The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 3

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The Lutheran Pioneer: 3

A Useful Life. were paid in the church. If a man was twenty-| Word hath quickened me’’ (Ps. 119, 50); “I

four hours behind time with the payment of | remembered the judgments of old, O Lord, and
his subscription for the pastor’s salary, he was| have comforted myself” (Ps. 119, 52): “Un-
sure to receive a call from Mr. Miller. And|less Thy law had been my delight, I should
now imagine a man trying to carry on acon-| then have perished in my affliction’’ (Ps. 119,
versation with Daniel Miller about not having | 92); ‘Trouble and anguish have taken hold on
paid his subscription for the pastor’s salary. |me; yet Thy commandments are my delight”
“Money has been a little short with me lately,” | (Ps. 119, 143). You cannot do without the
he begins, “and I thought a few days’ delay—’’| book of which all this can be said. You can-

“What is it?” interrupts Daniel, with his|not cast off the friend that will comfort you in
hand to his ear. ‘‘I'm hard of hearing, you| pain and weariness. Thousands of Christians
know, speak a little louder, please.’’ can bear witness to the value of this book.

Do you suppose that man is going to yell out|They can stand up and say: “We have been
for the benefit of the passers-by that he is a|in affliction, sorrow, darkness, weakness, pov-
little short of money, and had deliberately |erty, and the Bible has proved itself to be
planned a few days delay for his minister? |counselor, and light, and guide and friend.’”
The way it worked was for him to scream out, | Blessed book! Not a man-made book at all,
“You shall have the money at noon to-day,|but God’s book. Other books come and go,
Mr. Miller. .“‘Very likely he grumbled that] but this book stands to the end of time, and to
he wouldn't get caught in that trap again, and | the end of time the world needs it. You need it,
he didn’t. People didn’t enjoy calls from Danie] |dear reader. It will light you to your eternal
Miller, when they owed the church any money. | home.

And the work made a wonderful difference A country pastor writes: Going two miles
in Daniel’s life; he kept his head straighter, |into a neighborhood where very few could read,
and walked faster. The church was large and | to spend an evening in reading to a company
there was a good deal of business to be trans-| who were assembled to listen, and about to re-
acted, and Daniel had no temptation to brood | turn by a narrow path through the woods where
over his infirmity. Then he knew just what | paths diverged, I was provided with a torch of
was going on; just what the church gave to|light wood, or ‘pitch pine.’’ I objected; it
missions and all benevolences. He had no| was too small, weighing not over half a pound.
need any more to wonder painfully what was| ‘It will light you home,’’ answered my host.
being done, and after hesitating over it a good | I said, ‘“‘The wind may blow it out.’”” He said,
while make up his mind. to ask somebody, and | ‘It will light you home.” “But if it should
feel sorry for them all the time to think they |rain?’’ I again objected. ‘‘It will light you
had got to answer him. Instead, people had | home,” he insisted. Contrary to my fears, it
to come to him for information. And I tell) gave me abundant light to my path all the way
you the treasurer's reports of that church were home, furnishing an apt illustration, I often
curiosities. ‘They were managed with such ex-|think, to the way in which doubting hearts
actness and clearness. And besides keeping the | would be led safely along the “‘narrow path.’”
fivances of the church straight, Daniel Miller| If they would take the Bible as their guide, it
did other work for the church, the record of | would be a lamp to their feet, leading to the
which is known to.the Master. heavenly home. One man had five objections

The years went by, and at each election | to the Bible. If he would take it as a Jamp to
Daniel Mjller was reelected, until at Jast that | his feet, it would ‘‘light him home.’”’ Another
congregation would have laughed in the face|told me he had two faults to find with the
of any man who had suggested a change.’| Bible. I answered him in the words of my
“What should we do without Daniel Miller?? | good friend who furnished the torch, “‘It will
That is as near as they ever.came to mentiun-| light you home.’’
ing the time when they might have to do with-
out him.

And that time did come. From his labor of
faith and love the Master called him to his :
eternal rest. And on the day of his funeral] I know, as often as I have earnestly prayed,
there was a great uprising of the peuple to offer when it has been real earnest with me, I have
the last tribute of respect and affection to that | indeed been richly heard, and have obtained
plain Christian man, who had led a useful life | more than I have prayed for. God has fora time
in their midst in spite of his infirmity. delayed, but nevertheless the help has come.
Ah, how truly grand a thing is the honest
prayer of a true Christian! How mighty is it
with God; that a poor human creature can so
, [speak with the High Majesty in heaven, and

The Bible will light you home, dear reader, | not dread Him but know that God is kindly
if you take it as a lamp to your feet. You | smiling on him for Jesus Christ's sake, His dear
cannot do without it, as you enter a new year. | Son, our Lord and Saviour! To this end the
Therefore read your Bible daily. The pzalmist| heart and conscience must not look back, must
says that it meets life's deepest necessities: | not doubt or fear on account of unworthiness.
“This is my comfurt in my affliction; for Thy Luther.

' As we enter a new year let us remember
that there is work for every one. You need
not brood over any infirmity of yours and be
sad because you cannot be of any use to the
church. No! God has some work for you to
do. Let me tell you a story.

In Hickorytown there lived a man by the
name of Miller, Daniel Miller. A Christian
man he was, one of the sterling sort. Talk
with anybody in that town about him, and
they would speak highly of his sterling worth,
and almost always close with: ‘‘ What a pity
that such a good man as he should be so hard
of hearing.”

That was his trouble, and a great trouble it
was. The thought was written all over his
patient, sad face: ‘I am hard of hearing and
growing worse. It destroys my usefulness.”
And as he grew deafer and deafer, the patient,
sad look on his face deepened, and the feeling
grew on his heart that he wasn’t of any use to
the Church of Christ that he loved with all his
soul,

On New Year's day a treasurer was to be
elected by the congregation. Some one pro-
posed the name of Daniel Miller, thinking that
the treasurer's work could be done by him and
that it would make him feel that he could do
something for the church. After the election
the chairman went down the aisle, and bent
over Mr. Miller, and said in a good, loud voice,
‘“©You have been elected our church treasurer
by a unanimous vote.’’ Miller stammered out
something about not being fitted for the work
—his infirmity being so great; he wished he
could do something, he would be glad to, if he
could, but maybe it was a risk to try it. Then
the chairman put down his mouth to his ear
again, and called out, “ We all stand ready to
go your security, every one-of us.”

Well, Daniel Miller took hold of the work
with a will, and the work was never better done.
His “infirmity” was a positive advantage to him.
There wasn’t any use in trying to tell him how
the accounts stood, or explain away this, or
that; he could’nt hear; it all had to be done in
writing. And when a man sits down in quiet
to make a written account of anything that
another man is expected to fully understand,
he uses language carefully, don’t you see? You
don’t suppose the people were foolish enough,
when his year was out, to put in anothey treas-
urer? The machine was running too smoothly.
They elected him again by as large a vote as
before.

And he did his work well. By-and-by he
began to send out little notes with his bills.
‘‘We owe it to our pastor to pay his quarter's

salary on the day promised.’’” Well, when the
next quarter's salary was paid the morning of
the day on which it was due, without having been
asked for or run after, that minister thought
good times were coming! He hadn’t been used
to that sort of thing. You never saw anything
like the promptness with which subscriptions

Oa oro

The Believer’s Prayer.

—— 0

‘€1t will Light you Home.”