The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-07-13
(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIs.)

(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)
The east still has it's professional
story telIers. 1 have seen them late
at night, under the village tree OF
an Indian community, while wide-eyeC
listeners gathered round to hear their
tales of the gods and of Indian heroes
and OF fairy lore. In remote Japan l
have watched the story teller gather
great throngs about him, as with real
dramatic ability he recited the story OF
famous japanese heroes, his companion
striking in OPPORTUNITY with the music
of the samisen. So to this day Chris
tian preachers often make their ad-
vent into an eastern community as
tellers of a story. Bishop Warne once
told me of a wonderful native evan
gelist in Methodist mission OF lnuls
who, by following the Indian-stofy :
telling usages, kept his hearers enrapt
with the Bible narrative for the ldrSeI
part of a night. There is need to place
ones self in an oriental atmosphere TO
perceive the appropriateness ana power
of Jesus method of clothing truth III
stories as He did on this OCCASION
when He talked from boat to a null
titude on the shore at the northern
end of the Lake of Galilee.
The young preacher, fresh from semi
nary, breaches sermons through winch
stalk Achilles and Ulysses and Her
cuIes or walk with philoSophlc mem
Socrates and Plato, and Homer twang-
ing his Tyre. AS the young men grow
older in wisdom not learned from
books, they begin to illuminate thSh
sermons with illustrations from the eV-
cry dav life about tnem-from the fields
end the little children, the burdened
laborer the wireless telegraph, the arr
ship, the dictagraph. They use the
fashion of the best Teacher who knew
no other theological school than close
fellowship with His Father. He en-
ployed the profound principle of Illus
tration. which if rightly used invests
with deeper meaning all the everyda.
environment. There are tongues IN
trees, books in the running brooks, ser
mons in stones, and good in every
thing" AS Mrs. Browning says:
"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with
Cod
The Peerless Parable.
The most vivid bits of literature
which the world possesses today are
the little stories from everyday lie
told 1000 years ago to groups OF open
eyed peasants by the new Teacher
from Galilee. Jesus invested the COM
mon and material incidents of life with
an uncommon and spiritual s1gnln-
canoe He made the world of ordinary
things to glow with divine truth one
of the best known of these paraples'
as they are called, Is that OF the 0om
er. Phrases from it abound in our
daily newspapers andd common speech
and the books we read.
A parable is both a revealing ana
ccnceaIins of a truth. A little girl once
said that "a parable is an earthly
story with a heavenly neaning."-Na-
turaI facts are made symbols OF spirit
ual truths The oriental mind thinks
in imagery and is better instructed by
illustration than by logic.
The adroit use of a parable conceals
certain hidden meanings that the
teacher would have unfolded only to
those who are fit to receive them OI
profound significance is the word of
the Master in connection with this par
able, to his twelve friends: Unto you
is given the mystery of the kingdom of
God: but unto them that are without
all things are done in parallels" The
way to understand the mind of Christ
is to live close to the heart of Christ. |
A husband and wife may saw more by
a single glance of the eye than strang-
ers can tell in an hours conversation. |
Friendship with Christ is tn road to
comprehension of His teaching. Spir- |
itual things are spiritually discerned."
The hostile critic who reads the Bible |
does not find in it the same luminous |
truth as the devout disciple who opens |
its pages to learn the will of his Mas |
ter and Friend.
1.-THE Great Idea.''
Among the Christians of the Levant |
runs a phrase, the great idea, by |
which they mean the restoration of the |
cross to the Mosque of st. Sophia, |
which was a sixth century church. In /
ton of Christianitys dominion on the |
Bosphorous. 1.-THE great idea repra- |
sents a large loyalty. Something "f
this eagerness for the Kingdoms COM |
ing and in clearer comprehension, is |
abroad in the earth today. The whole |
passion of many noble souls in our
times is for the contamination of that |
ideal condition which is the kingdom
of heanven on earth.
This present parable was spoken con- /
corning the kingdom. To allow thu
lesson to pass without meditation upon |
the Kingdom and its coming would be
70 miss the first significance of the
lesson: it would be failure to get the |
urinary thought which Jesus meant 10
convey to His hearers as they first |
heard this story warm from His tender
lips This is an occasion to pass in re-
view the servants of the kingdom who
are toiling all about us-the preachers.
the Sunday school teachers, the de- |
won't parents. the editors and writer's,
social settlement workers. physicians.
nurses labor leaders reformers-whzt
a countless company are living and la
boring with an eve single to that king
dom which is the consumma ton of
Gods glory and mans welfare!
For the sake of this service, men and
women are sowing beside many wat
ers" The unmechanical, uncalculating
lavish ways VI lAlS OI1eLldI
lists are adopted. as by any means
and by all means men and women try
10 bring in the kingdom for which, fol-
lowing in the train of Christ, they
would give their lives. Today we find
a greater variety of forces at work for
the Kingd0m than ever before in the
history of the universe The Kingdom
gospel is being preached to all classes
of people everywhere. The coming of
the kingdom has created a social fer
Inent throughout the earth. Books are
being written, churches are even ad-
vertising in the newspapers, meetings
are being held in shops, organiza tions