Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1910-12-19
Christmas
Observance
BY REV. ALLAN cRAsTREE.

From the standpoint of the high
est things in life with which people
are occupied, feeling that perhaps ii
is not necessary to discuss the lower
permit me to press three-fold truth
concerning right Christmas observ,
ance, in the light of the angelic mes
sage, which says, "To you is born
this day Savior; go and find and
worship Him.
Here comes the call of the return
ing Christmas-tide and there is no
need for anxiety concerning the
angels; they do not overlook the
workshop or the pasture The first
truth is, the danger that lies with
us; we find strengthening, the buying
of fields, or the testing of oxen SO all
important that we forget to listen to
the angels wonderful message Our
hearts wax fat and our ears dull, too
thick to vibrate to the glorious angelic
words which are to blend into melo-
dious music when the redeemed of
every kindred and tongue and people
and nation shall sing the new song in
the ages to come, saying, Thou are
worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof: for thou vast slain
and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood. and hast made us unto our
God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the EARTH"
The next thing l should like to say
is, let us mind our tasks-but when
an angel comes with Gods message
the true answer is, Let us go now
and see the thing that is come to
pass, which the Lord hath made
known to u.s." The obligation to faith
fulness in work does not preclude |
worship. 1t may be neglected when
the call to worship sounds The |
greater duty supersedes the lesser for
the time. Joan, the shepherdess.
heard faint and far the voices, and
bent her soul to catch their COM
mands-while her sheep went wan
dering. But the enemies of France
were repulsed. Let the dead bury
their dead" Jesus urged, speaking to
this same text. There are men
enough in the world to care for the
ordinary obligations of life; one who
has heard the call to the kingdom of
God is bound to a higher service to
which he can be disobedient only at
spiritual peril. The shepherds went
in faith, to "see the thing that is
come to pass" They answered the
call Immediately. Let us go now"
They went up to Bethlehem to find a
babe, a person. Here we too often
fail to follow in their footsteps. to our ,
own loss. We turn from work to ,
some religious service for our spir-
itual refreshment, to some ritual, or ,
to seek some religious experience.
Probably the shepherds had an ex-
perience, hearts burning within them
as they trudged up from the fields of
Boaz to the village; but it was the :
Savior they sought. And they found !.
their guest
The Bible does not say in so many
words that the shepherds worshiped
the child, as it does of the wise men
later But there is happy transpo-
sition of the story of the Magi which
reads: Those who are wise seek
Jesus to worship Him." and surely
men with ears to hear and faith to
believe heavens message were wise
to worship. While angels were wor-
shfping-not singing-only redeemed
sinners sing, those able to behold
that alteration were not such men as
remain unbowed.
So into life's MOL and WEAKNESS
Christmas comes, bringing again to
us person to be a Savior and friend. I
The last truth to which l shall
briefly refer is that kind of work S
which most invariably follows wor- II
ship. Shall not the shepherds, with u
pOu 5iNCL, Saving hlIuNlCQSeu, leeueu
by all but possessed by no other
souls in all the world. go out at once
and give their lives up to the procla-
nation of the Savior? The angels are
gone, the skies are silent: shall they V
not take up the words, Behold we Il
bring you good tidings?" No. With fl
praise and worship and an unfading s
picture in their hearts they returned Il
to the fold in the fields of Boaz The V
work they continued to do was the Il
same work as before; the sheep they
kept, the same sheep; the life they Ii
lived was the same life outwardly, but d
with very different flavor Wor fl
Shipping the Savior is not all of life, Ii
but should flavor all life Eye are Il
salt" said Christ to later disciples, s
and surely those first believers went s
back from worship to work that had a
a new SAVIOR permeating every action. il
Work is not, in ordinary life, to be W
for, or replaced by, the ii
practice of spiritual worship. The
shepherds took no VOWS at the man
ger that separated them from their