The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 59

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

59

Mission Work.

Mission work is not a work of man’s own choos-
ing, but rests on the command of God. God com-
mands us to do mission work. Christ plainly says
to His Christians: ‘‘Go ye into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature,’’ Mark 16, 15.

Mission work is the greatest of all works, for its
direct object is the salvation of immortal souls, for
which Christ, the Son of God, shed His own pre-
cious blood. ‘‘He who converteth a sinner from
the error of his way shall save a soul from death,”’
James 5, 20. Man’s soul is of far greater worth
than all the world. ‘‘What shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?’’
says Christ.

Mission work is the most necessary work, for
through the preaching of the Gospel it brings to
man the one thing needful which man cannot ob-
tain without God’s Word.

Mission work is not done in vain. It bears glo-
rious fruits, even if we do not always see these
fruits in this world. Christ, who gave the mission-
ary command, added the promise: ‘‘Lo, I am with
you alway.’’ Since He is with us we cannot fail.
Success is certain. God will take care of the results
of our labor. He has given us the sure promise:
‘‘Ags the rain cometh down and the snow from
heayen, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that
it may give seed to the sower and bread to the
eater; so shall my Word be that goeth forth out of
my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it,’’ Is. 55,
10. 11.

Mission work especially has the promise of a
reward of grace. ‘‘They that turn many to right-
eousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever,’’
Dan. 12, 3.

Let us, then, not grow weary in mission work.
‘(In due season we shall reap, if we faint not,’’
Gal. 6, 9.

Work for All.

During one of the great battles of the Civil War
a recruit, who had lost his company in the tumult
of strife, approached General Sheridan and timidly
asked where he should ‘‘step in.’? “Step in?’?
thundered the General. ‘‘Stepin anywhere; there’s
fighting all along the line.”

The Church, in extending the kingdom of Christ,
is at war with the kingdom of sin and Satan, and

every Christian must be found in the ranks of
Christ’s soldiers marching to battle and to victory
under the banner of the cross. Are you looking for
an extra place? ‘‘Step in anywhere; there’s fight-
ing all along the line.”’

A heavy piece of machinery was being moved
into a building by means of a block and tackle.
Suddenly one of the ropes parted, and the machine
began to slide backward. The two men who had
charge of the work sprang to stay its progress. ‘‘Give
us a lift!’’ one of them shouted to a bystander.

‘*Where shall I take hold?”’ cried he.

“Grab hold anywhere!” yelled the mover.

The Church in its mission work needs help from
all its members. There is much to be done, and
there is work for all. In our Colored Mission we
need help for our treasury; we need help for the
building of a college in North Carolina for the train-
ing of missionaries for the colored people; we need
help for the building of mission chapels, especially
for the rebuilding of a chapel in Salisbury, where
our colored congregation mourns the loss of its beau-
tiful chapel, which was recently destroyed by a vio-
lentstorm. ‘Give usa lift!’? Do you ask, ‘‘ Where
shall I take hold?’ ‘‘Take hold anywhere!’’ You
need not wait for some special work. There is work
enough for all, work for you. Take hold anywhere!
Give us a lift!

‘‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might,’’ Eccl. 9, 10.

Uncle Abe’s Question.

Three young gentlemen were descending from
the seventh story of one of Cincinnati’s largest build-
ings in an elevator controlled by an old colored man.
They were discussing the question of what the re-
sult would be if the elevator should fall, and one of
them said, ‘‘I don’t care for myself, but I am anx-
ious for my old friend here,’’ alluding to the colored
man, and turning to him said: ‘‘Uncle, where do
you think you would alight?’”? Old Uncle Abe
replied promptly: “‘I would ’light in the arms of
Jesus, Massa! Where would you ’light?’”? The
young man was silenced, and left the elevator with-
out another word.

We hope he profited by Uncle Abe’s question.

THE employer who prays the fourth petition of
the Lord’s Prayer will pay his employees what they .
earn, and the employee who prays it will earn what
he is paid.