The Caucasian., 1907-05-14
Caln1age
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.

sermon the preacher calls attention to
+, the universally prevalent sin of ingrat-
itude, as shown in our lack of appre-
citation of many blessings that come
into our daily lives. The text is Luke
xvii, 10, "And one of them, when he
| saw that he was healed. t,,iael back
and with loud voice glo.i.:e! Cod"
| Travellers tell us that il I, lie of the
eastern states there is high mountain
range and to go from one part of this
state to the other you must climb those
| mountains. The upward pathway
| bends and winds, now oyerarched by
trees, now under the shadow of some
| overhanging cliff, but still onward and
upward. The wearied traveller, pant
ing and putting, is too exhausted to
look back and see the beautiful valley
he has left behind. He keeps saying
to himself, ''Oh, If / were only at the
top, then the rest of my journey would
be easy" Suddenly the trees ahead
Of him abruptly cease and instead Of
overtopping branches he sees the blue
sky trimming the top of the mountain.
There, much to his surprise. upon the
summit he finds rude bench of stone
upon which have been carved these
words: REST and be thankfulv' Yes,
traveller. rest and be thankful that the
hardest part of your toilsome journey
is over. But also rest and be thank
full because some good kind brother
| h 1l
which you can rest your weary limbs
and aching back. If the time should
ever come when you can meet that
thoughtful brother who made that seat
and chiseled that invitation upon the
top Of yonder mountain, tell him how
much his work was appreciated. Tell
him that the bench Of stone not only
gave you physical rest. but that his
words reminded you of duty
How much harder our lot would be
Il there were not some people consid-
crate and kind to weary travellers on
life's journey! Some people take the
kindness gratefully, while others need
the admonition, "Be thankful"
An American art student In Paris
tells of meeting his laundress at some
distance from home with her bread
basket upon her arm. She was going
to the bakery to get her rolls and bread
for the day. He asked her: why do
you go so far for your bread every
day? Does the baker where you go
make better bread than any other bak-
er in Paris" NO." answered the wo-
man. ''he does not make. better bread.
The reason cross the Seine every day
to buy my bread at monsieur's Is be-
cause few years ago my husband
was thrown out Of work. and I was
very sick. We had no money in the
house, yet for weeks this baker trusted
Us, and kept us supplied with bread.
Had it not been for his goodness my
husband and children might have
starved As he cared for us when we
had nothing, must not forget his kind
ness now that we have much" To be
thankful means to be thoughtful"
That means so to train our grateful
memories that we will never forget the
kindness Of those who have helped us
in the dark days Of our past struggles.
I have heard of hearts unkind kind deeds
With coldness still returning;
Alas. the gratitude Of men
Hath oftener left me mourning.
The hero of my text Is thankful
man, thoughtful man, man who
would not If he could and could not If
he would forget the priceless blessing
which Jesus had conferred upon him.
Fer years this man had been social
outcast He was a repulsive, loath-
some leper. His father and mother
had turned against him. His brothers
and sisters had fed from him as they
would from mad dog. His wife and
children, IL he had wife and chill
dren, had deserted him. With sticks
and stones he had been driven forth
from the habitations of man. One day,
with nine other lepers with whom he
was associating, he stood upon the hill
side and saw Jesus and the multi
tudes passing by. By the strange law
of the leper world, which gathers in
formation from every source, these ten
iepers learned that 1t was Jesus, the
miracle worker So these ten lepers
begin to cry out at the top of their
voices for divine help. Again and
again they call, "Jesus, Master, have
mercy on usp' Christ turns toward
them, as he always turns at the call
for help, and practically says: "Yes,
Will cure you of your horrible infec-
tious disease Go show yourselves unto
the priests "And it came to pass
that as they went they were cleansed.'
~ Am WE'LL Am Wslll"
No sooner did this leper of my text
feel the scales drop off his body and
the blood of health course through his
veins than at once he cried: Il am
well! am well! | must go back at
once and thank the Lord for what he
has done for me-" "And one Of them,
when he saw that he was healed, turn
ed back and with loud voice glorified
God and fell down on his face at his
feet. giving him thanks, and be was q
Samaritan" We respect that man,
and we have a poor opinion of those
other nine who went on without giving
thanks. But the incident has lesson