The record-union., 1891-12-28
THE ANGELS SONG.
Peace on Earth, and Good VIII
Toward Men,"
A Sermon Delivered Yesterday by Rev.
w. S. Hoskinson on the Birth
and Life of Christ.

Atthe English Lutheran services yester-
day the pastor, Rev. w. S. Hoskinson,
preached from the text luke IL, IA,
Peace on Earth, and Good Will Toward
Men," The delightful time, he said, has
come again and gone. Many hearts
looked forward wistfully to this day. 1t
As the one day OF all the year when youth
iul hearts beat quick and fast, and when
older hearts are caught in the current and
compelled to hurry little. The spirit of
youth leads and prevails. You might
turn aside the Euphrates, and let the
great General Cyrus enter ancient Baby
lon by marching along the bed of the
stream you might make the Sacramento
dow some other direction toward the sea
ihan past our own city; you might do a
great many things that seem almost i'm
possible, with much more ease than you
could stem the tide of JOY and gladness
and hilarity of Christmas. 1t would take
bold king to say to this people, "You
ANAL have no Christmas" And it would
take brave general to carry out such a
command. Many things the people will
submit to; many other things they may
give up, but Christmas they must and
VIII have, and no one dare say to them,
NAY"
Many signs nave told US of the coming
81 this day for some time. Children of
the rich have looked for this day, expect
ing some new and unseen presents and
The enjoyment of social parties. Children
Of the poor have hoped for some extra
comfort in the shape of food, or clothing,
Or playthings as gifts from those whose
hearts are prompted to kindness at this
of la
member the days gone by, when they,
100, were made so glad and happy by the
things for which children are looking in
our days. Business men looked and pre-
Dared for this time as especially suitable
1or advancing their business, because the
people spend their money freely at this
time.
Friends separated for long months or
years are brought together now, and the
Tide of joy is swelled. And so Christmas
comes to be looked upon from many
standpoints of loss or gain, or Joy or sor-
row, because 1t is made much of all round
The world.
But we must get some meaning from
this day that viii stay with us and leave
= sweet taste, and shine down through
he days that intervene till it comes
again, and make us better for what our
eyes have seen and ourshearts have felt.
Christmas has meaning for us if we catch
is true notes. 9 1t is like the pealing
of bell in the hills-the valleys and
ridges take it up and toss it back and
rorth, till we can hardly tell which are
the original sounds and which are the
echoes"
One of the sounds coming to us is that
Christmas means joy--it is pledge of
what we sometimes forget, that there is
real joy in life. What mother and father
have not felt the thrill of Joy as they wit
messed the bright eyes and sportive
laughter of the darlings when receiving
what "Old Santa" had brought themi
Spring without blossoms and roses would
hardly be spring; neither would it be
Christmas without joy. But we must
not forget that the flowers are not spring,
neither do they make spring-it includes
much more.
Christmas means kindness. Many
almost forgotten ones feel the touch of
kind hearts when Christmas comes
around. The human affections open and
peace on earth, good wilP' flows toward
men IN loving acts of tender regards.
Mems hearts are softened and made to
feel the need of the needy, and the sweet
chords of sympathy are made to vibrate
in music so charming that the watching
angels are made to rejoice; and He who
sees all Will not forget, but will one day
say: "lnasmuch as ye did it unto one of
the least of these, We did it unto me.
Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.'
But this good will does not stop with
The few whose lives touch ours on the
right and on the left. All the world are
drawn closer together. These GLAD Christ
mas times teach us OF the growing
oneness OF the whole human family. Old
barriers of grudge and national prejudice
are broken down, race distinctions are
hlotted out, classes become unknown,
and for one day at least we are made to
feel federation of nations parliament
of all nd oil
closer together by reason of this day, and
this is one real, true meaning of Christ
mas.
But to get at the heart of Christmas
we must consider the one event which
we celebrate. 1t is a birthday festival.
A child is born unto the world"-''a
common thing" you say. But that child
Is the divine one Himself-the great God.
Infinite power and infinite weakness
meet together. God comes to man nearer
than He had ever come, drawing close to
His lost bewildered child And this is
the lesson-for us, that God came to man
this day-long ago-that He might be
united to us and we to Him. Here is the
key for interpreting every other meaning
Of Christmas.
And now, when the glad season is over,
and glad bells are ringing, and all its
familiar brightness and hallowed mem
cries come upon us, we cannot feel that
it is real Christmas for US unless we get
at its very heart and know that
God has indeed come to us. It is a
personal matter, then, and expresses a
personal relation, else it is an empty
show without real life. The shepherds
received message, and so must we.
They heard: Unto you is born this day
e Savior" Every man and woman and
child must hear the same message to-day.
Other sounds he may hear, but above all
these that come to us here below must be
the clear voice of the angels saying,
Unto you, unto you" If we fail to hear
what Christ intended it to be.
We live in very practical time; very
real when fancy and dreams and theories
90 not count for much. Even the story
Of the Babe of Bethlehem seems a far off
matter that belonged TO some other time
and some other land and some other peo-
lie. 1t may be little hard to make the
message real to us in our day. "Cares
and anxietieS parching the dew of youth;
suffering, breaking the elasticity of the
spirit, make Christ's salvation seem very
far off thing" Then how can we make it
real? When Christmas comes and calls
Us, and all the year through the world
las been filling our souls with its pros
perity or its bitterness, making the
message only far away note that rang
cut over Judean plains, can we help our
selves? Can we make the message ours?
We hear the sound; so did the shep-
herds of old. They said: LET us go
row and see this thing which is come to
rass." This they resolved to do and then
carried out the resolution at once and
went and saw the child. Christmas be-
comes Christmas, indeed, when we come
rear and see Jesus. 1t would have been
10 Christmas for the shepherds had
tbey STAYED away on the mountains
Instead of going down to the Bethlehem
stable to the very place where the babe
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