Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-26

Gods promise to send savior whose
sepulcher would be glorious. e
standing around the crib Of Bethle-
hem today our gratitude goes forth to
God for the blessings Of the birth Of
Christ He is the keystone of the arch
Of our humanity. He Is the source and
glory of our civilization. Whatever
we have OF power and of influence In
the world, of manhood, Of character, Is
due to the sraoes which come to us by
reason Of Christ assuming humanity. II
Is the tie that binds us with Cod it is
the key that unlocks the treasures Of
Gods love. on it the church is built
and from it the sacraments come to us.
Sorrow finds in II the CLEAN Of sun
shine that makes It possible to possess
resignation and the gladness and joy OF
human life find their golden light in It.
Literature and art have their life
springing from IL. Indeed the sacred
humanity of the child Of Bethlehem is
as the sun of all religion. Blot out
Bethlehem and there viii be no Calvary,
no cross. no redemption. Gods prom
Use will be unfulflled mans hope un-
realized. and his desires unsatisfed.
Blot out Bethlehem and we are face to
face with the greatest deception and
fraud that human intelligence could
possibly conceive. For twenty centuries
the intellect and heart OF humanity
have found their light in the life of
the child Of Bethlehem and humanity
has bent the knee and adored him as
the son of God. made man.
Describes First Christmas
Interesting today are the witnesses
and worshipers on that first Christmas
morning when the prophecy Is fulfilled
and the child is born to us and the son
is given to us, the prince of peace Be
side the manger are Mary and Joseph
the mother and foster-father of the
savior of mankind. Humility and joy
characterize their presence. instruments
in the hands of divine providence, CO.
operators In the work of the redemption
then manifosting itself. Angelic voices
are heard singing the hymns of exulta-
tion and joy that the incarnate word is
born, the child of Bethlehem.
angels had been the messengers of
his coming; angels sang the heavenly
hymn, rejoicing as witnesses Of the full
fillment of the promise which brought
to them glory in him who was the in
spiration and the reward of their great
battle by which their eternal happiness
was secured. They adored their God in
the. manger. Bethlehem gave them a
great and mighty feast. No wonder
they bore the message to those who
dwelt by the hillsides of Judea. T bring
TO you good tidings of great iov, for this
day is born to YOU a savior who is
Christ tine Lord in the city of David
Their Gloria in Excelsis was the ex-
preston of happiness in Christ their
Lord and Mary their queen.
around the crib as witnesses and
worshipers the Judean shepherds gath
cred. Men of lowly rank. poor and OBJ
scure. yet to them as men had come
the first message Of the Bethlehem
gift. Christ came to the lowly and
drew to himself the poor ones of earth
to teach humanity the first great les
son of the equality of man and the
beauty of the human soul. The shep-
herds as they tended their f1ocks heard |
the message of the angel. In the sim
plicity of their faith they at once plan
ned to go to Bethlehem and adore and |
see the word which has come to pass.
Happy simple faith of the shepherds |
who worshiped their God in the child at |
and brought to him the first |
tribute of the great humanity which He |
had come to save. Bethlehem would |
not be our Christmas picture without |
the shepherds around the manger unit
ing with Mary and Joseph in praise of |
their newly born king.
another crowd will come to see what
has happened and to worship. They |
come with camels and servants. They |
come as kings. full of the worlds wis
dom. They represent the intelligence |
and learning of the world. The shep- |
herds came as the family of the chosen |
the Gentiles. The shepherds had heard
the angels message and the angels |
hymn. The wise men had read in their |
science the wonderful event that was
happening and they knew it to be the
of the prophecies which they
found in the books. They saw the star
and they came The shepherds bore to
the child the love of simple, rugged.
honest faith, the wise men bore to the
child faith also, but it was the faith
of a more enlightened intelligence thus
forming with the shepherds the eX-
preston of a united humanity.
"Christ came to intelligence and
as to the life which knows little of |
learning. Magi and shepherds saw
what had happened and all knelt in |
alteration of the newly born king of the |
Jews. Shepherds and magi had come |
with promptness and with sacrifice and |
offered to their God the faith and the |
loyalty of a grateful manhood.
Like unto the witnesses of that first |
morning we gather around |
the manger of Bethlehem today, believ-
ing as they did, in Christ as the re-
deemer; we bend the knee and adore |
and offer to him the homage of our
hearts. We recognize in the child of
Bethlehem the redeemer of Calvary. |
We renew in him our faith and our
hope. we pledge him our loyalty and |
our love. He is the child of Bethlehem |
for US and for our salvation. He has |
brought to us the peace of God. He
has redeemed us from sin and made it
possible for us to serve God and reach |
His kingdom.
"Christmas day among men Is the
day of gift-bearing and gift-receiving.
II ic significant Of Gods great Christ
mas gift to us in that Bethlehem of
long ago in that child of the manger.
We are Christians. We love Christ.
Our faith is in Him. His love is in us.
His blood has cleansed our souls and
we are the redeemed children of God.
The truth of God has come to us. Life
and it's duties are made known to us.