I HOLD in my hand what I suppose most of you have seen, and perhaps many of you have eaten. It is what boys oftentimes call "Johnny bread." It looks very much like the long pods which grow on the honey locust trees.
It is sometimes called "Johnny bread," because some people mistakenly think that this was the kind of locust that John the Baptist ate when he came in the Wilderness, preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that men should repent. We are told in the Scriptures that he ate locusts and wild honey. The locusts which he ate were very much like our gra.s.shoppers, such as are still eaten by very poor people in the East.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Husks.]
In the 15th chapter of the gospel by St. Luke, we have a very beautiful parable, called the parable of the prodigal son. In connection with the husk which I hold in my hand, I want to tell you something about this prodigal son.
In this parable Jesus tells of a very kind father who had two sons, but the younger son was dissatisfied and discontented. He was a boy very much like many who live in this country and at this time. He was a boy who wanted to have his own way. He thought that his father was an "old fogy." The son wanted gay company and gay clothing. He wanted to travel and see something of the world; so he asked his father to give him the money which would come to him at his father"s death, in order that he might go immediately and have his own way, and have a good time, as he supposed.
His father was very sad, for he had tried to bring up his boy in the right way. But when he could not prevail upon him, and his son would not listen to him any longer, but insisted upon having the money, and going away from home, the father granted his request.
When the money had been counted out, the son gathered it all up, bade his father and brother and all his friends good-bye, telling them what a happy time he was going to have, and started out for a far country.
This same desire to see something of the world has induced many boys to run away from home. Many years ago, when there were numerous ships that went out on long voyages to catch whales, oftentimes boys who had run away from home went away to sea with these ships. Now, however, restless and discontented boys, who have read worthless and deceptive books, sometimes go to live a wild life on the plains in the West. Sometimes boys even become tramps. Scores and sometimes hundreds of them can be met any week by going to the Breakfast a.s.sociation, in Philadelphia; or some of the Rescue Homes, in New York, where poor, wandering boys and tramps are given a free meal on Sunday morning or Sunday evening.
Prodigals now, as in the time when Christ lived, have a very hard time of it. They start out with high hopes, sometimes with money in their pockets, with fine clothing and bright antic.i.p.ations, expecting to have a good time in the far country which they are seeking. But their experience is always the same.
When this prodigal came to the far country, for a few weeks, or possibly a few months, he had plenty of money. He thought his money would always last. Bad men and women gathered around him, for they all wanted to enjoy what his money would secure for them. But it didn"t take long; his money was soon spent, and when his money was gone his pretended friends were gone also. He soon found himself penniless, friendless and hungered. He had to go out and seek for work. Perhaps he had been too much indulged at home. He had never learned a trade, and possibly had never learned to do work of any kind, and so there was nothing for him to do but to accept the humblest and meanest kind of labor. He was a Jew, and for a Jew to tend swine or hogs was one of the meanest things in all the world. And yet he was willing because of his poverty and his want, to do even this most degrading service. This boy who wanted to be his own master, now became the most menial of slaves, even to the tending of swine. He wanted gay company, but he had only pigs for his companions. He wanted wine and feasting, but now no one even offered him husks to eat. He left his home to seek happiness, but he found only misery.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Disappointed, Hungry Prodigal Tending Swine.]
These husks which I showed you, which some boys call "Johnny bread," are exactly what this wayward, disappointed, disheartened, hungry boy was given to feed to the swine which he was hired to tend. He was so hungry that he would have been glad to eat these husks with the pigs, but no one gave him any to eat.
When this wayward boy was thus brought down to poverty and hunger in that far-off country, while he was tending the swine, he began to think.
If he had only stopped to think before he left his home, he would never have started away. He would surely have known that he was better off at home than anywhere else. But now that misery and want had come to him, we are told that "he came to himself." That is, he came to his senses.
It was sentiment which led him from his home. It was sense that brought him back. The trouble with boys and girls, and with older people too, is that they do not stop to think. They follow their fancies and sentiments, and they are led astray in this way.
G.o.d wants us to stop and think, and He says, "Come, let us reason together." G.o.d does not ask any unreasonable thing of us. He simply wants to treat us as thoughtful beings, but we want to follow our own inclination and our own desire. G.o.d treats us very kindly. He gives us every needed comfort and every daily blessing, and yet oftentimes people are discontented and dissatisfied with G.o.d; they complain and think they have a hard time of it. Instead of being faithful and true to G.o.d, they turn away from him. They desire to forsake G.o.d and serve Satan. They desire to accept what Satan says, and so turn away from G.o.d and all that is good. But they have the same experience over and over again that this young man had. He went out with fine clothes and plenty of money, and with high hopes; but he returned home in rags, without a penny in his pocket, disappointed, penitent and ashamed.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Returning Prodigal]
But I must not forget to tell you, that when he had journeyed many a week, toiling wearily over the long road that had separated him from his father"s house, at last he came near his old home. In going away he had nearly broken his father"s heart. With sorrow he was bringing his aged father down to the grave. But his father still loved his wayward boy, and expected him home. As he sat watching at the door looking over the hills, he saw the returning prodigal when he was yet a great way off. This loving and forgiving father had compa.s.sion upon his son, ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and welcomed him back home again.
The wayward boy"s heart was all broken up by such kind treatment. He fell upon his knees at his father"s feet and said to his father, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants."
But the father called his servants and commanded them to bring the best robe and put it upon this boy who had given him so much sorrow; to bring the ring and put it upon his finger; and then to kill the fatted calf, so that they might make a great feast, in order that all might be made very glad, because this his son, who was dead, was alive again, he who had been lost was found.
So when we come back to G.o.d after we have sinned against Him, and are repentant and sorry for what we have done, in love and great tenderness He forgives our sins. And like the prodigal, in the time of his sorest misery, found in his father"s heart the greatest mercy, so you and I may come to G.o.d knowing that in the day of our dire distress He is always willing to love us and to forgive us as His own dear children. Let us be careful not to sin against Him, and then we shall not have the humiliation and the sorrow of coming back, like this poor prodigal, when he returned in rags and poverty to his father"s house. Never make the mistake of going away from your G.o.d and then you will not have the remorse which will bring you back in sorrow and shame.
QUESTIONS.--Who first told the parable of the prodigal son? Why did the prodigal leave his home?
What did he do with his money? Did his pretended friends stay by him after his money was gone? In his poverty what did he do? Did he have enough to eat? When he was in want and came to himself, of whom did he think? What did he resolve to do? What do boys who run away from home generally become?
Are tramps happy? Was the father sad all the time the boy was away? How did he receive the returning prodigal? Does G.o.d love us even though we do wrong? Will G.o.d forgive us and accept us? Is G.o.d glad when we repent?
After "driving home from church" a series of tableaux could be arranged: (1) Showing the father counting out the money to the boy. (2) The boy bidding good-bye to his father and friends. (3) Surrounded by flatterers for whom he is spending his money. (4) In poverty tending swine. (5) In rags returning home. (6) Being welcomed by his father.
Or the children may arrange a tent in which the prodigal is presumed to live on the plains while tending the swine, which may be represented by a series of books, toys or any objects; for the imagination of the children will convert any object into any other object, person or thing.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Prodigal"s Tent.]
IRON--LOW GRADE AND HIGH GRADE.
CHARACTER AND WORTH.
SUGGESTION:--Objects used: A piece of old iron, some nails, broken clock and watch springs, and also a piece of native iron ore, if convenient.
MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to show you to-day that there is a great difference in the value of things, even though they are made of the same material. In the second chapter of Genesis we are told, "And the Lord G.o.d formed man of the dust of the ground." So, you see that all men and women are made of the same material, yet men differ greatly, both in character and works.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Iron Products.]
I have here some iron ore, some old iron, some nails; here are some clock springs, and here are some springs of watches. This iron ore is as it is dug from the earth. It is called the native iron, but mixed with it there is much earth and stone and dross, which must be separated from it in order to make it pure. This is done by casting the ore, together with limestone and other materials, into a huge furnace, where the fire is so intensely hot that all are melted and thus the iron is separated from the dross, or stone and earth, which is now mixed with the ore.
When the iron is thus separated and molded into large bars, it is worth from a fraction of a cent to two cents per pound, according to quality and market price. After it has been cast into great iron bars, and is known as pig iron, it is afterward bought and melted over again and molded into the form of stoves and wheels, such as are used in factories, and a variety of other forms for manufacturing and other uses.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Nail, Pen and Clock Spring.]
Now, here I have some pieces of iron, such as boys call "old iron." They often find pieces of this kind of iron, which have been thrown away, and gather and sell them at a price varying from one-quarter to a cent or more a pound, according to circ.u.mstances. Then it is melted over again and made into stoves, or whatever the manufacturer may desire. Now, here are some nails, such as sell at five cents a pound, and here are some steel pens, which are worth from one to four and five dollars a pound.
Here are some springs, such as are used in the construction of clocks.
These are the springs which make clocks go. When you wind up the clock you simply tighten this spring, thus storing the power which is necessary to keep the clock in motion for twenty-four hours, for eight days, or even a longer period.
Now here are some springs, such as are used in watches. These springs are worth, according to their size and quality, from twenty to fifty or sixty dollars a pound. Here also are some little screws, such as are used in the construction of watches, and which are worth even a hundred dollars a pound.
While these different articles are all made of the same material, you see there is a great difference in their value. One is not worth a single cent a pound, and another may be worth one hundred dollars a pound. Now this difference in value is due to two things. One is, difference in quality, and the other is the use which is made of the article into which the iron is manufactured.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Watch Spring and Screws.]
I suppose, if these different pieces of metal could think, and had the power of speech, this piece of old iron would complain to the other pieces which are of more value, and say to the watch spring, "I am just as good as you are, we were both dug from the same ore bank. I remember the time when we were both cast into the hot fire and melted in the furnace; after that I was taken to the foundry, and made into a stove, and after a few years of use I was rejected and cast into the alley. I have had to lie about in the mud and in the cold and snow, and men have pa.s.sed me by and scorned me as though I were of no value. But I want you to understand, Mr. Clockspring and Mr. Watchspring, that I am just as good as you are, and there is no reason why I should be cast out into the mud and cold, while you are placed in a gold case and carried in a gentleman"s pocket."
The nail also would cry out, and say that he was just as good as the little screws which are used in the watch, and would complain against being driven violently into a board, where it is compelled, year after year, to hold a board on to the side of a building; to have putty placed over its head, and then paint over the top of that, so that n.o.body could even so much as see where it was, or know what it was doing.
Now, the old iron, and the nail, and the others have no right to complain. There is a vast difference of quality, and there is also a difference of work.
The higher grades and better qualities of metals are secured by refining processes. Again and again the metal is cast in the fire and melted.
Sometimes it is beaten on the anvil into such shapes and forms as will render the metal of greater service, and consequently of more value.
Suppose this metal had feeling, and the power to express its wish. Do you not see how it would cry out against being cast into the fire, and being beaten with great hammers upon the anvil? I am sure the fire, the hammers, and the anvil bring no sense of pleasure to the metal while being refined and being beaten into such forms as render it of greatest value.
Just so, in some senses at least, are all boys and girls alike. If they were all permitted to grow up in neglect, without being governed by thoughtful parents, without being educated and refined, without being sent to school and required to attend church, without being taught at home and being instructed in the Catechism and in the Bible, and without being shown their duty to G.o.d and their fellow men, they would all be pretty much alike. It is the difference in the influences that are made to refine some boys that causes them to differ so much from others who are about them. The boy who has only been taught to pick stones, or sweep the streets, or dig ditches, may cry out against the boy who is gentlemanly, and obliging, and obedient, and truthful, and reliable, and who has a position of great responsibility in a bank, or in the office of some man who occupies a very responsible position; yet oftentimes, and quite universally, there is a very great difference in the merit and value of these two boys. One has been disciplined and governed and controlled, educated and taught, while the other has likely been neglected, and consequently has not learned the importance of these things.
G.o.d designs to refine all of us, and therefore He desires that all should be taught to study, should learn to read and write, should learn all they can from the schools, should be taught to work, should be taught to expect trials and self-denials, and should be led to expect sickness and disappointments, and all these things by which G.o.d designs to make us better from year to year. But, just the same as the iron would cry out against being cast into the fire and being beaten upon the anvil, so do boys and girls, and men and women also, cry out against the providences by which G.o.d is refining them and making them better for this world and fitting them for the world to come.
If we desire to be of largest service in this world, and to occupy a place of honor in the world to come, we must expect that G.o.d will deal with us, as He has told us in the ninth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Zechariah, in which He says, "I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried." And in the book of Malachi He says that He, that is G.o.d, is "like a refiner"s fire, and like fullers" soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and purge them as gold and silver."
When the gold and the silver is cast into the crucible to be purified, the fire is made very hot, and the metal is left in the crucible until the man who is refining it and who sits looking into the crucible can see his own image reflected in the metal. So we are cast into the fires of affliction, and G.o.d looks down upon us; but when we become like Him, so that G.o.d sees His own self reflected in our character, and in our disposition, and in our temper, then we shall have been refined as G.o.d desires, and He will then be ready to receive us into His own home on high.
QUESTIONS.--Can you name different things made from iron? Is a horse shoe as valuable as a watch spring? What makes the difference in their value?
How are iron and steel refined, or made more valuable? Are unrefined and untaught boys and girls all quite alike? What makes them become different? Do some boys and girls become more useful and valuable in the world than others? What causes the difference? Would the iron cry out against being refined? Do boys and girls object to being taught and disciplined? How does the Bible say that G.o.d refines us? Can the refiner see his image in the melted metal? Does G.o.d want to see His own image reflected in us?