The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-12-26
RE-OPENIMG OF ST. PAUL'S s.
REK JAMES DE VOLT PERRY PREACHES IxCELLENT SERMON

REV JAMES DE VOLT PERRY PREACHES IXCELLENT SERMON Parishoners Have Double Joy, He
 Says in Ever Beautiful Story and in
 Return to Their Church-EfEort
 should be to Preserve Reality-spirit
 of Whole Building Should Show In-
 tlmacy Between Clergy and People.
 St. Pauls church, which has been closed for redecoration since the last Sunday in May, was re-opened for wor- ship yesterday Rev. James DeWolf Perry, the rector, preached an excellent sermon, which was in full accord with the spirit of Christmas, and the return to the church. There was goodly att tendance at the service.
 His text was from St Luke, 2:12: "This shall be sign unto you, and you shall find the babe wrapped in sWaddling clothes, and lying in a man. ge.."
 lie said: There is too much in my heart this morning, my friends, to be l expressed in the form of a sermon, even a Christmas sermon. There is more, indeed, than be put into words, A double joy has brought us together to-day. There is the ever beautiful story recurring each Christmas which contains the soul, the whole sum, in fact, of our Christian religion, And there is our own immediate happiness fulfilled to-day in the return to our church, our spiritual home.
 | Yet both aspects of this Christmas day seem to me, at least, to correspond quite closely. Each one gives meaning or form to the other. The angels mes sage given the shepherds finds fulfil ment here in the scenes which surround us The church building is the age long effort of men to put into outward and visible form the story begun that first Christmas in Bethlehem l shall only ask you now to open y9tlr eyes and see, and to open your hearts and feel how the Christmas story is fulfilled and symbolized for us to-day In ,he spirit then, of the shepherds seeking the sign of what they had heard, i9t us look about us for a sign and a sym bol of the Christmas message to which we have listened.
 The wonderful force of the story that always keeps it's fresh charm for the world is the reality, the almost rugged reality, that marks 1t. From the glory that the shepherds behfld in the skies they are sent back to their own rustic village, to the point where they feel most at home, the rough stable yard, the rude doorway, the bed made of straw in the manager, the surroundings of farm life. All this was not a scene made for effect. Twas rustic, twas rude, twas genuine. The coming of 1 God to the world required no less; the declaration of Gods truth to-day re- quires as much. The imagination of men has surrounded 1t all with won- derful romance Mems hands have giv- en expression in works of art and all
 forms of beauty to the truth of Gods love to the world It is right; it is SlJOu. Dul Ollb lllIHS NC ICqullb b pL CNCl conception-in music or poetry, in painting or building--that all be as real as 1t was in that first scene of Bethle- hem. This, my friends, We have tried to maintain in our church building
 There is much. perhaps, that is lacking,
 much that may fall short of the high est conception of art, but so far as we have been able, in every uunee of ma terial, and in every design, we have tried to preserve reality. In Gods house, no corner should seem to be what it is not, Since architecture be- gan, the religion of men has sought for expression in wood and in stone. As long as church buildings will last, the spiritual life of men must reflect in a measure their spiritual homes. That need not come from any wealth of con- Estruction and ornaments but as far as we go we shall be Christian-swe shall | be genuine. The most hopeful aspect of art in our day is it's earnest desire l ings in which men approach them. We ever ornament may be used, shows for just what it is Decoration is not de- signed to conceal but only to reveal. believe that the simplicity of Christ's Einfancy and after life has been more easily realized through the surround ings in which men apprach them. We worship him in sincerity and truth no less in the works of our building than in the words of our service
 Another charm of the Christian story is it's sweet intimacy After the first start moment when the shepherds caught sight of the vision, and the words that came to them Sc immedi- ately, ''Be not afraid" they found themselves strangely at home, The scenes that followed were all most fa- miliar. If this was Gods presence, how near God had come to mems lives! Very different was this approach to him from the vague, far off wonder of priestly sacrifices that were performed in the temple All this conception of God taught by church and theology was forbidding, protected from the com mon touch, and, even the sight of plain men; but now the veil had been parted, here was Christ close in the midst of them. So he is always where Christian worship is real. Mysterious, wrapped even in shadow the ways of God may remain, but never lost in seelusion nor removed from the sight of those who approach him in reverence.
 When the plans for reeonstructing