Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-24
SEASON Of GIFTS
IS HAPPY TIME
CUSTOM ESTABLISHED BY
WISE MEN
Presents Made to the Holy Child in
Bethlehem on First Christmas
Were the Origin of
Giving

Rev. VIM. Horace Day, pastor First
congregational church, preached an IN
teresting Christmas sermon yesterday
morning. He said in part:
christmas is the happiest time Of
the year, because it is the season of
gifts. Th. little children can hardly
wait for Tuesday morning because Of
What they expect to get out of their
stockings. still higher happiness is
round In the plans we make for giving
Ihe wise celebrated the first Christ
mas by giving gifts Ever since the
obligation to give has been the out-
growth OF discipleship of Christ.
great scholar and traveller felt this OH
legation so keenly as to write the words
OF the text: 1 am debtor both to Greek
and barbarian, both to the wise and
1oollsh. This morning l summon Won to
drink the overflowing cup of ioy not
alone because you have received so
much but because you have SO great
an opllgation to give, you are debtors to
all humanity. The theme can best be
expressed in the words Of Paul. T am
debtor oiii
II shall deal with the ground tho
debt. Vi Jul
The ground of our debt is in which
we have received. Because OF What
Christ gave us we are debtors. The
love Of Christ constraineth u.s. We
rove MN as we gaze upon him, the babe
OIL bethlehem. We love the man who
became the teacher and reveals the
truth. AS the martyr we behold him
on the cross. We weep with Mary and
John and the rest AS deliverer we
love him; he shall save his peonle
from their sins. Our theologies have
often darkened counsel, and the din of
controversy has made us deaf to his
call to the sin stricken soul. We know
from experience that he frees man from
the intolerable sense of guilt which sin
leaves and gives strength to character
weakened by past Weddings to stand
fast and play the valiant man. We
love him for what he has wrought for
which we can make no payment except
to others whom he commands us to
treat as we would himself. The love
of Christ constraineth u.s.
1--WE owe humanity the debt for what
our forefathers did for us. Today we
have religious liberty, an untrammeled
church. because freed from the state.
Our liberty was won by our fathers
300 years ago in the Puritan struggle
which founded New England. This
Sunday morning is an hour of dire sus-
pense and uncertainty in France be-
cause the problem found no hero strong
enough to settle it when it was set
the high moral tone of it's life, is due
to the faithfulness of the citizenship of
yesterday. We are debtors to prevent
recreant council from saddling upon
us in the last hours of it's career, from
opening the gates OF almost unrestrict-
ed liquor selling.
1--WE owe debt to humanity because
of what society gives us for which we
can make no adequate return except
to devote life and money to human well
being. The public service corporation
pays laborer a wage which 1t can af-
ford on the basis of the tax it can put
upon the public; no account can be
taken of the added value which your
house has because that labor has ex-
tended to your home that which makes
1t ten times as valuable as a place of
residence as though there were no such
fund of convenience.
Society is a partnership from which
all draw some sort of dividends and
from which we no less receive oblga-
tions. The highest blessing in life con-
sists in our intelligently facing these
debts and seeking to pay them IN serv-
ice to humanity and loyalty to the
giver of every good gift. L call you
into the Joy of Christmas by pressing
upon your conscience these obligations
| which Paul felt when he wrote: 1 am
! 1a1ht