The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-27

brew prophet Micah: "But thou Bethle- hem Ephratah. though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that Is to be the ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from ever lasting" Yes" answered the old man Melchior, that reminds me of another passage from the Hebrew prophet Isaiah: Unto us a child Is born, unto us a son Is given, and the government shall be up- on his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace Yes" may have answered the poetic young sage, Caspar, that re- minds of what the Hebrew psalmlst wrote, Thou are my son; 10, I come; in the volume 1t Is written of me Come, comradesH they shout to each other. Come, the star is beckoning us. Comei Come! And they leave their instruments and their manuscripts and set out on their journey. Would that before the dawn of next Christmas many exiles from Christ might start and take this journey with the wise mem Would that all who are lost in the mountains of sin might leave behind their dead selves and seek the manager. which Is afar off in the land of purity and love.
 offering1 of Love.
 What did the wise men do when they found the manager? They knelt and wor- shiped Yes. but more than that. They gave their presents, because, from time immemorial the gold the frankincense and the myrrh have always been sugges- tive symbols in worshrip. It is one act to bow at the manager; it Is another act to give yourself as an offering to Christ. The motive which prompts the Christmas gifts is of more importance than the in trinsic value of the gifts themselves. I was never more impressed with this fact than by an incident which happened in in my life man years ago. I was at that time "a college student and had been for some months during my summer vacation preaching in a little Pennsylvania church thirteen miles away from the nearest rail- road loved those old Pike county far mers for their honesty, sincerity and gen. uine piety, which l have never seen sur passed in any congregation. Not only did love them, but l also respected their inteilectuality. I think in reference to the size of my audience l spoke there propor- tionatey to aa much brain as l ever addressed in a metropolitan audience.
 Well, the last sermon had been deliv- cred, and it was time for me to go back to my studies. I was feeling very depressed at leaving the people. drenching, heavy rainfall was adding to my gloom. l paced ID and down the farmers porch waiting for the little stage to take me to the de- pot It was truly a minister's blue Mon day" As I was walking up and down thinking how I had entered into the lives of these people and they into mine, l saw a big, awkward gawky conntryman com ing down the muddy road. He stood about six feet one The bottom of his panta- looms hardly reached the top of his shoes. He seemed to be all hands and legs and feet. He came up to the garden gate. He hesitated a moment and then was pas sing on.
 I thought the man wanted to come in and speak to me l called: Hello So- and-so , Are you not coming in to bid me goodby?" He opened the gate and came up the path. Then, dripping with rain, he stood first upon one foot and then upon the other Then he said: MT. Talmage, l did want to come and say goodby. You do not know how much you have been to me and my wife since the baby died. And sir, as you are going away, l wanted to make you a present to show our love. As we are poor folks l could not give much, so me and my wife decided we would give you two of the biggest apples we have growed in our orchard And here they are, sir Goodby. God bless you, sir Goodby." Well. my friends, I am not sentimental, but as that countryman turn ed and disappeared down the muddy road he left me crying like a child. l did not value the apples for their intrinsic worth. I valued the affection which was the in centive of the couple who gave those apples to me. And I valued those two big apples so highly that l carried them to my father and mother when I told them the simple story of that countryman's love. So it is that the risen and glorfed Christ, who once lay a helpless babe in that manager, values the gifts you bring to him. Below and beyond the gift itself he sees the motive that prompts It. Ear more precious in his sight than the most costly offering is the love of the heart which the gift symbolizes and expresses.
 The Christians Mission.
 Where did the wise men go after they had seen the infant Christ and rendered their homage at the manager? Why, the Bible tells us explicitly they went back home. God spoke to them, as he has spoken to the hearts of the many who have bowed at the manager and they went back to their own country. History is si- lent about the later lives, but we cannot think that they would ever forget that strange experience. No man comes in contact with Christ without results They probably thought of him a world con querer and bade their disciples expect to hear of his victories. Little could they have imagined the extent or his empire or understand how, through the cross he would attain the crown.
 What is the simple deduction of this thought and lesson? Is it not this: After you and l have worshiped at the manager, in the fuller light of our later day, then we should everywhere. but first among our own people, tell the news the glorious news, that Jesus, the Son of God, has been born. We must tell it to our chil- dren. We must tell it to our brothers and sisters. We must tell it to our par ents and to all our friends and neighbors. Behold Jesus has been bornl Jesus, our Saviour has been born. He lives . He lives Jesus, the Son of Mary, livesl Je- sus, the Son of God lives."
 Thus our mission on the Christmas day is to seek the manager and while we study it's lessons and mediate on it's humiliation to practice the sweet teachings of Jesus