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has gone to church to service” and you w ent over to th e church to see what John did a t service. You found him sittin g a t th e end of a pew. He joined in th e singing of th e hymns. He howed his head during th e prayer. He gave a silver piece to th e collection, and set tled back com fortably for a sp iritu al message while th e preacher gave w hat he had gathered of th o u g h t during the week, and he called th a t a “service.” The other evening I w ent into my k itchen to get a glass of m ilk and a cracker. I found th e maid sitting one side of the table and h er friend on the o ther side. He was talking. She was listening. She was “ a t service.” T h a t’s w h at I pay her five dollars a week for and when she changes to ano ther home th a t w ants a ch aracter I can w rite th a t she is a good girl. I caught her at “ service” faithful. It is only in the religious world th a t we th in k of service in th e passive voice, being m inistered unto, ra th e r th an m inistering. The one most useful form of service is speech. “ B ut,” you say, “ I do not believe in talk ing abou t religion; it is too sacred.” Then you are w iser th an your Master, Christ. He w rote no book. He organized no church. He sent ou t preachers. He hade His dis ciples to go into all th e world and preach, discipling all nations. Out of th e abundance of th e h ea rt th e mouth speaketh, and out of th e emptiness of th e h ea rt th e mouth is silent. If you have no stock on ¡the shelves don’t make an exhibit in th e show windows. L isten to a parable. John came to me th e other day and said, “ Pastor, do you know Ja n e ? ” I said, “ Yes, nice girl, isn ’t she.” “Nice? She’s th e only one in th e church.” “Well, you go and tell h er th a t. She will never know w hat you th ink of h er by your telling me.” So John called on Ja n e once. I asked him afterw ard if he had called and he said, “ Yes, once.” “Why no t ag a in ?” “ Oh, it’s no use.” I asked Jane, “Did John call on you?” “Yes, once.” “Why
not ag a in ?” “Oh, w h at’s th e use?” “W hat did he do?” ‘.‘Why, he didn’t do anything. He sat silent for a half hour, and then walked ou t.” I said to John afterw ard , “Why didn’t you tell her w hat your feelings tow ard her w ere?” “Oh,” he said, “ love is too sacred a subject to ta lk abou t”— and John is still single and he will he single un til he recovers from th a t folly. Love too sacred to be talk ed about? Don’t you know th a t a man in love can’t ta lk . of anything else— th a t a man who loves his child is always w illing to ta lk about her^—th a t a man who loves his country is always boasting about it. The pas sion of love, like a Are, blazes and con quers everything it touches. The trouble w ith you, my friend, is th a t you h av exlost your first love and now fall hack upon th e u n tru th th a t love is too sacred to be talk ed about. During my life in Buffalo we had an evangelistic service under Doctor Tor- rey. We summoned a gentlem an from Philadelphia to ta lk to us abou t doing personal work. He gave th e experience to about one hundred and fifty of us so it was no t a personal m atter. He said, “My name is So-and-So. I have charge of th e traveling agents of a large busi ness enterprise. I teach men how to ta lk to sell goods. I am a P resbyterian. I have been a member of th e church for tw enty-three years. I have th e highest priced pew on th e rig h t hand side of th e broad aisle. I pay my re n ta l regu larly. I subscribe to th e m issionary enterprises of th e church. I attend the service faithfully— b u t for tw enty-three years I have not won a soul to C h rist.” He had never tried to. He had never spoken to a man about Christ. He had never urged th e claims of th e Master. The tw enty-three years m ight become tw enty-three centuries of silence w ith ou t w inning a soul. “ Dr. Torrey came to Philadelphia. I joined the chorus. A fter the first ser mon th e doctor urged us all to do per sonal work. I sat and watched while
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