The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-12-03

81 widow who trem.
blingly, b u
cheerfuily dropped in her two mites,
"which make o farthing." what o rev.
elation It would be.
Good Security.
How little giving there 10 Of that
magnificent pattern. In Paul's day
the church in Antioch took up col.
lection, and sent Paul and Barnabas
to Jerusalem with It, and the Offering
was permeated with love. Now. the
church has to keep a set Of men busy
all the year round going from place
to place, prying money out Of the
pockets Of the brethren. Dean Swift
once preached a sermon from the
text, "He that giveth to the poor
lendeth to the Lord" and his sermon
consisted only of these words. "Breth.
rem, II you are satisfied with the Sc
curity, down with the dust" He got
a generous collection. But even In
that instance there was shown keen
knowledge Of human nature. desire
for security for every farthing doled
out He who gives gracefully doesn't
inquire about the security. 1t Is not
a question Of lending, 1t is straight.
out gift.
Credit for Intention.
Much that passes for benevolence is
not that at all. A man by mistake
put S. gold piece in the collection
plate in one of my parishes. When
he discovered the error he came to
the treasurer and demanded the re-
turn of the coin, saying that he in
tended to put new penny In the Of
fering. He was an officer Of the
church, too. and had a bank account
Another man who made that mistake
and who could not recover the funds
because the missionary had left town,
said bitterly, well, will get credit
In heaven for IS anyhow" "Oh, no,
you won't" was the pastors reply.
"You will get credit for what you
meant to give-one cent" ''The Lord
ioveth the cheerful giver." But he
who casts his bread upon the wa
ters," simply and solely, that he may
get 1t back again after many days, is
merely putting out his money at in
terest, anticipating increasing riches.
He is planning to build bigger barns,
to buy another farm, to augment his
bank account, to feather his own nest.
There is not the slightest element Of
pure benevolence about that.
Getting Moneys Worth.
Neither is the grace of giving exer-
cised in the ring cakes" grab bags"
"post-offlces, and auction sales" to
which many churches have resorted
as effectual methods Of separating
tight-isted people from their money
We have come to an age when young
and pretty maidens are educated in
the arts of wheedling susceptible
young men into buying at exorbitant
prices, things they have no earthly
use for, for the benefit Of some
''cause," and many a man eats five
dishes Of indigestible cake, and two
dishes of cream, and labels it benevo-
lence. 1t has come to be taken for
granted that like old-fashioned wood
en- pumps. that have to be prined with
bucket of water In order to get more
water out of the well, man must
have a turkey supper put into his
stomach in order to get the money
out Of his pocket The cooking stove
apostacy" is as much an evil in its
way, as heresy in the pulpit or wick
edness in the pew.
Not that there Is anything wrong in
itself in good meal Of victuals in a
church vestry. Christ Himself en-
joyed a square meal, and accepted
more than one invitation to a full
Oriental banquet, the evil consists in
the false education that trains our
young people to think that when they
eat themselves sick at church sup
per, and pay for 1t, they are giving
that money to the Lord. They are
not! They are paying for value re-
ceived. They have already secured
the worth Of their money. and carry II
away with them-in headache, dyspep-
sia and such like accumulations. Oh,
no, the man who, at a church supper,
eats 30 cents worth OF cake, and
strawberries and cream, and trouble
in his economy, and pays 25 cents for
1t, and then refuses to give anything
toward the church debt on the ground
that he has already contributed has
been wrongly educated. He knows
nothing about the grace Of giving
Listen to Paul, Remember the words
Of the Lord Jesus. how He said. 1T ia
more blessed to give than to receive
A complaining christian once asked q
preacher whether he really believed
we could get the heather to under
stand or practice religion-just as we
do. "I hope not" said the preacher
"for converted heather sing and pray
and give. while from what l have
heard of you. am persuaded that you
do neither"