Marble Hill press., 1890-02-13
The SKY ANTHEM
II Seems to Him That the Crown of Royalty
and Dominion and Power Was Hung on
fhs sky in Sight Of Bethlehem

and Dominion and Power Was Hung on
fhs sky in Sight Of Bethlehem
On Christmas Eve, Rev. T. De Witt
Taimage preached to group of friends at
Beyrout on "The Sky Anthem" His text
was Luke ii, IA: "Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will TO-
ward men" ON which he delivered the fol
lowing discourse:
At last l have what longed for, q
Christmas eve in the Holy Land. This is
the time of year that Christ landed. He
was December Christ This is the chill
air through which he descended. Hook u p
through these Christmas skies, and l see
no loosened star Fastening southwark to
halt above Bethlehem, but all the stars sug-
gest the Star of Bethlehem. No more need
that any of them run along the sky to point
downward. In quietude they kneel at the
feet Of him who, though once
an exile, is now enthroned for
ever. Fresh up from Bethlehem,
am full OF the scenes suggested by visit
to that village. You know that whole
region Of Bethlehem is famous in Bible
story. There were the waving harvests OF
Boaz, in which Ruth Cleaned for herself
and weeping Naomi. There David the
warrior was thirsty, and three men of un-
heard of self denial broke through the
Philistine army to get him drink. 1t was
to that region that Joseph and Mary came
to have their names enrolled in the census
That Is what the Scripture means when it
says they came ITO be taxed" for people
did not In those days rush after the asses.
sors Of tax any more than they now do
Tho village inn was crowded with the
strangers who had come up by the conf
mand OF government to have their names in
the census, so that Joseph and Mary were
obliged to lodge in the stables. You have
seen some Of those large stone buildings, in
the center of which the camcls are kept,
while running out from this center in all
directions there were rooms, in one of
which Jesus was born. Had his parents
been more showily apparoled l nave no
doubt they would have found more
comfortable entertainment. That night
In the fields the shepherds with crook and
kindled fires, were watching their flocks,
when bark! to the sound of voices strange
ly sweet. Can 1t be that the maidens of
Bethlehem have come out to serenate the
weary shepherds! But now light stoops
upon them like the morning so that the
docks arise, shaking their snowy fleece
and bleating to their drowsy young. The
heavens are filled with armies of light,
and the earth quakes under the har-
mony as, echoed back from cloud 10
cloud, it rings over the midnight hill Is !:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will to men!" 1t seems that
the crown Of royalty and dominion and
power which Christ left behind him hung
on the sky in sight of Bethlehem. \. no
knows but that that crown may have been
mistaking by the wise men for the star
running and pointing downwardl
My subject, in the first place, impresses
me with the fact that indigence is not al
ways significant Of degradation. When
princes are born, heralds announce it, and
cannon thunder it. ana flags wave it, and
illuminations set cities on fire with the
tidings Some of US in England or
America remember the time of re-
joicing when the Prince of Wales was
born. You can remember tho gladness
throughout Christendom at the nativity in
the palace at Madrid. But when our
glorious Prince Was born, there was no re.
joicing on earth. Poor and growing poorer,
etthe heavenly recognition that Christmas
night shows the truth of the proposition
that indigence is not always significant OF
degradation.
In all ages there havo been great hearts
throbbing under rags, tender sympathies
under rough exterior, gold in the quartz
Parian marble in tho quarry, and in every
stable of privatlon wonders of excellence
that have been the Joy of the heavenly
host All the great deliverers of literature
and Of nations were born in homes without
afiuence, and from their own priva
tion learned to speak and fight
for the oppressed Many q man has
held uphis pine knot light from the wilder.
ness until all nations and generations nave
seen 1t, and off of his hard crust of penury
has broken the bread of knowledge and re-
ligion for the starving millions of the race
Poetry, and science, and literature, and
commerce, and laws, and constitutions, and
liberty, like Christ, were born in a manger
All the great thoughts which have
decided the destiny of nations started
In obscure corners and had Herods who
wanted to slay them, and Iscariots who
betrayed them, and rabbles that crucitied
them, and sepulchers that confined them
until they burst forth in glorious resurrec.
tion. Strong character, like the rhododen
dron, is an Alpine plant, that grows fastest
In the storm. Men are like wheat, worth
all the more for being failed. Some of the
most useful people would never have come
to positions Of usefulness had they not been
ground and pounded and hammered in the
foundry Of disaster. When I see Moses
coming up from the ark of bulrushes to be
the greatest lawgiver of the ages. and
Amos from tending the herds to make
Israel tremble with his prophecies, and
David from the sheepcote to sway the poets
pen and the kings scepter, and Peter from
the fishing net to be the great preacher al
the Peutecost, find proof Of the truth OF
my proposition that indgence is not al
ways significant Of degradation.
My subject also impresses me with the
thought that it is while at our useful oc
cupations that we have divine manifesto
tlons. Had those shepherds gone that
night into Bethlehem and risked theil
fiocks among the wolves, they would moi
have heard the song OF the angels. In
other words, that man sees most of God and
heaven who minds his own business We
all have our posts Of duty, and standing
there God appears to us. We are all shep
herds or shepherdesses, and we have our
flocks OF cares and annoyances and anx.
ieties, and we must tend to them.
We sometimes hear very good people saw
"If had month or a year or two to do
nothing but attend to religious things. |
would be a great deal better than am
now" You are mistaken. Generally the
best people are the busy people. Elisha
was blowing in the field when the proph.
etic mantle fell on him. Mathew was at.
tend ng to his custom house duties when
Christ commanded him to follow. James
and John we're mending their nets when
Christ called them to be fishers OF men.
Had they been snorin in the sun Christ
would not have called their Incidence
into the apostleship. Gideon was at
work with the fail on tho thresh.
Ing floor when he saw the angel
Saul was with great fatigue hunting up the
lost asses when he found the crown of
Israel The prodigal son would never have
reformed and wanted to have returned to
his fathers house II he had not first gone
Into business, though II was swine feeding,
Not once out Of hundred times will law
man become Christian. Those who have
nothing to do are in very unfayorable cir.