That is the situation in thousands of American factories, large and small,

today. And why? etc., etc.

 

Doubtless the most frequent platform use of the anecdote is in the pulpit. The

sermon "illustration," however, is not always strictly narrative in form, but

tends to extended comparison, as the following from Dr. Alexander Maclaren:

 

Men will stand as Indian fakirs do, with their arms above their heads until they

stiffen there. They will perch themselves upon pillars like Simeon Stylites, for

years, till the birds build their nests in their hair. They will measure all the

distance from Cape Comorin to Juggernaut's temple with their bodies along the

dusty road. They will wear hair shirts and scourge themselves. They will fast

and deny themselves. They will build cathedrals and endow churches. They will do

as many of you do, labor by fits and starts all thru your lives at the endless

task of making yourselves ready for heaven, and winning it by obedience and by

righteousness. They will do all these things and do them gladly, rather than

listen to the humbling message that says, "You do not need to do

anything--wash." Is it your washing, or the water, that will clean you? Wash and

be clean! Naaman's cleaning was only a test of his obedience, and a token that

it was God who cleansed him. There was no power in Jordan's waters to take away

the taint of leprosy. Our cleansing is in that blood of Jesus Christ that has

the power to take away all sin, and to make the foulest amongst us pure and

clean.