter-
ton and Jerry McAuley missions are
wasted efforts All the attempts to life
up the fallen are futile. No. The unwrit-
/ ten words and deeds of Jesus live They
! live In the lives of the men whom Ta
redeemed by grace. They live as tbe
unwrtten words and deeds with which
we try to lift up our fallen brothers and
/
eternity.
Working for Peace.
! But I cannot close without showing you
how the unwritten words of Jesus must
have affected those who did not follow
Him as they should have followed film.
] 1t was not all peace and happiness in tho
disciples camp. There they had their
little frictions and jealousles, and Jesus
unwritten words must have been continue
I ally pleading for peace. peace, peace. Not
/ one word do we find in the gospels about
these conversations. But those pleadings
| for peace must have been uttered.
1 Turn to the first two verses of the fourth
chapter of st. John, when, therefore,
/ the Lord knew how the Pharisees had
| heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John, though Jesus Him
self baptized not, but his disciples" Stop
+ there. want to ask you why Jesus Him
self did not baptize His new converts, but
left it to His disciples so to do. Jesus
4 did not baptize His disciples" wrote a
! great commentator, because if He had
| baptized some of them II might have
made unhappy divisions among His fol-
| lowers. Those might have considered
themselves more worthy or honored who
had been baptized by Him than thoss
| baptized by the disciples's Don't you
! is practically saying to HIS disciples:
| 1--WE must do everything in our power to
keep down the troubled waters of Jeal-
ousy. We must do everything In our
power so that we. each and all of us,
/ shall work in harmony with each other.
Peace. peace! Let us sacrifice every
/ thing in order that we should work for
the glory of God in peace" Yet we find
not one word of this conversation re-
corded In the scriptures.
Value of Harmony.
Are our unwritten words pleading for
harmony in Christian work among Christ
followers? Are we doing all In our power
to have our homes harmonious and our
churches harmonious and our different
sectarian organizations working hand In
hand for the glory OF God and not for
self? Are we ready to sink ourselves for
that peace and for the glory of Christ ?
During the darkest days of the attempt
| to amalgamate a lot of petty German
principalites into one great German en-
pire Prince Bismarck said to a friend:
"Oh, that l could live to see the day
when all these German people shall be
united together In one great purpose to
protect and care for each other, l must
not think of what my enemies may say
| or do. To attain this end | must brave all
| dangers-exie, even the scaffold itself.
What matter If they hang me, provided
the rope with which | am hanged binds
this new Germany firmly to the Prussian
| throne?" Can you speak like that for
your divine King? Shall your life be
spent not only in bringing social outcasts
to the cross, but In binding all Chris
tians closer and closer together with the
Christ's love?
While we dwell on these episodes in the
life of Christ that the evangelists have
left unrecorded, we feel sure that they
were very kind and tender and pure. He
! could not have acter otherwise That
divine life must have been consistent
| throughout. and the parts that we do not
| know have been In harmony with those
we do know. So 1t should be with us.
| Like Christ we have an unwritten life
| or, rather, an unrecorded life in the pub
lie sense. And, thank God, that life can
become an infinite power for the saving
of souls for Jesus Christ. Shall our un-
written words and deeds be truly conse-
Grated to the divine Master? Oh, the
unwritten life of every mortal mani VIII
you heed and grasp these opportunities
| today?
Never. never standing still;
| Listening, learning, better knowing
Thee and thy most blessed will
That the Masters eye may trace
Gay by day my growth in prace
Copyright 1906 by Louis Kloysch)
|