Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-12-28

ulS OF n nntiOn. IDere was malaria
of sin In the mir when the infant Christ
first breathed 1t. Thlciest shawl could
not keep the babe warm when in that
wintry month with his mother he be-
came fugitive.
| Historians say that II was at time
Of peace that Christ was born, but his
birth aroused an antagonism of which
the Bethlehem massacre was only
feeble expression. War of the might
est nation of the earth opened against
that cradle! The influence that came
forth that night from that surrounding
Of camels and sheep and oxen challeng-
ed the iniqulties of all the centuries
and will not cease until 1t has destroy
ed them. What pronunciamento
went forth from that black and bar
barian throne. practically saying, "Slay
all the babes under years of age, and
that wide slaughter will surely include
the death of the one child that most
threatens my dominion" Awful time
was 1t for the occupant of that cradle!
If he escape the knife Of the assassin,
then the wild beasts paw or the ban
dts clutch or the midnight chill be-
tween Bethlehem Of Judea and Cairo,
Egypt. will secure his destruction. All
the powers of earth and all the demons
of hell bombarded that cradle.
A Famous Town.
Another shadow upon that Christie
cradle was the obscurity of the place
of birth. Bethlehem was an obscure
village. David, the shepherd boy. had
been born there, but after he became
general and king he gave 1t no signifi-
canoe. l think never mentioning 1t but
to ask for drink of water out of the
old well to which he used to go in
childhood-the village SO small and
unimportant that 1t had to be separat-
eed in mind from another Bethlehem
then existing, and SO was called Beth
lehem of JudGa. There was a great
capital Of Jerusalem; there were the 10
beautiful cities on the beach of Galilee,
In; there were great towns famous at
that time, but the nativity we today
celebrate was in village which Christ
lntimated had been called by some
''the least among the princes of Juda."
Christ himself was to make the town
famous for all time and all eternity.
o men and women of Messanic op-
portunity, why do you not make the
place Of your nativity memorable for
your philanthropies-by the churches
you build, the free libraries you open,
the colleges you endow? Go back to
the village where you were born, as
George Peabody went back to Danvers,
Mass, and with your wealth bless the
neighborhood where In childhood you
played and near by where your father
and mother sleep the last sleep There
are scores of such villages in America
being generously remembered by pros
porous men during life or helped in
their last will and testament and there
are hundred neighborhoods waiting
for such benedlction from their pros
porous sons. BY some such charity in
vite the Bethlehem angels to come back
again and over the plain house Of your
nativity ring out the old anthem of
"Good will to men," Christ, born in an
obscure place, made 1t so widely known
by his self sacrifices and divine charity
that all round the earth the village Of
Bethlehem has its name woven In gar
lands and chanted In "'re Deums' and
built in houses of prayer.
Sunshine Breaks Through.
But 1t Is time we see some Of the sun
shine breaking through the shadows
ON that cradle. For we must have jubi-
.ance dominate the Christmas festival
Jn ,hn,
in "Marmlon" he wrote:
A Christmas ganbol oft would cheer
A poor mans heart through half the year.
1t was while the peasant and his
wife were on visit for purposes of en-
rollment that Jesus was born. The Bi-
BILE translators got the wrong word
when they said that Joseph and Mary
had gone to Bethlehem to be taxed"
People went no farther then to get tax
ed than they do now. The effort of
most people always has been to escape
taxation. Besides that, these two hum
BILE folk had nothing to tax. The mans
turban that protected his head from
the sun was not worth taxing; the wo-
mans sandals which kept her feet
from being cut by the limestone rock,
Of which Bethlehem is mostly made
up. were not worth taxing. No; the
fact is that proclamation had been
made by the emperor that all the peo-
Pile between Great Britain and Parthia
and of those lands included should go
to some appointed place and give their
names in, be registered and announce
their loyalty to the Roman emperor.
They had walked so miles over n
rough road to give their names and
take the oath of allegiance. Would we
walk so miles to announce our allie
glance to our king, one Jesus? Caesar
Augustus wanted to know by the rec
ord on which that man and that wo-
man wrote their names or had them
written, just how many people in his
empire he could depend on in case of
exigency. How many men would un-
slieathe sword for the Roman eagle
md how many women could be de-
pended on to take care of the wounded
on battlefelds? The trouble is that in
the kingdom of Christ we do not know
how many can be depended on. There
are so many men and women who
never give in their names. They serve
the Lord on the sly. They do not an
nounce their allegiance to the king
who. In the battles to come, will want
aiy his troops. In all our churches
| there are so many half and half disci-