The record-union., 1898-12-27

sermon IlaC can De T6cou dil0 dppACSl
Gted by persons of all denominations.
He spoke as follows from the text
CMatthew, 22:41), while the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked
them, saying, What think ye OF
Christ p 3"
AS the day comes round when we
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ 1t
is meet that our thoughts should center
on Him. Meaningless is the day and
proftless the service unless our hearts
are lifted up in alteration to Him
whose name is to-day above and apart
from every name. The transcendence
of Christ is the great fact and miracle
Of our age. Explain it how you will,
the fact remains that Jesus is the
mightiest moral force in the world to-
day. His growing fame, his widening
empire, are facts that no thoughtful
man to-day disputes. All that is
noblest In our civilization, purest in
our poetry. highest in our art, most
inspiring in our literature, may be
traced back to that Bethlehem manger
from which shines out the light of the
world.
The question that Jesus asked the
men of His day is the question of our
day, namely, what think We of
Christi" We must think something
concerning Him. We cannot shut Him
out of our thoughts if we would. He
continually confronts US. We cannot
read a volume Of poetry, a treatise on
philosophy a great work of fiction, a
book of history, without meeting Him.
The poet cannot write his epic, the
w111 IL xr-fo
of philosophy. the historian cannot re-
cord the march of events without re-
ferring to Jesus Christ. We cannot
register the flight of years without
reference to Him, for every new year
is Ammo Domini-the year of our Lord.
We cannot walk the streets of city,
or village without reminders of Him
in grand cathedral or modest meeting
house, reared in His name, built for
His worship. Every birth in our home
recalls the birth in Bethlehem. We
cannot bury our dead without thoughts
of His death and resurrection. His life
is interviewer into all that is highest
and divinest Of our life.
Through Him the first fond prayers are
said,
Our lips of childhood frame,
The last low whispers of our dead
Are burdened with His name"
In the throng and press of daily life
and duty we continually meet Him.
We cannot attend a musical festival
without hearing His name chanted in
holy anthem, rising supreme in halle
1ujah chorus. We cannot visit an art
gallery without meeting that human
face divine looking on us from manger,
cross, or throne. Now He is a babe in
a mothers arms. Now He is a toiler
at a carpenters bench Now He is a
healer at the bedside of the sick Now
He is a teacher to a great multitude
on the mountain side. Now He is 4
mysterious presence walking on the
sea. Now He is a, shepherd bringing
home a lost sheep. Now He is Grim
inal on a cross of shame. Now He is
a. King on a throne of glory. Art and
music, history and literature are ever
saying to US, Behold the Man. The
gaze Of the world is fixed on Jesus
He who came as the hope of Israel
has become the desire of all nations.
His own words of prohecy are marvel
ously fulfilled: ''I, if I be lifted UP, will
draw all men unto Me-" Jesus is draw
ing to Himself the affection and rever-
ence and service of universal human
ity. How true it is that "One face
appears in all the centuries of Chris
tian history and in the art of every
European nation as the picture of the
worlds Beloved, who unites in one all
the nations of the earth. and links
humanity to heaven by the splendor
of His everlasting name" We cannot
shut Jesus out of our thought if we
would. Many of us would not if we
could.
Him evermore I behold. walking in Cali
lee
Through the cornfield's waving gold, in
hamlet or grassy void,
BY the shores on the beautiful sea:
He toucheth the sightless eyes, before
Him the demons fee;
TO the dead He saith arise, to the living
follow me;
And that voice still soundeth on
From the centuries that are gone, 20 the
centuries that shall be-"
How strange it is that He who was
born in obscurity and reared in pow
erty, who in life was despised by the
rich and rejected by the learned, and
crucified as a criminal among Grim
inals, is to-day the most honored name
among all the names of earth. TC
Jesus is accorded the supreme place
in history No mortal can with him
compare among the sons Of men. His
life. His words, His gospel, His char
acter are the hope and glory of hu-
manity. He belongs not to one ma.
tion, but to all nations. Through Him
and His gospel all nations of the earth
are being blessed. There is no question
that knocks at the door of every think
ing mans heart and conscience with
more directness and urgency than the
question, What think We of Christ?
Consider the problems involved in
this question. How do you account fol
the place that Jesus occupies in the
history Of the world? How do you ac-
count for the homage the world pays
to Him? How do you account for the
fact that the peoples and nations or
the highest levels of civilization and
culture are foremost in their admira-
ton and alteration of Him? He has
evoked from orators their most eloquent
eulogies, from poets their most golden
sonnets, from musicians their grandes1
harmonies, from artists their highest
creations Of genius, from devout hearts
their purest affections, from martyl
souls their most heroic achievements
Art and literature, eloquence and mu-
sic, craftsmanship and reform, look VI
to Him for model and motive, for di-
rection and destiny. Architecture
taxes its powers to build temples
worthy of His worship. Music wings
its loftiest flights to render anthems
worthy His perfections. EloQuence
02-