The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-01-11
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared especially for The Republi-
can by Rev. U. S. Wright, D. D.
SUNDAY, JANUARY ID
JESUS TEACHING HUMILITY.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace to the humble.-I Peter 5:5.
SUNDAY VISITING.
81 didn't see you at church. last
Sunday, Mr.. Brown" mo, You see
some company came in and l could
not get away" eve missed you at
church last Sunday, Mr.. Smith"
eyes, you see we generally go to
Cousin Johns about this time and we
were all there last Sunday" MARY,
l was sorry you couldn't be at Sun
day school last Sunday; was anyone
sick?" "Oh, no; but mother had
twenty-nine for dinner last Sunday
and had to stay home and help her."
Why should there be any uneasiness
over things like these, for Jesus Him
self went visiting on the Jewish Sun
day and pretty certainly enjoyed
His meal as much as any other of the
guests. And there was a full house
if one may judge from the story. But
there was this difference: Jesus had
been in the synagogue and so had
each one of those visitors; and while
the meal might be abundant and
probably was, it had all been prepar-
ed on the day before so that there
might be freedom for worship on
that day. With our Lord there was no
balancing of church and the visit
with the church on the high side of
the scale. Yet this is a growing thing
and there may be some reason in the
changes made by the years. The
church held more friendliness and the
appetite for worship was keener.
Folks visited at the church. AL
ways some were early and chatted
in friendly fashion while after the
sermon there was slow dispersal that
might occupy an hour, so that the
perfectly normal desire for fellowship
was satisfied. And often groups were
entertained, but they went from the
| church as the gathering place from
which the start was made Now the
Worshippers come in promptly and
smile at some others while the build
ing is as empty as barn fifteen min
utes after dismissal. And they had
come by digging out from under
great pile of Sunday paper so that
they could get there early, and their
appetite was jaded so that the
preaching isn't what it was when I
was boy" Neither are mother
doughnuts. A stuffed pig woa
grunt for the best corn in the or b.
One trouble is that we have been try
ing to give predigested worship Sn
tabloid form instead of prescribing
exercise for the appetite. Jesus was
perfectly normal and He was as keen
for worship as for friendly inter
course and a good meal so that He
mixed them in the way in which men
and women of any century under any
condition of life ought to take them.
His principle of God and kingdom
first offers the solution for our own
day.
Table TALK.
The social lion is always at home
among his entertainers, and with gra-
cious bearing and alert mind he takes
his part in the entertainment. Jesus
was no boor or country pumpkin. That
He was in constant demand at feasts
of all sorts reveals something of His
charm, and His table talk occupies
many a page of the Gospels. And
this grades and home, for folk are
judged by what comes out of their
mouth rather than by what they put
in it. In a large family of boys the
Sunday dinner was garnished with
criticism of the sermon, the preacher,
the attendants, yet that official men,
per wondered why his boys refused
church. The table talk had been the
determining thing. This day in the
late winter of our Lords last journey
found trap set in the dropsical man,
but it was sprung by word before
the healing came. Later as they re-
clined with Christ, mayhap in the
guests place which He had seen as an
object of coveted scramble, He cour-
teOusly shifted the scene to a wedding
some other where and exalted the
modest person, always admired but
seldom praised, as the one who would
receive recognition. Table manners
were not outside the CHEEKY chat of
this King Of the Ages. And who is
better qualified to pass upon them?
True and pusher gets places many
times, and if that were all of life it
would be a characteristic worth the
cultivating. But he also gets the
j contempt of those who see and the
J bricks of those who are dispossessed
Let man make his place the one of
honor among the guests and where
he sits will be the head of the table
regardless of the order prescribed.
Jesus was saying: "Be worthy of the
best place, no matter where you are