Norwich bulletin., 1915-12-28
CHRISTMAS AND THE WAR.
Helpful Message by Rev. r. r. Ora
ham at Christ Church.

that are shaken, of things which
have been made, that those things
which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore receiving a kingdom that
cannot be shaken let us have grace,
whereby we may offer services we'll
pleasing to God with reverence and
awe: for our God is consuming
| fire."
More Faith, Deeper Confidence, Needed
When any great shaking takes place
| there is always the danger of con-
fusing the permanent with the tran
scient When everything around us
is tottering because we ourselves are
| shaken we cannot always distinguish
between the stable and the unstable
| Then it is that we need more faith,
| that is a deeper confidence in the
great truths of God and in the funda-
/ mentals of our religious belief.
| And with the world at war, or in the
shadow of war, the character of the
| Christmas message cannot be alto
/ gether the same as il was in those
years when it seemed to us that there
was fulfllment, or promise of fulfil
ment, of the angels song of peace on
| earth.
When there is thus an actual or
| apparent failure to realize a hope
| founded on what seemed to be the
sure promise of God we are forced
| to examine that promise more care
fully so that we may see its meanin.
more fully.
And thus it is with the Christmas
message. We need to grasp, to hold
fast to its essential meaning undis-
turbed by any failure We may seem
to see in what we had thought was
its significance.
The war has certainly awakened us
to a new conviction of the difficulty
if not the impossibility of obedience
to the commands of Christ. those
commands which if obeyeI would
bring about the condition of perfec;
and permanent peace of which we
dream, in which war would be an i'm
possibility.
Does God Care?
Nineteen centuries of experienc =
have. however, accustomed us To the
contrast between things as they arc
and the expectations suggested by tho
, | promises of the gospel, and however
terrible may be this war il does not
differ so essentially from other wars
that have been waged: all were equal
ly in contradiction to the song OF
peace on earth, even though we MAJ
be accustomed to think of some OF
these wars as righteous wars. But
the magnitude of this war far eN
ceeds all others that il not alone ap
pals us by its immensely but forces
us to see things in a different as
pect. Just as the newly perceived
. immensely of time and space forced
men to a new conception of God, sc
the immensely of this war has led rs
| largement has caused a shaking OF
= our faith. Some millions of men viii
. be sacrificed before peace is declared
Q and many more millions will be dis.
abled, or crushed with sorrow. Doe;
q God Care2 After all what are n few
Y million lives compared to the count.
y less millions that have lived and 5iec
. during the unnumbered centuries IL
e which man has lived upon this earth
e If on an average these men who have
FL cd H1r hi
time, what are 80 Years in the minC
= of Him whose days are from ever
u lasting to everlasting?
t Such questions will arise in GU
s minds; they will suggest the idea tina
s God does not care; that Tie is in
o different to the trivial affairs of thi
= little world.
= And this is not only the supreme
but the Characteristic temptation o
S. our age, and therefore the one befor
5, which we are most in danger of fall
: ing. At other times in the religion
s history of mankind when great Gala
lie mites befell the world. the eXDlana
r ton was that God was angry and 1at
v ment for sin, and therefore the peOpl
d were forced to search for and &C
n knowledge their sins.
But an angry God is obviously
n God who cares, or else He would no
lr be angry. Now, however, when event
J. occur which seem to contradict wha
IS had seemed to us the plans and rt.r
ct poses of God, the tendency is to fec
e, if there be indeed a God He Is sue
as to have no plans or purposes 70
= the world because He does not care a
e. all for the things which seen so i'm
IL portant to US.
= If then, this be the supreme tempta
ton for US; if the circumstances {
in the times force this temptation upo
Id us, then what we need to be assure
IT of is, not How does God show II
u care for the world? but. Does He car
Is at all?; is il true that the High an
Holy One that inhabiteth eternity doc
,u stoop to behold the children Of T.
al dust?
lie, The Inner Message of Christmas.
Ut And the essential message IF Chris
mas is that God does care, because +
cared enough, nay loved the worI
enough to give His only begotten 5 q
- | that is really to give Himself for u
IL sake of the world. This, the inn,
message of Christmas. is Iltogeth,
n Independent of the particular cirCun
stances of the earth life of the So
of Man, or the special form MS te1ci
ng ing took, or even whether He can
a to save or to judge the world: wins
rs, ever the circumstances, whatever u
n final purpose of that coming NAV b
he the fact of the coming is the pro
il of Gods care for the world
n Therefore, if at this time we C.
ge hardly hear the angels sing, becau
d. the roar of battle is too loud in OF
by ears; if the lovely message of Chris
he mas peace seems too untimely il n
improbable under existing circun
st stances let us give all the more a
is. tention to that deeper, and perhnl
w, less thought of meaning of the Chris
se, mas revelation which assures I'll
g. there is a God who cares for mankin
ed If we ind il hard to hail Him wi
.es at this time was born for Us as Il
ne Prince of Peace, let us recognize IN
p he is also Emmanuel God with u
he Tor II We do our sure trust in CT
n will remain mistaken no matter VIII
may occur; and the God who shoI
he Himself as a consuming fire will
en- seen to be the God who so loved 4
zee world that he gave His only begott
~ Son"