Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-12-02
The international Sunday School Les
son for December 5 Is "Paul on
the Grace OF Giving" II
Cor, 8: LIS.
AN OLD GRACE A NEW HOBBY
tBy william T. Ellis.)

tBy William T. Ellis.)
The revival of old fashions in wom-
ems clothes is not half SO significant
as the revival, under another name,
Of the old-fashioned Christian grace nf
giving. Nowadays this is the fad of
the prosperous 1t has become good
form" for millionaires to make great
donations Of public character. A
man feels himself under moral obli-
cation to give back to the people IN
some guise the wealth which he has
got from them. Thus, when certain
died recently without
making single public or charitable
ibequest, the outspoken sentiments of
the people condemned him. He had
failed to come up to the reasonable ex-
pectation of the world.
On the other hand. when another
New York millionaire died shortly aft
erward, and left something like tEryty
million dollars to religious and benevo-
lent purposes, all carefully distributed
and without conditions, it was general
ly said that he had done a rich mans
duty by his money and by society; and
that he has set a fashion in giving
low. He gave himself plus his money
A Preachers irony.
HEREINAFTER of giving, from the Chris
tian standpoint, was pointedly put
once by a Philadelphia pastor, Rev.
DIR. Thomas Brainerd, who had APP
pealed in vain to the prosperous mem
bers of his congregation In behalf OF
some good cause.
Brethren, the Lord has denied you
tke privilege Of exercising many OF the
most precious graces of the Christian
character, which. in his infinite mercy,
he has vouchsafed to the rest OF US.
You never knew what 1t was to
repose absolute, unassisted faith in
God for the things Of this world. You
never had to go to sleep at night with
out knowing where your breakfast was
to come from. You never had a sick
child wasting away for the want of
costly Injuries. YOU never had to
deny yourself the qualification Of the
impulses Of pity, when sufferer came
to your door. You never had to en-
dure the humiliation OF being dunned
for an honest debt, without knowing
whether you eoul e 80 pay. it, AN
these unspea&abfe, p advantages III
Providence has taken from you, and
bestowed upon us poor men. The one
solitary grace of the Christian life
which has been denied to us and given
to you is the grace of liberality, and if
you don't exercise that, the Lord have
mercy on your souls!"
The Complimentary Grace.
Paul's thought was not greatly diff
ferent from this. He pointed out to
the afHuent Christians at Corinth that
the poor Macedonians had exceeded
: them In coming to the help of the
needy disciples at Jerusalem. These
Corinthians abounded in other graces
especially in the grace of utter
ance'-but they needed the grace Of
giving IL their religion was not to go
llimping. Liberality is hands and feet,
yes, and mouth, also, for all the other
virtues. 1t in itself is not enough to
constitute a Christian character, but
it is complimentary to the other
graces.. A mean Christian Is not much
Of Christian. The stingy saint has
scrtptural warrant for doubling wheth-
Ier he Is a saint at all.
Three profound considerations were
suggested by the apostle as incentives
to generosity. One was that the Mace
donians first gave themselves and
then their gift. This is the first prin-
.cip1e of successful beneficence. The
hand is needed more htan what it
holds. 1.-The gift without the giver is
bare" God asks for gifts because he
wants the givers; and the gift is but
a. token Of the giver's allegiance The
cheapest thing in the world to impart
to our fellow men is money
The second principle Of philan-
thropy pointed out by the apostle is
that the Macedonians gave out Of their
deep poverty. They shared their lit
tie, which is far better than to dis.
pense from an unnissed surplus. De
spite the modern fad Of big gifts, the
great works Of religion and charity
are to be done by the small offerings
Of the many.
IN the third place, Paul set forth d
great motive, by appealing to the ex
ample Of the Lord Jesus that, though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he be-
came poor The gift that is hallowed
by self-denial partakes of the very
flavor of Christliness.
An American Mans Way.
The most remarkable story known to
me Of extended influence through the
use Of money Is that which l have told
at length in my book, Men and Mis-
sions" DR.. John F. Goucher, Of Bal
timore, is known in educational cir
cles as the founder, president, and nov
president emeritus of the Womans col
lege, Baltimore. He is one of the real
leaders of the Methodist Episcopal de
nomination, a really great man, with
dozen claims to distinction. But OF
all the expressions of his life that ap
peal to the imagination, his work il
India is the most remarkable.
Nearly a generation ago DR., Couch
err undertook to do special service
for each of the great non-Christiar
lands. Into the problem of India he
put deep thought and thorough investi
cation. The result was that he per
sonally planned and supported a chair
of village schools in the Northwest
Provinces, although he himself was