Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1897-12-17
ACHRISTMAS SERMON
LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST.

The Duty of Charity and the Nobility of
Self Sacrifce-How Art Has Paid Its
Tribute to the Nativity.
1t was the distinctive glory Of Christ's
ovangel not that it introduced new
code Of morals or of social ethics, but
rather that it emphasized the force and
brOadened the scope Of those existing
and gave them higher sanctions and in
fnitcly greater Importance from being
excmpIificd in the perfect life of Christ
himself. There were people who had
been Just, true and God fearing before
Moses brought down the tables of the
law from Mount Sinai, and men acted
tho role Of the good Samaritan, ami
mated by the purest benevolence, thou
sands Of years before Christ taught ~
1rc"ept and example the duty of chart
ty and tho nobility of self sacrifice
Even the sermon ON the mount only
presented in concrete form rules of con-
duct which regulated the lives of many
in all ages, not with the force of law,
of which there might be none, but as
result Of self originated conviction and
feeling.
Love in Christ's code of ethics was
both the soul and body, the animating
principle, as we'll as the performing
agent 1t was no longer be true, kind
and pure because it is q duty SO to
be, but be all that because you love
to bo So No mere formal acquiescence
or compliance will meet the require
mcnts Of this new presentation of the
moral law. 1t demands absolute obedi-
cnce, but as the outcome of love, not as
the result of authority or the claims OF
duty.
Has the Christian church assigning
to this term its widest and most com
prchcnsivG meaning) ever como within
measurable distance Of realizing the ex-
allied Christ ideal? Yes, possibly, in the
apostolic age and for short time sub
seQucnt, but it would be absurd to
claim that the Christian churches of to-
day, great as is their influence for good,
are animated by the spirit of the early
Christians or inspired by that divine
enthusiasm which made each one of
them center of light and largely trans
formed society throughout the known
world within century after the birth
OF Christ.
We are now like Moses on Mount
NebO-we see the promised land, but it
is still in tho dim distance, and we are
apparently getting no nearer TO its
haven of rcSt-but how soon would the
prospect change were the gospel of love
and humanity, preached and lived by
Christ, to become distinctive feature of
our civilization instead of the material
istic and selfish motives which largely
sway modern life and determine con-
duet!
The Saviour was born under the hum
blest possible circumstances, as if to
show how low i'll the estimation of God
are all the pomp and magniticence OF
that wealth and power which men
prize SO highly. His Virgin mother was
poor, his foster father was a mechanic,
and he himself dignifed labor by earn
ing his bread by the sweat of his brow.
Christ was cmphatically the Saviour
of the poor, and those who bear his
name best show the sincerity of their
professions by initiating him in his low
ing kindness and benevolence. Charity
is duty incumbent upon Christians at
all times, but even the most humane
will feel prompted to be kinder and
more sympathetic while celebrating the
advent of one who displayed during his
whole lifetime uDOn earth q divine COM
passion and pity for the poor and the
suffering.
Not the least of the lessons taught us
by the birth of Christ is not to despise
tho humblcst or be hopeless of the most
dcpraved Of that species SO honored by
Deity that he came and took its form
and assumed its nature with all its i'm
pertcctiOns- However low in the scale
of being persons may be, there is spark
of the divine i'll them still, trace of
that promethean fire breathed into man
by the source of all life and all con-
seriousness which constituted him liy-
ing soul.
The story of the advent and Of it's
climaN-that amazing act of self sacri-
tiCe-has been the solace of the weary
and heavy laden i'll all the intervening
centuries. The song of the angel Choir
listers chanted over the lowly place of
his birth, conveying heavens message
of deliverance for man, has sounded
throughout the centuries, like an under
tone of hope, above the discords of life
and the mutterings of despair.
Philip James Bailey in "Festus"