Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-27
OUR SERMON VII
THn oHRIsrMAs MEssAon


of the birth OF Jesus, and whatever
may be the varied opinions of men
as to the absolute historiclty of this
account, all agree that there is a Won
derful meaning in the story as It has
come down to as from the distant past.
Peace" it was the one great, strong,
glorious note which rang in wondrous
cadence through the marvellous an
them which announced the advent of
the worlds long expected leader and
king. AS a prophecy of his life, how
different was the thought of his lead
ership and conquest from that which
had characterized the other kings and
conquerors of the world. Peace and
good will" sang the angels, as the best
and greatest thing that could be ex-
pressed at the advent of the blessed
Prince OF Peace. The sentiment and
the song were but echoes of the great
foundation chord which sounds ever
beneath and through all the music Of
heaven.
And what a Prince of Peace was he!
How like the rain falling upon the
moWn grass, like the sunshine on some
flower struggling upward to life, like
the mothers grooming song to her rest
less child like cup of cool and re-
treshing water to a long thirsty soul,
came the Wondrous sweetness, truth
and light of his loving life and mar
Vicious words to this weary, worried,
burdened and wandering race.
And yet how poorly was he and his
message received. There was little or
no place for him apparently in this
great big, selfish, hurrying, warning
world. He came unto his own and
his own received him not" "rhere
was no room for him in the inn," as
babe. and less room for him and his
teachings afterward in the thoughts,
affairs and systems of men. Colby he
was received, If received at all; he was
soornfully discarded by the leaders of
his nation; he was neglected, rejected,
crucified And these thirty-three years
of his life here upon this earth con-
stitute an epitome of the place his
Ideals and teachings have all too often
occupied in human affairs ever since.
Some few, in the early days, 1t is
true, caught the beauty and signifi-
canoe of his message and his purpose,
and with lives strangely transformed
and enriched, went forth to redeem AMI
bless the world. How nightly in in
dividual cases and in every age has
his truth burst forth from the lives of
his real followers to recreate human
life and transform human society.
And yet, "how often, o how often"
have we all dreamed of what the world
might have been." should have been,
with such leader and with such ideals.
How unspeakably pitiable it is that his
message, through all the long centuries
since, should have received such scant
hospitality at the hands of the world
which needed it so sadly. The angels
sang of peace, but how little have the
people of the world known of real peace
since. AS the followers Of Constantine
and the old Crusaders inscribed on
their banners. I'm hoe signo vinces,"
and then went forth under the sacred
symbol of the cross to conquer oppo-
sition by force and bloodshed, so all too
lowers, during all the Christian CEN
turtles since, have sought to win in their
struggle for the mastery by means and
methods as far from what he taught
as midnight Is from monday. Can any
one but the infinite God overestimate
the frightful aggregate of pains and
tears OF wreck and ruin and death
which has characterized the progress of
these so-called Christian eras? Do we
not read the history of these centuries
and blush with shame at what has
been done, often, alas, "in his name?"
Who can estimate the treasure wiped
out, the results of human toll squan-
dered, and the uncounted millions of
human lives sacrificed to make up the
record of these years.
What a frightful commentary IL is
upon our advancement that England,
one of the supposedly leading Christian
nations of the world, is today, in this
year of our Lord 1908, spending four
fifths of her national revenue in equip
ping and maintaining a tremendous
mechanism for the destruction of hui
man life, while she has within her bor-
ders this very morning, and in sight of
her splendid monuments, her vast
wealth and wide spreading parks, hum
dreds of thousands Of human beings,
strong men, helpless women, and tender
little children who are on the verge of
starvation as the result of the fiendish
economic warfare which is being waged
a little more fiercely and heartlessly
today than ever. And England is not
much behind many other nations in this
particular. Statisticians tell us that six
of the leading nations of Europe spend
annually in the aggregate over nine
teen hundred millions of dollars for this
purpose, to say nothing of the vast
armies Of able-bodied men, the very
bone and sinew of the age, withdrawn
from useful occupations and generally
untitled to ever after properly fill their
rightful service to their race.
But the message of the first Christ
mas, thank God, is sounding still. The
anthem rings ever on and on. The
angels have not ceased their singing,
and the world is beginning to hear and
to rejoice in the song. Weary bruised,
crushed and bleeding in the awful cru
elites Of it's social, economic, political
and spiritual warfare, the belligerent
forces have been compelled to pause
long enough to hear the one divine
word, "Peace." One by one we are join
ing in the angels song. The worlds
peace is surely coming-the peace of
man with his fellow man, the peace of
man with God, the peace of nations
with nations.
Warfare is certainly coming to be
looked upon as a monstrous anachron-
ism, no longer to be tolerated by a
sane race OF beings. To use the old
prophetic figure, spears are being beat
en- into pruning hooks, and the swords
into ploWshares. We shall not much
longer seek to rise to supremacy upon
the blood and brain and sinew of our
fellows, but the universal brotherhood
of men and all nations will become an
accomplished fact instead of an empty
ideal The prophesy of the angel an
them will be realized. The world Is
weary for peace.
AS each Christmas time comes around
we feel more and more the truthfulness
of Julian's dying cry. 20 Gallileean,
thou hast conquered" In the light of the
new day which is surely dawning over
the earth, we behold the realization of
the poets dream, the certain coming of
the long expected time,
When the war drums all are muffled, and
the battle flags furled.
In the parliment of nations, the federation
nF -